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What is NexGuard forensic watermarking?

NexGuard forensic watermarking protects a content owner's and pay-TV operator's investment in content by identifying the source of a content leak quickly and efficiently, so that effective anti-piracy action can be taken.

Fight pay-TV and direct-to-consumer piracy

Commercial piracy is a growing problem for pay-TV operators and direct-to-consumer services, especially in the areas of premium VOD and live sports, where pirated content can be easily promoted, distributed and illicitly streamed over the internet. In this context, the ability to mark content and determine the source of a content leak quickly and efficiently is key to take effective anti-piracy action.
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Trace content leaks back to their source

NexGuard forensic watermarking solutions are used by leading content owners worldwide to deter and combat piracy throughout their content pre-release lifecycle. Should there be a breakdown in security, content owners must have the ability to trace a leak back to its source. This traceability also provides a strong deterrent against piracy.

NexGuard watermarks are imperceptible, robust and support blind detection

Imperceptible

NexGuard watermarks are imperceptible to the consumer, causing no degradation of the viewing experience, and have been validated by major studios, content owners and pay-TV operators.

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Robust

NexGuard watermarks are proven to be robust and impossible for pirates to invalidate. They can persist through digital/analogue conversion, copying, transcoding, compression and geometric manipulation.

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Blind Detection

NexGuard watermarks support blind detection, whereby  identifiers are detected and extracted without reference to the original content by the NexGuard Detection Service. This enables fast, convenient and automated detection.

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The different stages of forensic watermarking

NexGuard Forensic Watermarking solutions for video and audio can be used to deter and combat piracy during content production, post-production, distribution/contribution, including for direct-to-consumer services. The stages of watermarking include:

Preparation

Content is prepared to receive the embedded NexGuard watermark. In some use cases, preparation and embedding are combined.

Embedding

Identifiers, including the contents source or intended recipient, are embedded into the video as an imperceptible and robust NexGuard watermark.

Distribution

Watermarked content is distributed to its intended recipients. During this process the content may be pirated and then manipulated, in an attempt to evade detection.

Capture

Pirated content is monitored and captured, and material evidence is collected. This may be done directly by the content owner or pay-TV operator or through an anti-piracy service.

Extraction

The content identifiers are extracted from the NexGuard watermark within the pirated content. These identifiers are then used to locate the source of the piracy.

Action

Once the source of the piracy has been located, action can be taken to combat it. This can include counter measures and legal action.

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