By: Vanilla Heart Publishing
Some people have the vision and drive to change industries through their contribution and effort. They disrupt the status quo, create novel technology, and establish new standards through unrelenting efforts, unique ideas, and unshakable dedication to excellence. Such pioneers drive development and encourage others to think differently, transforming industries. Technology, media, and telecom (TMT) is a rapidly changing sector, yet certain people make significant contributions and pioneering discoveries for its growth. The TMT industry’s IPTV sector has been shaped by Matjaz Vidmar’s entrepreneurial zeal and technical skills.
Matjaz Vidmar was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, on August 30, 1962. An innate fascination for technology and business molded his early years. Vidmar studied finance and electronics in Ljubljana, laying the groundwork for his diverse career. Thanks to his fascination for business, Vidmar founded Video Art Studio (VAS) as a student. VAS was Eastern Europe’s privately owned advertising firm, founded while the private sector was in its infancy. This bold action showed Vidmar’s insight and laid the basis for his global media career.
Vidmar moved to London in 1986 to broaden his horizons and acquire experience. His life changed when he decided to work with some of the media industry’s inventive brains. Vidmar joined Gold Video Production in 1987 and achieved early visibility by directing Buckingham Palace’s 1988 Royal Garden Party, demonstrating his rising talent.
His following job at CFC (now Framestore) solidified Vidmar’s industry direction. Vidmar helped pioneer electronic cinema post-production and computer-generated visual effects at CFC. His efforts helped the firm win two Academy Scientific and Technical Awards, demonstrating its innovation. This experience improved Vidmar’s technical abilities and strengthened his conviction in technology’s revolutionary capacity.
Vidmar created Connexion Exports in 1991 with expertise and a vision that media production and delivery future is going to be fully digital at great speed. Connexion’s manufacturing of X-System Alpha-64, a breakthrough 64-bit graphic workstations and servers, was his first large-scale technological enterprise. Connexion Exports provided economical computer graphics (CG) workstations to the broadcast and desktop publishing (DTP) businesses, a crucial necessity when digital media was young. X-System Alpha-64, set the industry standard for price and performance. Vidmar also utilized X-System Alpha-64 to produce Crown Jewels artwork. This huge undertaking airbrushed a 72-meter-long, 4-meter-high oil canvas around The Jewel House at the Tower of London during its 1994 renovation. This demonstrated Vidmar’s technical skill and ability to combine art and technology, sealing his status as an innovator.
In 1997, Vidmar launched ON-AIR Systems, continuing his business path. This business introduced the ON-AIR “Channel-in-a-Box,” a game-changing television broadcasting technology. This groundbreaking system combined TV playout automation, interactive computer graphics, vision and audio mixing, and shared network video storage. Multi Channel network TV operations were transformed by “Channel-in-a-Box” technology, cutting costs and simplifying content workflows utilizing transfers via computer networks rather than SDI video lines as it was done at the time. Broadcasters worldwide accepted this new approach as the new industry standard within a few years. ON-AIR Systems’ success reflected Vidmar’s original thinking and ability to predict and meet market demands before others did.
Vidmar sold ON-AIR Systems, which was rebranded as OASYS in 2012. New digital technologies and platforms were rapidly changing the sector. The internet growth and its content distribution possibilities changed the media landscape in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Vidmar’s specific focus was on streaming technology because of its vast potential. In 1999, he introduced Xtreme IPTV™, one of the first TV streaming solutions, paving the way for OTT services.
Xtreme IPTV™, a complete infrastructure for IPTV distribution to broadband consumers, was commercially deployed in Mumbai in 2000, as the very first installation. This was the first service to transmit high-quality TV content online to a Fast Ethernet broadband audience, which was a technical and commercial breakthrough. Installation won the NASSCOM First Prize for Most Innovative Technology award in 2000, highlighting its worldwide significance. Vidmar’s early recognition of internet-based TV services made him a pioneer, paving the way for IPTV streaming technology acceptance.
Matjaz Vidmar had made significant contributions to the TMT sector by 2005, but his ambition went beyond his triumphs. He developed a private technological group, Vision Group, with offices in London, Dubai, and Ljubljana. Vidmar began a new era of innovations and smart expansions with Vision Group. Vidmar swiftly expanded Vision Group to include multiple companies focusing on various parts of the constantly changing digital media world. Playout247™, the group’s leading firm, was one of the first large scale outsourced TV playout automation centers; it was the first end-to-end IP based facility with capacity to broadcast 300 TV channels in HD. Another subsidiary, Vision Fiber Media (company sold in 2014), has specialized in private fiber connectivity, while Vision247™ specialized in cloud-based TV streaming services.
A major accomplishment for Vidmar was the debut of XtremeOVP™ in 2006. After the success of Xtreme IPTV™, XtremeOVP™ was the first cloud-based broadcasting service with sophisticated features, including ‘Channel-from-the-Cloud,’ ‘Catch-up-TV,’ and ‘Forward-TV.’ These capabilities let broadcasters supply content more efficiently and flexibly, changing television distribution and consumption.
Vidmar made another major move in 2012 by acquiring Ljubljana-based IPTV apps and middleware R&D business Fora d.o.o. Fora’s IPTV development skills helped Vision Group improve its products and stay ahead of technology. The 2014 release of Perception TVCDN™, the XtremeIPTV successor, was a revolutionary breakthrough. This “unified streaming platform” merged CDN, OTT, and IPTV feature-sets into a singular API core. Perception TVCDN™ is known for delivering high-quality video content across all devices and networks, establishing a new “unified TV CDN” industry standard. The platform revolutionized streaming technology with device-specific streaming protocol real-time re-warping, time-shift recording, network PVR, live and VOD streaming, and FAST TV channel playout.
Vidmar’s position as a leading innovator in the TMT sector was strengthened by the accolades obtained for Perception TVCDN™. His work with Vision Group and Perception TVCDN™ showcased his ability to foresee market trends and meet media industry demands, keeping his firms at the forefront of technology. Beyond entrepreneurship, Matjaz Vidmar has been a prominent technology, media, and telecommunications adviser and consultant.
As a technology consultant, Vidmar uses his practical knowledge to evaluate the technical and commercial feasibility of projects. He can assess capital needs, growth risks, and possible benefits of diverse projects due to his analytical and strategic thinking. These skills have helped technology entrepreneurs and investors collaborate and accelerate project development. Vidmar has consulted on several high-profile projects, helping organizations negotiate the fast-evolving TMT market and complicated technology issues. His ability to integrate technology and business strategy has made him a valued counsel to many of the world’s prominent organizations, bolstering his influence.
Matjaz Vidmar demonstrated that innovation and a visionary leader can influence and change an industry. Vidmar helped transform the media industry from analogue to digital, and online media from download to OTT streaming. His work has steered television and internet media tech unification, simplifying the operation to ensure high-quality content can be delivered at low cost, so that OTT services can be accessible globally, equally viable in developed and developing countries.
Published by: Martin De Juan
