The Challenge
MBDA was developing a novel compression codec for transmitting time-critical imagery and video over degraded communications links. Unlike conventional codecs, which optimise for bandwidth efficiency or image quality, this technology was designed for resilience: ensuring images could be received despite interference, weather or jamming.
The team wanted to know what else was out there. They had searched the academic literature and found nothing comparable to their codec, however, the industry landscape was less clear. Recognising that relevant solutions were more likely to emerge from adjacent commercial sectors operating in extreme environments, an important question remained: was their codec genuinely unique, or were companies offering similar solutions simply hidden outside their existing networks?
This created a blind spot. Without credible external evidence, it was difficult to prioritise partnership opportunities, or accurately assess the competitive landscape.
The Solution
Outsmart designed a Technology Radar study to build a comprehensive, structured view of the resilient image and video compression technology landscape.
The research was organised around a bespoke technology taxonomy that reflected MBDA’s engineering priorities rather than conventional market categories. This approach allowed the team to align on technical focus, constraints, and success criteria upfront and concentrate effort on the most relevant priority areas.
To maximise technical coverage, Outsmart assembled a multidisciplinary research team from its global network of scientists, engineers and deep technology specialists, with expertise including image compression, communications, defence electronics and adjacent application domains.
The Outsmart team matched each expert to the most relevant branch of the technology taxonomy. Experts then conducted a worldwide search for companies in defence and adjacent sectors, ensuring nothing relevant was missed. Outsmart reviewed initial findings with MBDA to calibrate direction early, and avoid misalignment.
The experts assessed each company using a consistent framework including resilience level, transmission approach, application domain, technology maturity and deployment environment. This allowed solutions to be compared consistently despite originating from a wide range of domains: from search-and-rescue operations to industrial imaging.
Following the initial phase, MBDA decided to investigate a small number of companies further to explore partnership opportunities. Outsmart and the client team down-selected priority candidates to focus effort on the most promising companies, ensuring time and budget were spent only on best-fit options.
After agreeing a detailed set of technical, commercial and strategic questions with the client, our experts then interviewed these companies’ founders and CTOs. Interviews uncovered non-public information including actual capability and maturity levels as well as openness to defence partnership.
Technology Highlights
- A UK scale-up offering a hierarchical, tree-structured codec using a ‘reverse-pyramid’ approach to progressively build image detail, helping reduce cascading error effects and enabling regions of interest to be extracted under error-prone link conditions.
- A Canadian SME adapting transmission parameters to real-time network conditions, with reported image quality maintained even during substantial packet loss.
- A Japanese SME working on a proprietary codec for narrowband video transmission using peak rate control, region-of-interest sharpening and ‘snapshot mode’ that alternates between sending highly compressed, ultra-low frame-rate video and high-resolution still images.
“I have been very impressed with the market analysis undertaken by Outsmart Insight, which has been extremely professional and collaborative, meeting our requirements and ultimately the delivery of quality output to a tight timescale. Thank you team.”
– Andy Sherriff, Head of Image Processing UK, MBDA
The Value and Impact
The Tech Radar gave the image processing team a credible, evidence-based view of the global resilient image and video compression landscape. Beyond establishing market visibility, the work helped validate where MBDA’s own technology remained differentiated, while identifying adjacent-sector companies to support future build, buy or partner decisions. The outputs also created a reusable technology intelligence asset for future strategy, supplier engagement and R&D planning.