Editor Javier de Martín editor@tmbroadcast.com Editor in chief Jesús Carrillo director@tmbroadcast.com Key account managers Cristina Feduchi international@tmbroadcast.com Tamara Meuwese tamara.m@tmbroadcast.com
Summary
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Editorial
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Creative Direction Mercedes González design@tmbroadcast.com Editorial staff press@tmbroadcast.com Administration Laura de Diego Marga Quevedo administration@tmbroadcast.com
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PAN SHOT Broadcast Asia 2016
The most important HUB of FOX in Europe
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Live IP Studio
Audio over IP Networking in Broadcast TM Broadcast International #34 June 2016
TM Broadcast International is a magazine published by Daró Media Group SL Centro Empresarial Tartessos Calle Pollensa 2, oficina 1 28290 Las Rozas (Madrid), Spain Phone +34 91 640 46 43
Published in Spain
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Collaborative Workflows
1+1 Media Group in the Ukraine Monitors Multiplatform TV in the Cloud with Qligent
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Editorial Netflix recently announced its intention to investigate and test linear television. For a long time many technology experts say that linear television was dying due to changes in consumption. It is not important to reach the user through a particular via because viewers want to choose from contents in many different channels, and this includes linear television. Our market is changing with a strong irruption of mobile devices, but large TV screens and traditional broadcaster will have their own space now and in the future.
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SONY 4K CAMERAS A KEY COMPONENT OF SNEAKY BIG STUDIOS Arizona has long been a production mecca, and soon it will be home to Sneaky Big Studios, what is intended to be one of the finest production facilities. Chosen for image acquisition are Sony’s F55 4K cameras. From inception, Sneaky Big Studios has been intent on raising Scottsdale, Arizona's profile in the production world to make it a first-pick in this highly competitive industry. They provided DigitalGlue, the noted media design and integration firm the opportunity to create the blue print including today’s top technology which also allows integration with future advances. Starting with a blank page, the result is a ground-up, groundbreaking design spanning over 15,000 square feet that is scheduled to open in July.
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"Our decision to standardize on the Sony F55 camera is one of the most important decisions we made for our business," said Stephen Brain, vice president and general manager, Sneaky Big Studios. "Image acquisition is key in what we're able to accomplish. We're set on doing the best and that's why we're using the Sony F55's." Throughout the selection process, DigitalGlue made a determined effort to look at camera selection through fresh eyes, to enable its clients to come to a conclusion based on a hands-on experience. "The Sony F55 promises to be the camera of the 4K production era," said Sean Busby, president and cofounder of DigitalGlue. "It's tempting to recommend gear based on the opinion of
others in the business and reputation alone. Here, our client wanted to make a choice based on critical evaluation without preconceptions. This analysis resulted in all of our confidence in the F55." "When you raise the bar in the production community as Sneaky Big Studios is set to do, it creates a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the local production scene," said Alex Rossi, Manager, Product Marketing, Sony Electronics. "The F55 has been making waves since the day we announced it and continues to do so. We have tremendous respect for what Sneaky Big Studios and DigitalGlue have set out to accomplish and look forward to seeing them take the industry by storm with the beautiful images they'll be capturing with the F55."
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IHSE USA AND LAWO UNITE THEIR KVM AND CONTROL SYSTEMS TO BENEFIT BROADCAST AND PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
IHSE USA LLC announced a partnership with Lawo whereby IHSE's Draco tera matrix switch frames support Lawo's Virtual Studio Manager (VSM) broadcast control and monitoring system. A number of highprofile broadcast companies such as NEP Australia, YLE Finland, Danish Radio Denmark, and key broadcast and cable companies in the U.S. are already using Lawo's VSM control environment to manage KVM switching via the IHSE products in their editing suites, master control suites, and mobile production studios. "KVM systems have gone from being a basic backroom tool for network administrators to an integral part of any broadcast or production environment. In the process, IHSE's KVM systems have become indispensable for media operations around the world — not only for connecting to any keyboard and mouse, but also for routing A/V and data signals," said Dan Holland, marketing manager for IHSE USA. "Lawo's widely adopted VSM system is equally valuable to many of these same types of customers. TMBi - 8
The partnership with Lawo is an example of how easily IHSE's KVM solution integrates into third-party systems, and how our many existing field installations prove the performance and reliability of our joint solution." IHSE's KVM system gives broadcasters a way to share computer sources without having to dedicate specific workstations to operational needs. With KVM, they can connect any workstation to any server or computer source on the KVM matrix grid. This connectivity means they can move noisy and heat-generating CPU units to a more centralized and secure location while giving users immediate performance from a workstation's keyboard and mouse. Simple API commands ensure easy integration using common GUI configurations that can be adapted as needs change. Beyond those benefits, IHSE's KVM system offers performance gains with higher-resolution video and audio, such as 4K resolutions and broadcast-quality digital and analog audio. Furthermore, KVM systems from IHSE provide legacy support for RS-232 and RS-
422 shared serial data signals. Meanwhile, Lawo's VSM broadcast control and monitoring system provides a structured control system that manages all of these signal types under one interface, with symbols that can be easily mapped to touchscreen or touch-pad devices. The Lawo VSM solution relies on unique logic to simplify operational user interfaces and workflows. A powerful yet intuitive toolbox allows users to expand the broadcast system and make changes to the workflow or configuration without manufacturer support. In this case, broadcasters are using Lawo VSM to configure and control IHSE's KVM switching workflows. "IHSE's KVM solutions offer powerful tools to customize and simplify operations. Integrating the VSM system into an IHSE KVM solution offers even more possibilities in terms of connectivity, workflow flexibility, and connectivity, freeing the users from hardware restraints and giving them ultimate freedom," said Axel Kern, senior product manager at Lawo.
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RIEDEL SUPPORTS HARDMOVES INTERNATIONAL BOULDERING SUPERFINAL COMPETITION IN HOME TOWN OF WUPPERTAL supports HardMoves. "We first partnered for the SuperFinal in 2013 and were thrilled by the organizers' passion and enthusiasm," he said. "The HardMoves sporting standard is impressively high, and we were delighted to participate in this event again in 2016 as a local business."
As the six strongest teams of the HardMoves Fight Club met at Wuppertal's magnificent Historische Schwimmoper indoor swimming center to compete in the international bouldering series' SuperFinal, Riedel Communications supplied the real-time media network and intercom system that supported live links to other venues, as well as live streaming. During the event on March 5 in Riedel Communications' hometown, the company provided a MediorNet fiber network, Artist digital matrix intercom system, Performer digital partyline intercom system, and STX-200 professional Skype速 interface, as well as a variety of control panels, beltpacks, and radios, to enable flexible, reliable signal transport and communications. Hailing from Wuppertal himself, Riedel Communications CEO Thomas Riedel avidly TMBi - 10
Over the past season, nearly 7,000 climbers from six nations participated in the HardMoves series. Competitors included World Cup winners, world champions, and the best boulderers on the planet. Hosted by the city of Wuppertal, the concluding event of the HardMoves FightClub Edition 2015/2016 featured athletes climbing floating 7-meter-high walls in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 1,600, with another 2,300 fans watching on a giant screen at the nearby Historische Stadthalle. In all, more than 10,000 viewers watched the event live or later at sportdeutschland.tv, and the event's two YouTube channels drew 32,000 views. To support audio signal distribution, Riedel tunneled AVB over a MediorNet fiber network to connect two Avid consoles from satis&fy. To create links between the three Schwimmoper locations and the Wuppertal city hall, more than one kilometer of fiber was used. Together, an
Artist 64 system and Performer system enabled communications at the two sites. Riedel also supplied a wireless HD camera production unit, a commentary control panel and headset, and 35 analog radios. Riedel's STX-200 interface facilitated real-time interaction between fans watching at a climbing club and the fans in the Historische Schwimmoper during the competition. Licensed by Microsoft, the STX-200 is a stand-alone, broadcast-grade solution that leverages Skype to bring live content from remote participants directly into the live production. Together, the STX-200, MediorNet, and Artist systems enabled transport of program video with embedded audio to production, as well as flexible routing of signals to individual Skype users using tablets and other smart devices. The MediorNet network also was used to feed several live streams to the Wuppertal city hall. With fans around the world watching at public venues and on several online platforms, organizers estimate that up to 100,000 spectators watched the SuperFinal.
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MEDCOM INSTALLS A CLEAR-COM MATRIX INTERCOM SYSTEM WHILE UPGRADING MAIN SITE TO HX DIGITAL PLATFORM Medcom has installed a new Eclipse HX-Delta Matrix intercom system for use in their new ‘EMA’ remote production facility on one side of the Panama City, where the broadcaster is shooting reality TV shows. At the same time, Medcom upgraded its main production facility from an Eclipse Matrix to the new Eclipse-HX Matrix platform, which is 15 miles away from EMA. Now with an Eclipse HX system at each facility, Medcom can connect them over IP and enable all VSeries control keypanel users in both facilities to communicate as one seamless group--all made possible by the IVC-32 IP frame cards that reside in each Eclipse HX system. All TMBi - 12
of Medcom’s seven production trucks are also equipped with Clear-Com intercom systems. “We wanted to provide fast, efficient communications between our main offices (where our Master Control facilities are located) and our EMA remote studio facility,” said Antonio Perez, Medcom’s Senior Operations and Project Manager. “ClearCom has been our intercom provider for the last 20 years. We installed the Eclipse Matrix 12 years ago and we have continued to expand and upgrade it through the years. “Enabling the two production sites to work together seamlessly was a
big part of Medcom’s plan,” said Joquebed Colin Lugo, Regional Sales Manager for Latin America at Clear-Com. “Making this happen was an easy job thanks to the native IP technology built into Eclipse HX. Even across the city, their users experience good audio quality and unnoticeable communication delay.” “It was easy to add more Clear-Com intercom capacity to our production system,” added Perez. “Working with our local dealer, Bitcom, system integrator Solotech, and directly with Clear-Com, the installation was seamless and fast. We have been very satisfied with the results.”
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LIVEU SOLO HELPS THE HUFFINGTON POST LIVE STREAM HD CONTENT DIRECTLY TO FACEBOOK The Huffington Post an early adopter of LiveU Solo, is utilizing the technology to deliver high-quality live video to a wider audience on Facebook. “At The Huffington Post, we’re eager to deliver live streaming to our Facebook audience and have already increased production by seven times in the last month,” said Patrick McMenamin, Supervising Producer at The Huffington Post. “LiveU Solo has helped us become one of the first outlets to stream highdefinition video direct to Facebook. We've used LiveU in the field to stream HD video in our primary
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campaign coverage and highprofile interviews, as well as our popular Game of Thrones after-show chat.” “Broadcasters and online video content creators are looking to differentiate their content by delivering live quality streams, maintaining reliable connectivity, and sharing it with the world seamlessly. This can be accomplished with LiveU Solo,” said LiveU Co-founder & COO, Avi Cohen. “The Huffington Post has seen tremendous success in live streaming. They understand that live streaming content connects audiences to highquality video on-the-fly.”
Optimized for online video performance, Solo delivers the rock-solid video streams LiveU is known for by using LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT™) protocol’s integral adaptive bit rate and forward error correction technology. LiveU Solo connects automatically to Facebook Live, Wowza Streaming Cloud™, as well as other popular CDNs, OVPs and YouTube Live, making live video simple. Solo can be managed and controlled remotely via a web interface or smartphone. To learn more about LiveU Solo, visit http://liveu.tv/liveu-solo.
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MARQUIS ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF PAUL GLASGOW Marquis Broadcast has announced the appointment of Paul Glasgow to the newly created role of Sales and Marketing Director, with responsibility for driving Marquis’ direct and indirect sales across the globe. “Paul Glasgow is a broadcast industry professional with extensive experience in deploying software and services internationally,” confirms Chris Steele, managing director, Marquis Broadcast. “Paul will now focus on developing sales for our complete range of solutions, particularly those that solve more complex workflow issues. Paul’s understanding of the Avid environment will also enable him to take full advantage of Marquis’ recent Avid Certification for Project Parking – our cost effective solution which manages Avid edit storage – in order to push this product into new territories and markets.” “I am excited to be joining the talented group of individuals which make up the Marquis team,” confirms Paul Glasgow, sales and marketing director, Marquis Broadcast. “Integration and workflow optimisation are key challenges faced by the broadcast industry today. Over the past ten years Marquis has ‘done the heavy lifting’ and invested in the deep development required to create technology which enables manufacturers’ systems to work together in an efficient and effective way. “Today, Marquis provides a TMBi - 18
range of media integration products designed for the data-rich requirements of current broadcasting environments and the company’s technology is a major component of many complex infrastructures and workflows,” continues Glasgow. “I am now looking forward to scaling Marquis’ capabilities and replicating these successful installations across a global market place.” Prior to joining Marquis
Broadcast, Paul Glasgow held senior sales and marketing roles at ChyronHego, Chyron Group, Avid Technology and Avid Broadcast in addition to working for other organisations over the years including: Sony, Arkemedia and EMC Media. As part of Marquis’ expanding international strategy the company will exhibit at Broadcast Asia for the first time this year on the Danmon Group stand 5A1-0.
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“MATERIAL EXCHANGE FORMAT” POWERED BY MOG MOG Technologies has recently announced a new version of MXF::SDK, its MXF Software Development Toolkit. MOG’s MXF::SDK was launched in 2003 and was the first commercially available implementation of MXF. MXF::SDK abstracts the application layer from the details and complexity of the MXF format, using simple application programming interfaces. It counts with a vast number of customers worldwide using it to enable MXF on their own products. The new version of
MXF::SDK is simpler to integrate with and even more complete, with support for the latest formats like XAVC, AVC Ultra and DNxHR, as well as a simplified licensing and distribution model. Our current customers will notice two great changes: • Firstly, it was totally rewritten internally in order to take advantage of the latest C++ compilers but we
managed to do it while being binary compatible with older compilers; • Secondly, we have packaged all the codecs and formats in a single product, with a single DLL and license. This means anything SD, HD and UHD, in one place.
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NPR MEMBER STATION WJCT-FM AUTOMATES RADIO OPERATIONS WITH ENCO
“The grant enabled us to shore up our station operations to ensure that we can remain on the air in the event of natural disasters and public emergencies,” said Alan Rhodes, Broadcast Technician for WJCT-FM (89.9 FM). “We chose ENCO’s DAD automation system primarily for its reputation for reliability, and since installing the system there hasn’t been a single performance issue. It’s been 100% reliable in delivering our audio programs accurately and on-time.” WJCT currently uses four DAD automation computers, three of which are dedicated to the on-air operation, with one dedicated as a backup system. Based on a Myers ProTrack traffic log, the DAD TMBi - 20
system automatically plays out all terrestrial and online stations, including the main NPR FM signal on HD1, “Classical 24” music on HD2 and “Music of Your Life” easy listening on HD3, as well as three Internet streams from the website, www.wjct.org. WJCT also airs a Radio Reading Service for the Blind on SCA1, and a FEMA emergency information service on SCA2. Most often, the DAD systems play out live NPR network shows, such as “All Things Considered” and “Marketplace,” third-party produced shows like “Performance Today,” and original WJCT programming like “Deemable Tech.” However, during morning and afternoon drive-times, the
station takes the reins from DAD to switch their own live programs, such as local newscasts and, in the 910am slot, the public affairs show, “First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross.” Scalability was another critical factor in WJCT’s choice of ENCO DAD automation. While the station had maxed out its previous automation system’s database, Rhodes said that DAD’s database accommodates a virtually unlimited number of audio files. DAD automation software also scales from one to many workstations, each of which can playout up to 16 separate playlists simultaneously. And the highspeed database allows for instant searching and sorting,
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with scrollable asset lists. WJCT also takes advantage of several specific DAD applications to streamline production workflows, including Dropbox for content management; and automatic playlist creation to simplify log maintenance. The DAD installation also integrates with Axia Livewire+, an AES-compliant Audio Over IP local area networking solution, to simplify facility-wide content sharing and distribution. “DAD automation controls Livewire+, triggering it to switch or route audio from point A to point B. If we have
a live network show coming in via satellite, DAD will switch that source and deliver it via Livewire+ to the appropriate destination for output to air,” Rhodes said. WJCT’s IT Manager Denise Cox supervised the IT systems integration and assisted with the end-to-end DAD workflow, which was purchased through local reseller Broadcasters General Store. “When we were first shopping for this new radio automation system, Duane Smith, WJCT’s then VP of technology, selected the ENCO DAD system,” Rhodes said. “A primary driver was
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NPR’s deployment of ENCO DAD systems in conjunction with its Content Depot project, as we knew it was being successfully used in the NPR community. Since we’re receiving programming from their DAD systems, that made it a nice fit for our station too. Today, DAD is absolutely the backbone of our station. Without it, the cost to run our 24/7 station would be astronomical. There are many times when we don’t even notice it running. It’s just there, in the background, doing what it’s supposed to do.”
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NEW BLACKMAGIC DESIGN LIVE PRODUCTION WORKFLOW INSTALLED AT AL JAZEERA
The Al Jazeera Media Network had previously worked with KidZania in both the UAE and Qatar and when the decision was taken to expand that partnership, Manager of Technology Europe, Anil Chaman lead on the project locally. “Our aim was to replicate the broadcast experience as TMBi - 22
closely as we could, without all of the complexity,” he explains. “KidZania has very strict guidelines for partners like ourselves and ease of use was chief among them. What I liked about Blackmagic’s offering was its physical packaging. It’s naturally very user friendly and intuitive to use, whilst still
providing us with all the functionality we’d expect of our own studios.” The studio is made up of three distinct components, all largely operated by children, under the supervision of KidZania staff: the studio floor where the presenter delivers a five minute news cast to
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three camera heads; a production gallery where children can take control of various aspects of the production process; and a color separation overlay (CSO) or green screen setup. On the studio floor are three Blackmagic Studio Camera 4Ks providing a live feed over optical fiber, which is run via an ATEM Studio Converter and patched via SDI into a Smart Videohub 12x12 video router. The same optical fiber provides talkback and tally, with each camera operator having their own set of noise canceling headsets, enabling
them to take direction from the gallery. “The more complex roles such as vision mixing and audio are handled by a KidZania supervisor,” said Chaman. Blackmagic’s ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K with the ATEM 1 M/E Broadcast Panel was employed to produce the newscast on. “We then monitor everything from a series of preview monitors and while simultaneously recording to a HyperDeck Studio Pro. A secondary broadcast deck is used for VTs.” Scaling was hugely
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important to Al Jazeera on this project. “We even went as far as building a replica version of the same desk used in our own news broadcasts,” he concludes. “It had to feel real in every aspect of its design and operation or it was never going to work, even down to the training modules themselves, which, were developed with our editorial team.” For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com
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SAM CHOSEN FOR EUROMEDIA’S NEW FLEET OF THREE HYBRID 4K OB VANS EUROMEDIA turned to SAM for its new OB vans due to the flexibility and reliability of its products, as well as the level of post-sales and technical support provided. Consistency across all of its operations was also a consideration in the decision to invest in SAM technology: EUROMEDIA wanted to ensure that its operators could switch seamlessly between OB vans to ensure maximum efficiency. The broadcast services provider has invested in SAM’s market-leading Kahuna 9600 production switcher for its multi-format capabilities. Enabled by SAM’s unique FormatFusion3 technology, Kahuna supports any combination of SD, HD, TMBi - 24
1080p (level A & B) and 4K environments. Kahuna also allows EUROMEDIA to avoid the need to use valuable space within the OB van for external conversion equipment. EUROMEDIA has also installed SAM’s Sirius 800 routers with advanced hybrid processing (AHP), integrated with VSM controllers, in its new OB vans. The Sirius 800 delivers operational flexibility, redundancy and provides processing capability on every input and output. This latter feature generates huge space, cabling, cost and power savings – all critical within an OB environment. EUROMEDIA is an existing SAM customer, having already invested in its ICE
CiaB and Morpheus playout automation technology. Gaël Tanguy, Technical Director at EUROMEDIA said, “Our aim is to remain the premium technical service provider in the broadcast live events space, whether we’re talking about the summer athletics, a major football tournament or a live music event. We’ve worked closely with SAM to help us reach this goal, and the support that they provide us on a day-to-day basis is critical. SAM offers the best solutions to help us build our operations to cope with whatever our customers require.” More information can be found at: www.s-a-m.com
RTS SELECTED BY NBC OLYMPICS NBC Olympics selects RTS as its broadcast intercom provider for its production of 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, first Olympics use of RTS OMNEO Technology The announcement was made by John Pastore, Director of Broadcast Communications for NBC Sports & Olympics and Ralph Strader, Director Global Product Management, RTS. “We are proud of our long-standing partnership with the NBC team,” says Ralph Strader, “and that RTS continues to be their brand of choice for broadcasting the world’s largest sporting events. The RTS equipment list for NBC’s Olympics coverage in Rio is extensive, including OMNEO, RVON, IP trunking ADAM intercom matrix and intercom panels.” “NBC Olympics has a long history of using RTS products for its coverage of the Olympic Games. By using RTS’ OMNEO and IP Trunking services, we will once again be able to expand the boundaries of intercom communications during our coverage of the Olympic Games,” says Pastore. For more information on NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Rio Olympics, please visit: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/ For further information, please visit www.rtsintercoms.com
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TNDV NETWORKS TWO LIVE WORSHIP EVENT PRODUCTIONS addition to contributing, managing and distributing video and audio signals, builtin Voice over IP connectivity allowed the crews to communicate as if the trucks were parked right next to each other as usual.”
The unusual aspect is that the unrelated events discovered each other shortly before they took place. AzusaNow Producer Mark Herring of 3D Technical Directions inquired with TNDV president and owner Nic Dugger about the possibility of providing a live link between the two events to share content. Unbeknownst to them, a second TNDV crew was already onsite in DC preparing for the UnitedCry project. “TNDV has worked with this client before, and as this project developed I knew we had to have their level of service and expertise on this show,” said Herring. “I knew that Nic and his team would bring their ‘A Game’ and do whatever it took to make it happen. Once the live DC link came up, I knew Nic and his team would make it work. TMBi - 26
In addition to the live link complexity, our audio infrastructure was massive. Between 13 different bands and countless speakers, audio routing was particularly intense. Between my audio lead, Kelly Epperson, TNDV’s audio engineering team, and our broadcast audio engineers, everything came out amazing.” “Our mobile trucks are built for networking, as we commonly bring two trucks to large events to create a common, unified infrastructure for sharing video, audio and intercom signals across a centralized routing architecture,” said Dugger. “Adding a live, bidirectional link was essentially just a longdistance, wide-area extension of our traditional local-area networking approach to unifying multiple disparate production elements. In
TNDV established the live contribution via hardware from Teradek, LLC, with Corporate Events Online also helping to manage the live bidirectional link. The real-time HD feeds were encoded and decoded while communications were established over VoIP hardware interfaced with an RTS matrix intercom on each truck. That connectivity allowed the two trucks to transmit and receive special program content, including prayer recitals in English and Spanish, over a secure, bandwidth-rich connection to support optimum image quality. TNDV customized the acquisition and production infrastructure at each location. The company’s flagship 40-foot expanding side Aspiration truck powered the AzusaNow event, which commemorates the historic Azusa Street Revival of 1906 where multiple races joined together to usher in the Pentecostal Movement. Taking place at the 93,607seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a former Olympic venue, TNDV captured the 15-hour event using nine Hitachi Kokusai SK-HD1000
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cameras, and provided all television support for invenue IMAG and live broadcasts, including GOD TV (satellite TV and OTT systems) and YouTube. Live feeds were also provided to local media covering the event. The massive size of the venue made camera runs a challenge for TNDV, further hampered by the venue’s policy of limiting production teams to its antiquated cabling infrastructure. TNDV’s MultiDyne SMPTE-HUT fiber transceivers ensured that camera signals were cleanly transported to the on-board Aspiration crew for live switching and monitoring.
“We were not able to pull cables from truck to camera as we traditionally do, but the existing fiber infrastructure in the venue allowed us the opportunity to apply all our special adapters, including our MultiDyne fiber blocks, to power long-distance video and audio transport and enable a full audio split,” said Dugger. “We used this same signal transport strategy to power five large LED video boards inside the arena, and transmit all of our live broadcast feeds.” Back in Washington DC, TNDV used its Elevation HD truck to power cameras, video and graphics playback, and audio mixing and
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multitracking. The event, held at the Lincoln Memorial, gathered more than 30,000 pastors and Christian Leaders to gather and pray for America’s future. The seven-hour event featured a lineup that repeatedly transitioned between musical acts and speakers, which made the attention to detail in lighting and audio especially significant. The UnitedCry broadcast was also distributed by TNDV and carried live on GOD TV. In addition to the similar thematic content of each event, both crews were faced with weather-related production challenges from setup to teardown.
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DIELECTRIC RELEASES DIELECTRIC ANTENNA SYSTEMS PLANNING (DASP) SOFTWARE VERSION 7.0 AS FREE WEB-BASED SERVICE With the 1995 introduction of DASP, Dielectric was among the first antenna and RF systems suppliers to offer design software. Version 7.0 adds a smart, interactive user interface along with a wide array of new features and functionality, assuring that consultants and broadcasters have the broadest array of planning tools to simplify the upfront system design process. The online service and richer toolset also further reduces the proposal development timeline for Dielectric proposal engineers, who will quickly become very busy in the early phases of the Spectrum Repack process. TMBi - 28
Since it is a web-based program with design import functionality, Dielectric customers will receive updates throughout the year on new products, elevation and azimuth patterns. “Our newest DASP software will save the broadcast industry from the huge quagmire that an antenna design bottleneck could cause,” said John Schadler, vice president of engineering, Dielectric. “Given the impending TV Spectrum Repack—with increased demand by broadcasters needing to buy and install antennas to support their new DTV channels—we estimate as many as 1400 proposals
in a three-month period during the proposal and quotation phase of the Repack. DASP allows industry professionals to be proactive, and take charge of their antenna system planning.” Based on information that customers input about their antenna needs, the DASP interface guides them through the custom design process. Using DASP’s antenna database, users can confidently match the new antenna’s design to their unique technical parameters, such as polarization, elevation and azimuth patterns, and transmission line requirements.
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Once they’ve chosen a basic design direction, the system’s smart menus and inherent logic prevent users from making inappropriate choices that would be incompatible with their technical objectives, such as choosing the wrong transmission line for their desired ERP. New functionality allows users to flexibly base their designs on either ERP or TPO, and flip back and forth between the two with a simple toggle button. Since DASP 7.0 adds vertical polarization, users can try out different elliptical polarizations, such as a 60/40 or 70/30 split between horizontal and vertical, or a full CP 50/50 circular polarization, and their designs adjust and update automatically. These options will also prove valuable to international TV and global FM broadcasters, given
Dielectric’s expansive portfolio of high-power and low-power antennas. Version 7.0 also adds multi-lingual capability to better serve international users, with support for Spanish, Portuguese and German languages. DASP’s online environment allows users to access the FCC’s database, input their station’s call letters, and import their FCC file pattern. Broadcasters and their RF consultants can explore design options, rotate the pattern for different perspectives, and experiment with gains, powers and polarization, among other attributes, all while viewing their design in relation to the FCC footprint for their coverage area. DASP 7.0 also allows users to export files in multiple file formats that can be transferred directly to the FCC, streamlining the FCC filing
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process. Once plans are ready, users can print out a summary of their antenna specifications or send the DASP plans to Dielectric’s engineers. This reduces delivery times because the time-consuming antenna system planning work will have been completed. After reviewing the customer’s plans, including perfecting the design, and confirming the price and product, Dielectric proposal engineers can expedite the order. In the future, Dielectric plans to embed powerful design software engines— and dynamic pattern generation—into DASP. These more advanced features and capabilities will allow “super-users” of the software service to go beyond planning to fully design their own broadcast antenna systems.
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TIGHTROPE MEDIA SYSTEMS’ ZEPLAY BOOSTS FAN EXPERIENCE AT SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Media Services Department finds value in ZEPLAY’s compact footprint, quick learning curve and reliable performance in live production these requirements. “Of all the capital improvements we have made, ZEPLAY has done the most to enhance the gameday experience,” said Ian Fritzsche, Director of Media Services, Southeastern University. “ZEPLAY was half the price and offered twice the functionality other comparable systems on the market, with a faster learning curve and better ease of use. I watched demos of several leading replay systems at an NAB show, and ZEPLAY had the simplest, most intuitive operation. I felt confident that I could run ZEPLAY in a live production situation 20 minutes into the demo.”
The stadium buildout and control room upgrades were aligned with the formation of the Southeastern Fire football program. To stimulate fan engagement inside the stadium, the Media Services Department wanted an affordable, multichannel TMBi - 30
instant replay server that would deliver high-quality video clips, yet was simple enough for students to operate with minimal training. ZEPLAY, currently priced at $45,000, proved to be the only instant replay server to meet or exceed each of
The learning curve was important as broadcast students run most of the control room equipment during sports and live events. From an instructional level, Fritzsche and the broadcast professors ran ZEPLAY in demo mode to accelerate student learning, which allowed students to practice creating replays using older game footage. Students very quickly move on to advanced ZEPLAY features, such as
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building highlight packages at halftime and following the game. From a workflow perspective, ZEPLAY offers replay operators a built-in switcher and multiviewer to manage and monitor eight (four in, four out) high-quality video angles. Camera feeds from the stadium are delivered to ZEPLAY over SMPTE fiber connections, with replays distributed to invenue displays and integrated within live broadcasts streamed over the university’s website. Its compact design has proven to be another benefit in the new control room, which is rich in highquality equipment but challenged in terms of real estate. Since going live with ZEPLAY, Fritzsche is equally enthused at both its quality and performance – vital to translating the excitement of replays to the stadium
experience – and how quickly students have adapted to its operation. The latter point is especially important to Fritzsche in an educational environment. “Producing great-looking and entertaining sportscasts is a priority for us, but giving our broadcasting students practical, hands-on experience is equally
important,” he said. “We wanted a replay system that our student would likely encounter as they seek professional media jobs upon graduation. Since ZEPLAY is widely installed, our students will be qualified to operate it given their experience running it in our live sports productions.” http://www.trms.com.
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EFICIENT WORKFLOW WITH RIEDEL AT TV 5
Riedel Communications Gains Traction in Southeast Asia With Installation at Thailand's TV 5 Riedel Communications has deepened its presence in Southeast Asia with a new installation of the company's equipment at Royal Thai Army Radio and Television (TV 5). Adoption of Riedel gear will enable the broadcaster to realize a simpler, more flexible, and more efficient workflow in bringing content to viewers.
"Riedel's products are quickly gaining acceptance worldwide because they are simple, cost-effective, and efficient systems that deliver exceptional performance and new levels of flexibility and functionality," said Cameron O'Neill, director, Asia-Pacific region, at Riedel Communications. "While the installations at industryleading media facilities such as TV 5 are among our first in Southeast Asia, we anticipate that these companies' TMBi - 32
successes with Riedel equipment will lead to further adoption in the region." TV 5 is a terrestrial free-toair-television channel located in Bangkok, and it broadcasts local dramas and entertainment. The company is deploying five MediorNet frames to support more versatile and sophisticated routing of audio, video, and data in support of broadcast operations. As a best-in-class product that combines and improves on the functionality
of multiple individual devices at a fraction of the cost, the MediorNet system presents TV 5 with a lower total cost of ownership than if the broadcaster had invested in multiple individual solutions needed to achieve the same capabilities. Because the Riedel media network is scalable, TV 5 can easily expand the network to accommodate its growth. Further information is available at www.riedel.net.
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CANTEMO LAUNCHES CANTEMO PORTAL 2.4 collections into other collections.
With static access rules, the rule is set permanently until it is changed or removed manually or by another rule. Metadata values can now be included within the rules to enable intelligent processing and movement of assets depending on those metadata values. Cantemo Portal 2.4 also introduces enhancements to the advanced search
capability, enabling inclusion or exclusion of certain NLE projects or collections when searching. This could be used to apply a group action to all items within a specific project, such as quickly archiving those assets, for example. The collections page now includes filtering by data and media type, plus drag and drop functionality for moving assets and
The player within Cantemo Portal has also been enhanced, with the upper limit for fast forward and rewind now removed, and the addition of support for slow motion playback, both in forward and rewind. Cantemo has extended its support for integration with storage methods, with Portal now able to connect with remote SFTP storage and S3 buckets. Cantemo Portal 2.4 will be demonstrated on the NMR booth (#220) at the Media Production Show, from 9th – 10th June. For an overview of the features in this version refer to: https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=bsJN-1VLHmI
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BroadcastAsia is the region’s leading multimedia and entertainment technology event that presents the latest in digital and interactive media, covering the entire value chain of content creation, management, and distribution.
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ADDER TECHNOLOGY N New IP-based KVM solutions
Adder Technology will be showcasing a host of new technology solutions at this year’s Broadcast Asia event from 31 May to 03 June in Singapore. Visitors to the show will be the first in the region to see the new AdderLink XDIP extender in action. The AdderLink XDIP is an IP-based KVM extension technology which allows
small IP matrices to be created without the need for a separate manager or control system. Each device features an onboard configuration interface for setup and to make live changes. The device also features feed-through ports, which are ideal for AV applications. Another feature of the XDIP is that each end point can be either a receiver (RX) or transmitter (TX) allowing customers to fluidly reconfigure their installation without the need for additional devices.
Adder Technology will also be launching the Adder CUSB LAN network extender at the show where it will be demonstrated live on stand in conjunction with a number of other products that demonstrate the value that IP-based KVM can bring to the broadcast ecosystem. The Adder C-USB LAN can be used alongside the AdderLink Infinity matrix to deliver high-speed USB2.0 extension at 480 megabits per second making it ideal for file ingest from cameras or other USB devices.
Other highlights at the show will include: • The AdderLink XD150FX fibre extender, a highperformance point-to-point fibre extender with USB2.0 that can transmit high quality video — up to 2560x1600 — and analogue audio over a duplex fibre optic cable. The extender enables users to locate critical computing hardware away from workspaces in an access and temperature controlled environment. This latest addition to the range includes a built-in level of IP control with the inclusion of a network port, which enables it to be controlled by other systems. • Adder RED-PSU power distribution unit, with optional redundancy. The newly launched 19 inch rack-mountable solution features 8/16 lockable power outputs, two hotswappable power modules, a web interface and intelligent load balancing for 24/7 reliability.
• A VGA computer access module (CAM) that complements the range of modules available for the AdderView DDX matrix. The VGA CAM is designed specifically for use with the AdderView DDX range, a compact and flexible digital matrix solution. This new module supports VGA connections which ensures all DDX matrix systems can now flexibly handle both analogue and digital sources. These new solutions and a variety of Adder’s other high performance IP-based KVM products will be on show at the Adder Technology stand 4D2-06.
BLUEBELL OPTICOM "We're constantly innovating to stay ahead of technological trends and to make sure that your Bluebell fibre link will work flawlessly in live-on-air applications, whether you're using our portable, stand-alone devices designed for outside
broadcast or our highly versatile rack-based systems in a studio — or any combination in between. This innovation will be on display at BroadcastAsia2016. Check out the new BCX-760 Series, the first camera-back interface to map signals onto a 10G Ethernet point-to-point link." — Paul McCann, Managing Director, Bluebell Opticom. NEW BCX-760 Series 10G Ethernet Point-to-Point Fibre Link
At BroadcastAsia2016, Bluebell Opticom will showcase the BCX-760 Series 10G Ethernet point-topoint fibre link, a cameraback interface that allows easy connection and signal transport between a camera and an OB truck or a base station. In a first for the industry, BCX interfaces map all signals presented at the back of any broadcast camera onto a 10G Ethernet point-to-point link, ensuring safe, robust, interferenceimmune, high-quality TMBi - 37
transport over much longer distances than have been possible before. The BCX-760 Series products are designed to create rugged connections in a range of OB environments such as special-event venues, ENG sites, sports arenas, and golf courses. They can also serve as a replacement for heavy SMPTE hybrid connections on cameras in a studio setting, and in certain variations can be deployed to link and control remote robotic cameras. The BCX range will transport both digital 3G-SDI program video and return video, as well as composite feeds for genlock, analogue audio for intercom signals, and Gigabit Ethernet for network access. A single, lightweight fibre cable eases rigging, and customers can link multiple cameras over the same cable using Bluebell's muxing and wavelengthmanagement systems. TDM-750 HD-SDI Module With Ethernet Fibre Interface
Making its Asian debut at BroadcastAsia2016 will be the TDM-750, a rackmounted module for singledirection transport of HD-SDI and 100Base-T Ethernet signals. Requiring only two fibres with an option for single-fibre operation, the TDM-750 is perfect for smaller robotic/POV camera systems that require only a single video path and TMBi - 38
bidirectional data via Ethernet. The unit can be used widely in broadcast and security applications. BC364 WavelengthManagement System With Remote Monitoring
The BC364 multiformat interface takes in multiple optical signals and retransmits them at wavelengths that can be inserted into a CWDM mux. On the other end of the link, the signals are returned to their individual state. This functionality, coupled with Bluebell's ShaxX powerinsertion technology, is what makes camera multiplexing possible. In this application, the BC364 is packaged with ShaxX in a flight case to facilitate the operation of multiple broadcast HD-SDI camera systems over a single fibre. Remote monitoring capabilities make it easy and convenient to oversee the system from a distance via a network connection. ShaxX SMPTE Hybrid Cable Alternative With Power Insertion for Broadcast Cameras
At BroadcastAsia2016, visitors will see Bluebell Opticom's ShaxX, a rugged system designed to provide full bidirectional signalling and power for broadcast cameras fitted with standard SMPTE 304M hybrid connectors. The ShaxX allows OB and remote production crews to forgo
SMPTE hybrid cables and take advantage of preinstalled fibre networks on location in order to cut rigging time and position cameras freely wherever they are needed, regardless of distance or the location of mains power sources. The ShaxX works with Bluebell's Shax hybrid alternative interface to provide power to the camera without having to transport it from a remote CCU. Users can multiplex complete camera chains onto a single duplex single-mode fibre and power them locally. Furthermore, using Bluebell's popular BC Series footprint, ShaxX offers a complete wavelength-management capability while providing all camera and CCU communications. In this way, users can easily deploy up to 16 cameras and connect them over a single cable. WB170 Converter System for Compact, 1-RU 3G-SDI, HDSDI, SD-SDI, and ASI Transport
Bluebell will also showcase the WB170 at BroadcastAsia2016, an ultracompact, 19-inch rack-mount media converter for converting up to 32 independent 3G-SDI, HDSDI, SD-SDI, or ASI signals onto fibre. The WB170 can be populated with WB172 transmitter or receiver cards inserted in the front of the frame. At BroadcastAsia2016, TMBi - 39
Bluebell Opticom will introduce additional frame options for the WB170 range that come in a fixed format in popular configurations. The new, attractively priced variants will include electricalto-optical conversion and optical multiplexing. Also new to BroadcastAsia2016 will be the latest addition to the WB170 system, the WB17263 card for format conversion and HDMI monitoring within the WB170 frame. A compact, rack-based
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multiformat converter for use with a wide range of broadcast signals, the WB172-63's base unit comprises two SFP cages. By using different SFP converter modules, the unit's functionality can be adapted to suit different applications. The WB172-63 card offers a cost-effective range of options such as distribution, format conversion, monitoring, and wavelength management including CWDM.
CALREC Brio Compact Digital Audio Console
Calrec Audio's new Brio console makes its Asian debut at KOBA 2016 and BroadcastAsia2016. Brio is the most powerful and compact digital broadcast audio console in its class, with a comprehensive broadcast feature set that supports a wider breadth of broadcasters while retaining the same market-leading
levels of quality and customer support for which Calrec is renowned. The smallest in Calrec's Bluefin2 family, Brio's control surface is unlike any other. At only 892 mm wide, the 36 dual-layer fader surface provides more faders in a given footprint than any other audio broadcast console. Based on Calrec's 20 years of digital development, Brio's uncluttered, compact, and configurable surface gives instant access to a large number of audio paths whilst an intuitive 15.6-inch HD touchscreen UI provides quick access to more indepth control. A bank of illuminating hardware rotary controls gives fast and precise control over parameters displayed in the touchscreen UI. Brio is entirely selfcontained, with analogue and digital I/O and GPIO built into the surface. Additional expansion I/O slots allow for further I/O integration, and fitting an available Hydra2
module makes it possible to connect to and share audio over Calrec's Hydra2 network. RP1 Remote Production Unit
Calrec Audio's RP1 remote production unit makes its Asian debut at BroadcastAsia2016 and KOBA 2016 following its highly successful reception at the 2016 NAB Show. Visitors will see a unique livebroadcast product that directly addresses an increasingly prevalent requirement for high-quality content from remote locations. Remote production offers the ability to capture a broader range of live events, such as sports, news, or regional music festivals. Broadcasters cannot always justify the time or expense of sending a dedicated outside broadcast truck and a team of skilled on-site operators for these niche events, but they must always ensure that the same high broadcast
standards are met. Calrec's new RP1 remote production engine is a 2U core that contains integrated, FPGA-based DSP, which enables a console surface at another facility to control all mixing functionality. The RP1 core manages all of the processing for IFB routing and remote monitor mixes, and it does so locally with no latency. This level of integration and remote control makes it simple for any remote mix engineer to set up IFB mixes and eradicates any delay for remote listeners or presenters. The RP1 core quickly embeds audio into existing video-transport mechanisms, while its modular I/O backbone accepts any of Calrec's I/O cards. This versatility means the RP1 can connect via analogue, AES, MADI, SDI, and the latest AoIP solutions from AES67, Ravenna, Dante, and SMPTE 2022. TMBi - 41
IKEGAMI Introducing 4K UHK-430 to APAC Market at BroadcastAsia 2016
Ikegami's new 4K UHK-430 portable broadcast camera will be introduced to the Asia Pacific market at BroadcastAsia 2016 following its highly successful demonstration at the recent CABSAT exhibition in Dubai and at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. 4K resolution and high dynamic range have become important issues throughout the broadcast media industry, as content producers and delivery channels plan their investment strategy for the coming five to 10 years. The first in Ikegami's newgeneration UNICAM XE range of cameras, the UHK430 incorporates three newlydeveloped 4K-native 2/3 inch 8 megapixel CMOS sensors which provide full 3840 x 2160 ultra-high definition resolution, plus the depth of field required for studio and outdoor production. The UHK-430 delivers four times more image detail than high definition and has a colour depth of 10 bits per pixel instead of the current limit of 8 bits per pixel. The UHK-430 incorporates a B4 bayonet mount compatible with 2/3 inch HD lenses. An optional SE-U430 expander accommodates large studio or OB lenses. Two piece construction TMBi - 42
allows the sensor and lens head to be detached as a compact unit for easy deployment on a support devices such as long-reach manually-controlled camera
poles. In this mode, the head can be operated up to 50 metres from the camera body. At the heart of the UHK-430 is a new processor, the AXII,
reducing power consumption and delivering a wide range of features including 16-axis colour correction and new focus-assist for 4K and HD video modes. The AXII also
provides the processing for Ikegami's newly developed iLog transfer characteristic which delivers high contrast for a wider dynamic range. This allows more image
information to be retained for greater headroom and colour grading. The ITU-R BT.2020 extended colour space specification is supported in 4K mode. BT. 709 colour space is supported in both 4K and HD modes. Ikegami viewfinders available for the UHK-430 include the 7.4-inch OLED VFE741D, the 7-inch full HD resolution LCD VFL701D LCD and the 2-inch portable LCD VFL201D. All three include a serial digital interface for integrated camera and viewfinder menu control. The companion Ikegami CCU-430 camera control unit enables easy migration from HD to 4K live production. Features include switchable 4 x 3G-SDI 4K output as well as HD output. An optional plug-in board makes 4K video, HD video, and HD cutout from 4K available simultaneously. 12G-SDI and video-over-IP interfaces will be introduced in the coming months. A built-in 40 gigabits per second optical transceiver delivers full bandwidth 4K RGB 4:4:4 component channels from camera to CCU, allowing very high quality chroma keying. Dual HD outputs are provided for teleprompt and talent monitor plus return video lines from studio to viewfinder. The UHK-430 also has a Gigabit Ethernet data port to allow networked control. TMBi - 43
LIVEU Ten years ago, LiveU disrupted the industry and ushered in the IP revolution in broadcasting with cellular
bonding. Since then, the adoption of IP-based workflows in broadcasting has grown tremendously with LiveU remaining at the forefront of this tech
evolution. With new, innovative hardware and software solutions, strategic partnerships, and advances in 4K, LiveU is transforming the way broadcasters and online video content creators produce, integrate, and share high-quality streaming content. At BroadcastAsia2016, LiveU will present its full range of live video acquisition, management and distribution solutions over IP and latest additions to its portfolio. LiveU’s New LU710 4K Encoder
LiveU will showcase its next-generation LU710 4K/p60 rack-mountable 1U encoder. Combined with the Xtender transmission device (LiveU’s external antenna with six modems, delivering video rates of up to 40 Mbps) and LiveU’s enhanced server with 4K output, the LU710 encoder transforms any SNG truck into a fully mobile hybrid cellular/satellite solution for transmitting 4K/HD video with improved efficiency. Delivering superior video performance, the LU710 is fully integrated in the LiveU ecosystem via the LiveU Central browser-based management platform. APAC Debut of LiveU Solo
LiveU will demonstrate its new plug-and-play live streaming bonded solution for TMBi - 44
the online media market, LiveU Solo. LiveU Solo allows users to live-stream seamlessly into any web streaming workflow by connecting automatically to popular content delivery networks such as Facebook, YouTube Live and Wowza Streaming Cloud™. Solo is simple to manage and control remotely via a web interface or smart device. Also on show
• LiveU’s award-winning LU500 portable transmission unit. Weighing around 1 kg (2.2 lbs), LiveU’s LU500 offers the ultimate combination of high
performance and portability; • LU200 ultra-small portable transmission unit and LU200e, the most costeffective video encoder on the market, enabling streaming for web distribution, point to point, and point to multi-point for a fraction of the cost of other solutions; • LiveU Central, cloud-based management and video distribution system, enabling fleets of units to be centrally controlled using geolocation capabilities; • LiveU’s new, enhanced version of MultiPoint, internal and cross-
organizational professional video distribution service, enabling the sharing of high-quality live video between multiple broadcast facilities over the public Internet; • LU-Smart mobile app, bringing bonded transmission to mobile phones & tablets.
RIEDEL COMMUNICATIONS "Attendees at BroadcastAsia2016 will find that our MediorNet real-time media network and the MicroN network device in
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particular, are much more than just fiber transport and glue. We look forward to demonstrating how these systems enable a uniquely flexible new approach to routing — one that brings users an array of benefits when compared with conventional monolithic systems. We also will feature the new Expansion Smartpanel, which makes it easy to augment our popular Smartpanel system with further customizable keys and displays." Rajveer Singh, General Manager, South East Asia. MediorNet MicroN as a Versatile Decentralized Router
MicroN is a high-density media distribution network device for Riedel's MediorNet line of real-time media transport and management solutions. At BroadcastAsia2016, Riedel will demonstrate how interconnected MicroN units can be deployed to create a decentralized routing system that distributes signal load, takes advantage of flexible node placement, and eliminates any single point of failure to create an attractive alternative to traditional monolithic routers. MicroN is poised for 4K and IP workflows, and provides TMBi - 46
greater flexibility in building media infrastructures, from signal transport to full video router functionality including signal processing. With these on-board signal-processing capabilities, a MicroN-based solution can handle SDI signals in a very powerful, tremendously versatile, and highly scalable routing solution ideal for productions of all sizes and complexity. ESP-2324 Expansion Smartpanel
The new Expansion Smartpanel (ESP-2324) for Riedel's award-winning RSP2318 Smartpanel is making its BroadcastAsia2016 debut. The Smartpanel itself is a powerful multifunctional user interface with features and capabilities that enrich the user experience and change the way broadcasters and A/V professionals communicate. By connecting the new Expansion Smartpanel directly to this unit, users immediately gain an additional 24 keys, four high-resolution multitouch color displays, premiumquality stereo audio, and built-in matrix connectivity via AES67 or AVB — all packaged in just 1 RU. Because as many as four Expansion Smartpanels are supported by Riedel's RSP-
2318 intercom app for the Smartpanel, users have the ability to extend their Smartpanel configurations to include up to 19 displays and 114 keys.
SAM Snell Advanced Media at BroadcastAsia 2016
At stand 5D3-01, SAM will show a host of technologies that explore the company’s position in software/virtualization, solutions for monitoring and workflow, IP and 4K. Software/Virtualization
SAM offers sophisticated software-driven platforms and going forward, it will transition further to a datacenter model for many additional product offerings. SAM’s CiaB solutions - ICE, ICE IP, and ICE SDC - coupled with Morpheus, Momentum and SAM’s xFile framework form a pathway to the future. In response to the growing market demand for adjusting content duration, SAM is demonstrating Alchemist Kronos, which brings Alchemist’s unmatched image quality to the application of duration adjustment within the software based xFile series.
Monitoring and Workflow
SAM’s Media Biometrics will be on show, bringing unique capabilities to monitoring. For the first time, automated monitoring can not only understand the quality of media, but that it’s the right media. It’s now shipping in products across SAM’s portfolio including the new Sirius 800 integrated multiviewer, enabling monitoring by exception and reducing cost of operations. Enabling the IP Transition
SAM will be demonstrating its full range of IP solutions, highlighting how it can help customers make a risk-free transition to IP whilst still addressing their current business needs. SAM’s new IP-Edge technology takes complexity away from hybrid and pure IP rollouts. Products
that are IP-Edge enabled include routers, switchers, IQ processing, servers and playout systems, and customers can buy with confidence knowing that IPEdge systems closely follow the interoperability goals of AIMS. One of the first products launched in the IP Edge family is the IQ Edge processing solution, developed to bridge the gap to IP environments by offering a range of image and audio processing capabilities in an integrated package. Leading 4K Solutions
SAM’s new Kula switcher range will be shown in Asia for the first time during BroadcastAsia 2016. Kula has already created a huge amount of interest in the market as the most powerful production switcher in its class. It breaks new ground
with its price point and performance combination. Easy installation and set-up means operators can work quickly and efficiently, focusing on high value creative tasks. It’s capable of 4K/1080p/HD and SD in 1M/E and 2M/E versions, and can handle multiple formats making it both future-proof and adaptable for today’s production environment. SAM will also be demonstrating its LiveTouch sports highlights solution, built on the company’s latest generation of 4K production servers, offering replay, slowmotion and powerful editing with no media movements.
SGL SGL's FlashNet content management solution is designed to integrate seamlessly with MAM or
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automation control systems to provide significant improvements to workflow efficiency without intruding on the users’ familiar desktop. SGL’s Open System Architecture provides broadcasters, post production facilities, and news/sport organisations with reliable, scalable solutions with substantial cost and workflow benefits. At Broadcast Asia 2016 SGL will show its new FlashNet Infinity user interface for the first time in Asia, which includes the following key features: NEW – FlashNet Infinity: At Broadcast Asia 2016 SGL will demonstrate new FlashNet features including a preview of the new FlashNet Infinity TMBi - 48
user interface. FlashNet Infinity, which provides customers with an elegant dashboard that further simplifies archive procedures with sophisticated tools for archive and restore functionality, system health, monitoring, analysis, reporting and more, will be incrementally rolled out over the next 12 months. SGL will highlight features including: automated workflows to offload or backup media content from online storage to low-cost storage and deep archive, support for inline partial file restore and new archive analytics to help improve operational planning and efficiency. Full Avid Archive Manager
demonstration on Avid booth: SGL will be showing a full Avid Archive Manager workflow in conjunction with an Avid Interplay demo on the Avid booth, as well as the cost-effective FlashNet IPWS workflow. Visitors to the SGL demonstration on the Avid booth will also find out how to efficiently restore SGL archived Avid Interplay sequences using the enterprise LTFS restore application for emergency recovery. NEW - Media production workflow by Gemiso: Media and workflow software developer Gemiso will demonstrate a highly efficient media production workflow with SGL FlashNet including remote management using a Smartphone.
NEW – Support for AXF: SGL now supports reading and restoring from SMPTE’s Archive exchange Format (AXF). FlashNet, SGL’s flagship content management storage system, can now read and process AXF objects providing greater flexibility for customers working with both LTFS and AXF archived objects. This ensures long term availability of content in the future regardless of technology evolution. • NEW – Archive content transferred to the cloud or remote locations using Expedat Gateway: SGL’s integration with Expedat allows media professionals to create workflows from their MAM or archive system and to collaborate
on the creation and sharing of high quality, high resolution content. It utilises the low-cost, flexible nature of AWS cloud storage services to ‘park’ project content or to create off-site archive backups for disaster recovery purposes. The SGL integration with Expedat’s network acceleration gateway technology means that broadcasters and content owners can quickly and reliably transfer material directly to remote sites or to Amazon AWS cloud storage from their MAM or archive production systems using SGL FlashNet. • NEW - Checksum Support: SGL now provides Checksum support to further protect data. The
Checksum feature receives or calculates the Checksum of each asset in either MD5 or SHAI format, and validates the Checksum when the asset is about to be used to ensure that it has not become corrupted in some way. • NEW – Pre-defined drives for specific archive roles: The new version of FlashNet allows customers to allocate a pre-defined number of drives within their library for a specific role, such as archiving Avid jobs only, or restoring/archiving material at a certain time of day. This allows larger broadcasters with multiple drives to further improve operational procedures.
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In Madrid we find the most important HUB of FOX in Europe. We have visited their facilities to talk to Antonio Tablero, Operations Manager.
INTERVIEW WITH ANTONIO TABLERO, OPERATIONS MANAGER. What is the origin of FOX's center? Since the launching of FOX in 2001, Broadcasting Operations have increased in scale and scope up to 270 feeds, which we now deliver in Europe and Africa. In February 2015 we began to redefine our facilities in Madrid, to remain competitive and efficient. Today, we have a Center of Media Operations in Ciudad de la Imagen, a storage and communications center at the Interxion data center and the company's headquarters in Calle Orense. The three centers
are connected by a ring of 40Gbps. The Center of Media Operations in Ciudad de la Imagen is where workflow starts and ends: material acquisition, quality control of masters, quality management and control of every language version and reworking, that are then delivered to the different linear playout centers and assets for ondemand video services. The most creative and strategic part of the company is located in Calle Orense: marketing, sales, programming, design and post-production.
What operations are being carried out from Spain? In our operations center we manage about 50 linear distribution channels and
about 120 feeds for Spain and other countries in Europe and Africa. As to volume, it is the biggest HUB of the FOX Network Group in Europe. Next to these facilities, in Overon Madrid, we have 22 linear play outs and we also manage 18 linear channels from the cloud, with solutions developed by Inetsat for Finland, Estonia, Norway, Romania, Holland and other countries. This volume of channels explains the largescale facilities that we have and the stability of our professionals. Our team has hardly changed in the last eight years, except for new hires. Similarly, we have significantly developed the preparation of files and packages for VOD services. In just four years we have gone from having a few packages, to more than TMBi - 51
22,000 VOD packages delivered over the last year, in order for our content to be accessible to consumers, choosing how and when, through own services of payment operators.
Please let us know about your workflow. It is a complex process, not only because it involves many steps, but also because we have to adapt to the different modes of delivery set by studios and production companies. We do not only work with 20th Century Fox Television, but with many other providers. Generally, everything starts when we receive the confirmation of product acquisition, and then the program schedules. We then have to make the
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We manage about 50 linear distribution channels and about 120 feeds for Spain and other countries in Europe and Africa. As to volume, it is the biggest HUB of the FOX Network Group in Europe.
estimates of resources that we are going to need. Once we have access to the materials that have been sent, we define processes to
cover the editorial and legal needs of each market to which content is to be delivered. To do so, we need to adapt our intake flows to the delivery processes of each studio or production company. The exchange of files is done through Smartjog, Signiant or Aspera, which are the systems authorized by our group, even though in some very special cases we also use FTP. In that regarding languages, we work at least with two dubbing/subtitling companies. Sometimes we work with up to 20 different languages, which greatly complicates timing when having to receive every version to prepare the broadcasting asset. Normally, dubbing starts 40
This strategy has been held steadily over years but now, due to the threat of piracy, release timings are much shorter with respect to United States.
days before broadcasting. In case of voice over it's 15 days, and for subtitles, 7 days before its premiere. This strategy has been held steadily over years but now, due to the threat of piracy, release timings are much shorter with respect to United States, which means that our services are continually being tested. We often work with short time limits for the receipt of broadcasted material, hours from the US premiere and the procedures are the same: once it is received, setting up sync, components are closely checked for quality in each location, it is introduced in
the MAM system and filed along with metadata for the broadcasting management system, in our case, SintecMedia. For some local production series or historical files of other countries, we still receive tapes, although volume has declined to 1% of the total content that we handle, about one thousand monthly masters. Once completion of this stage, contents are classified as ready to be broadcasted, specifications are done depending on the systems in which the content is to be broadcasted and according to TMBi - 53
the playout flows of providers. Harmonic's broadcasting system in Amsterdam is not expecting the same type of file as Harmonic's system in Madrid. This all has to be taken into account and it responds directly to the technological development to which our providers are adapting to. Adaptation to technology makes every process different in each channel, ever since the material is received, and up until it is broadcasted. Therefore, we need to have flexible systems. Flexibility TMBi - 54
and productivity are the key of our facilities, in order to offer personalized attention to our internal customer and to develop feasible business strategies. This is why we have to avoid locked-in solutions. Major brands normally have one single flow system and adapting to them is restrictive and expensive. Mixing different languages in one same audio track based in linguistic preferences is very common in some areas. This is the case of the channel Mundo Fox, distributed in Angola and
However, the cloud offers appropriate services to deploy offshore play outs that we manage from Madrid. Servers can be installed anywhere in the world.
Mozambique, delivered in Angola's Portuguese but also in Brazilian Portuguese, Portugal's Portuguese or original language with subtitles according to the available locations.
What do you think about 4K? Are you ready to work with it? With regard to 4K, there is a lack of knowledge about it, but we have some hours of 4K content, mostly for Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic's channel on wildlife. In this Premium
brand, a lot of attention is drawn to production, and work is developed for quality to be the best possible. In any case, most productions that are being made today work with this technology and will gradually be incorporated to a catalogue of ultra high definition contents. For example, in April it was the world premiere of Story of God, a series of National Geographic Channel with Morgan Freeman, with spectacular 4K photography in the color space 2020. Along with other filmed and
post-produced productions in UHD such as Wild Venice, The Giant Serpent, etc., we have the possibility of packaging them and delivering them quite easily. However, the leap forward to HDR is still a problem due to lack of standardization. We have a long way to go yet. Within the renewal of the infrastructure, and even though we do not know what the distribution format is going to be, we are ready to support required 4K flows, without the other processes being affected. TMBi - 55
Do you have a deep file? We have a file storage system with a capacity close to a petabyte, supported by Isilon's EMC2 technology. Due to contracts with studios, we have to store the contents until the exploitation rights end. Management of the digital file is also progressing and changing to Tedial. For the time being, we have only worked with disks, as storage costs for every TB and the offered bandwidths are fairly reasonable. Even though at the beginning of the project we thought overload would all be derived towards cloud
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services, we have realized that the current situation is more advantageous in terms of internal growth, so this year we will add 450TB.
What is the cloud missing? In order to maintain the condition of our current files, on-premises domain is more than enough. However, the cloud offers appropriate services to deploy offshore play outs that we manage from Madrid. Servers can be installed anywhere in the world, which enables the launching of channels in any country in just a few weeks
time. Having content in the cloud is very flexible and, in a couple of hours, that content can be broadcasted. We upload the new material to the cloud, approved and perfect, we then add audios and subtitles for each country, and we then just have to set the output server with streams in the format that is required for its distribution.
What about incidents? The cloud is delocalized and distributed in several geographical areas. Local servers where streaming is done are set as 1+1, installed
in Data Centers with high availability services and preferably in those where technical services with experience in TV distribution are offered. In this way, we ensure monitoring and local maintenance of video signals, whether through distribution base band or comprised. Apart from this, the platform offered by Inetsat constantly warns us on possible problems based in the contents shown in the continuity play-list, alarms due to lack of location in the channel's configuration, alarms on the situation of servers, etc. The system is stable, with a powerful graphic capacity, automanaged content according to the internal storage capacity of servers and a management console and centralized configuration.
You use your own BPM... There are many solutions in the market. Our own MAM has a developed and powerful process management module but from our point of view it is too focused on Media, which in theory should be perfect for us. But we are not an isolated unit and we have to integrate ourselves with the rest of the company, where many other business processes are carried out, that nothing have to do with video files.
In these integrations we see that this BPM can reduce our regulatory burdens and provide us more accurate and instantaneous reports.
This is why we decided that we needed another type of BPM, an enterprise level solution. We adopted Oracle's BPM Suite. We therefore have a component, Service Bus, which is crucial for us due to the number and complexity of systems. Through Service Bus we can connect different content management systems in Europe and resources to optimize operations at the level of the hub of Madrid and the region. A system updating will only need an updating of its connector with Service Bus, with no need to modify the processes managed by users, which are transparent to systems. Apart from integrating broadcasting systems, it also helps us to integrate with systems that were traditionally managed by IT,
such as Human Resources, invoicing control, quotations, etc. In these integrations we see that this BPM can reduce our regulatory burdens and provide us more accurate and instantaneous reports. General purchase orders, accounting locations delivered by each provider or approving invoices will become automatic processes that will only require the confirmation of the responsible manager. For this all to be possible, Ebantic has developed Media flows and we are now adapting business processes. Oracle is very powerful, but it has not developed Media connectors. In short, we are adapting traditional IT solutions to our Media operations world, adapting them to our needs and integrating everything that can be automated. With this BPM we can easily incorporate VOD platforms that are perfectly adapted to their local configurations, languages, etc. Ebantic provides expertise and ability to synthesis and develop to make it possible. The ability to be flexible and dynamic is key in this market. It is the only way to fulfill the business need as soon as possible. That is why we try to have the "turn-key". TMBi - 57
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In previous editions we compared SMPTE 2022-6 and AVB, after having left AVB for live video productions over IP. In this new issue we look at new systems for IP live production.
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TXT:
Vicente Pla Ferri Training and Technology ABACANTO SOLUCIONES vicente.pla@abacantosoluciones.com
Jorge de la Torre Sรกnchez-Bravo Managing Director ABACANTO SOLUCIONES jorge.delatorre@abacantosoluciones.com
Little more than five years ago, when we started to include data networks into production systems, it would have been hard to imagine that shortly afterwards we would be thinking about trying these kind of infrastructures to carry linear production signals, because data networks were limited to control signals, monitoring parameters and specific transfers such as short videos, static images, graphics, data to supply graphic platforms or complementary metadata in video and audio. It was hard to imagine that it could be used with 270 Mbps SDI signals and, much less, with 1.5 Gbps HD-SDI signals of emerging high definition in those data networks where we had connections of 10 or 100 Mbps. TMBi - 60
The use of IP technologies represented a significant cost saving: elimination of physical means, technical tools and time of operators in traffic, contribution, broadcasting and transport of contents. Contribution, edition and collaboration systems soon incorporated storage computer technologies and networks that, along with the video and audio compression standards, and improvements in telecommunication networks, increased notably the efficiency of production and broadcasting systems, increasing productivity in non-linear processes and the efficiency of contribution routes. The changes in systems' engineering and in the adaptation of work processes
of professionals in content production, experiencing times of relevant changes to adapt to a new technological reality that involved a considerable effort among professionals from related areas, should be remembered. The inclusion of IP technologies in order to carry linear signals in the origin of live content production was still pending, and it is here. In this area, the explosion of IP technology coincides with the taking off of Ultra High Definition, which brings a new variable and adds a new challenge to the implementation of the infrastructures within the value chain of contents of this segment. In the following pages we
want to help understand the state of art and the current context of live productions with IP technologies.
P ARADIGM
SHIFT
The fact that the world changes is a reality, and engineers of the Broadcast sector with some years of experience know it well: Composite, Components, SDI, SDTI, HD-SDI, 3G-SDI and, now what? While SMPTE standardized last year interfaces 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI, based on multiplexing on one single cable with several virtual streams, as with 3G-SDI, IP transmission of production signals is gaining a larger share. Initially, AV engineers, very concerned about the quality of the viewer's experience (QoE), worked with point to point signals, avoiding cuts and pixelation. In parallel, IT engineers were in charge of IP streams, traffic, network configurations, etc.
SMPTE-2022. T HE FOUNDATION OF HYBRID ENVIRONMENTS TV signals started to travel through IP in 2007 thanks to the SMPTE-2022-2 standard that enables MPEG-2 TS signals to be carried on IP. In 2010 the option of including variable bit-rate signals was added and finally, in 2013, SMPTE 2022-6 was developed, completed with parts 5 and 7 of the standard of 2013: - Part 1: Forward Error Correction for Real-Time Video/Audio Transport Over IP Networks - Part 2: Unidirectional Transport of Constant Bit Rate MPEG-2 Transport Streams on IP Networks
- Part 3: Unidirectional Transport of Variable Bit Rate MPEG-2 Transport Streams on IP Networks - Part 4: Unidirectional Transport of Non-Piecewise Constant Variable Bit Rate MPEG-2 Streams on IP Networks - Part 5: Forward Error Correction for Transport of High Bit Rate Media Signals over IP Networks (HBRMT) - Part 6: Transport of High Bit Rate Media Signals over IP Networks (HBRMT) - Part 7: Seamless Protection Switching of SMPTE ST 2022 IP Datagrams The standard adopted on a transitional basis for IP studio production is HBRMT (SMPTE 2022-6), based on encapsulating SDI using non-
They all now have to work together: • AV engineers to adapt themselves to the IT world • IT engineers becoming more aware of the high importance of loosing a package.
Protocol stack of SMPTE 2022-6
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connection oriented datagrams (UDP) and optionally adding forward error correction (FEC) on RTP. For now, standardization is only available for resolutions supported by 3G-SDI interfaces or lower. This is the ideal standard for hybrid environments, where SDI signals and IP coexist. Units can still work internally as they did with SDI and it simply changes the SDI interface for a SMPTE2022-6 one. Will this affect the topology of our test? Not really. It may eliminate part of the cabling, but not too much. The main advantage is that, as it is an IP signal (layer 3) we can
Signal routing of SDI and SMPTE 2022-6.
transmit signals over public networks and transport uncompressed video signals from one location to another, with no need of using links.
Example of live AV production infrastructure based on IP.
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What implications does SDI converted to IP have? A priori, although it would appear to be the same, they have several advantages
Initiated by Evertz in IBC 2015, and has an openended working framework where 70 manufacturers collaborate • AIMS (Alliance for IP Media Solutions): Created by Grass Valley Group, with 10 members. It promotes standards such as SMPTE 2022-6, TR-03, TR-04 and AES 67.
Example of audio processing on SMPTE 2022-6.
such as: 1.Remote access to signals. 2.Source signals can be shared in different destinations. 3.Automation, redundancies and cabling are simplified. 4.Studios can be divided from controls. Now, a control can manage several studios or have floating controls that are assigned to one studio or the other, according to the production that has to be produced. 5.Conducting works outdoors, directly from a control room and without need to have a mobile unit.
• Impossibility of routing audio and video independently at network level without having to deencapsulate the content inside IP packets.
T HE
EVOLUTION
TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTS FULLY BASED IN
IP If we really want matrices to be substituted by network electronics, it is far more versatile to transport Audio, Video and Metadata packets in independent streams.
At the same time, converting SDI to IP directly has some disadvantages, such as:
In order to promote its use in the market, two communities have developed, supported by most manufacturers:
• Wasted bandwidth (Ancillary Data: VANC and HANC)
• ASPEN (Adaptative Sample Picture Encapsulation):
In both cases, in order to convert SDI signals into IP, 3 uncompressed independent streams are generated: audio, video and metadata. The main difference lies in the way in which information is encapsulated in each of the streams. On the one hand, ASPEN pushes to use, as transport layer, mature technology products, such as MPEG-2 TS, according to the SMPTE 2022-2 standard, as with DVB but with an encoding without compression: it uses SMPTE ST-302 for audio, SMPTE ST-2038 for metadata, and for video it has just managed for SMPTE to include SMPTE RDD-37, as a proposal, a few weeks ago. On the other hand, AIMS uses IP directly for transport, and for video encoding it uses alternatively the following recommendations: TMBi - 63
SMPTE 2022-6 vs. ASPEN.
• VSF-03 that calls for RFC4175 encapsulation, which only digitalizes the active part of the video signal. • VSF-04 that recommends
AIMS’s proyect.
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using SMPTE 2022-6 for video, with or without embedded audio. Audio can be processed embedded along with video,
or independently in AES-67 format. In that regarding metadata, it must comply with the corresponding IETF standard.
Sync generators and TEKTRONIX SPG-8000A reference hybrid SDI/IP with changeover and referenced on GPS/GLONASS with a slave system through PTP.
S YNC
SIGNALS
AND REFERENCE IN
SDI/IP
ENVIRONMENTS As signals can now travel through means with different delays, it is essential to have a unique SDI/IP hybrid system. The industry has so far been able to agree and for the IP world has adopted the Precise Time Protocol (PTP), an evolution of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) under the name SMPTE-2059-2. SMPTE 2059-2 was approved at the end of 2014 and it is an IEEE1588 (PTP)
profile, with the necessary options to work with uncompressed video; capable of bypassing routing queues in electronic networks. Even though we will refer to it on a specific article about sync and references in the IP world, we believe it was necessary to illustrate an SDI hybrid and sync IP system. Sync generators TEKTRONIX SPG-8000A already have traditional outputs such as PTP, NTP, etc. In summary, we are facing a transitional phase towards IP live productions and sync generators must allow these two worlds to work together synchronously.
A DAPTING UHDTV
TO
SMPTE 2022-6 is limited to 3G-SDI because current networks do not permit the conveyance of signals of more than 10 Gbits/s at a reasonable price. However, this standard opens the doors for future growth. Exceeding 10Gbits/s requires optical<>electrical converters, that are quite expensive, and make facilities unprofitable. UHDTV transport in its pure state requires 12 Gbits/s, making the introduction of compression systems necessary. As they are related to live production signals, these TMBi - 65
compression systems have some conditioning factors: • Compression must not be noticeable to the human eye (no visual losses) • Latency must be as low as possible. In this sense, there are three initiatives driven by different groups to transport UHD signals on 10 Gbits/s: • SMPTE ST-2042: VC-2 by BBC • SMPTE RRD-34: Sony Low Latency Video Codec (LLC) • SMPTE RRD-35: Intopix Tiny Codec (TICO)
M EASURES
IN
HYBRID ENVIRONMENTS In this new stage of change, where signals can travel through SDI and IP, compressed or uncompressed, a greater convergence of IT and AV engineers will be necessary. In order to do so, the new analysis and measurement tools will have to build bridges between both worlds and allow, besides from what was permitted up to now, other things such as: • See the whole AV content in an ethernet cable, without having to know the IP addressing • Analyze IP parameters such as jitter or lost packets, so that if a problem arises, IT engineers are TMBi - 66
able to determine the cause. All in all, it is a challenge for manufacturers, engineers, installers, operators and the entire supply chain, which will have to adapt progressively to this new scenario.
C ONCLUSION IP technology is familiar and is fully integrated in infrastructures on production, contribution and content broadcasting. But the first acquisition and production segment, where linear live signals require the handling and processing in real time of different lines with bandwidths of 1.5 or 3 Gbps, present particular challenges that have to be solved in order to guarantee the reliability that has been provided up to now by systems based in SDI. There are promising developments to solve the base level requirements of these systems, such synchronizing signals, sources and destinations. It is also important to have tools that address the connection problems between the IP and SDI worlds (Tektronix PRISM), that is to say, between the technical structure and the data structure and content information, which is a huge step to start with the shift. Many manufacturers are committed, and have included mixers, cameras, monitors, matrices and other devices with IP interfaces, but certainly the topology of systems infrastructure based in IP is different, which opens up opportunities to new actors of this sector with proved experience in other fields of
application of IP technologies of high efficiency and reliability. The challenge is to unify standards that facilitate interoperability that, at the same time, is the same risk in its application: it happened with file standards, currently on the maturity of use, the same standard has different variations, that are not compatible between each other, and the application is the one responsible for managing these gaps to guarantee its efficient use. In this scenario, platforms working on software are important, with which we have to familiarize ourselves because they will provide safety and adaptability to the needs and evolution of production infrastructures. Lastly, it is important not to mix the debate between UHD and IP technologies that, even when they converge in time, have different considerations. UHD will certainly use IP but we still do not know how and when, and that needs further work and development that will first arrive with high definition. This last one is the real practical demand of most actors within the industry for this use. We will soon see high definition production systems based in IP, as there have been consolidated improvements with which to start to consider the taking-up of this technology. TMBi - 67
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As adoption takes off globally, broadcasters strive for broader interoperability Txt: Brad Price, Product Marketing Manager, Audinate While the transition from analog to digital is complete in TV broadcasting in many regions worldwide, the next wave of change is already here. The use of computer networking as a cost-effective and technically superior means of connecting, routing and managing AV systems is a reality that is changing equipment, workflows and possibilities today.
Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broadcasters are seeing a steady increase in the number of audio and video channels in use. Controlling and routing all of these signals using legacy non-network transports can be a daunting task, involving expensive specialized routers and complex workflows that vary from one manufacturer to another. Adding and incorporating new equipment
can mean upgrading and replacing many other pieces of gear to maintain compatibility and provide bandwidth. Simple tasks such as maintaining lip sync can require format conversions and expert use of costly equipment. By way of contrast, an IPbased solution can handle many hundreds or thousands TMBi - 69
of channels of audio connecting dozens of devices using inexpensive Cat5E cabling and a few inexpensive gigabit network switches. There are no specialized routers needed to provide conversion and distribution; all changes are made quickly and easily in software running on ordinary computers, with no disruption of production activities. Even metadata delivery and synchronization is a natural fit for IP networking, which provides an open and wellunderstood platform for development of delivery systems that non-networked systems cannot match. Gigabit and faster network speeds have made IP networking an indispensable medium. In broadcast, it is simply the best way to transmit bit-perfect audio between as many devices as needed, with low latency and tight synchronization. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IP technology offers a bestof-all-worlds combination of increasing performance with decreasing costs, a trend that is sustained by the growing use of IP networks across nearly every type of industry. The growth of IP systems for media has resulted in the rapid deployment of hundreds of new products in all key audio categories. Today there are over 800 networked audio products available on the TMBi - 70
market, with Audinateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dante audio networking incorporated in more than 60 percent. Complete end-toend systems from microphones to loudspeakers may be specified across different brands, and new products are constantly being released. Manufacturers have risen to the challenge of integrating digital audio networking with existing systems, so older equipment can remain a vital part of modern broadcast facilities. Many mixers, routers, intercom systems and amplifiers support multiple interface cards,
allowing them to bridge older digital protocols such as MADI or CobraNet to a modern Audio over IP network, and dedicated convertors are available for nearly any format. This permits audio flows to remain entirely in the digital domain, avoiding signal-degradation from intermediate A/D and D/A conversions.
An IP-based solution can handle many hundreds or thousands of channels of audio connecting dozens of devices using inexpensive Cat5E cabling and a few inexpensive gigabit network switches.
Interest is growing in the broadcast industry about the AES67 standard, and its potential benefits to end users transitioning from wired to networked audio systems. With a number of different networking options available, broadcasters welcome a standardized approach that supports basic interoperability between different equipment vendors, who have historically offered their own solutions. AES67 is recent standard that aims to accomplish this task. The AES67 standard is a networked audio interoperability specification developed by the Audio Engineering Society. It describes techniques for exchanging digital audio on a TCP/IP networking using RTP, or Real-time Transport Protocol. Additionally, AES67 specifies particular implementation constraints to facilitate interoperability between implementations. TMBi - 71
GREAT EXPECTATIONS AES67 promises basic interconnectivity at its core, and has fairly modest and achievable goals. Primarily focused on the audio networking transport element, AES67 does not specifically address system control, signal routing or channel labelling. For audio quality, it requires 48kHz, 24-bit stream with one-millisecond latency as a lowest common denominator. AES67 allows for, but does not require, support for higher sample rates and different bit depths, which means that supported audio formats may vary between devices in the ecosystem.
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Since AES67 is essentially a set of network standards around how audio channels move across an IP network, it represents a pragmatic evolution in audio networking. Unlike previous specifications (e.g. AVB), AES67 offers a standards-based way to deliver multichannel audio between devices across a network without requiring specialized network equipment. This is significant as it is the first specification to achieve this goal. Like Dante, the AES67 transport operates with common offthe-shelf switches. Therefore, we expect AES67 deployments will not face the adoption delays that have
challenged AVB rollouts. However, there appears to be a potential mismatch between expectations of AES67 and its true scope, particularly in the area of device/channel discovery. Many broadcasters and manufacturers are unaware that the AES67 standard does not require a common discovery method to be implemented. This has fostered a situation of uncertainty. Most networking vendors have proprietary systems to discover hardware-enabled components that are part of their ecosystem, but do not discovery components enabled with another
Interest is growing in the broadcast industry about the AES67 standard, and its potential benefits to end users transitioning from wired to networked audio systems.
vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s networking software. This is not to say that AES67 cannot be used to connect audio streams without a discovery protocol â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it can, but doing so will be a manual process specific to each vendor. The danger is that while AES67 does not specify nor require a common discovery system, many broadcasters expect that AES67 devices will be naturally discoverable once deployed. At present, this is simply not the case. In lieu of mandating a discovery protocol, the AES67 specification instead offers four possible options for discovery protocol implementation. An AES67
implementation using one of these four options cannot discover implementations using a different discovery option. Each discovery solution operates in its own world. In addition to the four suggested options, other companies have created their own discovery solutions for use with AES67. This creates several problems. First, each additional incompatible discovery solution creates islands of AES67 devices that can only discover each other. From a purely engineering standpoint, it is possible to manually configure these various devices to speak to each other over a common
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network, but this will be a complex, timeconsuming data entry processes – a task that will excite very few engineers and integrators. A close examination of the four discovery options in AES67 shows only one option based on mature, published standard specifications: Session Announcement Protocol (SAP). For AES67 devices to be discoverable as users expect, the industry must settle on a small subset of discovery protocols for use with AES67. Ideally, that subset is exactly one protocol. Audinate has selected SAP as the discovery protocol mechanism for use with AES67 transport in Dante because it is the only non-proprietary, mature, published standards-based option described in the AES67 specification. The benefit for the broadcaster is that Dante devices supporting AES67 can discover other AES67 devices using supporting the SAP discovery mechanism. Dante devices supporting AES67 announce their AES67 audio using SAP and Dante Controller can discover non-Dante AES67 devices that support SAP. It is our hope that networking vendors industry-wide will coalesce around this standards-based protocol from the IETF – the body that defines all Internet protocols – to simplify AES67 discovery across any audio networking ecosystem. This path is the most certain to meet the expectations that broadcasters have about how AES67 interoperability should ultimately work: A system that is fully discoverable, easy to patch and easy to deploy without manually entering a series of complicated letter and numbers to enable interoperability. The Benefit of Experience Discovery concerns aside, Audinate sees the long term viability in AES67 compared to earlier protocols. In creating the AES67 interoperability standard, the AES TMBi - 74
Audinate has taken the step of adding AES67 as a feature to Dante. As an IP-based standard, AES67 is a comfortable fit for Audinate since Dante has always been built upon Layer 3 networking.
organization utilized proven existing standards which mitigates the risk of the technology. It is important to note that AES67 is not a complete audio networking solution. Leading audio networking solutions still have a key role to play offering additional features, management tools and support, which greatly simplify audio networking for users and manufacturers. This includes the matrixstyle signal routing software, virtual soundcards, network health and clock status monitoring, realworld naming for devices and channels, and much more. In contrast, AES67 just specifies the baseline connectivity of audio streams, and more closely resembles an Audio over IP version of MADI or AES3. It focuses on how audio channels move through the network between points without defining how routing or switch-defined control may occur. Audinate has taken the step of adding AES67 as a feature to Dante. As an IP-based standard, AES67 is a comfortable fit for Audinate since Dante has always been built upon Layer 3 networking (the architecture required for pure Audio over IP transport). Audinate will continue to be involved in the development and tracking of new standards and protocols that further the possibilities of audio networking for TV and radio broadcasting. If one thing is certain, the industry will continue to develop new standards that require implementation in a sensible way, and it is important to have a robust networking solution that can evolve to incorporate the latest standards. TMBi - 75
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Collaborative workflows have grown in the recent years and will continue in the future. There are many options to solve a lot of problems. TM Broadcast International has talked to several manufacturers and developers, to be able to find different solutions and projects of interest.
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AVID INTELLIGENT MEDIA STORAGE AT THE HEART OF PRODUCTION
Storage plays a major part in any production chain. Avid's users worldwide are fully exploiting what the growing family of intelligent media storage – including the latest addition, Avid NEXIS can do in conjunction with Avid’s range of creative tools, as well as many third party applications such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Apple FCP-X, Grass Valley EDIUS and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. The increased level of global production has created
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a demand for more efficient and reliable workflows. These can be provided through the combination of creation and finishing systems with highcapacity, extremely reliable and easily accessible storage. Many postproduction houses already use sophisticated media asset management (MAM) systems to manage both material and productions. This is the glue that secures a workflow. When combined with a central storage system MAM greatly aids increasingly complex production schedules, enabling facilities to work on multiple shows at the same time.
Because systems such as Avid NEXIS empower teams across the entire production, projects can move in parallel and be completed faster. In addition, Avid’s software defined storage systems scale both in capacity and performance to meet the most demanding of production needs. Avid’s intelligent media storage enables collaborative workflows that are proven and trusted daily by the most demanding broadcast, media enterprise, and postproduction professionals, at over 3,000 facilities worldwide. They have recognised the powerful benefits to be gained from
Avid storage solutions, and the results can be seen in the high quality programming that is making such an impact on the international stage. Cannes International Film Festival
Official TV and web coverage of the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival was powered by an all-Avid collaborative workflow. Avid’s Elite partner VIDELIO Cap'Ciné once again provided production and postproduction facilities for broadcasters Canal+ and Orange, and for the official Festival de Cannes TV and web content.
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Two Avid AirSpeed® | 5500 servers were at the heart of operations, streamlining the entire workflow from capture to playout. These two servers enabled the acquisition of clean and dirty feeds, which were sent in real time to an Avid ISIS® | 5500 collaborative storage system. The content was immediately available to editors working on Avid Media Composer® editing stations, to create highlights packages, trailers and short programmes, which were then sent back to the AirSpeed | 5500 for playout. The media was also made available to an FTP platform for web editors creating
content for the official Festival de Cannes website, YouTube and Dailymotion channels, as well as the Festival archive. Thanks to the large storage capacity, the Avid solution enabled the production team to work on and save the footage in HD, with images available in real time. In addition, the integrated playlist tool and IsoSync® (a synchronization application of multi-channel recordings) offered a simple and effective workflow for operators. The Avid workflow ran continuously throughout the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival.
DIMETIS Service orchestration for file based production
Dimetis provides telecoms and media broadcasters with multi-vendor network management and provisioning software focused on seamless realtime video and media file transport over diverse, general purpose IP and legacy networks, with broadcast-grade quality and reliability. A hardware agnostic platform allows the customers to buy best-of-breed HW/SW, to find the best fitting Hardware to resolve his issues - in a multi-vendor environment. This is the basis for intelligent solutions for any operator. In this case, a highly scalable solution was
sought to allow the various departments as well as external production companies, broadcasters and news agencies, exchanging large volume of data, while enabling the users to focus on their daily operations. The requirements: * Contribution interface to various company departments * Connect to external production and broadcast companies * Heavily manual business processes (island solutions) * Require technical knowledge to operate the systems * Metadata Handling The major challenge was to keep the operation as simple as possible on one hand,
while providing enough flexibility to cover complex workflow automation, on the other hand. In order to display all file based workflows, it is mandatory to integrate 3rd party systems, such as transcoder, file checker, WAN accelerator, storages, content management system, etc. During this project, the following external systems were integrated: Signiant File Transfer System, Aspera WAN acceleration, Interra Systems Baton File Checker, Harmonic Rhozet Transcoder to name just a few. In Fig 3 a fully automated ingest based on Dimetis Orchestration Platform is shown. Based on this convenient approach for the delivery of external material or the collection of material for a certain time TMBi - 81
critical, external files are pushed to a copy controller of BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™ ─ located in the public DMZ ─ which then operate as as an ftp-server. The copy controller then writes the files to the dedicated storage with an automatically generated packet title and ID. After the file package creation, BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™ activates the appropriate test plan on the Baton File checker in order to filter for corrupt or dangerous files. After the checker has released its result (including metadata information) the BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™ executes the according transcoding presets in order to achieve the required video or audio format. In the last step, the files get transferred via TMBi - 82
Signiant to the desired location(s). All ingested packets have a date of expiry and carry the test results from the file checker and a preview file of the video. The result of the file checker is indicated through a traffic light in the file view of the BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™. The date of expiry is indicated in red when the packet has nearly reached the end of life. In this case, BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™ automatically sends an email notification to the file package owner to inform that the content will be deleted within the next 24 hours. The integrated workflowengine, as mentioned above, is a very powerful tool to automate the technical processes within the customer facility. Due to the
ease-of-use- concept, workflows can be created by simple Drag&Drop operations. The execution of all workflows, e.g. automatically transcoding the content into the appropriate format or executing a test plan on a file checker, happens in the background without demanding any knowledge or interaction from the users. Together with a broadcast service provider, Dimetis GmbH realized a flexible file based contribution solution that is growing in phases, including other departments and their specific workflows e.g. production, step by step. The challenge for the customer was to provide workflow based file exchange between different technologies, locations, departments and external customers. The main focus
was to achieve easy usability, while hiding complex processes and technical decisions from the end user through the execution of predefined workflows in the background. Depending on a user’s role, access to functionalities and workflows can be configured. In order to achieve a high degree of automation a lot of 3rd party systems have been integrated to be controlled and monitored by BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manager™. Through this, user management, format conversion, quality check, WAN acceleration, bandwidth management (in cooperation with our BOSS LINK Manager™), asset
management, notification, metadata mapping, and more can be bundled into workflows to gain productivity and customer satisfaction. The implementation was realized in virtual ITenvironment without dedicated server hardware for a particular component. All BOSS FILE TRANSFER Manger™ components – Web-Server, Core-Server, Copy- Controller run as virtual redundant servers, thus ensuring high availability and the highest levels of performance across the workflow. Dimetis´ response to the network growth challenges is a distributed management system SOA based
architecture that expands the capabilities of Dimetis´ products (modular SW, one single source code world wide, components that can be deployed on regional VM and Cloud, user profiles based on objects and functionalities, customizable GUI for individual ajustment demand.
ELEMENTS Enhance workflow efficiency. But how? Intelligent technologies boost collaborative workflows in post-production and broadcast facilities
“Workflow” is definitely the ultimate buzzword in today’s
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post-production and broadcast field. Everybody appears to be aware what it means, and nods with a knowing smile when this frequently used phrase is mentioned. However, how a perfect “collaborative workflow” is actually established, implemented, and maintained over time seems to be a whole different story. So we dare to ask the question: What exactly is a “good workflow”? And how can it be turned into a “great workflow”?
While there are numerous aspects to consider when it comes to creating a collaborative M&E workflow, five components that are truly critical. First of all, a shared media storage, regardless of a SAN or NAS set-up, TMBi - 84
providing all workstations with simultaneous access to the media assets is the vital part of any collaborative workflow. The next critical part is a shared file system – and that’s where it already becomes tricky: sharing the files natively across all platforms is nearly impossible when proprietary software and hardware applications, such as Avid, are involved. The result: a lot more manual effort is required, as IT team of the postproduction or broadcast facility has to manage and maintain two entirely separated file systems. (pic 1) This makes it rather complicated and highly timeconsuming tasks like data shuffling necessary and inevitable to make the media
files available for other applications. ELEMENTS, Germanybased developer of innovative and advanced technologies for the M&E industry, has defeated this very disturbing issue for good. By simulating an ISIS shared storage environment ELEMENTS server and storage technologies make sharing media files natively across all platforms and applications possible, even including Avid Media Composer. ELEMENTS SAN/NAS solutions enable virtually all non-linear editing and VFX applications in every SAN/NAS environment to share not only media files but entire projects natively across the entire facility and across all platforms, regardless whether utilizing
StorNextFS® or Xsan file system – even Avid workstations will read and write files natively to the shared storage. (pic 2) All features such as Avid project sharing and binlocking are fully supported, and the Avid clients don’t even realize that they are working on a StorNext file system. Easy in – easy out
The second important issue that contributes significantly to notably simplified and streamlined workflow processes is the ease of ingesting media assets to the media storage. Regardless if the media content came to the facility the “traditional way” on 35mm film and is digitized via a telecine during color correction, or the media assets were created digitally right on set; ELEMENTS supports easy-ingest through direct connect via USB and eSATA for all external sources, while workstations connect through on-board Fiber Channel or Ethernet ports. By supporting virtually all file system protocols (SMB, NFS, AFP etc), ELEMENTS server and media storage combinations allow for an ultra-easy set-up that requires practically no IT skills – simply connect all existing workstations and let them collaborate right away. Yet, the high performance solutions meet the demands of high-end post-production
workflows in many respects. Access Control with simple User Management
Keeping the users and their read and write rights in check can be critical, irrespective of the team comprising 5 people or 55. To avoid massive chaos on the media storage, it is definitely advisable to start each and every project with a well-thought-out project and user matrix, determining as many parameters as possible. ELEMENTS embedded set of field-proven web-based workflow management features, accessible through a fully intuitive graphical user interface, allow for taking ultimate control of the shared storage file system, including a professional user and project management tool. Proper Asset Management
Rank 4 on the list of important things to consider when designing a collaborative workflow concerns the topic “housekeeping”. Maintaining a tidy and neat condition of the media storage is critical when numerous workstations work simultaneously, creating various versions of similar clips. To make the media asset management as easy and effortless as possible, ELEMENTS has developed a Media Library, a comprehensive media asset management tool embedded in their server and storage solutions. Accessible through
the same easy-to-use HTML5-based GUI, the Media Library provides not only access for managing the system but also for professionally managing, presenting and sharing media assets - from anywhere and with every standard PC or MAC. The Media Library includes a rough-cut editor that is fully compatible to virtually every professional editing application available today, such as Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro and others, enabling operators to transfer entire projects seamlessly from the Media Library to any other editing application. With full support of Avid Project Sharing and Avid bin-locking, sharing of entire projects becomes easier and faster than ever before. Process Automation
Last but not least, intelligent automation of recurring processes can simplify both the housekeeping and the asset management - and even communication processes. Part of ELEMENTS’ embedded set of workflow management tools is an intelligent task manager that allows for customized automation of processes – without in-depth coding skills required. In combination with ELEMENTS Media Library users are enabled to set event triggers for every project folder within the MAM to automatically initiate TMBi - 85
customized actions, for example "Clips/sequences have been selected/approved/disapprove d", "Move approved files/clips to folder xyz", "Send email to the director new edit has been written to folder xyz", "Customer feedback has been submitted". The sophisticated and versatile architecture of ELEMENTS appliances, equipped with the comprehensive set of welldesigned and useful workflow enhancements tools, provide an all-embracing and easy-touse option to set up a highly collaborative workflow easily and quickly. With added layers of data security, ELEMENTS has accomplished to develop a professional solution that provides more than just media storage and a metadata server.
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SUITCASE TV Automated Language QC Workflow
The purpose of the Automated Language QC workflow is to supply an automated system to add language audio tracks to primary assets, check the synchronisation of the new audio against specified base track(s) and quality check the primary asset and new audio tracks using predefined parameters. The project required integration with a third party MAM system using the Suitcase TV SOAP API interface. The MAM system controls the movement of all assets into and out of the Suitcase TV solution using defined SOAP calls to initiate audio stacking and publishing.
Once a request to auto QC audio files for an asset has been made, the assets are copied to a specified shared location on the Suitcase TV MediaStor server and the workflow within the Suitcase TV domain operates to process the assets through a series of workflow steps and processes. The main steps are: • Transfer content to be processed from the shared MAM location to the Suitcase TV MediaStor server. • Validate the primary asset before further processing. • This is followed by an iterative process, repeated for each new audio asset, whereby each audio is analysed for QC, stacked with the primary asset and checked for synchronisation
against the mix-minus or other base track. • A QC status is applied to each new audio track depending on whether the new audio conforms to the QC profile/spec and the ability of the system to synchronise the new audio within the tolerance level for the language. • All tracks not achieving a QC pass with high confidence are made available for a manual review within the Suitcase TV TrakStak review
application. Within TrakStak, audios can be manually re-synchronised and the track QC status, as well as the overall asset status, can be altered to pass or QC failed. • When all new tracks have been processed and, if required, manually reviewed, the QC processing is complete and the asset becomes available for publishing back to the MAM system. • There is also the option to publish before the stack job
has completed. Only audios that have QC passed with high confidence at the point of the request will be published. Processing of remaining tracks continues as for the standard QC process. • An emergency stack facility is also available for occasions when an audio track has previously failed QC and there is no time to source a replacement audio track before the transmission date. TMBi - 87
1+1 Media Group in the Ukraine Monitors Multiplatform TV in the Cloud with
Qligent TMBi - 88
1+1 Media Group is a large media conglomerate serving the Ukrainian population with a variety of television and online news services. The broadcast division comprises four terrestrial and four satellite TV channels, and a production arm, 1+1 Production, which creates a variety of original programs and works with external
media companies to adapt international programming for Ukrainian viewers. Based in the City of Kyiv, 1+1 Media Group previously relied on disparate video and audio monitoring platforms at its Kyiv facilities, and a movable van-based lab to monitor RF performance metrics of signals in remote
cities throughout the country. The lack of a geographically dispersed monitoring presence caused limitations in monitoring the quality of experience (QoE) for viewers of its three DVB-T2 terrestrial channels (1+1, 2+2, TET), four analog terrestrial (1+1, 2+2, TET, PlusPlus) and all eight channels across cable and satellite delivery TMBi - 89
platforms. Additionally, quality of service (QoS) monitoring of signals leaving the studios and moving through RF plants, cable headends and satellite infrastructure were TMBi - 90
less than comprehensive. Dmytro Orkusha, Deputy CTO, New Technology Development for 1+1 Media Group stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were
seeking a way to efficiently combine video, audio and RF performance monitoring, and compliance recording, with the option of automatically retrieving the corrupted
1+1 Media Group, on the leading edge of the emerging cloud monitoring trend, was looking for a monitoring solution that leveraged the power and flexibility of the cloud but offered an on-premises hosting option. That hunt eventually led to Qligent, a specialist in cloud-based, enterprise-level media monitoring and analysis based in the United States. 1+1 Media Group’s monitoring network is now exclusively built on Qligent’s Vision cloud-enabled monitoring platform.
portion of video. We then needed to combine everything into a centralized system that could access information across many remote sites.” Migration to a networked, cloud environment has evolved into an effective means for broadcasters seeking to centralize operations.
“Qligent offered both a permanent license to purchase and deploy their system in house, and a cloud solution option where the core of the system would be deployed on Qligent’s premises. We chose the cloud solution,” said Orkusha. “It is a true SaaS solution even though we still host part of the system (the monitoring probes) on premises. Vision provides a softwaredefined architecture that leverages off-theTMBi - 91
shelf hardware, and has the ability to centralize a multitude of information across the Ukraine at our Kyiv facilities. Add the fact that Vision is highly scalable, and Qligent offered the only solution on the market that could address our needs.” The reach of the monitoring network is impressive. In addition to monitoring its eight channels across all delivery platforms, 1+1 Media Group is monitoring a total of 17 DVB-C cable and DVB-S satellite channels. In the example of DVB-C monitoring, Vision can effectively monitor the signal quality as channels are converted from RF to IP streams upon leaving the cable headends. Terrestrial signals are monitored as they pass through the transmitters and radiate from the antennas. And Qligent’s costefficient, networked Vision probes are deployed in strategic locations around the country, with the ability to monitor signal quality down to the last mile. Back at the Kiev facilities, operators monitor all baseband (SDI) and IP signal activity from the time they leave playout systems at the studio. Vision provides visibility into all physical and transport layers associated with QoS; and detailed insight TMBi - 92
into QoE across all delivery platforms to Ukraine viewers. The flexibility of the Vision dashboard allows each operator to create their own layouts based on their monitoring assignments. “We like the visual elements of Qligent’s platform, which allows our staff to quickly detect performance alarms, analyze recorded video associated with those alarms, and compare that with a variety of data and graphics on Vision’s central dashboard,” said Orkusha. “Each service has its own window or thumbnail. They can then easily produce a full
report for managers who are interested in this performance data for compliance monitoring.” While Vision’s cloud-based architecture invites broadcasters to fully offload the hosting operation to Qligent’s managed service layer – which offers the industry’s only true monitoring-as-a-service (MaaS) solution – its streamlined design simplifies configuration for broadcasters that wish to host and maintain Vision on premises. Setting up Vision’s cloud-based architecture eliminates the need for expensive and
proprietary hardware, which allowed 1+1 Media to procure common, low-cost off-theshelf servers in the Ukraine dedicated for the monitoring probes. This eliminated the need to invest in a hardwarecentric system with high import taxes and complex, ongoing technical support requirements, while lowering operational costs. The main servers are hosted at Qligent’s data center, and the main probes are installed at 1+1 Media Group’s main production and playout center in Kyiv. Since being deployed, Vision’s single dashboard, based on a simple user interface, provides insight into network-wide performance from a single seat. Additionally, 1+1 Media Group is able to effectively monitor performance of its competitors’ channels across the country as desired. Vision’s infinitely scalable platform will also allow 1+1 Media Group to gradually scale the system to cover additional cities around the country, and add new monitoring points to the cloud architecture within hours. Adding a new location requires an operator to load the Vision probe software on locally available hardware, and specify which channels to monitor. Orkusha notes
that such scalability will lend itself to extending Vision to monitor live OTT streams as part of 1+1 Media’s B2B content delivery platform. Now under development, this service is intended to deliver content to a variety of 1+1 Media Group’s and third-party web services and appliances. Moving forward, 1+1 Media Group also expects to integrate other Qligent cloud services into the central SaaS solution. 1+1 Media Group is currently testing Qligent’s Scan fingerprintbased platform, which provides automatic content verification and ad delivery control across multiple TV delivery platforms. In the meantime, 1+1 Media Group is enjoying a far wider media reach with minimal labor, maintenance and financial requirements. Though it is early to estimate cost-savings network wide, Igor Prohorenko, head of TV broadcast quality monitoring division at 1+1 Media Group, stated that direct refunds based on service-level agreements with terrestrial network operators alone are relatively small (less than $1000), but still provide a reasonable return on investment in the early stages. “It is a good start for us
because we expect many more savings over the long term, which at the moment is not easy to calculate,” said Prohorenko. “That savings includes the higher availability of the broadcasting services that we have experienced since launching Qligent, now in operation for about six months.” He therefore expects a fairly rapid return on investment, which is magnified by the expected long lifecycle and simple scalability of Vision well into the future. “Through off-site hosting and transitioning our monitoring operations to the cloud, Qligent has delivered a true OPEX solution that reduces short- and long-term costs,” said Orkusha. “We also now enjoy a true growth platform to extend these services into new cities without time-intensive labor and support. Vision helps us understand the true picture of our media distribution efforts, prescribe specific troubleshooting actions with immediate results, and maintain the best possible quality of service and experience with exceptionally low total cost of ownership.” TMBi - 93