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Total number of pages 76 Vol. 10 | Issue 05 | MAY 2018 | ` 50
Published by ITP Media (India)
STORAGE
UP IN THE CLOUD
OTT
THE BIG SHIFT
STILL GOOD IN THE HOOD
WHILE 2018 NAB SHOW SHOWED HOW TECHNOLOGIES LIKE MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD TRANSFORM THE MEDIA INDUSTRY, THE UNDERLINED MESSAGE WAS THAT CONTENT STILL REIGNS
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MAY 2018 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 05 EVENTS CALENDAR 2018 CABSAT Show
14th to 16th Jan Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE
BES Expo
26th to 28th Feb Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India
BVE show
27th Feb to 1st March, ExCeL London, UK Convergence India 2018
7th to 9th March Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India NAB Show
7th to 12th April Las Vegas Convention Centre, US Broadband TV Connect Asia 2018
24-25 April 2018 AVANI Riverside Hotel, Bangkok
20 STILL GOOD IN THE HOOD
The NAB Show highlighted how technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence could transform the media industry
10 DOMESTIC NEWS 14 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 46 UP IN THE CLOUD
Media companies are mixing on-premises storage with cloud for better elasticity and capacity
52 THE BIG SHIFT
Broadcasters and content creators are relooking at their business models to ensure that it embraces OTT holistically
60 UP, LIVE AND PERSONAL
As live streaming gains popularity, we present the latest technology trends and the opportunity it presents to broadcasters
4 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
Broadcast Asia
26th to 28th June Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore BIRTV 2018 Show
22nd to 25th August Beijing, China IBC Expo
14th to 18th September Amsterdam RAI, Netherlands Broadcast India Show
25th to 27th October Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai Digital Studio India Channel Partner Awards
26th October Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai Inter BEE
14th to 16th November Tokyo, Japan
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VIEWPOINT Vol. 10 | Issue 5 | May 2018
Mission NAB
ITP MEDIA (INDIA) PVT LTD 898 Turner Road, Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050, India T +91 22 6154 6000
VINITA BHATIA
ANISHA GAKHAR
Why do people visit the NAB Show? Well, they are all on a mission – either they want to connect with new suppliers, network with key industry peers, showcase their products or see the latest solutions in the broadcast, production and content creation business. In short, year after year, people from the media and entertainment (M&E) business across the globe congregate there to check out solutions and discuss strategies in their mission to create the best content and deliver it to their audience, irrespective of the platform. Those of you who could not make it to this annual pilgrimage of the broadcasting and content creation world, fret not; we have you covered. Our cover story this issue is about the 2018 NAB Show and we have tried to bring alive the action from the event. Read about the various sessions and live demos as well as a tête-à-tête between two industry leaders. Our product showcase section gives a look at some interesting equipment, products, and services that caught our eye. Our other big story this issue looks at some changes taking place in the OTT business and how players in this domain are addressing the challenge of distributing and monetising their content. Now that the dialogue has shifted from whether OTT is threatening linear to accepting its presence, companies in the fray are concentrating on improving their digital visual storytelling to capture more eyeballs and with that, more revenue. We also delve into the future of storage, which interestingly has a law of its own in the M&E business – no matter how much storage you provision for, it is never enough! The growing focus on high-quality immersive visual experiences is putting a strain on existing storage capacities. Since companies are seeking larger capacity alternatives with better security and accessibility, our article provides them with some options. Incidentally, 2018 is a milestone year for Digital Studio, as we will complete a decade. And as we continually improve the way we produce and present content, I am thrilled to announce an addition to our team – Anisha Gakhar has joined us as Assistant Editor. This will definitely bolster our efforts to make good content great for our readers.
Managing director S Saikumar Group publishing director Bibhor Srivastava EDITORIAL Editor Vinita Bhatia Assistant Editor Anisha Gakhar
ADVERTISING India Commercial director Manoj Sawalani M +91 98201 76965 manoj.sawalani@itp.com South India Director Sanjay Bhan M +91 98457 22377 sanjay.bhan@itp.com
STUDIO Head of design Milind Patil Senior designer Vinod Shinde Contributor Saili Bandre
PRODUCTION Deputy production manager Ramesh Kumar
CIRCULATION Distribution manager James D’Souza T +91 22 6154 6006 james.dsouza@itp.com
Cover Image: Robb Cohen Photography & Video .................................................................................................................................... The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Printed and Published by Sai Kumar Shanmugam, Flat no 903, Building 47, NRI Colony, Phase – 2, Part -1, Sector 54, 56, 58, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706, on behalf of ITP Media (India) Private Limited, printed at Indigo Press India Pvt. Ltd., Plot No. 1C / 716, Off Dadoji Konddeo Cross Road, Between Sussex and Retiwala Ind. Estate, Byculla
(East),
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at
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Vinita Bhatia, Editor vinita.bhatia@itp.com
/ITPDigitalStudio 6 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050, India
/DigitalStudioIn
Published by and © 2018 ITP Media (India) Pvt Ltd RNI No. MAHENG/2009/33418 MIB no. 10/50/2008
www.digitalstudioindia.com
ADVISORY BOARD
ADVISORY BOARD DIGITAL STUDIO INDIA ADVISORY BOARD 2017 We are happy to introduce the Digital Studio India Technical Advisory Board for 2017. The board—comprising Indian television and broadcast industry veterans and thought leaders—offers insights about market happenings, ideas for features and news, thoughts on technology and trends, editorial contributions. The board also lends its knowledge and experience to help Digital Studio India continue to offer the most timely editorial features, case studies, and information relevant to the industry.
DINESH SINGH
K YEGNESHWARA IYER
Chief Technology Officer, NDTV Limited Singh has over 22 years of experience with companies like NDTV, NVL Ltd - Sony Broadcast equipments, Thomson, etc. Some of his notable projects include India’s first digital production set up with robotics camera in the Parliament, film-based project in Ramoji Film City and turnkey project of Bangladesh National Open University, Bangladesh that includes four studios with PCRs, radio audio studio, microwaves and FM transmitter.
Head Of Technology Technical & Broadcast Operations, Times Television Network Iyer has spent more than three decades setting up networks and developing business software for various broadcasting companies. A co-applicant in a patent application for real time graphics on TV, he conceptualised and delivered innovative technical processes in news broadcast television, developed mobile apps and mobile app back-end architecture.
PIYUSH GUPTA
RAJASEKHARAN HARIKRISHNAN
Group CTO, India Today With over 19 years of experience in TV and broadcast, prior to managing technology and integration within India Today Group, Gupta has been with Network 18 for almost 15 years and has headed operations and technology development for CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN, HomeShop18 and Colors.
VP and CTO, Viacom 18 Media Harikrishnan heads the technical operations of Viacom 18 Media since the last four years. He has a rich experience in broadcast TV industry, production and post-production environment and also in designing and systems integration. He earlier headed technology and operations at Neo Sports Broadcast and has also worked with NDTV.
AK MADHAVAN
SUBASH SAHOO
Founder and CEO, Assemblage Entertainment AK Madhavan launched his entrepreneurial venture, Assemblage Entertainment, at 55, after spending 14 years as CEO of Crest Animation Studios. Previously, he has managed senior roles with Dalal Street Journal and with DDE-Org Systems, a information technology solutions provider, where he also began his career.
VP – FWICE and General Secretary –WIMPTSEA An alumnus of FTII Pune, Sahoo has been part of Bollywood for over 22 years as sound designer. He has won the National Award twice, besides bagging several state awards. Sahoo is currently the general secretary of Western India Motion Pictures & TV Sound Engineers Association, and VP of Federation of Western India Cine Employees.
8 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
NEWS
THIS MONTH IN THE BROADCAST AND PRODUCTION INDUSTRY
PFT SIGNS DEAL WITH DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INDIA ITS HYBRID CLOUD-ENABLED CLEAR CLOUD MAM WILL AUTOMATE THE NETWORK’S CONTENT SUPPLY CHAIN
Ankur Jain, VP and head, sales for APAC, PFT
10 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) has signed a deal with Discovery Communications India for managing long form content operations using the company’s flagship product CLEAR Cloud MAM. This module will connect all production houses to the broadcaster, and ultimately to their play-out location. CLEAR will enable Discovery to use a single system for file-based content operations including content acquisition, technical/S&P checks, mastering, and play-out delivery. PFT will also provide postproduction services for all of Discovery’s on-air promos for India. Additionally, as a Netflix Preferred Vendor (NPV) for media processing original master fulfillment, timed text, and originals localisation; PFT will be responsible for delivering Discovery India’s content to Netflix. “We are excited to collaborate with a broadcaster like Discovery, and the engagement is a major landmark in our journey of growth in APAC,” said Ankur Jain, VP and head, sales for APAC, PFT.
www.digitalstudioindia.com
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DOMESTIC NEWS
NETWORK18 ELEVATES AVINASH KAUL AS COO HE WILL REMAIN THE MD OF A+E NETWORKS | TV18 Network18 has elevated Avinash Kaul as its chief operating officer. In his new role, he will oversee the operations of all national and regional news channels; whilst continuing to remain the MD of A+E Networks | TV18. Kaul joined TV18, one of India’s leading TV broadcast networks, in mid2014; and since then has been responsible for the overall profit and loss responsibilities of all the brands under his management purview. Network18 has also appointed Priyanka Kaul as President, Marketing and Special Projects, TV18 and Aditi Singh as executive VP – Special Projects, TV18. Kaul and Singh have been behind some popular NDTV campaigns such as Greenathon, Support My School, Save Our Tigers, Banega Swachh India, Every Life Counts and Our Girls Our Pride. While Singh will report to Kaul, she in turn will report to Rahul Joshi, CEO, News and group editor-in-chief, Network18. Kaul has been involved in various aspects
Avinash Kaul, COO, Network18
of television over the last 20 years, including production, content creation, anchoring and business - sales and marketing. In her last role as chief revenue and marketing officer, NDTV
Group, she was responsible for revenue from domestic and international markets. In 2007, she founded the Special Projects and Campaigns vertical at NDTV. She has won several national and intenational awards, including the prestigious Commonwealth Broadcasting Association One World Media Award and was a part of the team that represented India at the First BRICS Media Summit in Beijing. She has a degree in Economics from Sophia College, Mumbai and has done Advanced Management from Harvard Business School, Boston. Singh has over 20 years of experience in the TV industry. Before joining Network18, she was COO/ head of the special projects and events division of NDTV where she was key in leading and building the business from scratch. Prior to this, she was channel producer at NDTV| 24x7 where she was responsible for production operations.
RSVP-PRODUCED ‘LUST STORIES’ TO PREMIERE EXCLUSIVELY ON NETFLIX LUST STORIES IS THE SECOND COLLABORATION BETWEEN NETFLIX AND RONNIE SCREWVALA’S RSVP AFTER LOVE PER SQUARE FOOT
Lust Stories features a talented cast of actors, including Vicky Kaushal and Kiara Advani.
Netflix announced an original film from India, Lust Stories which will include four short stories by four veterans of the Indian film industry - Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, and Dibakar Banerjee. Lust Stories is the second collaboration between Netflix and Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP after Love Per Square Foot. Produced by RSVP in association with Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment, it will be exclusively available to over 117 million Netflix members in 190
12 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
countries simultaneously in June 2018. It features a talented cast of actors; including Radhika Apte, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar and Kiara Advani. Swati Shetty, director of content acquisition, Netflix, said, “With universal themes, world-class talent and unique formats, Indian stories are loved among Netflix members around the world. It’s very exciting to continue our collaboration with RSVP and bring Lust Stories to the global entertainment-loving audience.” Ronnie Screwvala added, “Four short films that deal with real life relationships in modern India and brought together as one film brilliantly under a common theme by Anurag, Dibaker, Karan and Zoya is a perfect
premiere for global audiences on Netflix. ” Anurag Kashyap quoted, “The opportunities that a streaming service such as Netflix provides to creators are unparalleled, with the freedom to execute our vision, reach new audiences in 190 countries and tell a memorable story. I am delighted to play a part in welcoming this shift in India.” “A theme of lust, a new age and dynamic platform, the company of prolific filmmakers, the vision of Ashi Dua and Ronnie Screwvala made this experience immensely satisfying! Lust Stories breaks ground and even tears the envelope at times! ”, exclaimed Karan Johar, director. Zoya Akhtar noted, “Viewers today demand freedom in how they consume entertainment and our stories and medium have evolved to reflect modern sensibilities. It’s very exciting to make my Netflix debut with this film.” Dibakar Banerjee said, “I feel lucky to be in this film.”
www.digitalstudioindia.com
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTS FIJI TELEVISION WITH BROADCAST FACILITY UPGRADE BROADCASTER MAKES MOVE TO GREENFIELD SITE WITHOUT DISRUPTING OPERATIONS Imagine Communications has successfully completed a significant project for Fiji Television, transitioning the broadcast operations of Fiji One to a new, custom-built greenfield site. The project was accomplished without any interruption to Fiji One’s 24/7 news channel, which is a popular and trusted news network in the APAC region. Imagine Communications provided the core of the news operation, including four Nexio+ AMP HD video servers and Versio IOX SAN high-performance online-shared storage, running as software instances on standard Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers. This upgrade is an important step for any customer considering a transition to next-generation playout solutions such as Imagine’s Versio platform. Alongside the storage network, it also provided Fibre Channel switches and a Platinum VX router for baseband switching. The new network also includes a Nexio NLE
14 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
Gateway server to allow full integration of Apple Final Cut Pro editing tools. The newsroom installation was a key part of Fiji TV’s overall move to a new site. Fiji Television worked closely with engineers from Imagine Communications to ensure the broadcaster’s newsgathering, transmission and vital on-air services were not interrupted. “Our requirements were for a new, contemporary platform that would enable Fiji One to grow and enhance the premium news services we provide to our viewers, but without compromising the key operational workflows that our news and technical teams rely on today,” said Karen Lobendahn, CEO of Fiji TV. “We needed a technology partner capable of assisting with this transition within extremely tight deadlines, as well as implementing a new platform that we could use immediately, with no downtime, and with minimal training overhead.” Joe Khodeir, vice president of sales for Aus-
tralia at Imagine Communications, added, “Our solution runs on industry-standard IT hardware, which delivers real cost savings and forms the basis for future migration to next-generation playout systems like Versio Platform. It is also ready for other future enhancements like IP connectivity, yet looks and feels familiar to Fiji One’s operational staff. Using industrystandard equipment helped us to build the new facility ahead of time – despite seasonally inclement weather and construction delays.” He added that Imagine was well positioned to manage this transition as it had regularly worked with Fiji TV in the past, and this was a great project to continue that relationship. The facility supports all the news operations of Fiji One, including major live bulletins at midday and 6 p.m., and regular updates during the day.
www.digitalstudioindia.com
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LEICA CAMERA AG IS OFFICIAL PARTNER OF ‘LA SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE’ 2018
WXXI TV SELECTS GRASS VALLEY CAMERAS FOR UPGRADED PRODUCTION STUDIOS THE TV STATION’S TWO STUDIOS NOW FEATURE NINE LDX 82 FLEX CAMERAS WITH EXTENDED HDR GV-ELICENSES
For the third year in succession, Leica Camera AG will be the official partner of the ‘La Semaine de la Critique’ during Cannes Film Festival and will be awarding the ‘Leica Cine Discovery Prize’ for the best newcomer in the short film category together with its affiliate CW Sonderoptic GmbH. La Semaine de la Critique, from 9th to 17th May 2018, focuses on the work of young and innovative filmmakers and is considered to be one of the world’s most influential film festivals. Continuing their support for young talents, Leica Camera AG and CW Sonderoptic GmbH will award the ‘Leica Cine Discovery Prize’ in the course of the renowned film festival. The two companies will present the prize with a cash value of 4,000 euros to the best newcomer in the category ‘Short Film’ on 16th May 2018. “For us, the promotion and support of young talents in the fields of photography and moving pictures is an extremely important matter. In view of this, we are looking forward to honouring outstanding newcomers with the ‘Leica Cine Discovery Prize’ and, in turn, providing active support for them in their future careers,” explained Dr Andreas Kaufmann, majority shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of Leica Camera AG.
16 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
In 2016, Golf Channel reached a decision to begin implementing a transition strategy for the future. Eric Gardner, Golf Channel’s senior director, engineering and BOC explained, “When we started this project, our objective was to overhaul our entire audio infrastructure while achieving IP-transport, pooled resources, ease of operation, and improved workflows. Lawo’s portfolio of products allowed us to design and build a comprehensive system that seamlessly encompasses audio, video, intercom, and commentary into a single vendor solution.” Three 64-fader mc256 consoles were installed in Golf Channel’s primary production control rooms for live audio, with an additional three 16-fader mc236 consoles installed in hybrid live audio and post production rooms. In addition to the consoles, Lawo Commentary Units were installed in voiceover booths located throughout the Golf Channel campus. Tying everything together is a Nova 73 audio router and 11 DALLIS audio I/O frames located in Golf Channel studios, control rooms, and equipment areas. Gardner continued, “The beauty of this design is that all the messy cabling only happens near the core or at the edge. RAVENNA allows for a sprawling audio network with clean home runs around our facility utilising both fiber and copper.” For additional flexibility, Golf Channel also installed four Lawo V__pro8 audio/video processors to take the complexity out of video and audio channel mapping. “The addition of four Lawo V_pro8 units gives us the flexibility
to synchronise any of the eight inputs and outputs with a MADI audio matrix. Live video and audio monitoring is built into the HTML5 web GUI, and the flexibility to build program, auxiliary and camera paths in minutes rivals any other interface we use,” stated Bob van Deering, director, systems design and transmission, Golf Channel. The V__pro8 units are utilised as extra resources, with a dedicated unit per production control room and a fourth unit wrapped around the core video router. “One feature that our Operations Team has been very excited about is the flexibility of Lawo’s custom functions,” stated Dennis Milewski, director, systems services, Golf Channel. “Using the custom function of the mc² series consoles, the operators can program the console to do almost anything they can imagine. Currently, the custom functions are used for specialty audio monitoring situations, back-up microphone routing, and GPIO tasks like studio on-air lights, among many other uses.” Lawo and Golf Channel worked under a tight schedule to integrate all systems during a December 2017 production hiatus. Milewski continued, “Our operators found that Lawo’s trainer went above and beyond, making them feel comfortable with extensive training and on-site presence.”
www.digitalstudioindia.com
CONSUMER CONNECT – PHABRIX
PHABRIX DEMONSTRATES LATEST TEST AND MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS AT 2018 NAB SHOW Sx series of portable generator and analysers introduced PHABRIX, a worldwide leader in test and measurement solutions, continues its phenomenal global growth path; with an average year-on-year growth of 25% since 2015. It ambitions to increase its market reach around the world with a further 25% growth in 2018. PHABRIX saw worldwide growth of 35% in Phabrix Sx series 2015-2016 and 16% in 201617, across all markets and products; and is on industry needs, listen to our customers and further expand our capacity globally to provide course for a further 25% growth in 2017-18. Phillip Adams, MD, PHABRIX, comment- the solutions and support they need.” PHABRIX enjoyed a very successful NAB ed, “Reliable and agile test and measurement solutions have never been more important as show, demonstrating its latest test and meabroadcasters grapple with a changing land- surement solutions including the Sx series scape; including UHD (4K), HDR, the transi- of portable generator and analysers for hytion to IP and shifting technology standards. brid IP/SDI and physical layer testing. The Our exceptional growth in the past two years Sx TAG, the go-to handheld test and meabears this out; and we continue to anticipate surement instrument for the world’s most
advanced broadcasters and broadcast manufacturers; now includes support for the latest SMPTE ST 2110 and SMPTE 2022-6 decapsulation and encapsulation. Designed for rapid faultfinding, compliance testing in IP, 3G/HD/SD-SDI, optical SDI and analogue broadcast workflows, the Sx TAG’s advanced toolset also includes multi-format waveform and vector scope monitors. With an inbuilt 16:9 screen and speakers, users can perform video and audio generation with analysis in remote locations. PHABRIX also demonstrated its renowned SxE handheld, 3G/HD/SD generation, analysis and monitoring solution with advanced physical layer analysis. Visit: www.phabrix.com
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
VTC NOW LAUNCHES WITH ACCEDO VIETNAMESE BROADCASTER GOES LIVE WITH DIRECT-TOCONSUMER STREAMING SERVICE, POWERED BY ACCEDO ONE
Accedo, the video experience provider, announced that Vietnamese broadcaster, VTC Digital Television, is using its One’s Studio Professional UX platform to power VTC Now, its new direct-toconsumer, over-the-top (OTT) video service. VTC Now comprises the best in news, sports and popular entertainment with a wide catalogue of music, radio and audio-books and is available to download for free. “Our mission with VTC Now is to reach as many viewers as possible across with a relevant choice of content and services within one, dynamic video experience,” explained Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, OTT project manager at VTC, “Accedo’s Studio Professional platform has enabled us to do just that with the creation of a AV learning, social and retail experience, within an easy-to-use application.” he adds, Accedo joined forces with other ecosystem partners Ateme, Anevia, Brightcove, Akamai, Viettel and AWS to transform and extend the VTC Now video experience to Android, iOS, WebOS, Android TV and Tizen devices. “VTC is the perfect Studio Professional customer. The team leverages our best-in-class native code technology, making full use of the state of the art WYSIWYG app editing capabilities to create some truly unique video experiences, including integrating a music player into the service,“ explained Matt Kossatz, Accedo’s VP for APAC.
18 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
BLACK BOX INTRODUCES EMERALD UNIFIED KVM PLATFORM THE SYSTEM WILL SUPPORT HYBRID ENVIRONMENTS OF MIXED NETWORK CONNECTIONS, MIXED RESOLUTIONS INCLUDING UHD/4K, AND MIX OF PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL MACHINES
Black Box, a provider of keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) connectivity and signal distribution systems, introduced the Emerald Unified KVM Platform. This is a converged KVM solution for distributing high-quality video, audio, and peripheral signals throughout expanding hybrid environments that include both IP and proprietary direct-connect networks, mixed resolutions up to and beyond UHD/4K, and any number and combination of physical and virtual desktops and servers. “As media enterprises continue to migrate from SDI-based signal distribution to all-IP operations, they’re looking to leverage IP’s virtually unlimited scalability and cost savings through the use of commodity, low-cost hardware. At the same time, virtualisation offers great potential for reducing IT operational overhead and hardware expenses, and also for building resiliency into the network,” said Josh Whitney, senior VP, technology product solutions business at Black Box. “A critical requirement of IP operations is a centralised connectivity platform that can handle the complexities of today’s media environments, including 4K video distribution and support for virtualisation.” “As the first KVM platform to support
both IP and direct connections, the Emerald Platform gives enterprises the ability to deploy both IP and proprietary KVM networks from all Emerald units. Customers can scale up as their operation expands, simply by adding endpoints. In this manner, it provides seamless connectivity in a direct-connect SDI environment today, while paving a smooth and easy upgrade path to IP.” Emerald supports DisplayPort 1.2 4K video at 60 Hz and 10-bit color depth over standard IP network switches and connections, enabling pixel-perfect 4K image transmission with mathematically lossless compression. But because it is a true hybrid KVM solution, operations still working primarily in HD can add 4K at their own pace and transition individual user groups as the need arises. Emerald is also the first KVM solution to provide full support for virtualised environments, enabling connectivity for any combination of physical and virtual servers within a single KVM network and giving operators a smooth and easy migration path to virtualisation. The Emerald KVM platform offers virtual machine support for VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix using RDP, RemoteFX and PCoIP.
www.digitalstudioindia.com
Photography courtesy: Robb Cohen Photography & Video
COVER STORY
STILL GOOD IN THE HOOD
While the 2018 NAB Show showed how technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence could transform the media industry, the underlined message was that content still reigns BY VINITA BHATIA isitors to the 2018 NAB Show were greeted by the sight of a motion sensing system that uses DJI’s remote-control technology to precisely synchronise the movement of Force Pro with the gimbal, helping cinematographers capture cinematic scenes with ease. Intuitive and easy to learn, Force Pro breaks down the barriers that
V
20 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
come with understanding the operation of more complex gimbal control systems. For those who thought that was progressive, the event presented a programme within the Next-Generation Media Technologies Conference titled ‘Get Ready for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence’ that included six sessions highlighting the various ways machine intelligence is impacting content creation. The panels explored how
machine intelligence can increase productivity, efficiencies and creativity in production planning, animation, visual effects, postproduction and localisation. Attendees also learned the current capabilities of neural network-based tools while also seeing the potential of these innovations to alter jobs, workflows and the nature of content itself. And when it came to radical thinking, there were many who thought that we were
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COVER STORY
Attendees admiring innovative technology on the Show Floor.
‘NAB PRESENTED A PROGRAMME WITHIN THE NEXT-GENERATION MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE TITLED ‘GET READY FOR MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’ THAT INCLUDED SIX SESSIONS HIGHLIGHTING THE VARIOUS WAYS MACHINE INTELLIGENCE IS IMPACTING CONTENT CREATION.’
A live recording in the Podcast studio in Central Lobby.
still scratching the surface. A Nokia executive told attendees at the event, people may begin to watch video on their home walls or windows, rather than on their phones and tablets, by 2025. “The industry is on the cusp of moving away from a fixed device with a screen and really enabling anything to be a screen. There is a huge amount of demand for making anything a screen,” said Anthony Berkeley, vice president for new business de-
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velopment and product management, Nokia. Suffice it to say that as always, the NAB Show had something for everyone – those who came wanting to connect with new suppliers, those who wanted to network, those who wanted to showcase their products and those who wanted to see the latest solutions in the broadcast, production and content creation business. FUTURE OF LIVE BROADCAST TV Gordon Smith, president and CEO, NAB, delivered the annual NAB State of the Industry address during the event. He said that at the NAB Show, broadcasters stood on the shoulders of the innovators, creators and storytellers, whose creativity, passion and energy allowed them to see broadcasting as it could be in the future. “We have inherited so much from those
An attendee with augmented reality glasses appreciating an immersive experience.
broadcasters before us and continue to learn from those in the present. Standing on the shoulders of these giants, we can imagine a brighter future than we could on our own. I believe our future lies in investing in the innovation that is crucial to our long-term growth, so that we can always be there for our communities… anywhere they are, and always for free. There is no better or more reliable resource for information during times of crisis than broadcast stations. But, we also recognise that consumers’ media consumption habits are always changing, and we continue to evolve with these changes.” Speaking at the opening of the NAB Show, Kevin Beggs, chairman of independent producer Lionsgate said that the choice of distribution platform could depend on the ambitions of a particular show’s creators to a large extent. According to him broadcast
DIGITAL STUDIO | MAY 2018 21
COVER STORY
Attendees Interacting with the Bolt High-Speed Cinebot.
The Game Developer’s Gallery saw many people try out the latest innovations.
DJI’s remote-control technology that precisely synchronises the movement of Force Pro with the gimbal.
22 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
will remain a highly relevant platform for scripted drama, with some types of show better suited to the syndication model than sales to streaming platforms. The exhibition-cum-conference was held at Las Vegas Convention Center from 7th to 12th April, 2018 and about 100,000 were expected to participate in it. Throughout the trade event there were sessions and exhibits that featured breakthrough technologies and innovations across media, entertainment and technology. This included the ‘Race on the Red Planet: Chasing our Creative Future With Curiosity and Opportunity’, a three-part program that explored the evolving role of technology in content creation, which was produced by AWS. As part of the session, Marco Tempest, creative technologist and advisor to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Director’s Fellow at the MIT MediaLab, showcased gesturecontrolled drones and augmented reality. After, a panel featuring Jeff Dow, EVP and CIO at 20th Century Fox; Dave Duvall, SVP of Infrastructure Support Services at Discovery Inc.; Robert Hogg, deputy surface lead, Mars 2020 Project at JPL; and BA Winston, global head of Digital Video Playback and Delivery at Amazon Prime Video, joined moderator Michelle Munson, co-founder and CEO of Eluvio, to discuss how cloud-based workflows and machine learning are altering the ways we collect and navigate data. Another session was ‘Star Wars: Join the Rebellion’ featuring Marla Newall, match-move and layout supervisor, Eddie Pasquarello, VFX supervisor, and Erich Ippen, lead lookdev technical director – all hailing from Industrial Light & Magic – in conversation with Noah Kadner, contributing writer at ASC Magazine. The group discussed how the studio created some of the film’s visual effects sequences and how the most complex shots were brought to life. Another highlight of the event was the ‘From Podcast to Broadcast’, a keynote session featuring ‘Alex, Inc.’s executive producers, Zach Braff and Matt Tarses, the creators and host of the breakout hit podcast ‘Up and Vanished’, and others. Award-winning country music band Old Dominion performed at the new We Are Broadcasters Celebration.
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EVENTS – NAB SHOW
TRUTH AND DARE
In recognition of its newest partnerships, Harris Morris, chairman and CEO of Wazee Digital hosted a casual Q&A session with Phil Lalonde, senior VP, ad sales, Viacom Media Networks during 2018 NAB Show BY VINITA BHATIA t the 2018 NAB Show, Harris Morris, chairman and CEO, Wazee Digital and Phil Lalonde, senior VP, ad sales, operations, Viacom Media Networks had an informal chat about how the media and entertainment M&E asset management landscape is shaping up. During their discussion, the duo spoke about how the Wazee Digital and Viacom will leverage automated facial recognition and enriched metadata within Wazee Digital Core to identify the talent and provide data back to Viacom. Here are excerpts of their chat: Harris Morris (HM): What is fascinating when you read the press is that linear advertising doesn’t matter, but that’s where of lot of the revenue comes from. But it’s also where complexity comes from. Phil Lalonde (PH): It’s where the delivery comes from and how we deliver it. Our rating are like declining across the board, because people are finding different ways to consume. But that’s great and we embrace that, because we make good content as
A
24 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
Harris Morris, chairman and CEO of Wazee Digital
an industry. Like there are no cats on skateboards; I hate that example, but it is the easiest one to use, and people want to advertise in that ship. Infact, they want to advertise in premium stuff. So it is about what and where people want to watch. And, as a bunch of technology innovators, system integrators and people that work in operations, we have to figure out how to facilitate this best. After all, at the end of the day they are our clients and are spending the money, so we have to make it easier for them. HM: You are teeing up my core pitch. While linear is still massively important, where a lot of profits come from, it’s under pressure, combined with all of the digital necessities. And the fact that folks really haven’t cracked how to serve this with efficacy and
cost that they want is what’s finally pushing media organisations. We are not always the fastest to adopt, change or embrace things like cloud solutions or rights management. So how does your stuff fit into that? PL: We are a labour-intensive business and one of our biggest corporate goals is to find efficiency; it doesn’t matter if it is Viacom or ESPN or Discovery. There is a lot of manual work that gets done and technology has advanced pretty far so if there is something that you are taking advantage. At the same time it is a hard thing, because people hold on things like the quality of television signal and they don’t want you to screw things up. But there are ways where it is pretty easy to avoiding screwing things up, while making good content. HM: At the same time there is also this
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Automation In order for an automation solution to successfully operate in a broadcast facility it needs to be powerful, scalable and yet user friendly. It also needs to be engineer-friendly and require virtually no maintenance. And yes, we have accomplished it… Our automation solution – AirMaster, carries the entire playout process on it’s own, without a need for any proprietary hardware. It can use multiple video servers on a single playlist even if they are from different manufacturers. In case of a server crash auto switching from main server to the backup server is included as standard. Switching router control, manual control for servers and other devices and video preview are all integrated into the GUI. A separate scheduling application is included. It will let you print as-run reports or interface to third party traffic solutions.
cost effective playout If you do not need a complex system but instead you are looking for a cost effective yet reliable solution AirServer Lite would be the perfect choice. It’s a scaled down version of AirServer but still perfectly capable of providing a 24/7 playout with branding. It can be suitable for many applications: main playout, .2 or internet channels, schools, shopping malls… It comes with a graphics editor and a dual channel live input application. It differs from the similar product by not being just a file player, but instead having features of a professional broadcast server. Is your TV channel working as a commericals inserter for a satellite network feed? No problem as AirServer Lite can trigger the playlist by tones that network is sending.
graphics Having a powerful graphics engine integrated into the playout process is of upmost importance as it’s not only going to bring elegance to your channel but it could also be a source of a considerable income. Our graphics are designed to meet those expectations and it will not only key logos and text, it also overlay crawls, tickers, shapes, clock and image sequences. Additionally, for each item you can apply different effects like fade, blur, movement or drop shadow. To further cut your costs, EAS insertion is included as standard. Our graphics solution comes integrated with playout or as a separate CG device.
INGEST Almost every TV station has a need to capture video material, whether it’s from a satellite feed, an internet stream or a tape. Our ingest solution provides multichannel ingest in the most common capture formats, with timed scheduled record list or automated tape ingest. VDCP support comes as standard, allowing integration with third party solutions. Closes captioning support is included.
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EVENTS – NAB SHOW
Harris Morris and Phil Lalonde during the chat at NAB Show.
issue of rights management, where there is pressure on both lowering cost and becoming more efficient, which is increasing over the past few months? PL: That’s a brilliant topic. When I talk about making good content, it’s a very simplistic statement – you make a good show, but then how do you monetise it, right? Some of the things that my team does is like getting smarter about your programme schedule. Whether it’s on linear or digital, they deliberate on what content works well where, which is a gigantic thing from a delivery and rating perspective for us, and everyone, in the industry. HM:We talk about rightful audience at whatever price they are willing to pay. But then the delivery costs has to be under that, with some atop it – and you are trying to solve that problem dynamically. While this changes over time, it has some patterns and predictability. Has there been a rise in your clientele saying we have this asset; how can we find everybody on the platform? PL: I would say, you make a good original shell, it’s going to sell, and it’s going to loop across the platform right. It’s the stuff that just fills the day, so you can optimise it the rest of the day as well. Or there are like seven content pieces, let them pick any of those. HM: How do you feel about availability? You got this rest of the day you got to fill, and that’s going to be intrinsically some of your lower value content, you got high value
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content that’s probably more prime time or at least targeted at a very thoughtful part of the daily schedule. But, what if folks want to either save, return to that episode and it’s then chipping away at that lower value, rest of the day. Media comers used to be very scared by this and worry that they would cannibalize their content. So do you make higher value content available all the time on every platform? PL: I think every media company, whether it’s Viacom or otherwise, is just trying to monetize their content as best they can, whether it is a movie or half-hour show or something we brought the third window of rights to after 14 other networks had it. And you do the best as you can. We have to fill 24 hours a day, which is still a hard thing and I think we’re trying to figure out how to do that, because you either drive the revenue and also support your digital platforms. It’s a hard balance, because obviously you are not going to run a movie on your digital platform that you are running on VH1, at 2 o’clock on Tuesday. So again, it was actually like a regional content to drive people who want to go to your networks. HM: Who is the most progressive – even if you had to call out somebody that you could be with –in trying to do the right thing for consumer availability? PL: CBS has the best content ever. HM: Just content? What about availability and reach?
PL: The broadcast network is really good at digital. And part of this is because they have eight hours programming a day. I think it’s easier for them to manage, as they don’t have as many originals like we have; 22 cable networks within our group. And I also want to talk about this cool facial recognition software that you have. We have a large kid’s network that is concerned about content management, standard practices and selling somebody. They look at every commercial we receive, which is a very manual process. So we ran a little facial recognition software proof-of-concept (POC) with some 100 commercials with you. HM: Karen from my team will remember the number. PL: Then we spread out a bunch of metadata about the actors, products, etc., and worked on the animation piece. In terms of automation efficiency and being accurate, if we mess this up, the government will fine us. But this POC works, so we are going to go live. HM: And the real one would be at scale doing essentially all the ads coming in. PL: We are just talking about doing ads now. In the future it might help our programming teams do metadata around everything and not just commercials. It is good way for us to grow and learn kind of how to make this intelligence work. HM: Folks approach digital as a cost problem. All of our solutions, whether it is dynamic archive or digital distribution, are actually revenue-varying solutions. So it’s just how you talk about it. So if you want to think about it as cost, that is okay, but that’s not very customer-centric. Instead, think about what are you willing to pay for that pixel on that platform delivered that way with that amount of quality. And then think what’s the right cost equation to make a margin, what you are willing to make for what you are invested in that content, or what you are reusing, repurposing what it should earn. And it’s just flipping the way you think about it.
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Whether you are taking a breather post the 2018 NAB Show or missed attending it this year, we present a look at some of the trending products and solutions from the event
RIEDEL DEBUTS RSP-1232HL SMARTPANEL
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Building upon the technology that powers its SmartPanel app-driven user interfaces, Riedel Communications introduced the new 1200 series SmartPanel. Making its debut at the 2018 NAB Show, the RSP-1232HL features multiple full-colour multitouch displays, 32 innovative hybrid-lever keys, the ability to leverage apps for multifunctionality, and the ability to adapt easily to the various workflows in use today. The RSP-1232HL has been designed to support varied workflows. Some comms users prefer ‘Talk & Listen’ workflows where the user chooses what to listen to from an initially silent panel. Other workflows prefer a ‘Talk & Mute’ workflow where users start with a panel that broadcasts everything, with the users selectively choosing which signals to turn off. Users decide which mode they prefer on a per-panel basis. Inventing a panel from scratch also enables new features
LATEST PRODUCTS
THE BIG SHOW-CASE
The RSP-1232HL has been designed to support varied workflows.
that greatly aid in making the panel easier to understand for users. Riedel’s new Logical Groups concept allows users to choose custom colors for either the key labels or the LED rings that are positioned around each key. Each key label has an eight-character main label, a 16-character sub-label, and user-defined icon labels.
HIGH PERFORMANCE CABLE & CONNECTOR SOLUTIONS 3K.93C Series Connectors Professional broadcast’s preferred choice Conforms to standards: ARIB / SMPTE / EBU Over 20,000 mating cycles
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Cable Termination Service to provide a complete solution Fibre optic termination and tooling FUW & PUW assemblies in various lengths LEMO regional cable termination centres
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DIGITAL STUDIO | MAY 2018 27
GATESAIR STRENGTHENS CONTROL, MONITORING, SECURITY FOR TV TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
LATEST PRODUCTS
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The Maxiva ULXTE
At the 2018 NAB Show GatesAir emphasised the future of control and monitoring in a wireless transmission system, and demonstrate a new networking solution to secure data backhaul over IP networks. In addition to unveiling a new HTML5-based graphical user interfaces for its Maxiva UHF (ULXTE, UAXTE) and VHF (VAXTE) transmitters, GatesAir demonstrated the following three solutions for RF systems management. These included the VPN tunneling and data backhaul powered by GatesAir Intraplex IP networking, Maxiva StreamAssure RF and IP stream monitoring and troubleshooting solution powered by Qligent and an IP-Based remote control and monitoring of RF systems powered by Burk. New innovations for NAB address reliability and security concerns that come with a transition to native IP content delivery – a core element of the ATSC 3.0 standard. GatesAir unveiled new HTML5-based graphical user interfaces
for Maxiva transmitters, at once offering a more intuitive transmitter monitoring platform and rock-solid security from outside intrusions. Additionally, GatesAir will demonstrate how its new Intraplex IPConnect solution can establish reliable and secure network connections to the control elements of TV transmitters and exciters, allowing broadcasters to securely transport Web, SNMP and other remote control traffic. The fully redundant solution replaces generic network appliances at the studio and transmitter site with robust, reliable Intraplex IPConnect devices that ensure high service availability and SNMP compatibility. The demonstration also showed how broadcasters and network operators can reliably and securely extend local area networks to accommodate secure backhaul of performance data across widearea, single-frequency networks for ATSC 3.0 and global DTV standards.
ROSS VIDEO UNVEILS UPGRADED ACUITY, CARBONITE SWITCHERS NAB 2018 also saw the release of the latest versions of Ross Video’s flagship Acuity production switcher and Carbonite switcher. It also marked the official launch of the Carbonite Black Solo13, a self-contained production switcher and hardware panel combination with 13 inputs and 6 outputs. Solo13 offers more I/O to work with in the productions, while retaining the highly-compact Carbonite Black Solo form factor. Acuity Version 8 adds a number of features to the already comprehensive set, including enhancements to Custom Controls based on user request and feedback, improvements to Acuity panel quick row delegations and virtual panel now served from the real panels. DashBoard VirtualPanel is now available for all Carbonite switchers. Additionally, it has Live Assist DashBoard Menu improvements, while Transition menu includes Source Selection for PST & BKGD, Next Transition Inclusions, Show Alpha, and a cleaner settings grouping. Les O’Reilly, marketing product manager for Production Switchers at Ross, is keen to highlight the company’s unbroken development record in production switchers.
28 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
“Ross started out as a switcher company in 1974 and we’ve obviously grown and diversified a great deal since then, but production switchers remain an incredibly important part of our business. I’m proud of our track record in developing and updating these products; Ross continues to offer upgrades that are freely available to our earliest customers and I know they value that longevity and consistency of approach,” he said.
Imagine Communications introduced xG Scorecard, a analytics and business intelligence tool designed specifically for the media industry, at the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. xG Scorecard provides media professionals with a
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xG Scorecard delivers at-a-glance, real-time insights through comprehensive, highly visualised view of business data
comprehensive and highly visualized view of performance and audience data, empowering them to make smarter advertising sales and programming decisions. The expansion of content distribution options has made it difficult for media companies to easily and accurately track consumption and demographic data, inhibiting their ability to maximise advertising revenue. xG Scorecard is an analytics tool designed to enable media companies to concentrate all data relevant to optimising their business into a single view that can be customised to meet the needs of specific users and decision makers. “The at-a-glance intelligence behind xG Scorecard greatly improves the ability of media professionals to draw real-time insights by allowing them to view all of the information that impacts their business at the same time,” said Sarah Foss, chief product officer of Imagine’s Advertising Management Systems. “Visualising all data in a single view and integrated field, as opposed to discrete and static sources, like spreadsheets, simplifies and enhances the process of discovering trends and spotting correlations vital to growing your business.”
LATEST PRODUCTS
IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS INTRODUCES BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SOLUTION
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SPORTS AT-HOME PRODUCTION: NEP AUSTRALIA’S ANDREWS PRODUCTION HUB UP AND RUNNING With opening the facilities in Sydney and Melbourne in February and March 2018, NEP Australia’s Andrews Hub, an all-IP production facility connected to more than 29 stadia across the continent, started production. Andrews Hub lays the foundation for a new era of sports production in Australia and is set to serve as a blueprint for cost-efficient and scalable live sports production for the rest of the world. NEP Australia made history on March 10 this year, when the Andrews Production Hub in Sydney produced its first live broadcast for Fox Sports Australia; a Football Federation Australia A-League match in Perth between Perth Glory and the Central Coast Mariners. “Perth and Sydney are 4,000 kilometers away so it’s a pretty significant milestone, especially as we are using SMPTE ST-2110 for the IP transport of the video and audio signals,” says Marc Segar, NEP Australia’s Director of Technology. NEP Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne facilities of their Andrews Hub enable multiple concurrent outside-broadcasts (OBs) and are the world’s largest networked broadcast centers todate. Based on an internet protocol (IP) core, the hubs enable remote and distributed production, with cameras and microphones located at the venue; while most of the production teams are at the hubs. Designed for large multi-camera sports broadcasts, they accommodate Australia’s mostfollowed football codes, Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Rules (AFL), as well as A-League football (soccer) and other popular sports from 29 venues around the country. The installation is based on Lawo’s V__matrix IP video routing, processing and multi-viewing platform; Sony XVS8000 production switchers, EVS replay systems and an Arista spineleaf switching infrastructure. Lawo’s VSM IP broadcast control system serves as over-arching orchestration and control, as well as a common user interface for all operators. The multiviewer configuration is intuitively furnished with ‘theWALL’ multi-viewer control systems, providing the users easy drag and drop mosaic configuration applying to tablet computers. Along with the software-defined V__matrix platform, NEP has also installed Lawo mc296 audio consoles in six control rooms and four mc256 audio consoles for the IP-based outside- broadcast trucks. Further, the NEP-Lawo cooperation comprises audio and video IP
30 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
NEP Australia’s new IP infrastructure is based on Lawo V_matrix Routing, Processing & Multi-viewing platform
processing equipment for the four new outside broadcast (OB) trucks; and the upgrade of seven trucks in NEP’s existing OB fleet. “There are seven control rooms across Sydney and Melbourne,” notes Segar. “However, we considered this one broadcast center in two physical locations because we can share just about any resource,” he added. The move to a production infrastructure with centralised control rooms and distributed ‘cloud’ resources means a significant increase in resource utilization, and is a big shift for crew members who are typically used to being road warriors. Besides benefits for production crews, like the ability to sleep in one’s own bed, seeing the family, and leaving the stress of travel behind; this results also in plain cost savings by reduced overall travel time, less flights and accommodation. “For example, the team doing the Perth game was able to do a job on Sunday which they otherwise could not have done because they would have been lost to travel,” says Segar. “It is early days but I see a much happier and relaxed production team as the facility is more like something a traditional broadcaster would use. We
can make it a comfortable environment and make better TV.” Experiences like these are not limited to Australia as IP-based remote production is gaining global impact on live production workflows. Other examples are the ‘cloud’ production infrastructure of NEP in the Netherlands, SiA’s remote production of Belgium’s Proximus League (2nd league) and Jupiler League (1st league) soccer matches. These production setups are based on on-site IP remote flight-case units, which basically contain only cameras, microphones and the IP connectivity. These are linked to the control rooms in Belgium’s capital, Brussels, via IP networking. This is where all mixing, shading, replays and graphics are performed. Again, the solution is based on Lawo’s V__matrix platform in combination with Lawo’s IP-based V__remote4 remote production interfaces, A__line audio-toIP interfaces, mc256 consoles and the VSM IP Broadcast Control System. For further information about NEP Australia’s Andrews Hub, please visit: http://bit.ly/NEPAndrewsHub
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NEW EDITSHARE XSTREAM EFS STORAGE SOLUTION INTRODUCES ACL MEDIA SPACES
Features include new IT-centric space management tools and improved storage space reporting.
LATEST PRODUCTS
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EditShare, a provider of intelligent shared storage, QC and media management solutions, announced that its flagship EditShare XStream EFS shared storage solutions will now feature ACL Media Spaces as well as enhanced storage space utilisation reporting. EditShare XStream EFS ACL Media Spaces and new storage space reporting capabilities will be
demonstrated at NAB 2018. “While EditShare has traditionally focused on keeping storage management tools simple for creative users, ‘poweruser’ administrators who are more accustomed to SAN storage and Windows-NT style controls will appreciate this new addition,” commented Bill Thompson, EditShare’s storage product manager. Along with the new ACL Media Spaces, EditShare has revamped the way it reports used and free space on its EFS systems. “Because EFS administrators can choose between several different file protection schemes, each requiring different amounts of storage capacity overhead, showing how much physical disk space is being used by a set of files, and reporting remaining capacity, can require some tedious mental gymnastics,” said Thompson. “Our new reporting package dramatically simplifies the situation.” The new ACL Media Space feature is aimed at organisations that prefer to manage storage via Access Control Lists instead of ‘read-only’ or ‘read/write’ rules that govern current EditShare EFS media spaces. ACL Spaces are managed in Finder and Windows Explorer extensions that are installed with EditShare Connect. Users with the ACL Management Limited Administrative permission can modify ACL Space permissions.
ATOMOS INTRODUCES NINJA V MONITOR/RECORDER Seven years after the popular portable edit-ready Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHR Apple ProRes recorders burst onto the direct to affordable SSD drives. The Ninja scene, Atomos introduced Ninja V, a V’s 2.5cm deep aluminum body is crafted compact 5.2” 1000nit high bright HDR for maximum portability and durability, monitor/recorder. It has a sleek design easily attaching to any camera. and weighs just over 320 grams, which is The AtomHDR engine ensures perfect perfect for mirrorless cameras, DSLRs exposures when shooting HDR. It and gaming. delivers 10+ stops of dynamic range to The near edge-to-edge high bright the LCD in real time from Log/ PQ/HLG 5.2 inch screen has 1000nits of output camera signals. Playout Log as PQ or coupled with an anti-reflection finish, HLG to a larger HDR-compatible screen. allowing users to clearly see their images The display can be calibrated to maintain even in daylight. The colour-accurate perfect colour accuracy over time. display with AtomHDR allows users Users can record direct from the The 5.2” 1000nit HDR monitor/recorder to see in High Dynamic Range, or load camera’s sensor and bypass the weighs just over 320 grams. creative LUTs at the touch of a button. internal compression quality and Ninja V gives them all the critical monitoring tools they need recording time limits. It runs from a single Sony-type - histogram, false colour, peaking, movable 1-1 and 2-1 pixel battery for hours. The new compact AtomX Drive SSD offers magnification, waveform, RGB parade, Vector scope, 8ch robust affordable storage. It is available from Angelbird, audio level meters, etc. G-Technology and now also Sony Storage Media Solutions, Users can record up to 4Kp60 10-bit video over HDMI 2.0 in who join as the company’s newest licensed drive partner.
32 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
CAMERA CORPS TO DEMONSTRATE CLARITY LARGESENSOR HD/UHD HFR CAMERA AT 2018 NAB SHOW combination, makes it practically A recent addition to the Camera invisible to other cameras Corps rental fleet, Clarity is a covering a scene. Genlockable miniature camera delivering and easily positioned right in real-time live output and highthe middle of the action, it has a frame-rate SDI for use with slow wide temperature tolerance (-25 motion replay servers. A UHD to +50 C) to allow outdoor use version operating at four times in conditions ranging from mid real-time is also available. The winter right through to the hottest camera will be demonstrated on mid-summer. the Vitec Group exhibit booth. Completing the Clarity system Measuring 65 x 35 x 115 mm is a full-functioned remote control and weighing 330grams, Clarity panel with paint, focus, iris and is smaller than traditional high A basketball application of the Camera Corps Clarity highspeed camera. zoom control. Additional features speed broadcast camera heads include a positive-lock lens mount yet can capture high quality HD plus a global shutter with speeds of 1/60, 1/125, 1/500 and at up to 480 frames per second, eight times real-time at 50p 1/1000 second. or 60p frame rate. Image capture is via a large 7 megapixel “Clarity greatly extends the opportunities available to micro four thirds sensor, custom designed to operate at productions seeking to deliver slow motion imagery from high frame rates and allowing easier matching with other practically any outdoor or indoor location across any genre,” broadcast cameras. said Simon Atkinson, head of projects, Camera Corps. Clarity has a compact profile and black finish which, in
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Lawo unveiled the third generation of the mc²56 at 2018 NAB Show, which incorporates features drawn from Lawo’s mc²96 flagship console without sacrificing the identity of its predecessors. Optimised for IP video production environments, it has full native support for SMPTE 2110, AES67/Ravenna and Dante. Its capabilities include IP-Share gain compensation and DSCA Dynamic Surface to Core Allocation. Available in frames from 16 to 112 faders, the mc²56
supports up to 8,192 x 8,192 crosspoints, 888 DSP channels, 144 summing buses and 128 aux buses at 44.1 - 96kHz operation. In addition to Button-Glow and coloured touch-sensitive encoders, new colour-TFTs provide clearer colour-coding of channel strips for better visibility and faster access in low light conditions, while Lawo’s LiveView provides thumbnail previews of video streams directly in the fader labeling displays. With a 64-fader surface suited to most OB vehicle dimensions, a 16-fader standalone extender may be added to a mc²56 for subsequent expansion at any time. The mc²56’s extended free control section gives direct access to four parameters in addition to gain control for better balance between de-centralised and centralised control workflows. The console allows both global and individual parameter assignments to the free controls of each channel strip. Additionally, the console’s overbridge with state-of-theart capacity sensing 21.5” full HD touchscreens contains two slots for individual user panels, which can be populated from a choice of five options – 40 additional buttons, a TC automation panel, a dedicated Reveal Fader panel, a RTW TM7 Goniometer or a RTW TM9 Goniometer (occupying both slots).
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LAWO MC256 PRODUCTION CONSOLE LAUNCH
ATTO TECHNOLOGY TO DISPLAY HIGH-PERFORMANCE STORAGE, NETWORK CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS ATTO Technology, Inc. is showcasing its extensive line of storage and network connectivity products in workflow demonstrations at the 2018 NAB Show. It will feature its full product portfolio, including the latest 25/50/100GB Ethernet technology and solutions for content delivery using Gen 6 32GB and 16GB fibre channel. Among the innovations on display are ATTO’s ThunderLink Thunderbolt adapters, Celerity Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), XstreamCORE Storage Controllers, ExpressSAS/SATA HBAs and RAID Adapters and FastFrame Ethernet Network Interface Cards (NICs). As the only certified Ethernet Thunderbolt adapter and
NIC connectivity provider for the Avid NEXIS series, ATTO is excited to demonstrate the latest advancement in collaborative workflows. Avid NEXIS is a storage system to accelerate production for media intensive industries. ATTO ThunderLink Thunderbolt adapters and FastFrame NICs offer NEXIS users cross-platform collaboration within workgroups and the ability to scale-out and add clients as workgroups grow. The combination of ATTO and Avid means creative professionals can work on the most advanced high resolution projects through latency management techniques while maintaining smooth data delivery for high-bandwidth applications.
DEJERO BOOSTS VIDEO QUALITY PERFORMANCE, EFFICIENCY WITH 5.0 CORE RELEASE AT 2018 NAB SHOW
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Core software update features an HEVC software update for EnGo, increased frame rate support, and recording enhancements to streamline remote broadcast workflows Dejero, an innovator in cloud-managed solutions that provide video transport and Internet connectivity while mobile or in remote locations, has announced a major release to Dejero Core software. Core runs on all Dejero transmitters and receivers and includes the proprietary technology responsible for the intelligent and dynamic blending of IP connections from multiple network providers. The release will be available in May and will be previewed for the first time at NAB Show 2018. “The drive behind this major release of our Core software is to help broadcasters and media organisations further simplify their workflows while providing even higher levels of performance and video quality,” explained Bogdan Frusina,
36 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
founder, Dejero. Dejero Core 5.0 adds HEVC support to the latest version of Dejero EnGo, a versatile mobile transmitter that encodes high-quality video and reliably transmits over multiple IP streams to deliver exceptional quality at low latency. EnGo now combines Dejero’s auto-transport and adaptive bitrate encoding technology – which optimizes picture quality when there’s limited bandwidth available – with HEVC, the newest compression standard. Broadcasters can take advantage of the enhanced efficiency of HEVC compression to provide higher quality video at lower bitrates. The Core 5.0 software update is free for eligible customers, with no additional hardware to be installed or purchased. Core 5.0 also adds support for 1080p at 25/30 fps to Dejero EnGo, GoBox, and VSET transmitters, the Dejero Broadcast Server, and the Cloud Server and MultiPoint cloud services. The recently introduced HEVC-capable PathWay rack-mount encoder/transmitter and WayPoint receiver now support 1080p at 25/30/50/60 fps. The increased frame rates deliver smooth, high-motion video preferred by broadcasters for sports and eSports coverage.
AVID LAUNCHES UPGRADES, NEW SOLUTIONS FOR CREATION, MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
Avid has announced updates to its Creative Tools family.
Avid announced software upgrades as well as new solutions for broadcast news and sports production. It also highlighted 80 smaller releases and updates released in the past 12 months based on inputs from members. Avid’s biggest announcement for news and sports production focused on video wall display control and enhanced virtual studios. Designed as the successor to Avid’s TD Control, Maestro | PowerWall is billed as the next generation of studio display
creation and management tool, enabling UHD support and allowing for content to be displayed up to 16x the size of an existing HD-SDI video output. The solution is also aimed at making it easier to move content into a video wall, including real-time, data-driven graphics. Another major announcement is Avid|On Demand, a SaaS cloud services and solutions platform designed to provide media production capabilities on demand. It lets media organisations deploy the capabilities they need on a per-project basis. Services include Avid AI, a new suite of Avid and third-party capabilities that automate content indexing, such as closed captioning verification, language detection, facial recognition, scene detection, and speech-to-text conversion. Avid also announced the addition of Epic Game’s Unreal Engine into its virtual studio product, Maestro | Virtual Set, enabling photo-realistic broadcast graphics, virtual studios and augmented reality graphics. Unreal Engine has become the defacto standard for virtual studios in the past year, with nearly every major company adopting it in some form or another.
DIGITAL STUDIO | MAY 2018 37
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flexible multi-cam replay platform, LiveTouch, Now that Grass Valley has brought SAM live production was on display. LiveTouch allows users to solutions under its umbrella, the combined portfolio swells enjoy instant collaboration, integrated to fit the needs of any operation, editing and advanced replay tools in HD, providing broadcasters 4K UHD, and HDR. LiveTouch scales more options than ever to meet the needs of any size when outfitting their live production, giving users studios regardless of instant access to any camera size, budget or business with inter-server streaming. need. This year at NAB Grass Valley also displayed 2018, Grass Valley its wide array of production demonstrated multiple switchers at the event, live production solutions including GV K-Frame X, including the DirectIP+ LDX 86N is a series of fully native HD/3G/4K/ high-speed which has an IP I/O footprint remote production solution. camera platform with optional HDR. production switcher with up This product enables to 192x96 IP, SDI or mixed connectivity connections and broadcasters to manage At-Home productions from any up to 9M/Es that can be split across multiple suites. This distance and reduces bandwidth requirements between switcher supports SD, HD, 1080p, 4K UHD (compressed cameras and XCU cradles so broadcasters can link any and uncompressed) and HDR, and working with any of the camera to any XCU without ever touching a cable. Kayenne, Karrera and GV Korona panel families. Complementing DirectIP+, booth visitors also saw Another switcher on display was Kahuna, the Swiss Army the LDX 86N Series fully native HD/3G/4K/ high-speed knife for production switcher format conversion, offering camera platform with optional HDR and the Focus 75 Live outstanding format versatility via FormatFusion4. 720/1080i Switchable HD system camera. In addition, the
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GRASS VALLEY SHOWCASES RANGE OF INTEROPERABLE LIVE PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS
CONSUMER CONNECT – V-NOVA
OTT PROVIDERS ARE CLAIMING BACK THE ABR LADDER By 2020, Cisco forecast that video will account for roughly 80% of all Internet traffic. Bandwidth availability is a key factor that will influence the widespread development and adoption of OTT services, especially for mobile devices; but many countries still face infrastructure challenges and severely disparate regional broadband speeds. This is putting the growth trajectory of many OTT businesses at risk. The market demand for high definition OTT content consumed by a customer base with widely varying broadband speeds, requires operators to provide multiple renditions of content that can be reliably delivered under different operating conditions. This is usually achieved using an Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) ladder. An ABR ladder is a list of encoded video streams at different bitrates, allowing a player to stream video to match the bandwidth it has available. We often get asked by customers, “At what bitrate can you do 1080p, 720p and 480p?” It is true that one way of reducing the bitrate is to drop the resolution, but the purpose of ABR is to maximise the visual quality as you drop the bitrate, and reducing the resolution is a surefire way to degrade the quality - especially on devices with higher-resolution displays. On top of this, bandwidth bottlenecks are often worse than OTT providers think. For example, in India only 10% of the population receives publicly advertised peak broadband speeds, half the population receives an average of 1-2 Mbps, and a quarter receives even lower. If the ABR ladder is not well matched to regional operating conditions, users also experience slow start-up times and frequent buffering issues. Research from Verizon Media Services shows that in cases where such viewing impairment
Source: Verizon digital media Services, 2016
38 MAY 2018 | DIGITAL STUDIO
occurs, viewing times fall dramatically, leading to increased churn and lost ad-revenue.
TODAY’S PROBLEM WITH NEXT-GENERATION CODECS Consumer demand for OTT content is currently driving many improvements in infrastructure and industry standards, all the way down to the codec of choice. Following the past success of h.264 enabling HD broadcast, its successor HEVC, and VP9/AV1, all push the boundaries on compression efficiency. However, HEVC uptake has been very limited to date, in part due to patent issues and licensing costs, and also because of the time taken for device manufacturers to rollout new hardware. Today HEVC chipsets are still only available in high-end set top boxes and a handful of premium phones such as the iPhone 6S and above. Uptake of VP9 has been similarly limited and its touted replacement AV1 is still at least five years away from actual mass-market availability. While large providers such as Netflix can amortise the large costs of duplicating production workflows for many codecs, the reality is that for most players, h.264 is the only game in town.
SUPERCHARGING H.264 VIDEO WITH PERSEUS PLUS PERSEUS Plus is a next-generation codec designed to enhance a base codec, such as h.264, by adding additional layers of resolution encoded using an innovative hierarchical ‘multiscale’ image representation that is more efficient than traditional wavelet and block-based codecs. Combining PERSEUS with h.264 achieves the same quality as HEVC, but at half the bitrate. More importantly, the use of a h.264 base allows PERSEUS Plus to utilise existing hard-
ware blocks readily available in all consumer devices, making it deployable to all browsers in the market. The performance and power consumption are the same as the base codec. Because the additional layers are stored as metadata with the base codec, full compatibility is maintained with the whole ecosystem including DRM, streaming protocols and packagers. In fact, PERSEUS Plus is so compatible that a player with no understanding of PERSEUS Plus can still show video at base resolution. Using PERSEUS Plus you can now, with only one ABR ladder, serve all your devices as efficiently, reliably and cost-effectively as possible. As an example, the table below shows how one of our OTT customers upgraded their subscriber base from SD to HD. Once all users are upgraded to the new player, the overall bitrate is halved providing substantial cost savings to the operator, increasing quality and reducing delivery cost. Existing h.264 profiles
New PERSEUS Plus profiles
Resolution
Bitrate (kbps)
Resolution
Bitrate (kbps)
720p
3100
1080p
1600
480p
1800
720p
800
360p
800
480p
300
240p
400
360p
150
TOTAL
6100
TOTAL
2850
This table shows a single ABR ladder for PERSEUS Plus and h.264 The fact that PERSEUS Plus can be used to upgrade any existing h.264 service with betterthan-HEVC compression efficiency, in days, and without the need for any new hardware, has been a real eye-opener for many of our customers. It is rapidly revolutionising their business models, enabling them to deliver better quality service and substantially greater reach in all territories, from congested cities such as New York to the highest reaches of the Himalayas. - Guido Meardi, CEO and Co-founder, V-NOVA
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THE BEST VIDEO STREAMING EXPERIENCE IS POWERED BY PERSEUSâ„¢ COMPRESSION PERSEUS Plus is a unique compression technology that works with other industry-standards to add additional layers of quality and efficiency, providing the optimum way to deliver an OTT service across all screens and at all resolutions from SD to UHD today.
Available for HTML5 browsers, iOS, Android, Windows and set-top-boxes. www.v-nova.com info@v-nova.com
CONSUMER CONNECT – TVU NETWORK
BE INSPIRED EVERY MONTH
EFFICIENT VIDEO PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS WPP license no. MR/TECH/WPP-82/North/2018 License to post without prepayment Postal Registration No. MCN/99/2018-2020 Published on 3rd of every month. Posting date: 5th & 6th of every months Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai-400001 Total number of pages 54 Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. MAHENG/2009/33418 Vol. 10 | Issue 01 | JANUARY 2018 | ` 50
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EVENTS TVU Networks showcases H.265/HEVC advancements and IP video workflow solutions at BEHIND THE SCENES THE MAKING OF 2018 NAB Show EVENTS www.digitalstudioindia.com
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TVU Networks demonstrated its commitment software or training. Producer to providing customers with the most efficient Pro features a multi-channel TRENDSavailable, by showcasing its lineup IP video switcher, titling and technologies TO WATCH IN of IP transmission and video production solu- graphics capabilities; and the tions that offer software-based HEVC encod- ability to simultaneously outPOWER THE BEST OF ing. Providing high-quality video with improved put directly to Facebook Live, OF NINE FOR OUR NINTH ANNIVERSARY, WE PRESENT NOTEWORTHY MEET THE RISING STARS AND CINEMATOGRAPHERS OF THE YEAR WHO STOOD HEAD AND SHOULDERS Loading... PROJECTS THAT LEVERAGED CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES ABOVE THEIR PEERS AT THE SECOND DIGITAL STUDIO INDIA CHANNEL PARTNER AWARDS 2017 compression efficiency, TVU’s HEVC-sup- YouTube Live, Periscope Proported products now include the TVU MLink/ ducer, CDNs and SDI. TVU also focused on a new MLink 4K encoding solution, TVU Anywhere mobile transmitter app, TVU Grid live video story-centric workflow apswitching, routing, distribution system and proach. The company unveiled OPINION IN CONVERSATION Cloud-based TVU Producer Pro BRINGING KILLER RAJNEESH MITTAL, CTO, a platform TVU One mobile IP news-gathering transmit- TVU MediaMind, CONTENT TO VIEWERS ZEE ENTERTAINMENT ter. A new model of the TVU One with HEVC for automating content indexing and produc- shown. TVU announced a new integration with was introduced, the TVU One TM1000G – tion. Another technology that made its debut was Panasonic cameras. The integration between which features global embedded modems for TVU Contribution Automation Solution (TVU Panasonic AJ-PX270 P2 cameras and TVU CAS), an innovative service that automates plan- Transceivers enables streaming from the cameasy operation globally. 2017 Another TVU solution unveiled was TVU ning, resource management, acquisition, trans- era directly to a TVU Transceiver via cellular, Producer Pro,TOILET:aEK PREM powerful cloud-based video mission and routing, and also features integrated WiFi or ethernet connection. KATHA’S RUNAWAY SUCCESS HAS TAKEN MANY BY SURPRISE, INCLUDING ITS EDITOR-DIRECTOR SHREE NARAYAN SINGH RU EDIRIWIRA, VYNSLEY FERNANDES, AND JOHNJIT AHLUWALIA HAVE SET CASTLE MEDIA APART IN A CROWDED MARKETPLACE and contribution management. production solution. It is the latest addition metadata Major updates and features of the TVU eco- Contact: Sachin Agnihotri at to TVU’s family of remote production soluA KEY HIGHLIGHT OF THE 2017 NAB SHOW WAS THE CONFLUENCE OF MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, AND THE LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES IT PRESENTS THE JOURNEY SO acquisition FAR SUCCESS STORIES OF INDUSTRY PIONEERS from and transmission to sagnihotri@tvunetworks.com tions, enabling professional, multi-cameraA CLOSER liveLOOK AT THEsystem, video production without expensive hardware, production, distribution and management: were or +91-9810034781
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CONSUMER CONNECT – TELEMETRICS
TELEMETRICS DEMONSTRATES OMNIGLIDETM ROVING PLATFORM The new rover enables continual motion along multiple predetermined paths and angles The OmniGlideTM Roving Platform features a unique orbital drive system which offers the freedom of motion without limits. This provides ultra-smooth and continual motion through direction changes, and along curved paths. It allows an operator to easily create dynamic moves such as crabbing or spinning on a dime without losing camera orientation. The Robotic mode allows an operator with a remote control to move the robotic platform via joystick control in a XY-Plane, point to point timed and synchronised preset positions, key frame motion through multiple points, record and playback motion; and autonomous reFrame. Not only does the OmniGlide operate under robotic control, it supports the reFrameTM feature of the RCCP-1A camera control panel. Both leverage AI technology to learn more about the environment. OmniGlide learns the room and reFrame applies facial recognition for easier framing. Manual mode control is designed to be coop-
OmniGlideTM Roving Platform
erative with humans by aiding local operation. The internal motor can assist an operator in any
motion on any axis. Manual handles with ergonomic placement of control allows anyone to operate the OmniGlide locally with minimal effort. High-end XY-plane scanners sense floor obstructions within a 16foot (5M) radius with quick response and high resolution. These sensors are used for collision avoidance, pending obstruction warning, home positioning and calibration, and auto-orientation compensation. Key Mechatronic features include an inhouse developed real-time servo system for optimal control and advanced capabilities, and fully redundant electronics and communications thereof. Self-fault monitoring, auto disable and an ultra-rigid chassis provide support to our full line of column actuators, offering easy installation with a detachable rear panel. Our customers can forge their own paths by upgrading their robotics systems to include the OmniGlide at any time. Come see it in person at Broadcast Asia Booth 4Q4-04!
Smooth
Visit us at Broadcast Asia Booth
Operator
4Q4-04
The ne new Telemetrics PT-HP-S5 robotic pan tilt head lets a single operator produce high quality content with lower production expense and limited space. This 5th generation robotic camera system offers a wide range of super high dynamic speeds, and a load capacity of up to 40 pounds. The PT-HP-S5 design also features advanced servo technology for ultra-smooth motion and silent operation. It’s perfect for boxstyle cameras with small teleprompters that effortlessly glide through every production.
Lower Cost Operations and Smooth, Reliable Performance … That’s Telemetrics. 201.848.9818 • sales@telemetricsinc.com • telemetricsinc.com
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TECHNOLOGY – STORAGE
UP IN THE CLOUD As files get bigger and workflows complex, companies are mixing onpremises storage with cloud for have better elasticity and capacity BY VINITA BHATIA ot many people know that James Cameron’s award-winning film, Avatar, required over 1 Petabyte (PB) of data (that is roughly estimated to be equivalent to 13.3 years of HD TV video). Of course, the nature of content, including the VFX, called for that that kind of storage. However, over the years, content creators in the media industry are increasingly struggling with storage woes. Even broadcasters are realising the difficulties of storing data for the content created for their platforms or procured from various sources, not just for contemporary period, but also for posterity when they will need to repurpose and reuse it. This is one of the reasons why transition to software-defined storage technologies is
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gaining lot of attention in the the broadcast world, given the exponential increase in digital content creation. It helps them better manage their data across various segments as it encompasses traditional and newer types of workloads, and is optimised for interoperability across hardware and software solutions. Alan Cheng, director, APac, channel sales (exclude China, Japan & FAE), Promise Technology explained, “Legacy storage infrastructures not only fail to meet business needs, but also unnecessarily increase IT costs. The broadcasting industry can benefit from a software-defined storage architecture, that can accommodate traditional IT infrastructure, while meeting the needs for media content growth, new applications and user requirements. In short, it provides benefits like smarter work method, enhanced
storage consumption, agility with efficiency as well as provision storage on-demand.” The Rise and Rise of Storage India’s media and entertainment (M&E) industry has been growing exponentially in the last few years. According to a FICCIEY report, the country’s industry revenue grew by almost 13% in 2017 as compared to the previous year. A young and burgeoning middle class, increasing consumption of data on the go and decreasing data costs, drove this growth. According to Khalid Wani, director, channel sales India, Western Digital, the M&E sector by nature of workflow can benefit from storage solutions at every stage of content development. “From capturing of content to rendering and creation to post production activities to delivery of the final
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TECHNOLOGY – STORAGE
“THE BROADCASTING INDUSTRY CAN BENEFIT FROM A SOFTWAREDEFINED STORAGE ARCHITECTURE, THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE TRADITIONAL IT INFRASTRUCTURE, WHILE MEETING THE NEEDS FOR MEDIA CONTENT GROWTH, NEW APPLICATIONS AND USER REQUIREMENTS.” – ALAN CHENG, DIRECTOR, APAC, CHANNEL SALES (EXCLUDE CHINA, JAPAN & FAE), PROMISE TECHNOLOGY
content across various channels to finally archiving – every step can benefit from robust and high capacity storage solutions. Apart from this the industry is undergoing a shift to the digital means of movie making. With HD cameras and digital postproduction technologies becoming a norm, we are now entering the era of an all-digital workflow,” he said. As more filmmakers opt for HD or Ultra HD videos on digital cameras with higher resolutions, this results in the generation of increasing volume of digital content. Wani added, “Accessibility of data is another challenge; it is important to not just store this digital content but also to ensure that it is available at all points. All the endpoints need to be up and running, and even a single point of failure might prove it to be fatal in the
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M&E industry.” Elaborating on this, Robin Melhuish, director, customer solutions, Wazee Digital said that what is unique to the M&E industry is the size of professional video files, which are typically several gigabytes per-minute. “This means that large video catalogs or even the raw files for a series are often hundreds of terabytes. Larger media companies will regularly have petabytes of finished programs. By comparison, in the IT world, gigabytes are still considered large files. This means that storage, networking, egress, and compute are often expensive constraints for M&E companies,” he noted. UNCOMPLICATING THE COMPLEX In today’s content-hungry world, as files are getting bigger, workflows too are becoming
more complex with companies managing data centers around the globe. They often deal with many vendors and now mix in cloud storage for various workflows. According to Jon Finegold, chief marketing officer of Signiant it is critical to have enough storage available without bearing the cost of too much over capacity, which is why many companies are mixing on-premises storage with cloud storage for elasticity during peaks. The other key storage challenges that most content producers and providers face include security, accessibility and distribution as well as ensuring its management and operational efficiencies. The exponential demand for new and archive digital content means that organisations are struggling to meet these challenges whilst using incum-
DIGITAL STUDIO | MAY 2018 47
TECHNOLOGY – STORAGE
“ENSURING THAT THE CORRECT TECHNOLOGY IS IMPLEMENTED ENSURES THAT BUDGETS CAN BE CORRECTLY ALLOCATED. IF LTO TAPE IS ADEQUATE STORAGE, THEN THERE IS NO SENSE IN PAYING FOR SSDS.” – ANDREW WARD, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, CINEGY GMBH
bent legacy storage platforms. In many cases, content creators have been adding to existing offline technology or making short-term tactical investments, that offer no strategic value, just to cope. Nick Pearce-Tomenius, sales and marketing director, Object Matrix has often seen content creators and providers who have bought multiple storage silos, which may well sit in the same facility but have absolutely no integration possibilities with each other. When editors, producers or archivists looking for a specific piece of content, or type of content, it is a really challenging and long-winded process trying to hunt down the correct item across multiple storage silos. This approach also means staff are wasting time managing storage silos or manually locating tapes for the library when they could be adding value to the organization, he pointed out.
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MEETING EXPECTATIONS Creating and delivering video content is more challenging than ever across every type of media operation. Jim Simon, senior director, marketing, APJ at Quantum felt that shooting ratios are way up, resolutions are higher, and the proliferation of production and delivery formats all combine to push the boundaries of workflow efficiency. “Collaboration between team members— no matter where they are located—is also essential. Post-production professionals require performance and scalability to power the modern media workflow and extract maximum value from their content,” he noted. As consumers come to expect more choice, storage strategies, too, need to reflect this by offering ease of expansion and flexibility in storage-tiering. Andrew Ward, business development manager, Cinegy GmbH explained that more content can also mean more network bandwidth, so the selected storage configuration also needs to support technologies like LACP to ensure that the system can grow with demand. “Reliability is crucial; configuration of backup strategies, mirroring, failover and the like need to be undertaken with the goal of guaranteeing continuity of service under all possible failure scenarios. Finally, ensuring that the correct technology is implemented ensures that budgets can be correctly allocated. If LTO tape is adequate storage, then there is no sense in paying for SSDs,” he clarified. In his opinion, the M&E industry can benefit from the movement away from tape. Since video and audio are just data, the industry has access to tools and techniques for storing, safeguarding and delivering data that has been in use for decades. Furthermore, enterprise storage systems from all major vendors offer everything necessary to meet modern media industry requirements. “As more options become mainstream (cloud storage, object storage) the increased number of choices available to the media industry will allow the creation of hybrid storage infrastructures that balance speed, volume and availability to suit all kinds of media,” Ward emphasised.
“IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOT JUST STORE DIGITAL CONTENT BUT ALSO TO ENSURE THAT IT IS AVAILABLE AT ALL POINTS. ALL THE ENDPOINTS NEED TO BE UP AND RUNNING, AND EVEN A SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE MIGHT PROVE IT TO BE FATAL IN THE M&E INDUSTRY.” – KHALID WANI, DIRECTOR, CHANNEL SALES INDIA, WESTERN DIGITAL.
SAFE AND EASY Given the amount of content being produced, the one thing that is on the top of any content creator and broadcaster’s mind is, what are the best storage options that are safe and easy, and will not force them to break the bank? Ideally, they should invest in a storage platform for their media workflows that takes into account the total economic benefit, rather than opting for inexpensive solutions that are unlikely to offer any longterm operational inefficiency. Also the storage requirements of each domain within the industry vary. Wani explained how the M&E industry could be segmented into film entertainment, digital media, animation and VFX, online gaming, broadcasting, etc. “Each of these segments has storage requirements that will vary in terms of capacity as well as performance. Take, for instance, movies with animation
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TECHNOLOGY – STORAGE
and CGI-heavy content, which that can create several TBs of data per day. Here, the requirement is for fast, robust and reliable, storage infrastructure, primarily to enhance workflow and support editing large volumes of digital footage,” he surmised. According to Pearce-Tomenius, object storage and digital content governance is by far the most suited to the modern media landscape. It offers the ability to impose stringent access controls and can be very tightly secured to ensure content remains safe. At the same time, content is easily discoverable for authorised users. Because it is scalable, users can buy the amount of storage they need and expand it at any time. In terms of financial efficiency, this of course makes much more sense as you only pay for the storage you need. “The other option emerging is that of a hybrid cloud workflow, where some content is stored in on-premise storage, such as object storage, and other content is stored in the cloud. This type of setup enables easy sharing of assets across multiple geographic regions, whilst avoiding unnecessary egress fees by keeping some content on-premise,” he added. Finegold claimed that many companies are using a tiered approach to storage, mixing a variety of on-premises storage with cloud object storage using different classes of storage for different use cases. “During a project, speed is often of the essence, therefore, more expensive, high-speed storage is used. But for archiving or disaster recovery, lower cost storage may be all that’s required,” he said. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE A law exists in M&E that irrespective how much storage one provisioned, it will immediately be filled as it is never enough. Melhuish commented that creatives would always want to keep shooting and keep everything. “Traditionally, this storage has been on premises: individual hard drives, NAS, and SAN sometimes off-lined to LTO tape for archive. This is expensive, requires a lot of capex and a frightening amount of valuable video is often left on prosumer hard drives, which are a terrible long-term storage
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“A MEDIA FOCUSED PRIVATE CLOUD BUILT ON OBJECT STORAGE AND DIGITAL CONTENT GOVERNANCE COMES IN AS IT BRINGS OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL BENEFITS.” – NICK PEARCE-TOMENIUS, SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR, OBJECT MATRIX.
solutions especially when they are just left on the shelf,” he said. That is exciting is that these ‘on-premises solutions are increasingly being replaced by on-cloud solutions where the video is uploaded to data centers provided by Amazon, Google, IBM, etc. This helps the entire media supply chain to access it wherever they are making the process very lean and improving efficiency from upload to delivery. Many content creators and broadcasters often seek their storage platforms to be future-proof. Ward believed that once commissioned, any storage system in use is a snapshot of the technology available at the time and will be technically obsolete within five years. That is the hard fact that drives growth in the storage industry. “Major storage vendors make the majority of their revenue from existing customers expanding and upgrading. There is no such thing as future-proof storage - only a futureproof storage strategy. New technologies are
continuously being introduced but usually carry a high initial premium, SSD’s being a good example. What is important here, is to continue using standard IT technology, because that will allow easy migration to newer platforms as they become necessary or desirable and continuously evaluate new storage technologies as they become available,” he advised. Since data transfer speeds also matter, whether on cloud or on premise, Elvin Jasarevic, MD, APAC, DDP says that the best option for that is SSD caching, which offers the fastest speed which is most important for any storage system, without burning a hole in the pocket. “Of course, many would have petabytes of SSDs, but how many companies have the money to invest in it? Hence, Dynamic Drive Pool (DDP) offers a advanced method of SSD caching,” he stated. “While some storage solutions only offer one method of caching, based on the block level, DDP has developed a dynamic file based caching. With on-demand, pinned, and locked caching algorithms, DDP administrators can dynamically choose any of the caching methods to be assigned to any folder volume.” He further explained that these features offer many performance options for live ingest and playout, transcoding and editing, and various grading and finishing workflows. “Where other solutions ‘move’ files in and out of cache, DDP’s caching is based on our new Dual Path Technology (DPT). It ‘copies’ data in and out of cache, so that when one is done using cache the files are deleted instead of having to wait for another data move. Data is stored online, giving users continuous access and after use, it is moved to Nearline Storage if files are required in near future. However, if unrequired for almost immediate work, it can be copied to Tape libraries, or pushed to cloud,” Jasarevic described. There are quite a few options when it comes to storage technology for the M&E industry. Ultimately, companies have to decide for themselves which ones are cost-effective, reliable, easily operable and equally important, scalable in terms of capacity and performance. The key is to future-proof their investment in storage for years to come, so that they can focus on what they do best.
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CONSUMER CONNECT – VSN
VSN’S AI CAPABILITIES FOR ITS MAM SYSTEM, UNVEILED AT NAB 2018 The company’s star product, VSNExplorer platform for Media Management and BPM, introduces new capabilities for automatic data detection and video editing. At the 2018 NAB Show, VSN showcased the latest version of VSNExplorer Media Asset Management (MAM) system, which was the most welcomed innovation by visitors who came to the company’s booth. Especially acclaimed were its new advanced functionalities for automatic metadata detection directly from the media files via API; thanks to the integration with IBM Watson, Google and Microsoft Azure AI systems. These integrations allow users to automatically detect and collect any type of metadata directly from their media files and in a matter of seconds; such as face recognition, persons, objects, sentiment analysis, speakers, audio effects, entity contexts text transcription and translation, amongst many others. In the end, this feature introduces a complete new revolution in the media management spectrum, especially for cataloguing professionals; since it
VSNExplorer MAM system with AI
presents the metadata obtained from these three AI systems in one single interface at the same time. Together with this revolutionary tool, VSN also presented its enhanced web video editor at NAB 2018, Wedit; now including voiceover capabilities. Launched in its first version at 2017 NAB Show and integrated within VSNExplorer MAM, Wedit is an online editor developed 100% in HTML5. It allows journalists and editors to edit videos and prepare them for
broadcast from a single and unique interface, without having to switch to another non-linear editing system (NLE). Apart from VSNExplorer, another solution that was widely acclaimed was the company’s new web plugin for news production. This plugin will allow users to access all the advanced functionalities of a MAM system directly from the NRCS of their choice; without installing any additional software. Also, it is compatible with most NRCS systems available in the market such as Octopus 8, Inception from Ross Video, iNews from Avid, or ENPS from AP. In essence, this web plugin enables users to edit and unify video files and graphics over the video; and then drag and drop the final piece into the news item, including the possibility of reediting it afterwards. Later, the items can even be sent automatically to any Studio Playout solution.
VSNExplorer MAM now
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THE BIG SHIFT
To keep pace with changing viewing habits, broadcasters and content creators are relooking at their business models to ensure that it embraces OTT holistically BY PRADEEP SUVARNA
he writing has been on the wall for a while now – the viewing habits of audiences has been changing and they are increasingly shifting to digital platforms. While initially many pooh-paahed thinking that only the younger generation was part of this transition to non-linear domains, there is increasing evidence that it is happening across various genres of viewers. Broadcasters have understood that they have to stop pretending that Over The Top (OTT) is not a threat to their traditional media and they have to embrace it, either by integrating it into their existing business models or buliding new ones to envelop it. While many got into this space as an experiment some years ago, they are now paying more attention to it. Vishal Maheshwari, country head, Viu India gave the example of a recently introduced OTT brand, which has assumed its third avatar, within the last four years, while other broadcasters are continually reinventing their offerings. “This is indicative of growing seriousness about the OTT space. On the content front, broadcasters are also getting a lot more experimental. The ability to win IPL came down, to a large extent, to
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the fact that the broadcaster had a Video-OnDemand (VOD) platform. Undoubtedly, from a category investment and from a content investment point of view, OTT is certainly changing the entertainment landscape in India and therefore, everyone in this space, which includes broadcasters, have to adapt,” he added. Akul Tripathi, programming and content head of EPIC TV noted that OTT has certainly impacted the way content is being consumed and has been the key factor in the alternative it provides from family viewing habits. “It has made TV viewing more personal and also provides an alternative choice in the majority single TV homes. Broadcasters have been quick to adapt to this change by launching their own OTT platforms as catch-up as well as leveraging content that can be consumed over linear as well as digital platforms,” he stated. While there is a lot of interest and noise around OTT, what ultimately matters is how broadcasters and content creators can monetise these digital offerings. To be able to do this, some have started using data analytics to scrutinise the information in their entire media ecosystem, right from how the content is downloaded till the way it is consumed by viewers. Others are deploying artificial intelligence with
features like facial recognition, scene detection and subtitle extraction to help them in this endeavour. This is to help them better understand the content, the format and the device that viewers prefer, so that they can create compelling content for them based on this informaiton. A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD According to a projection by Strategy Analytics’ Brice Longos, the Indian OTT video revenue is expected to grow at a staggering 30% CAGR to reach $2 billion in 2022 as compared to $529 million in 2017. Some factors that are propelling this growth include faster broadband speeds, reduced data costs, availabilty of smartphones as well as increased content options to choose from. Mobile data prices are currently at an all-time low as telecom operators battle to retain their customers, which in turn has made video consumption very inexpensive. Secondly, these telecom companies are making 4G networks available at every nook and corner of the corner of the country, making the video viewing experience very TV-like. At the same time, India has witnessed mass adoption of low-cost smartphones with good display quality. Maheshwari added that the final driver is that players like Viu and others are investing
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BROADCASTING – OTT
in creating quality and relevant content for the millennials in local languages. “Our finding is that millennials, whether in urban or rural areas, want to consume the content they want, when they want it and where they want it and don’t want their viewing behaviour to be dictated by the person with the TV remote control. These aspects have helped drive OTT penetration in urban areas and this is now expanding very rapidly into the rural areas of India as well,” he noted. Uday Sodhi, executive VP and head of digital business at Sony Pictures Networks India pointed out that early on the company saw the opportunity for catch-up television content and realised that would be a huge driver for consumption. “According to the 2011 census, 75% of urban population is already on the internet, compared to 32% of rural population. We felt that there is high demand for content in regional markets and this clearly indicates that the next wave of internet users will come from rural markets. Currently, 22% of our viewership comes from the Indian heartland and we see this number growing rapidly over the next couple of 3 years. We aim to create more original content and localise it,” he emphasised. Tripathi too believed that the catchment area for OTT is not just the urban market, but the rural towns as well. “Competitive smartphone pricing, enhanced internet penetration and data speed has given an impetus to the overall OTT consumption across India. While we may continue to argue that this is an urban phenomenon, popular research suggests that almost 75% of new internet users are from rural India and hence early adoption trends can be seen building in these geographies as well,” he stated. AT THE FOREFRONT As the audiences start dictating the terms of viewership – gradually shifting from appointment viewing to watching content anytime, anywhere and on any platform – broadcasters are doing their best to ensure they are ready to meet their needs. While traditional companies are well-positioned to make this transition, smaller or regional broadcasting channels often face some challenges when they decide to shift to OTT.
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“OUR FINDING IS THAT MILLENNIALS, WHETHER IN URBAN OR RURAL AREAS, WANT TO CONSUME THE CONTENT THEY WANT, WHEN THEY WANT IT AND WHERE THEY WANT IT AND DON’T WANT THEIR VIEWING BEHAVIOUR TO BE DICTATED BY THE PERSON WITH THE TV REMOTE CONTROL.” – VISHAL MAHESHWARI, COUNTRY HEAD, VIU INDIA
These companies, therefore need to know that they can opt for make or buy options. Nivedita Nouvel, VP, marketing for Broadpeak advised mid-sized broadcasters to pursue the local cache approach, using their own caching servers within the area of the operator’s infrastructure that attracts the biggest part of their traffic. “Other broadcasters can choose a CDN-as-a-service approach, ideally using several CDNs simultaneously — and a CDN selector to manage them — to prevent dependence on a single provider. In all cases, broadcasters should control the origin server and, from the start, implement an analytics solution,” she said. Another key aspect that tier two and three broadcasters should keep in mind is the requirement for end-to-end OTT ecosystem integration. Olivier Karra, director of OTT and IPTV solutions at Harmonic believed that one of the safest approaches when
transitioning to OTT is pre-integrated ecosystems. “Typical ecosystem components include DRM for content protection, CMS for non-linear applications and ad management for monetisation. Having a pre-integrated ecosystem will secure the deployment from a timing standpoint and will ensure service interoperability without any hidden integration fees. In parallel, from a platform implementation standpoint, one way to avoid being trapped into complex infrastructure questions, increasingly IT-driven decisions and dependency to constantly changing technology is to consider deploying an end-to-end media processing SaaS solution,” he added. Another technological challenge of service migration to OTT is that of scalability. Hence, when smaller regional broadcasters upgrade themselves to a digital platform, Abhishek Sood, product director, APAC, Accedo suggested that they to do away with legacy, inflexible technological platforms and components on which their current services are built, and replace it with robust frontend and back-end solutions that can able to handle traffic which OTT brings along. “Hence, with OTT, one needs to carefully design the overall service architecture and back-end platform components to ensure scalability and flexibility,” he pointed out. Sometimes, smaller broadcasters prefer to supplement their own websites with a ‘watch live’ tab for free-to-view linear TV and radio channels, with geo-blocking and/or content replacement to comply with content rights. In fact, Frédéric Torasso, product manager, TV Everywhere OTT Video at Globecast has noticed that free-to-view video replay assets are hosted on cheap or free Online Video Platforms (OVPs) such as YouTube, then integrated into their web sites at almost no cost. “When it comes to monetisation, paid subscription or ad-supported content – through ad servers – are the most dominant models. Integration with a Paywall-as-aservice is fast and easy; providing necessary features such as user registration, business offer selection, payment and customer care. Live-to-clip tools are also a musthave solution in order to easily repurpose full-length content on the various replay
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for today’s broadcasters,” he opined.
“CURRENTLY, 22% OF OUR VIEWERSHIP COMES FROM THE INDIAN HEARTLAND AND WE SEE THIS NUMBER GROWING RAPIDLY OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF 3 YEARS. WE AIM TO CREATE MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT AND LOCALISE IT.” – UDAY SODHI, EXECUTIVE VP AND HEAD, DIGITAL BUSINESS, SONY PICTURE NETWORKS platforms or edited highlights on social media,” he recommended. In the OTT environment, technology implementation can be complex, because the ecosystem is fragmented and technologies are always evolving. According to Ludo Rubin, director, product marketing of Viaccess-Orca, integration and customisation are key challenges, as broadcasters, big or small, may not be well equipped to handle third-party integration (i.e., payment, TV applications, DRM, CDN, devices) or customise the user experience. “A solution that offers full agility and flexibility at low risk is a must. Broadcasters need to find an experienced partner that can help them navigate the technical complexities, as well as discuss the different options and the trade-offs. Modular, cloud-based solutions that provide a seamless, customisable user experience are the most suitable solutions
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MEETING EXPECTATIONS While broadcasters are investing in OTT technology, they are keeping an eye on the likely success rate of its implementation. After all, while viewers keep expecting quality content consistently, providing good quality of experience across various devices combined with a rich set of services and relevant content comes at a cost – sometimes a high one. So how can broadcasters estimate the ROI of their technology implementation and rate of monetisation? According to Ludo Rubin, director, product marketing, Viaccess-Orca, monetization is faster for well-established broadcasters, while it can take a few years for niche broadcasters to be successful (in term of revenues, customer satisfaction, monthly active users). It all depends on the business model chosen, in particular whether the OTT service is available free with advertising or a pay-TV offering like Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD). Kenneth Haren, solutions marketing manager at Telestream added that the monetisation could vary depending on the business model for the OTT implementation as advertising, subscription, and transactionoriented OTT channels each have different approaches to garnering audience share and optimising costs. “A common thread for ensuring ROI across platforms is to have good visibility in to what features of the OTT service are delivering the most ‘bang for the buck’. It is very important to not only deliver a differentiated experience, but to also be able to measure how the audience experience is being received. Actionable analytics that enable you to dynamically monitor video and network quality all the way down to the player is an essential component of successful OTT channels. James Devonshire, product manager, media management at Globecast too agreed that ROI is best obtained through data intelligence and/or monetization to cover the OTT video platform and delivery costs: content preparation, CDN delivery to audiences, back-end service platforms, frontend apps and web players, audience statistics
“EXPLICIT SEARCH AND USAGE ANALYSIS, AS WELL AS PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS TECHNOLOGIES, ARE ESSENTIAL FOR AUTOMATING AND OPTIMISING CONTENT ACQUISITION AND USER EXPERIENCE WHILE MAPPING THESE DATA WITH TV AUDIENCES.” – LUDO RUBIN, DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MARKETING, VIACCESS-ORCA and content metrics. “Data intelligence in the Internet domain has proved to be very business effective. Knowing your viewer’s profile precisely, including their location, taste and usage habits helps the broadcaster to sell TV ad inventories and further distribute their channel to new TV platforms around the world. Interaction with the audience brings more knowledge, feedback and engagement, fueling the content strategy for future productions,” he emphatically stated. Nivedita Nouvel, VP, Marketing, Broadpeak:Broadcasters can estimate ROI for their OTT implementation using one of two main models: pay TV or ad-based. The ad-based model is more compelling, thanks to targeted ads that allow the broadcater to increase the revenue per user. Many factors contribute to the success of the service: quality of content, quality of service, marketing of the service, and
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BROADCASTING – OTT
“TYPICAL ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS INCLUDE DRM FOR CONTENT PROTECTION, CMS FOR NON-LINEAR APPLICATIONS AND AD MANAGEMENT FOR MONETISATION. A PREINTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM WILL SECURE THE DEPLOYMENT FROM A TIMING STANDPOINT AND WILL ENSURE SERVICE INTEROPERABILITY WITHOUT ANY HIDDEN INTEGRATION FEES.” – OLIVIER KARRA, DIRECTOR, OTT AND IPTV SOLUTIONS, HARMONIC content freshness. These factors need to be monitored carefully through complete analytics serving all teams — operations in assessing the solution providers, support in performing troubleshooting, and marketing for evaluating the take-off of services and the impact of marketing policies. KEEPING VIEWERS HOOKED While attracting viewers on non-linear platforms is relatively easy, retaining them is another matter altogether. In an era of binge-watching, once a show is over, viewers want something else they can watch and they are unwilling to wait for days or weeks – like the good old days of TV viewing – unless it is something as popular as The Game Of Thrones.
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Many OTT services are increasingly leveraging live programming to entice new viewers. Delivering a live experience while blasting real-time highlights out to social media followers creating awareness around the event is a great way to generate interest. According to Haren metadata-driven content discovery also lends itself to audience engagement. “An extensive VOD library is only a differentiator if you can direct your viewer to content that engages them. By continuously investing in and enriching the metadata around the library creates interesting ways to dynamically package and promote licensed programming. An emerging tool in the metadata enrichment domain is machine learning services that include offerings like speech-to-text, OCR and other pattern based algorithms to pull out more descriptive information that can be used to create relevance and relatedness within your library,” he said. To boost weekly audience reach by targeting the right viewers, Devonshire felt that both traditional and digital marketing campaigns are effective tools. In his opinion, self-promotion through TV channels combined with targeted digital campaigns on social media bring awareness and viewer fulfillment. Additional solutions, such as inapp user preferences regarding content and personalities, combined with notifications, bring more viewing and user satisfaction. Karra added that there are several ways to achieve such a goal based upon the type of OTT delivery solution being used and the tools available. “In general, most powerful technologies nowadays rely upon analytics to map the level of interest and expectation of an audience versus a specific type of content or content sequence,” he said. According to Rubin TV analytics tools can be used to gain actionable insights on audiences, content, devices and revenues. “Explicit search and usage analysis, as well as predictive analytics technologies, are essential for automating and optimizing content acquisition and user experience while mapping these data with TV audiences. VO is one of the only providers of advanced analytics and monetization capabilities,” he noted. Creating the right content for one’s users
: “BROADCASTERS HAVE BEEN QUICK TO ADAPT TO THIS CHANGE BY LAUNCHING THEIR OWN OTT PLATFORMS AS CATCHUP AS WELL AS LEVERAGING CONTENT THAT CAN BE CONSUMED OVER LINEAR AS WELL AS DIGITAL PLATFORMS.” – AKUL TRIPATHI, PROGRAMMING AND CONTENT HEAD, EPIC TV depends upon understanding and defining the target audience. For that, Sood said that various third-party analytics tools in the market can help identify the target audience, markets they are present, their likes/dislikes and uptake of specific content types etc. “A careful study of such details and output will help in defining the content strategy. Dip stick analysis through tools like A/B testing can also prove to be very helpful in knowing the real uptake of certain content genres, UI/ UX methodologies and pricing. All this go a long way in defining the success of an OTT service,” he added. Like Tripathi aptly summed up ‘entertainment on-demand’ as a category will certainly grow and will be the discerning factor for the media and entertainment industry. Whether it is television content on OTT platforms, or originals, movies or music, the time and medium for consuming content will be decided by the consumer.
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SLOW, BUT STEADY
When a broadcaster has a small team, Fabio Murra, SVP, product and marketing at V-Nova suggests working with a single end-to-end provider or systems integrator. However, if one has the resources, then building solutions from a mix of best-of-breed components is advisable While shifting to OTT, what are some things that regional broadcasting channels should keep in mind when it comes to technology implementation? Today, with the various technology choices available, operators need to be careful of the costs associated with them. The first question is whether to outsource the project or try to build or maintain extensive control internally. With such a broad choice of technology vendors in a competitive market today, the best value almost comes from working with trusted external partners. If you have a small team, it makes sense to work with a single end-to-end provider or a systems integrator. However, where resources permit, building solutions from a mix of bestof-breed components is becoming increasingly popular. The core components of a back-end platform to manage content and users as well as front-end applications are now abundantly available and well developed to the point that there is limited ability to differentiate your service in these areas. However, at the core of those is one variable that mustn’t be ignored. The efficiency of the video codec used fundamentally drives the quality of the user experience and one of the biggest operating costs – the content delivery network (CDN) fees. As well as the ubiquitous h.264, today the choice includes next-generation codecs like HEVC, AV1, and V-Nova PERSEUS Plus. Using a next-generation codec that delivers higher quality at lower bitrates can ensure you reach more users, retain them for longer and improve operating margins substantially. It’s also critical to deploy a single codec that can address all devices to avoid very costly duplication of workflows to address different end-points. How can these broadcasters estimate a prudent ROI for their OTT implementation and its success rate? There are many factors to consider, not least the optimum business model (subscription,
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course there are the costs! Planning for a model that scales effectively by opting for solutions with minimal fixed costs will typically support long-term success.
“THE LATEST BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND MARKETING PLATFORMS CAN PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO WHAT CONTENT IS BEING CONSUMED AND HELP YOU TO IDENTIFY VERY TARGETED GROUPS TO PROMOTE RELATED CONTENT TO OR ENGAGE IN OTHER WAYS.” – FABIO MURRA, SVP, PRODUCT AND MARKETING, V-NOVA ad-funded etc.), which varies by market and what competition is present. Estimating the ROI needs to factor in the total audience size available and your ability to reach them whatever connection they are on, what demographics the content appeals to (for example, millennials will move more rapidly to OTT consumption and so content that appeals to them will drive success), how much benefit they will gain from access to the content from multiple devices at any time, and what marketing channels are available to convert viewers rapidly. Then of
What tools can they use to boost weekly audience reach by targeting the right viewers and then determine how to create content that is best suited for them? In today’s world where consumers have so many entertainment options, it’s critical to consider the tools needed to successfully operate the service after it launches, including business intelligence and quality-of-service analytics, as well as marketing tools to ensure you can effectively acquire viewers and keep them engaged. The latest business intelligence and marketing platforms can provide critical insights into what content is being consumed and help you to identify very targeted groups to promote related content to or engage in other ways. OTT should be seen as an opportunity to reach new audiences and as mentioned before, younger audiences in particular. Increasing a focus on content that appeals to younger viewers will generally reap rewards. Do you think regional broadcasters shy away from OTT platforms because the incremental cost for every stream keeps increasing prohibitively, while the reach gets narrowed to limited viewers? This can be a problem but absolutely shouldn’t be with the options available on the market today. At the core of this, selecting a single efficient next-generation video codec that can address all devices, both minimises the incremental costs of delivering each stream and ensures that more viewers, even those on lower bandwidths can be reached when networks are congested with a lot of traffic. The profitability of each stream delivered needs to be evaluated (whether ad funded or as part of a subscription) and the variable costs paid to vendors (e.g. CDNs) needs to be tailored to fit your chosen business model.
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OPINION
The way in which viewers engage with sports content plays into the hands of rights holders looking to go OTT.
REINVENTING SPORTS BROADCASTING FOR OTT
Alan Young, COO, Crystal tells Vinita Bhatia how broadcasters can increase the value of delivering sports content on OTT platforms using metadata and AI technology he combined international fan base of 20 English Premier League football teams exceeds a whopping 210 million people. Audiences of this size mean sports content is a highly lucrative business. A report from Deloitte India believes there is massive potential in the Indian sports market in particular, and this popularity is driving up advertising rates by as much as 15% on both television and digital platforms. In fact, when India faced Pakistan in the final of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament last June, a 30-second ad broadcast by Star Sports was rumored to cost nearly 10 million rupees ($155,267),
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around 10 times the normal price according to Reuters. Despite this popularity, streaming sports content Over-The-Top (OTT) has always lagged behind traditional viewing, mainly due to latency issues which in most cases can cause a live OTT stream to fall behind by as much as 30 seconds. Technological advancements in OTT delivery and metadata, and the introduction of viable Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, are presenting a number of ways for sports content providers to attract audiences to OTT. By making the OTT experience more attractive to fans looking for additional ways to engage with sports, it is possible that OTT sports could offer value beyond that of live coverage.
CHANGE IN VIEWING HABITS The opportunity to successfully provide OTT sports content has not gone unnoticed, and many well-known internet brands are now looking to capitalise it. According to Business Insider, Facebook is willing to pay lots of money for sports, reflected in their reported bid of $610 million for the rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL), the most popular cricket league in the world. The social giant did lose out to Star India but was still the second highest bidder ahead of other internet players, including Amazon and Twitter. Star India also happens to be the parent company of OTT platform, Hotstar, one of, if not the most popular, video streaming apps in India in terms of monthly active usage. In
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OPINION
November of 2017 it was edging towards the 100 million-subscriber mark, and according to Business Today, the biggest draw on the platform is live sports. Although TV remains the most popular way of consuming live sports, the growth of platforms like Hotstar reflects a change in viewing habits and a growing demand for more flexible sports viewing options. 76% of Hotstar’s users watch using a mobile device, and although it isn’t possible to work out exactly how many of them are consuming sports content via mobile, statistically it looks likely that many are. The way in which viewers engage with sports content also plays into the hands of rights holders looking to go OTT. Their engagement completely surpasses the likes of those who watch movies, for example. Sports fans idolise athletes and players, display a fierce loyalty to teams, and best of all, are constantly looking for additional ways to engage with sports. Fans do so in a number of ways, including participating in online conversations through social media and forums, watching highlights of a memorable game, and behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, as well as consuming lots of stats and information about teams
personalise this content so it is very targeted to specific viewers. This could be based on simple parameters such as age, location, gender, and with sophisticated systems in place, it’s possible to know a fan’s favorite sports team or if they have recently been searching the web for information about a particular athlete or product. Given that sports is such a vast market, using data to more specifically target additional content to viewers could be highly valuable, and could make OTT sports content an attractive supplement to traditional live content.
Alan Young, COO, Crystal.
and players. And unlike viewing a movie, sports fans don’t usually watch live content and then disengage from the conversation. They are instead hungry for more, often searching the web for after-match reactions and clips. OTT providers could, with the right technology, take this content and repackage it to make it accessible within their OTT platform. More importantly, they could also
A WHOLE NEW MOBILE WORLD The next question then, is how can this be done? Well, in much the same way that addressable advertising is possible in OTT, personalising the sports OTT experience relies on metadata. Every piece of content streamed through a device, whether it’s sports or otherwise, is described with metadata (or at least should be). This ‘data within data’ enables the platform providing the content to build a comprehensive picture of individual user’s viewing habits (what they like to watch), as well provides the information to define the parameters
The opportunity to successfully provide OTT sports content has not gone unnoticed, and many well-known internet brands are now looking to capitalise it.
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OPINION
A report from Deloitte India believes there is massive potential in the Indian sports market in particular, and this popularity is driving up advertising rates by as much as 15% on both television and digital platforms. In fact, when India faced Pakistan in the final of the Champions Trophy cricket tournament last June, a 30-second ad broadcast by Star Sports was rumored to cost nearly 10 million rupees ($155,267), around 10 times the normal price according to Reuters.
mentioned above (viewer location, etc.). In regions where mobile viewing is so prolific, like India where 600 million people will own a smartphone by 2020, it is much easier to do this as the data is unique to one user. Household devices are often used by multiple people and therefore present an aggregation of viewing habits and preferences. By correctly processing this metadata with a system in place to do so, it is also possible to apply graphics to a sports video stream, which could be personalised and targeted to the specific viewer. This must be done by sending SCTE 224 messages to the streaming device out-of-band, as this is the only way to insert individual graphics to every user. Even ‘clickable’ graphics are a possibility, meaning they can be userselectable. Imagine an OTT sports provider inserting a dropdown graphic with the video allowing a viewer to select which football player they would like additional information on, including game and season stats (season touchdowns, yards passed, etc.) or how many times team X has beaten team Y. All of this information could be presented depending on the individual user with no interruption to the live content. AI OPPORTUNITIES AI seems to be the phrase on everyone’s lips right now, and it certainly presents an interesting opportunity for sports rights holders. Using AI technology, memorable moments including goals, touchdowns, fouls, substitutions, injuries and so on, can all be recognis ed as significant occurrences and
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By making the OTT sports experience more attractive to fans looking for additional ways to engage with sports, it could offer value beyond that of live coverage.
extracted. Working in partnership with sports data companies, OTT providers can receive data files describing the actions in a game with coordinates and game clock timestamps. By matching significant occurrences to the live game clock, highlights can be automatically generated in an accurate manner. This AI-reliant technology allows the OTT provider to make these highlights clips available on-the-fly to the OTT viewer whenever they choose to watch them, but these clips can also be used on social media or for promotional purposes. A BIT OF BOTH For OTT providers, increasing the value of delivering sports content OTT doesn’t stop here. The process does of course increase the appeal and engagement of experience for viewers and sports fans as we’ve discussed, but providing sports content must also be revenue generating, meaning it must also be attractive to advertisers. Once again, with correctly described metadata, the clips generated by AI-technology can be lengthened with targeted ads inserted both at the beginning and the end of the clip. Using the sophisticated contentrelated metadata available, these ads, when
personalised and inserted on a targeted basis, are much likely to be more successful, and therefore are more valuable to the advertiser. On top of this, the value of any ad inserted within a sports OTT stream can also be boosted through the insertion of clickable graphics mentioned above. Content providers can overlay a personalized graphic on the ad segment, allowing the viewer to ‘click-through’ and further engage with the ad and offered products. Clearly, traditional viewing of sports content looks set to remain king; at least while latency issues in OTT remain unsolved. However, by combining live content with additional information and resources that are relevant and targeted to each viewer, OTT sports could prove very popular. With the correct use of valuable metadata and exciting advancements in AI technology, OTT sports has the potential to be a highly unique viewing experience, and one which benefits every stakeholder, from the rights holder to the advertiser, as well as the allimportant consumer. The future looks bright for streaming sports OTT, as long as content providers make good use of the expanding technology available to them.
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PRODUCTION - LIVE EVENTS
UP, LIVE AND PERSONAL
With the increasing popularity of live streaming, we find the latest live coverage technology trends and the promising opportunity it presents to broadcasters BY ANISHA GAKHAR
s the world of broadcasting prepared for the rapid changes in capture and transmission of live events in real-time with little or no lag? As much as live event coverage is blooming in the fields of music and movies, nearly every broadcaster is going all out to concentrate on live sports screening to capture the attention of their audience. For a world that’s religious, if not
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fanatical, about sports, the inauguration ceremonies prior to the match and the awards thereafter; carry as much sentimental value as the game itself. This has led to the unbridled usage of drones, Go-Pros, virtual reality headsets etc; which prove to be versatile options for real-time photo, video and sound capture at multiple angles. Owing to their unmanned, remotelycontrolled nature; these are a holy grail for companies looking to enhance their production.
Live capture of sporting events offer significant opportunities to broadcast channels for increased viewership and advertising revenues. Ergo, they are increasingly incorporating real time screening and live updates of sports tournaments. WHAT’S TRENDING As media business models get redefined and viewers flock to digital platforms for real-time updates, it poses a challenge
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PRODUCTION - LIVE EVENTS
“IN THE CASE OF IP TECHNOLOGY, IT IS BEST TO USE STANDARD IT HARDWARE. AVOIDING THE USE OF SPECIALIST BROADCAST EQUIPMENT MAKES IP A COST-EFFECTIVE BROADCAST SOLUTION.” – KIERAN KUNHYA, MD AND FOUNDER, OPEN BROADCAST SYSTEMS.
to broadcasters to attract and retain viewers, given the huge costs needed for the technological upkeep. IP connectivity is one solution used to backhaul all traffic over an IP network to a studio; thus, saving the broadcaster associated costs involved in having a team of people physically present on-site. Also, it enables a centralised video and audio feed-database, which proves useful for interactive and personalised live events. As a result, it allows the broadcaster to offer more content on platforms such as
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Facebook Live or pop-up linear channels. Nic Dugger, owner and president, TNDV Television said, “Every device has an IP address today. My projector emails me if there is a lamp failure. In transmission, our ability to send audio and video out over an uplink with the inclusion of things like encoders and streaming servers means that we can get our video and audio to people more efficiently, and in new ways, thanks to IP-based technology.” Another technology gaining momentum
is OTT as an additional way to deliver live events to consumers. Thierry Fautier, VP, video strategy, Harmonic said, “The OTT latency can be improved by using the Common Media Application Format (CMAF) derived from fragmented MP4 (fMP4), and chunking. Chunks are substructures within the CMAF segment that can be passed from origin to CDN and then to the player, for decoding without needing the complete segment; thus reducing the latency to around 5 seconds from camera to the consumer screen.” Cloud infrastructure, in particular a SaaS model; is also increasingly being used for live events. The main benefit is that the cloud can be set up in a short time for events that last only a few hours. Most cloud services offer real-time editing, live video-archiving and sharing. This technology is especially useful in time frames where even seconds count, for instance, sports-highlights, hits or misses. To further enhance the experience for a user, media houses can programme their mobile apps to push pop-up notifications for every
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PRODUCTION - LIVE EVENTS
“THE OTT LATENCY CAN BE IMPROVED BY USING THE COMMON MEDIA APPLICATION FORMAT (CMAF) DERIVED FROM FRAGMENTED MP4 (FMP4), AND CHUNKING.” – THIERRY FAUTIER, VP, VIDEO STRATEGY, HARMONIC. update on the match. Explaining the preference of fiber technology over traditional copper cables; Frank Jachetta, president, MultiDyne said, “Today, with 4K and single-link 12G, one needs fiber transport solutions to support the higher data rates native to the format. 12G over copper will not cooperate well for any transport distance. This is an ideal example of how a technology, in this case, fiber; has evolved to support trends and development in live production and events.” However, at the same time, the cloud poses a challenge which is the link to the cloud, and this is where most of the industry is using either proprietary protocols or open source protocols. Different types of solutions have been deployed in the field. The first one is a legacy approach, with appliances either on-site or in data centers. The second approach is partially cloud based, where some of the processing is done at the event (i.e. production or play-out) and the rest of the editing is done in the cloud ENSURING AN EFFECTIVE PLAN Although the adoption of IP technology
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is increasing, conventional software solutions are still being used in many scenarios. Use of a pure software-based architecture allows for increased flexibility and Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) IT servers can have multifunction capabilities, running multiple processes such as high density decoding and encoding in a single chassis. This allows for facilities to scale up and down with requirements, instead of having to maintain fixed-function equipment for peak usage. Kieran Kunhya, MD and founder, Open Broadcast Systems elaborated, “In the case of IP technology, it is best to use standard IT hardware. Avoiding the use of specialist broadcast equipment makes IP a cost-effective broadcast solution. This means that the speed of a deployment is fast, and customers can be up and running within a matter of days, even hours in some cases. The very same ‘off-the-shelf’ hardware is already being used for many other data-hungry applications, so we
“THE TECHNOLOGY TO BE USED DEPENDS ON THE KIND OF EVENT AND THE BUDGETS THAT THE PROJECT CAN AFFORD. ALSO WE SHOULD NOT MAKE USE OF ALL TECHNOLOGY ON ALL THE EVENTS, AS IT’S A BIG TURN OFF FOR THE CONSUMERS.” – RAHUL SARANGI, CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, GREYMATTER ENTERTAINMENT AT MIP FORMATS.
“TODAY, WITH 4K AND SINGLELINK 12G, ONE NEEDS FIBER TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT THE HIGHER DATA RATES NATIVE TO THE FORMAT. 12G OVER COPPER WILL NOT COOPERATE WELL FOR ANY TRANSPORT DISTANCE.” – FRANK JACHETTA , PRESIDENT, MULTIDYNE
know it is capable and well-suited to broadcasters’ needs. Also, IT equipment can be repurposed for other applications; thereby, making it even more economical.” IP technology goes straight to a server, and is then disseminated or archived. Once in the data domain, colour correction and other processes can be done with software, avoiding the need for expensive hardware. Similarly, by using 4K infrastructure for an HD shoot, the production team can capture two perspectives of the action in a single acquired signal. Jachetta pointed out that both the screens can be taken from a single shot, and presented as two different shots. Therefore, a three-camera shoot serves as a five-camera shoot. Rahul Sarangi, co-founder and director, Greymatter Entertainment at MIP Formats said, “The technology to be used depends on the kind of event and the budgets that the project can afford. Also we should not make use of all technology on all the events, as it’s a
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PRODUCTION - LIVE EVENTS
“MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WATCH LIVE STREAMING VIDEO CONTENT ONLINE. VIEWING HABITS AND CONSUMPTION HAVE CHANGED, WITH A UNIVERSAL INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR LIVE CONTENT.” – RANJIT BHATTI, DIRECTOR, SOUTH ASIA, LIVEU. big turn off for the consumers.” CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOLUTION Content providers aim to maximise the array of deliveries to consumers. It is, therefore, imperative for broadcasting companies and event organisers to distinguish valuable applications from temporary fads when it comes to live events. The process of choosing the best solutions and tools, given the plethora of options, is indeed a tedious one. A cloudbased solution is easy to set up, use and assess; until the next event. Being softwarebased, it is easy to change the service, providing viewers with different content, highlights, trivia, etc. For more advanced experiences like VR, content providers can deliver to headmounted devices (HMDs), PCs, tablets and mobile screens; either via Facebook, YouTube or mobile apps that heighten the experience by showing VR content on a 2D device. Of all of these gimmicks, it’s easy to consider that VR may be the next 3D, owing to the realistic element attached to it. It mimics physically sitting
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on the sidelines or in the stands, and can teleport the viewer to align with the action. The production challenges are rigorous due to multi-camera synchronisation. The use of fiber transport is relevant in order to transport the synchronised camera feeds back to the studio as a single feed. Kunhya said, “With so many new technologies launched to the market and being cited as the next big thing, the most important thing is to consider the value it brings. This can be either to the broadcaster, in terms of reducing costs or improving processes; or to the consumer, in terms of tangible value-add that actually makes the coverage compelling.” To sum it up, the strategy boils down to embracing new concepts that emerge, eagerly, to stay ahead of the game. One has to be enthusiastic about keeping pace with time and technology, and must consider evaluating the options by filtering them by their specifications. Dugger explained, “We all have competition, but we are all a big family of event producers. Find out what they are using and what technologies face glitches. Stay current with trade publications online forums and social media to find out what is working. We went from SD to HD, and HD to 4K; everything evolves and is very cyclical. Watch the trends in the industry, compare them to the last evolution and follow your gut to determine whether it’s time to buy it yet.” FAD OR REALITY? Live events have caught the fancy of broadcasters as well as audience; alike, because the prospect of being able to access happenings instantly is an attractive one. The live-event industry can become a mainstay if broadcasters value-add their services with functionality and engagement possibilities; like VR, AR, social integration, streaming, voting, lead generation, apps and e-posters. Fautier said, “With OTT delivery, it is becoming mainstream, especially in India where fast broadbands offer a new range of experiences to hundred
“WE ALL HAVE COMPETITION, BUT WE ARE ALL A BIG FAMILY OF EVENT PRODUCERS. STAY CURRENT WITH TRADE PUBLICATIONS ONLINE FORUMS AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND OUT WHAT IS WORKING.” – NIC DUGGER, OWNER AND PRESIDENT, TNDV millions of subscribers.” On similar lines, Sarangi commented, “With the second screen here to stay and likely to become the primary screen in the next three years, the live-events industry, too, is likely to become a mainstay.” Ranjit Bhatti, director-South Asia, LiveU agreed that live streamed events have gained importance in people’s lives, especially among the millennial and younger generation. “Majority of people watch live streaming video content online. Viewing habits and consumption have changed, with a universal increase in demand for live content,” he said. Live streaming of content is becoming a trend as the technology constantly evolves, but there is still a lot to learn. It is an icing on the cake of traditional TV, and is becoming ubiquitous as it serves as the next-best alternative to attending a live match. And as broadcasters see the benefits of incorporating it within their portfolio, the higher their chances of becoming a stallion in the live event stable. That said, go live!
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IN DEPTH
GUIDING LIGHT
California’s Starwest Studios partnered with Litepanels, which set up an array of 50 lighting solutions for the combination dance studio and broadcast production facility tarwest Studios, a new broadcast production and dance facility in Burbank, California, is a showcase studio for Litepanels LED lighting solutions. An array of almost 50 lights from Litepanels’ Gemini, Astra, and Sola, product families provide flicker-free lighting for a wide variety of television broadcast and online streaming dance productions. Launched last fall with partner Randy Jackson, former ‘American Idol’ judge and producer, Starwest Studios claims to be the world’s first dance studio and broadcast production facility, with spaces for both music and video production. Starwest Studios Lot 2 houses a Roland music recording suite, a Newtek-powered live broadcast control room, and a
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3,800-square-foot clear-span sprung wood dance floor from StageStep suitable for filming as well as for large castings and auditions. “We are excited about the potential of our new facility to support webbased, independent dance productions and broadcasts, a big growth area in the entertainment industry. And one of the things we’re most proud of is the technology on display,” said Sammy Oriti, Starwest Studios producer/partner. “We have dedicated Starwest as a showroom for leading edge in broadcast, video, and production technologies, including an array of LED lighting from Vitec Group’s Litepanels brand.” Oriti added, “The design of Lot 2 presented a unique set of lighting challenges. With almost 4,000 square feet of dance
floor and robotic cameras from Bolin Technologies mounted in the ceiling to capture up to 200 dancers at a time, it was important to be able to cover the entire floor without any dead areas or shadows. I knew from past collaborations with Litepanels and its co-founder, Pat Grosswendt, that the company’s LEDs are simply the best for film and television lighting.” LIGHTING UP THE FUTURE Litepanels LED lighting is abundant throughout Lot 2, ensuring coverage in every corner and every angle. Starwest Studios uses Litepanels’ new Gemini 2x1 soft panel to deliver flexible and precise colour adjustment. Gemini is also flickerfree, making it ideal for the high-speed photography needs within the studio. White Cyc built on top of the sprung wood dance
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IN DEPTH
Starwest Studios Lot 2 houses a Roland music recording suite and a Newtek-powered live broadcast control room, suitable for filming, large castings and auditions.
A dance session in action at Starwest Studios.
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floor at Lot 2 can turn any colour instantly leveraging the Gemini. Its easy-to-use interface is intuitive and allows precise lighting control, all with the touch of a conveniently-located button. Litepanels Astra daylight and bi-colour panels are mounted in the ceiling, and battery-powered Astras on stands can be moved around the facility as needed. In the makeup room, for instance, staff applying makeup to performers can use an Astra to match the lighting the dancers will be under in the studio, and they can use the Astra’s tunable bi-colour option to dial in the right colour temperature for the on-air talent’s skin tone. In addition, Litepanels’ Sola Fresnel LEDs offer users the versatility to apply a spot or a flood as the need arises. “We’re big Litepanels fans because we know that each type of lighting will blend and match perfectly with the others. Also, we’ve come to count on every Litepanels light to be completely flicker-free at any frame rate, a critical requirement in a broadcast production environment,” Oriti said. “But almost as important as the lights themselves is our relationship with Litepanels. They were deeply involved in every aspect of our installation, and with this type of dedication, we know we can count on Litepanels.” Grosswendt commented, “As the newest addition to the Los Angeles dance firmament, Starwest Studios is a remarkable production space. With advanced technologies like our LED lighting solutions, the Starwest founders wanted to create a production space that is truly on the cutting edge, designed to meet their own creative needs as well as those of their colleagues in the industry.” This is a truly symbiotic relationship — with the wide range of Litepanels lights installed throughout the Starwest facility, it is a valuable resource for the facility’s team to demonstrate the full gamut of products to its potential customers. At the same time, Starwest is a comprehensive showroom of sorts for Litepanels in Southern California, where people can see an Astra or Sola in use on-camera, with a ceiling grid of the lights being controlled by a central panel.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
BLACK BEAUTY
Cinematographer Rachel Morrison, ASC and colourist Maxine Gervais collaborated to create indelible scenes in Black Panther that viewers have come to associate with Marvel productions BY VINITA BHATIA
here are many reasons why Marvel forged into new territories with Black Panther. For starters, it is radically and racially different. It features an almost all-black cast who reside in the fictional country of Wakanda. Secondly, its cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, ASC, is a rarity in her male-dominated domain and is the first woman ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for cinematography. While the movie has been wowing audiences and breaking box office records, some of the credit for it success can be given to colourist Maxine Gervais of Technicolor Los Angeles. She was charged with creating an eye-popping look as the movie jumps from conventional cities to the isolated, yet technologically advanced, Wakanda. To handle the huge workload, her team utilised a network of six or more Baselight colour grading workstations simultaneously. “We knew that this was a fantasy movie with big themes and a strong story,” Gervais said. “Approaching it was exciting: it was not
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an established franchise but a completely new departure, so it gave us all more creative freedom.”
MAXINE GERVAIS OF TECHNICOLOR
AT CLOSE QUARTERS Gervais worked particularly closely with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Morrison to create colours that would follow the narrative of the movie. “We wanted the film and photography to feel real, unlike most superhero movies,” explained Morrison. “Our aim was to highlight the beauty of Africa. And like all of our work, we were hoping for a subjectivity and clear point of view.” “Black Panther has very distinct settings and looks,” added Gervais. “Wakanda is this magical, futuristic African nation, with a lush colourful world the audience has never experienced. Then you have the darker reality of cityscapes in Oakland, plus the lab scenes, which have a more sterile look with cooler colours and tones” She said the duo was both looking for a high sensitivity for contrast, deep blacks and shadows and a strong, rich image. And after the seeing the final result, she believed they
CINEMATOGRAPHER MORRISON TO
LOS ANGELES WORKED PARTICULARLY CLOSELY WITH OSCAR-NOMINATED CREATE AN EYE-POPPING LOOK AS THE MOVIE JUMPS FROM CONVENTIONAL CITIES TO THE ISOLATED, YET TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, WAKANDA. achieved that very well. GOING BEYOND THE ORDINARY When it came to deliverables multiple variations were required: 2D and 3D, laser projector as well as standard digital cinema. It is also available in IMAX, and of course there are multiple home video versions as well. “To complete all the work within the tight deadline, we extended the team for the first time in my career,” explained Gervais. “My assistant colourist, Jeff Pantaleo, and I went on to rotoscoping a lot of the shots and tried to avoid using too many mattes so it would
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Photo Credit: Matt Kennedy
Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia and Letitia Wright as Shuri.
Photo credit: Film Frame
Chadwick Boseman as the main protagonist in Black Panther.
Leititia Wright (Shuri), Michael B. Jordan (Erik Killmonger) and Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia) during a fight scene.
simplify other deliveries like 3D. Then we had a team dedicated to offset all the shapes for 3D. Thankfully, Baselight 5.0 includes tools to speed up the way shapes are translated, so this helped a great deal. We ended up with a huge number of layers and shapes.” According to her, probably the most demanding part of the grade was the jungle scene. It was shot at night, so to keep all the detail we need to see, and to make
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it feel organic, she ended up grading in multiple levels. Cinematographer Morrison agreed. “The jungle scene was the biggest challenge. It was shot interior on a sound stage and had a bit of a ‘set’ feel to it. We knocked everything down and then really worked to amplify the contrast in the background.” Creating the futuristic scenes and superhero action inevitably meant that the
movie was highly reliant on VFX: no fewer than 2500 shots in 134 minutes. Ensuring that the large team could keep track of VFX called for extensions to Baselight’s Categories function, which made it immediately obvious which shots were temporary and which were final on the client monitor. This proved essential to keeping the project on track. Overall, Maxine Gervais loved her first Marvel movie, and all the challenges it brought. “It was an amazing experience to work with all these talented people,” she said. “On Black Panther I used way more composite grading than I have ever done before, blending many layers. I had to push the technology and push myself to find ways to make it work. And I think it turned out pretty good.” The duo has used their creative genius to depict the characters and scenarios in the movie with equal parts of fantasy, feistiness and ferociousness. Black Panther reminds viewers of the appeal and awesomeness of Marvel Productions and underlines that anyone can be a superhero – the colour of their skin notwithstanding.
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ANALYSIS
GLOBAL ESPORTS REVENUE WAS $1.5B FOR 2017 It is expected to grow 26% by 2020 as it attracts an even more mainstream audience he esports market has finally hit the mainstream. Once only large in core Asian markets like Korea, it has now expanded worldwide and is on top-of-mind of every publisher, platform, and brand. As recognition of the importance of esports grows, the data and insights needed for strategising become vital. At $1.5B for 2017, global esports revenue will grow 26% by 2020 to touch $2.3 billion as it attracts an even more mainstream audience. This increase will be fueled by a viewership projected to grow 12% each year and a swelling number of third-party investments. The opportunities for revenue streams are also increasing as the market matures. In addition to receiving indirect revenue from investments, Overwatch and League of Legends are projected to grow their direct revenue by selling brand sponsorships, advertisements, ticket sales, and team merchandise.
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THE BRANDS ARE HERE Advertisers and investors are finally taking notice of esports’ access to key audiences,
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PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS HAS ATTRACTED A VIEWERSHIP OF 202M IN RECORD TIME PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is on its way to becoming the first Battle Royale esport. The game has surpassed 200M unique viewers only seven months after its April release. October Twitch viewership moved closer to that of League of Legends’ 286M unique viewers – the largest audience for a single game. PUBG’s unprecedented viewership is now 20 times larger than its player base, indicating a growing popularity among non-players as well.
with their contributions accounting for 85% of the worldwide market. Globally, video game companies like Activision Blizzard, Riot Games and Valve continue to support their flagship esports titles with player franchising agreements and larger prize pools. At the same time, a number of high-profile sports organizations and brands invested in the market for the first time, highlighting a growing confidence in its ability to break into the mainstream. Advertisers and brands like
the The Kraft Group (owner of New England Patriots) and Mercedes-Benz are among the most notable, with several other sports teams and brands making financial commitments. Twitch and YouTube continue their battle for gaming video and esports dominance, Overwatch League opens the floodgates for a new kind of esports governance, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds rides a wave of esports performance with no formal strategy.
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GLIMPSES
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CONSUMER CONNECT
INCREASING VIEWING AREA AT MULTI-DISPLAY WORKSTATIONS These KVM extenders provide performance at 4K 60Hz with 30 bit 4:4:4 colour depth Over the past few years, 4K has seen a strong momentum in the adoption of display devices in broadcast and post production industries, driven in part by the advanced feature sets offered in DisplayPort technology to enable new and emerging features such as high dynamic range (HDR), high bit rate resolutions and the advancements to support augmented/virtual reality (A/R) headsets. For broadcasters and post-production studios who rely on artifact-free, low-latency images, a new codec technology provided by Fraunhofer delivers the best possible solution to support these new features. 4K is relatively new for the computer industry and the vast majority of compression schemes today are far slower at decoding and don’t provide the smooth and seamless playback experience that LICI provides. This lightweight compression technique named LICI has recently been developed to provide a radically new ultrahigh definition KVM experience for matrix switch applications where multiple users can share multiple 4K sources; thus allowing them to interact more naturally in a computer sharing environment. Specifically, LICI presents an efficient method of lightweight compression to deliver video/keyboard/mouse with near realtime access using low-complexity coding while retaining lossless visual quality and delay-free movement of mouse and keyboard interactions. As more technicians and engineers migrate to the 4K, it will not be long until industry users start seeing the value of dual head 4K to expand the work area viewing space. For instance, with IHSE’s new dual-screen capable Series 490 Draco ultra DP 1.2 Dual-Head KVM extender configuration up to two 4K60 displays can be handled in one extender set. Packaged in a compact enclosure are two DisplayPort KVM fiberoptic extenders and an internal power supply supporting 100 - 240 VAC, creating a unique extender solution for business and professional users focused on high-resolution imaging for graphic editors, colourist, command and control, air traffic control, visual medicine, and geospatial mapping.
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IHSE’s Dual-Head 4K DisplayPort Extender Kit
With the Series 490 dual-head extender units, users can either create a stretched desktop of 8192 x 2160 (2 x 4096 x 2160) across two displays or run them in ‘clone’ mode to show the same content on both displays, depending on the computer’s graphic card capabilities. Duplicating the desktop display in clone mode is useful for presentations in which the presenter works from one monitor while the audience views the presenter’s work on a large screen or projection system. Operating in full dual-4K stretched desktop mode allows full-4K graphic applications on one screen while providing workspace for application tools on the second monitor. The Draco ultra DP Dual-Head extender kit allows users to operate CPUs from a remotely located workstation over two duplex fiber cables. The extender transfers fully digital video in 4K resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 and 3840
x 2160 at a 60-hertz refresh rate and full colour depth (30 bit, 4:4:4). These extenders can also support audio transmission via the DisplayPort interface, eliminating the need for additional audio modules and enabling playback of the audio signal on monitors with integrated loudspeakers. It is also possible to integrate optional Draco vario upgrade modules for digital audio input and output and for data signals such as USB 2.0 and RS-232. In addition to extending point-to-point high-resolution images as far as 5 kilometers, the DP Dual-Head extenders can be integrated into IHSE’s XV models of KVM matrix switches, allowing users to share dual-head 4K sources across multiple workstations. More information about IHSE USA’s DisplayPort and other KVM matrix switch and extender products is available at www.ihseusa.com.
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