34 BUSINESS FEATURE: AV AND BROADCAST March 2015
Sony’s PWA-VP100 Vision Presenter brings together a wide range of multimedia sources to create a presentation solution that connects up to 10 input sources simultaneously
Benefitting from broadcast Delivering content to screens is what large parts of the AV industry does on a daily basis. In theory, that should make the rapidly growing in-house broadcast market an attractive one. Ian McMurray finds out where the similarities and differences lie
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hat do the bicycle, penicillin, the telephone, the pneumatic tyre and tarmac all have in common? The answer, of course, is that they were all invented by Scotsmen. But those inventions – from a country that even now has a population of little more than 5 million – all but pale into insignificance beside John Logie Baird’s invention of the television. There is an argument for television being the most influential medium across the globe – so it’s not surprising that, worldwide, businesses, educational organisations, sports facilities and many others are embracing its charms. And, given that – to grossly
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oversimplify – it’s all about putting screens on the end of signals, it’s inevitable that, increasingly, it’s a market that’s of interest to the AV community.
Flowing both ways “In fact, the trend is flowing both ways,” notes Andy Fliss, director of marketing at tvONE. “Not only are non-broadcast venues creating broadcasttype environments, but broadcast venues are employing an increasing amount of traditional AV equipment. Companies like tvONE produce a wide range of hybrid products that enable the bridging of the technologies.” Anyone who was at IBC will confirm the truth of that observation –
and also the increasing pervasiveness of IT technologies in both worlds. “Products are using increasingly similar transmission technologies such as taking advantage of IT networks,” points out Christian Diehl, who is product manager at Riedel. “In this way, there is more interoperability between them. PC-based workflows, generic and inexpensive devices, and the availability of more and more professional equipment are all contributors to driving good-quality video to organisations that might not have been able to afford it previously.” Jamie Shepperd, group marketing manager at Adder Technology, warms to the theme.
“Essentially, pro AV has enabled businesses, universities and other organisations to create and maintain broadcast capabilities and channels for internal use,” he says. “The commonality between pro AV and broadcast can be found in IT and the use of this technology throughout both sectors. And, as technology has advanced, this idea of internal broadcasting has become simpler – enabling almost anyone to become a broadcaster.” “There is a definite trend for organisations to create their own internal broadcasts,” adds Sean Brown, senior VP at Sonic Foundry. “Cameras, mixers, wireless microphones and the entire traditional audiovisual
Key Points n The in-house broadcast market is seeing rapid growth across the board, but most notably in higher education n The technologies used in the AV and broadcast markets are increasingly converging, delivering significant flexibility and lower costs n An AV integrator brings many of the requisite skills to the broadcast market – but understanding content creation and network management are key n As with any relatively new market, choosing the right companies to work with is a vital first step
presentation environment is being combined with videoconferencing and presentation recorder/ encoders like Mediasite to transform traditional presentation environments into internet broadcast studios.”
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