CAN BROADCAST THRIVE IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN?
Traditional
linear
TV could
be at the
threshold
of a critical
crossroads,
as more
and more
viewers
turn to
video-on-
demand
services
for their
content fix.
As 2019 slowly but surely nudges 2018 out of the
way, broadcasters will continue to consider and
evaluate how technologies like IP and 4K/UHD can
potentially transform their business. This, without
having even mentioning VR, AR, AI, ML and a host of
other technologies looking to leave their mark.
Bauer, head of marketing, G&D.
“Today, planners and technicians
often look for solutions for standardising
their network technology and integrating
KVM components into the existing
infrastructure.”
Describing the demand for IP
solutions as “high”, Bauer also predicted
that this demand will dominate the KVM
market in years to come.
There should no longer be any doubt
that KVM is sitting at the centre of the
broadcast workflow, declared Terence
Teng, managing director, IHSE APAC. In
fact, he went as far as to state that without
KVM, broadcast facilities today will
simply not be able to function.
Teng explained: “KVM provides
immense benefits to production,
editing, engineering and operational
staff, allowing them to reach and
operate broadcast devices from their
own workstations, or indeed, from any
convenient workstation in the building.
“They can access each and every
device in the broadcast workflow without
having to move around the facility, which
is welcomed by many, especially those
who work in the cramped and busy
confines of a live TV studio or outside
broadcast (OB) van.”
For broadcasters who are looking to
adopt higher resolutions such as 4K/UHD
— Japan, for example, is commencing 4K/
UHD broadcasts this month — IP is also
a viable option to address the issue of
bandwidth requirements.
However, while countries like Japan
are leading the way when it comes to
4K/UHD and, indeed, 8K deployments,
are other countries in the Asia-Pacific
region ready to follow suit? And if they
are, how can they ensure successful
implementations?
High dynamic range (HDR) and wide
colour gamut (WCG) have “made a big
splash” on the broadcasting world, said
Aale Raza, founder and CEO of systems
integrator Whiteways Systems.
While he was keen to highlight
that HDR and WCG are “great
enhancements” to the image quality,
and will provide a “huge advantage”
to broadcasters, he also advised their
implementation only after the entire
process has been thought through
carefully. “Implementing only 4K or UD
without HDR and WCG is obviously
not the way forward. [But], we are sure
that as things move forward and HDR
and WCG become integral parts of the
broadcasting infrastructure, the missing
gaps will be filled up and things will
become easier,” Raza concluded.
All roads start with digital
As 2019 slowly but surely nudges
2018 out of the way, broadcasters will
continue to consider and evaluate how
technologies like IP and 4K/UHD can
potentially transform their business.
This, without having even mentioning
virtual reality (VR), augmented reality
(AR), artificial intelligence (AI), machine
learning (ML) and a host of other
technologies looking to leave their mark.
But, before broadcasters can
truly enjoy the full benefits of these
technologies, a bigger and more
important transition is in place,
particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
By the time you are reading this,
Singapore is preparing to be the first
country in South-east Asia to complete
the digital switchover (DSO). On 1
January 2019, all analogue TV signals in
the country will be permanently switched
off, as Singapore prepares to write the
next chapter in its TV history.
For other countries in the region, the
race is on to meet the 2020 deadline set by
ASEAN for the regional bloc to complete
the DSO by 2020.
As the traditional custodians of
linear TV, broadcasters need to embrace
technologies and complete the DSO as
speedily as possible. Then, and then only,
will they be better equipped to halt, and
reverse, the relative decline of linear TV
in recent years.
Understanding
how technology
and operations
go hand in hand
BY ANDREW ANDERSON
E
veryone is talking about an IP
infrastructure for TV operations.
Many vendors spruik their product
lines with catchy slogans like “do more
with less” or “endless flexibility”.
I, like most, am a newcomer, having
spent the past 40 years watching the
various technological transitions with each
one becoming more and more complex.
My recent experience is that although this
technology promises a lot, there are some
overheads that need to be dealt with when
designing and building a new plant based
on this technology. Do not get me wrong,
it is the way to go but the pitfalls remain
for the uninitiated. There are also further
developments that will eventually create
an ecology that is indeed able to do more
with less and is endlessly flexible.
Take routing around a TV playout
and transmission operation, for instance.
In the SDI world, if an encoder was to
be fed by a router, it was as simple as
defining a destination, plugging in the
cable and you are done; in the IP world,
the route happens in reverse. The control
application has to tell the encoder to
subscribe to a multicast that is available.
So now you need either an API in the
encoding system or the encoding system
needs to talk the same control protocol
and “know” all the multicast addresses. In
the planning and configuration stage you
need to plan for the route to be possible in
a completely differently way, considering
what the overarching control system is
and whether all sources and destinations
talk the same language. But when you get
it right, the flexibility is endless.
Choice of format is also an important
factor. In an SDI world, it was because of
the bandwidth of the individual signal
path. In an IP world, however, this is
significantly multiplied because in an IP
world, a design can truly expect that all
sources are available and therefore all are
occupying IP bandwidth.
So, an IP backbone suddenly becomes
exponentially large. Thus, the interconnect
and switching between a channel playout
systems and the headend platform is a
significant consideration, which can force
a design to lower format choice to reduce
cost.
There is another consideration and
this must be foremost in the approach to
an IP-based plant, and that is the people
who will operate it, both from a technical
standpoint as well as daily operational
workflows and supervision. You would
think that the IP underlying infrastructure
should not make a difference if the various
software-defined “equipment” choices
are correct. However, the fundamental
decisions that make that backbone needs
to be based on the predicted workflows
and expected operational functionality. If
this is not done together, the infrastructure
will have roadblocks or complexity that
will frustrate the operation.
Our current and incoming broadcast
and IT technicians have the challenge
of understanding and maintaining a
system every day long after the vendor
experts have left the site. Tools for
the configuration of software-defined
equipment need to be understandable and
100% reliable. A TV playout system (in
one box) can be configured in many ways,
and the modification or replacement of a
configuration must work every time and
not be a procedure that requires several
attempts, restarts or reverts to work.
This area in this new world, along
with the finalisation of a way for software-
defined equipment to “announce itself”
when added to the network to all other
devices, is ultimately necessary for the
plant to be configurable and maintainable.
I reflect on the amazing operations that
are possible in the future using this still
evolving technology. Those possibilities
are endless and I also consider the severe
impact that a poorly designed IP network
architecture could bring. I have seen many
networking failures that take entire back
offices down for hours, leaving network
experts and consultants scratching their
heads, pinging IP addresses and looking
at switch configurations until someone
finds that “ah ha” moment where the
routing has been interrupted or some
memory has run out or, worse still, the
switch has a bug in the software that did
not present itself for two years.
This is where expert focus in design
and deployment is paramount, along with
a high level of training for the people who
will continue to operate the system in the
years beyond.
Technology and operations always
go hand in hand and this has never been
more important as we embark on this new
and exciting development.
Andrew Anderson is Head of Broadcast
Operations, Seven Network (Operations). He
is also an APB panellist.
An
Supplement
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