26
BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY 2018
TSL Products makes
an IP business case
Mark Davies, Director of Products and Technology, TSL Products, explains
to APB how format-agnostic IP technology future-proofs broadcasters’
migration to higher resolution and new production approaches.
2018 saw a number of mergers
and acquisitions, not only from
traditional media players but also
among manufacturers. How would
you summarise these changes that the
broadcast and media industry is going
through?
Mark Davies: As the customer base
merges to create larger and more
demanding customers, it makes sense for
the medium and large companies on the
supply side to consolidate, so they can
better serve their customers. However,
there will always be the need, from
customers of all sizes, for small and agile
suppliers, who are better placed to serve
niches and react in a timely manner to the
fast-changing world of media production.
This year also marks the first anniversary
of the approval of the first standards
within SMPTE ST 2110. How has
this ratification been received by
broadcasters, and should there still be
any other reasons for broadcasters to
hold back their IP transition plan?
Davies: Many early adopters of SMPTE
ST 2110 had to use gateway products to
bridge gaps between IP and SDI. Now
that the standard is entering its second
year, broadcasters can get the full benefits
of IP, as companies are building end-to-
end IP systems. The level of benefits an
organisation receives will depend on
their business goals: some organisations
will see no significant improvement
because after you add in the overhead
and cost of conversion, the differentials
can be small.
Since the time broadcasters went
from black and white to colour, every
time a new production format standard
was introduced, broadcasters had to
completely rebuild facilities. An obvious
advantage of IP is that upgrading to the
next video standard no longer means
a system rebuild, it could just be a
software tweak. With SDI, when a new
production standard came along, we
had to rebuild infrastructure — take out
an HD router and put in a 3G router, or
take out the 3Gbps router and put in a
4K/Ultra HD (UHD) one.
Thanks to IP, those days are behind
us because IP is format-agnostic.
However, just because we now have
4K/UHD, it doesn’t mean there won’t
be new standards arriving to improve
image and audio quality that will
require facility upgrades. We will never
be done with format and standard
changes. On the horizon is high
dynamic range (HDR), high frame rate,
and even 8K and virtual reality (VR).
But once you have your video in all
those IP packets, it does not matter if the
At BroadcastAsia2018,
TSL Products partnered
Ideal Systems and DNF
to showcase a broadcast
solution systems
interoperability solution that
encompasses an intuitive
virtual panel interface that
translate IP workflows to
retain the familiarity of SDI
routing using TSL Products’
TSL TallyMan control
platform.
An
Supplement
“Simplified IP solutions will continue to evolve and
impact the media industry, and this plays to the
strengths of what we offer at TSL Products.”
— Mark Davies
Director of Products and Technology, TSL Products
format is 4K/UHD or 8K, the fundamental
architecture remains unchanged.
However, as the current excitement
around uncompressed IP, virtualisation,
cloud and remote production continues,
many of our other customers are not
working at the cutting edge. There are
just not the drivers in their business
model to take risks or invest in retraining
needed for the move to IP. Therefore, TSL
Products will continue to support existing
standards while providing future-proofed
solutions. We recently introduced two
new analogue audio monitors to allow
customers working in traditional formats
to benefit from the latest technology and
price points.
One production approach that has been
gaining traction, especially for live
events, is remote production. Hence, how
do you see the development of remote
production in Asia-Pacific, and what
are the challenges broadcasters have to
overcome to successfully implement this
production approach?
Davies: We are seeing a continued
pressure on production budgets globally,
which has therefore accelerated the
deployment of remote production
solutions. From a control perspective,
this is a maturing technology with many
deployments for requirements such
as remote news production. For news,
especially in scenarios where it is lower
cost, or it is just safer to have engineering
and production staff remote from the
news studio, this is an attractive solution.
Also, with the increasing demands on
resources, the rapid adoption of IP and
remote production requires interconnected
solutions that can hide underlying system
complexities so that operators can remain
focused on making great content. At
BroadcastAsia2018, we partnered Ideal
Systems and our US-based control systems
partner, DNF, as part of a successful
SMPTE ST 2110, ST 2022-6 and broadcast
control systems interoperability solution
by providing a simple and intuitive virtual
panel interface that translate IP workflows
to retain the familiarity of SDI routing
using our TallyMan control platform.
In the Asia-Pacific region specifically,
we have provided the China Central
Television Network with our PAM2-
IP audio monitoring units during the
Winter Games to assist with coverage.
In addition to being used in the control
room, the units were also utilised by the
field team and we expect that they will
become increasingly more popular for
remote production, especially as control
protocols, such as Ember+, are added.
TSL’s FlashBoard, a technical information
and display system, has also been used
by China Sports Media to design tailored
displays that are located outside each
studio, in the control rooms and other
areas.
Moving ahead into 2019, what other
technologies do you foresee having an
impact in the media industry, and how
is TSL Products helping its clients to
address these issues?
Davies: Simplified IP solutions will
continue to evolve and impact the media
industry, and this plays to the strengths of
what we offer at TSL Products. Combining
our deep understanding of controlling
third-party equipment with our TallyMan
Advanced Control Platform and our
audio and video monitoring solutions, we
are well positioned to provide complete
solutions with our own products but will
also easily integrate with a third-party
kit. With a view to this connected IP
future, we have already added advanced
control protocols to many of our products,
including Ember+, SNMP and API, with
AMWA NMOS IS04 to follow. We will
continue to track the Alliance for IP Media
Solutions (AIMS) roadmap and keep our
products up to date with the emerging IP
workflows.
Strong partnerships with systems
integrators and technical partners are
also vital. TSL recently announced its
partnership with Professional Audio and
Television (PAT), and intends to continue
expanding and bringing innovating
technologies to remote production in the
Asia-Pacific region.