14
NEWS & VIEWS
October 2016
IP leading broadcast
industry transformation
by the apb team
AMSTERDAM – If
anything, IBC 2016
strengthened the
argument that the
transition to IP is
representing one of the biggest
transformations impacting the
broadcast industry.
Concurring, Tim Thorsteinson,
CEO of Snell Advanced Media
(SAM), said: “The reality of the IP
transition marks a big transformation for the broadcast industry, as
media companies look to futureproof their network, drive costefficiencies, adapt their business
models, as well as add incremental
revenue streams.”
To aid in this transition, SAM
showcased for the first time its entire IP Edge Routing system, which
includes routers, switchers and
SAM’s dedicated IP-only processing and control products.
Supporting multiple signal
types, including SMPTE 2022-6 and
2022-7, VSF TR-03 and 04, SAM’s IP
Edge routing system is designed to
provide a flexible IP media solution
that takes the complexity away for
customers, regardless of whether
they are deploying hybrid or pure
IP roll-outs.
The now indisputable destination of broadcasters, content owners and distributors is the gradual
transition of all operations to an
IP-based, virtualised environment
built using commercial off-theshelf (COTS) platforms, added
Charlie Vogt, CEO of Imagine Communications.
With the Imagine Communication booth buzzing with the theme
of The Future of TV — Today, visi-
tors were introduced to the latest
member of the Selenio One family.
Optimised for high-density
adaptive bitrate (ABR) transcoding, the latest addition to Selenio
One — Imagine Communications’
software-defined linear transcoding platform — is purpose-built to
enable media companies to generate new revenues and maximise
the efficiency of their networks
by expanding the number of high
video quality ABR and linear channels they can deliver over existing
infrastructures.
Selenio One is powered by
Zenuim, a workflow framework
that deploys a micro services approach to facilitate portability
between all deployment environments — from appliance to data
centre to cloud.
SAM and Imagine Communications are, of course, among the
founding members of the Alliance
for IP Media Solutions (AIMS),
an independent trade alliance
promoting open standards and
interoperability. Less than a year
into its formation, AIMS has now
passed the 50-member milestone.
Many of these member companies put on prominent displays
this year, including Lawo.
“We are continuing to work as
part of AIMS to promote a common set of standards for IP,” said
Andreas Hilmer, director of marketing and communications, Lawo,
as he introduced the company’s
V_matrix software-defined IP core
for broadcast.
Making a European debut,
V_matrix is a completely virtualised real-time broadcast production infrastructure, using multiple
cores connected to a COTS switch
Andreas Hilmer, director of marketing and communications, Lawo, showing off
KICK 2.0, the latest version of the company’s ball-tracking technology.
Chris Shaw (left), VP, global sales, television, Minnetonka Audio and Linear Acoustic, TV Solutions Group, and Martin Dyster,
VP, business development, television, Minnetonka Audio and Linear Acoustic, TV Solutions Group, were keen to discuss Telos
Alliance’s creation of the new TV Solutions Group, which brings together Linear Aocustic and Minnetonka Audio products, staff
and brands into a single working group.
equipped with redundant 10GE
and 40GE connections to form a
distributed IP r outing and processing matrix.
The system supports switching
and routing of signals in both the
IP and SDI domains, and includes
the Lawo Routing Layer Control for
video routing with frame-accurate
clean switching in the IP domain, as
well as control and monitoring for
existing legacy SDI infrastructure
and third-party IP equipment.
Lawo is also kicking on with
it patent-pending ball-tracking
technology with the introduction
of KICK 2.0, which further advances
automated control for close-ball
mixing of major sports events.
KICK is available as a softwareonly solution for productions using
Lawo mc² mixing consoles, as well
as a hardware-bundled solution for
productions using consoles from
other manufacturers. In addition to
the mixing automation, the 2.0 version of KICK can be supplemented
with Lawo’s new motorised microphone stands, which are remotely
controlled by the software and allow the microphones to automatically follow on-field action.
Another AIMS member, the
Telos Alliance, announced the formation of a new division. Called the
TV Solutions Group, it brings both
Linear Acoustic and Minnetonka
Audio products, staff and brands
into a single working group, and
will dedicate its efforts into providing solutions that aid broadcasters in the transition to the latest
broadcast TV technologies.
The AES67 audio-over-IP (AoIP)
standard, for instance, is a key strategic focus for the new group. Chris
Shaw, VP, global sales, television,
Minnetonka Audio and Linear
Acoutic, TV Solutions Group, elaborated: “The TV Solutions Group
leverages both companies’ prior
expertise and experience in serving
the radio industry, and provides the
means to bring more AoIP solutions to the TV marketplace.”
Loudness control also continues to be on the agenda, as the
newly introduced Linear Acoustic
APTO ecosystem provides a loudness adaptation technology consisting of APTO.file for file-based
and APTO.stream for real-time
workflows. This uses psychoacoustic findings and adaptive algorithms to provide uncompromised
loudness consistency (find out
more on page 10).
Having recently launched a
dedicated IP Live Studio in the
UK, which provides a platform for
partners of Sony’s IP Live Alliance
to interface their equipment with
Sony systems, the company has
moved to reinforce its commitment to deliver fully interoperable
IP solutions and systems.
This includes the launch of a
number of new solutions to augment its IP Live production system,
including the NXL-IP4F, an SDI/
IP converter unit that allows any
4K/Ultra HD (UHD) or HD stand
alone source or destination to be
integrated with an IP-based production system; the PWA-MV1N
multiviewer software solution, a
monitoring solution that reduces
video matrix resources used for
monitoring in an IP-based infrastructure; and the HKCU-IP43F
NMI board for Sony’s HDCU-4300
camera control system.
While now a member of the
Alliance for IP Media Solutions
(AIMS), Sony also continues to
develop its NMI (Networked Media Interface) technology, an open
standard in itself, and which Sony
said is ready to be integrated into
existing workflow systems.
Nevion, meanwhile, presented
Virtuoso, a software-driven media node platform designed for
converged media networks and
virtualisation.
It features multi-format video
compression and de-compression,
IP adaptation, transport stream adaptation, redundancy mechanisms,
a video protection and encryption
suite, as well as a monitoring and
alarm handling suite.
Foreseeing the increasing role
that virtualisation will play, Virtuoso is also designed with an IPbased live production environment
in mind. Geir Bryn-Jensen, CEO of
Nevion, explained: “With IP, the
production control room no longer
needs to be in close proximity to
the studio floor. Remote locations
such as regional studios or sports
venues can be considered extensions of the central studio, and
equipment no longer needs to
be dedicated to a particular location, and can be shared or even
virtualised.”
At a t y p i c a l l y b u s y Av i d
booth, visitors were keen to learn
about the latest enhancements
to the Avid MediaCentral Plat-