October 2017 NEWS & VIEWS 11
IBC2017 indicates IP shaping the future of broadcasting
by josephine tan
IBC marked its 50th anniversary with a record attendance of more than 57,000 visitors walking the halls of the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam , The Netherlands from September 14-19 this year .
One key announcement at this year ’ s show was the approval of the first standards within the ST 2110 specifications from Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers ( SMPTE ). Designed to deliver media over managed IP networks , the new standards suite specifies the carriage , synchronisation and description of separate elementary essence streams over IP networks in real time for the purpose of live production , playout and other media applications .
Calling the approval a “ big milestone ” for the broadcast industry , Howard Lukk , director of engineering and standards for SMPTE , stressed that the approved standards will give broadcasters the confidence that equipment will interoperate from one manufacturer to another while providing reliability for broadcast applications .
He further revealed , in recent times , SMPTE has fast-tracked its development of software standards . “ The speed of software and software development is faster compared to hardware ,” Lukk explained . “ Today , users are able to develop software within a week , and have it out as a product .”
He added : “ It also means that we have to look at our standards process , and explore possibilities to keep pace with the industry , which is now moving faster than ever .”
Acknowledging Lukk ’ s point on the speed of evolution sweeping the broadcast industry , Joe Khodeir , vice-president sales , Asia-Pacific ,
Imagine Communications , urged traditional media players to be “ more reactive ” in adapting to changes in the media landscape .
He explained : “ The future of TV will become even more targeted and fragmented — with data and analytics playing a critical part in reaching and retaining audiences . Hence , the agility to launch new channels quickly and react to what the market wants will be key .”
At IBC2017 , Imagine Communications unveiled additional enhancements to its Open Zenium programme , which allows media companies to design and deploy
Joe Khodeir , vice-president sales , Asia-Pacific , Imagine Communications : “ The future of TV will become even more targeted and fragmented — with data and analytics playing a critical part in reaching and retaining audiences .”
IBC marked its 50th anniversary with a record attendance of more than 57,000 visitors at this year ’ s show .
“ next-generation ” workflows and services while gaining access to a software community backed by teams of developers , architects and DevOps ( a software engineering practice ) engineers .
Axon ’ s Jean-Pierre Nouws : “ While IP is now a reality , there are still some challenges to overcome , including switching and network management , as well as IP control and monitoring .
The company also demonstrated its Selenio Network Processor ( SNP ). The SNP platform offers IP-to-IP processing capabilities , managing uncompressed 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) signals based on the SMPTE ST 2110 specification . Along with IP-enabled video processing , the SNP offers advanced audio processing , timing , synchronisation and conversion capabilities , such as HD to 4K / UHD upconversion , and 4K / UHD to HD downconversion .
Another company who showcased IP interoperability at its booth was Axon Digital Design . While IP is now a reality , Jean-Pierre Nouws , senior product manager at Axon , pointed out that there are still some challenges to overcome , including switching and network management , as well as IP control and monitoring .
To help broadcasters migrate their legacy SDI equipment to IP , Axon presented the Synapse NIO440 module , an eight-channel , bidirectional Ethernet / SDI bridge . SDI sources will able to be converted to IP through the NIO440 , from 3G / HD-SDI to uncompressed Ethernet video transport with decentralised routing , or via Embrionix ’ s small form-factor pluggable ( SFP ) SDI to IP gateways .
Also part of this hybrid IP environment is Axon ’ s SynView modular multiviewer , which is capable of managing 4K / UHD and
IP video formats . Available in two versions — SDI I / O and Ethernet I / O — these versions can be combined to build a hybrid multiviewer .
How do we allow our customers to do things faster and more efficiently ? This is one of the key questions that Ross Video continues to answer as the company presented its now familiar Smart Production theme .
Making its IBC debut is the Graphite production solution , which combines the capabilities of Ross Video ’ s Carbonite production switcher , XPression 3D motion graphics , two channels of clip servers and the RAVE audio engine — all within a single 4RU chassis .
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