IBC Show booth 7 . J15T
September 2017 DISTRIBUTION 31
Above : Timeline Television ’ s UHD2 is an IP 4K / UHD HDR OB van , and is fitted with Hitomi ’ s MatchBox 4K to measure audio and video alignment .
PHOTO CREDIT : TIMELINE
Left : The IP infrastructure installed by Ideal Systems for Chinese Internet giant Tencent ’ s OB van is designed based on the SMPTE 2022-6 and SMPTE 2022-7 standards , with the ability to upgrade to SMPTE 2110 . it provides scalability and flexibility while supporting cloud-based and service-based operating models . Furthermore , the increase in the numbers of OB vans currently deployed in the broadcast scene that are equipped with a certain degree of IP capabilities has shown that the technology is ready for live production .”
Sony is now offering its IP Live technology , which is designed to create a single , unified IP network that aims at lowering equipment costs and replacing dedicated SDI routing with commercial off-the-shelf ( COTS ) switches . Calling the IP Live technology a “ substantial step forward ” in OB van workflows , Takahama explains that compared to IP Live , conventional 3G-SDI cabling requires high cost , more weight and high storage volume , thus impacting the transition to 4K / UHD programme production .
He continues : “ For instance , each 4K / UHD 50p connection requires four 3G-SDI cables . With compression enabled , IP Live is capable of carrying two 4K / UHD 50p signals on a single-fibre interconnect . Our calculations for a sample eight-camera truck revealed 75 % reduction in the number of cables , and 85 % savings in cable weight . The savings in size and weight are major advantages when configuring the OB van .”
In Australia , NEP is one of the country ’ s largest OB and studio facilities , providing broadcast infrastructure for sports and studio productions locally and internationally . The company has chosen several equipment from Sony — including the HDC-4300 cameras , XVS-6000 and XVS-8000 IP-capable switchers , as well as a wide range of OLED and LCD monitors — for its new IP-based remote production solution .
The systems are installed in NEP ’ s new Andrews Hubs , which connect 29 sports venues via a new high-bandwidth network . Four new all-IP OB vans and seven legacy SDI trucks , enhanced with new IP layers , will complement the two production hubs , which are located in Sydney and Melbourne .
NEP ’ s Andrews Hubs will also enable multiple , simultaneous OB productions . Hence , despite the HDC-4300 cameras being located at different venues , the event production teams will be based at the production hubs . The SMPTE 2110 signals from these cameras will be transmitted to the production hubs , where the production switching will be performed on Sony ’ s XVS series of vision switchers .
Marc Segar , director of technology at NEP Australia , explains : “ NEP is committed
to an all-IP ecosystem at the Andrews Hubs and our new trucks at the beginning of this project . We are therefore very pleased to be partnering with Sony on switcher and camera technologies that complement the rest of our fleet . The new HDC-4300 cameras will join the 48 in our current inventory .”
Additionally , NEP Australia has equipped its 4K / UHD-HD-capable OB vans with IHSE ’ s Draco tera KVM ( keyboard , video and mouse ) switch . Draco tera is connected to a range of on-board equipment via control interfaces , enabling operators to connect all computers and devices throughout the OB van to their individual workstation using keyboard commands .
As for Tencent , a Chinese Internet platform , it has tasked systems integrator ( SI ) Ideal Systems to design and build a 4K / UHD HDR OB van equipped with IP infrastructure . The IP infrastructure is designed based on the SMPTE 2022-6 and SMPTE 2022-7 standards , with the ability to upgrade to SMPTE 2110 . Developed by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers ( SMPTE ), SMPTE 2110 is a set of standards — pending ratification — that specifies the carriage , synchronisation and description of separate elementary essence streams over IP .
Tencent ’ s OB van is fitted with Grass Valley ’ s 4K LDX86N cameras . As part of the LDX86 series , the LDX86N camera features native 4K / UHD ( 3840x2160 ) and native 3G / HD ( 1920x1080 ) image capture , using three 3840x2160p 4K / UHD XensiumHAWK CMOS imagers with DPMUltra ( dynamic pixel management ) functionality .
Feeds from the cameras will be transmitted via IP to GV Node , an IP processing and routing platform . Designed to manage “ accurate ” switching within IP workflows , GV Node is integrated with the support for SMPTE 2022-6 IP inputs and outputs , as well as TICO visually loss-less compression , to enable the delivery of 4K / UHD applications . GV Node also supports the extensive range of Densité signal-processing modules , including integrated Kaleido multiviewer to deliver monitoring for live production .
Li Hua , head of engineering , Ideal Systems China , concludes : “ It ’ s a natural progression to see video developing from SD to HD , and to 4K / UHD , or even 8K . Under this circumstance , IP will have a clear advantage over high-bandwidth transmission . Although some manufacturers and organisations have different approaches towards IP standardisation , which has yet to be unified , we look forward to the TR-03 and TR-04 standards from Video Services Forum ( VSF ) to provide an overall solution while achieving IP interoperability .”
And when watching the broadcast of a live event , it is extremely distracting to the viewers if lip-sync error occurs as it is instantly visible . To accurately measure audio and video alignment , Londonheadquartered video production company Timeline Television has equipped its OB van with Hitomi ’ s MatchBox 4K .
Dubbed UHD2 , the IP 4K / UHD HDR OB van is designed based on the SMPTE 2110 standard , enabling both audio and video to be processed in the IP stream . The 1U Hitomi MatchBox provides test signals generation and comparison of video and audio delays , enabling operators to measure and monitor the delays , ensuring delays are precisely matched .
Lee Wright , senior broadcast engineer at Timeline , concludes : “ With 4K / UHD transmissions , there is a relatively high video processing delay to audio . The only way to measure the discrepancy out of the HEVC / H . 265 encoder is by using a MatchBox as it provides an actual measurement of delay in milliseconds , allowing the engineer to manually add the correct delay in the audio to match the video exactly . Every pair of AES audio channels are checked , and once the delay is added , it is great seeing a zero-difference reading on the analyser .”
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IBC Show booth 7 . J15T
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