Hyperconvergence Endless Production Possibilities

it weighs, the more efficient you are in terms of your shipping costs and everything else. Also, the more you can put into a single box, it simplifies maintenance and troubleshooting. It allows you more flexibility to get productions up and running more quickly.”

So, this approach suits the world of remote production or REMI?

“Yes. It’s been wildly successful in areas like that, but even in a fixed facility, it’s a good thing. When you go into a traditional equipment room and you have two or three rows of racks, if that can be streamlined down to one or two racks, there’s pretty substantial savings in day-to-day operations.” that would get thrown down and a lot of different ways we would build out the signal flow of that particular product.

What are the advantages of a Hyperconverged approach versus the cloud?

According to Todd Riggs, Ross Video’s Director of Product Management for Hyperconverged Solutions, “It’s basically combining what were formerly multiple independent products

into a unified software-defined package that works together.

“An analogy we like to use is that of a smartphone. When you think about what you and I used to carry around on a business trip, you’d have your Garmin, Tom Tom GPS to get around, your laptop, maybe one or two cameras, etc. Now, most people just carry around a smartphone and it’s got everything you need in a single device and it’s unified in terms of a workflow, an ecosystem.

“What we’re doing at Ross Video is moving that type of thought and that type of workflow into the production area.”

Do production functions then become apps on a platform?

“That’s really what it is. What’s driving this for us is the components we are using are becoming more capable. The way we used to design, let’s say a multi-viewer, or signal processing for video and audio, the way you would build out those cards or platforms, there would be a lot of different chips

“What’s happening now is some of the devices, the chips, whether it be FPGAs or CPUs, etc., they are actually becoming more and more integrated with what they can do. What that allows us to do is we can create products and they can be a lot of different things, or they can have features added to them because the components we’re using are a bit more powerful and a bit more flexible. So, we can use a common hardware platform to perform multiple functions and those functions can be done by adding software licenses or changing a firmware load or something of that nature. Traditional functions that you would expect in a production environment - video and audio routing, signal processing, monitoring, some multi-viewers, switching, mixing, etc - can all be done from a common platform. It provides a tremendous amount of capability with a very simple form factor and gives users a lot of capability and flexibility.” Could you call it a multifunction appliance approach?

“Yes, that is a good way to think about it. It can be as feature-rich or as limited as you may want. The pieces that we are building on give us the ability to change it, so over time, because of that, it can be something different. This is one of the core things that Ross, as a company, is really focused on. Instead of very specific applications, specific products, because these products can do different things, they can change as a business changes and if you are using it for one job now, it could be something different in the future.”

What range of functions are up and running now?

“Some of the traditional functions. We’ve got your video and audio routing systems, which are the core of a facility. We’ve got multi-viewers, all kinds of signal processing for video. We’ve added audio mixing recently. We’ve added production switchers as well. Those are the big blocks - and there’s more coming.”

What savings does this approach deliver?

“It’s pretty substantial. When you think about the high end, you’re talking about a dozen racks or more shrunk to less than a rack. You’re going from about 10,000 cables down to a couple of hundred. In terms of power, the power savings alone are massive. So, when you start to talk about cooling, weight, moving equipment around with trucks or flypacks etc., there’s a tremendous value. The less

“Well, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. At Ross, we have different tracks of development we are working on. One is an on-prem product portfolio, and that’s really where Hyperconvergence fits. Obviously, there’s incredibly low latencies, there are a lot of efficiencies there. But, we are also very focused on cloud, and I think the right answer to this is that even going ground-to-cloud or cloud-to-ground, you are going to need an on-prem platform. You’ll need to get content in and out, to and from the cloud and that’s where these technologies can actually work in tandem. Because this platform can do so much, you’re really maximising the value of this on-prem hardware. Where we want to go, as a company, is a unified interface so these technologies can work together.” You’ve already applied Hyperconvergence to Ross’ Ultrix Router.

“When we launched Ultrix, it had some of these features in it already, but over the last little bit we’ve started adding more things. You’ve seen, recently, the ability to have our mid and large production switchers - Acuity and Carbonite, for instance - integrated into the Ultrix platform. One of the nice things about the Ultrix platform is it’s all UHD native. So, when you start to think about adding more products, you’ve got a UHD platform that can handle multiple signal transports, whether it’s SDI, or SMPTE 2110, etc. You have access to multiple different transport types, and then you can add more of these functions into the box, which expands the Hyperconverged portfolio. So, Ultrix is key to it as we move forward.”

And, what is on the roadmap going forward?

“The roadmap is very full. When you think about where we are as an industry and what Ross makes, there’s a lot of things we do. There is a need for more and more processing, video and audio processing, specifically. There is a need for more transport types.

“Ross produces a wide range of solutions. Cameras aren’t going into something like this, there are a lot of other technologies in a production and playout environment that could provide real value as part of a hyperconverged platform and work as a single, unified system. There are real workflow benefits from this Hyperconverged approach where you’re not dealing with disparate products and I think it really has resonated within the industry.”

NAB Show Celebrates 100 Years

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the premier advocacy association for America’s broadcasters, and NAB Show, the preeminent global trade show driving the evolution of media and entertainment, are celebrating their centennial year in 2023 with activities, events and a commemorative website.

THE 2023 NAB SHOW Centennial Celebration, April 15 – 19, in Las Vegas, commemorates 100 years since the first NAB Show in 1923 and offers opportunities for attendees, exhibitors and stakeholders to share their memories, participate in interactive engagements and enjoy exclusive onsite parties and events.

“This year marks our century-long legacy of advocating on behalf of America’s broadcasters and driving global innovation and industry growth through NAB Show,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “We invite the entire NAB community, including broadcasters and content professionals from around the world, to join us for the Centennial Celebration as we honour our rich history, recognise our unparalleled impact and celebrate our next 100 years.”

NAB has launched

“Celebrating 100 Years,” a comprehensive website that provides an interactive journey through the organisation’s history and evolution over the years. The site offers a timeline detailing landmark achievements, moments in broadcasting and at NAB Show, along with image galleries, broadcasters’ stories and a NAB Hall of Fame, allowing visitors to learn more about the radio and television legends inducted throughout the years.

Show Floor Exceeds 1000 Exhibitors

THE NAB SHOW FLOOR will feature some of the world’s leading brands and companies, as well as first-time exhibitors and innovation zones showcasing the most cutting-edge technology advancements for media and entertainment. The 2023 NAB Show will run April 15–19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC).

More than 1000 companies, including 140+ first-time exhibitors, will debut new products and offer first looks at trailblazing technologies through interactive exhibits and live demonstrations. Exhibitors are expected to occupy more than 575,000 net square feet of exhibit space organised by distinct destinations throughout the LVCC’s North, Central and West halls. Focused on four main verticals associated with the content lifecycle, the destinations and some participating companies include:

Create (North and Central Halls): Adobe Systems, ARRI, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Chyron, Comrex, FOR-A, Grass Valley, Riedel Communications, Ross Video, Sony Electronics and Wheatstone Corporation.

Connect (West Hall): AJA, AT&T, Bitcentral, Harmonic, Intelstat, LTN Global, Nautel, Sencore, Verimatrix,

Verizon, Vislink, VizRT and Xperi. Capitalise (West Hall): Dell, ENCO Systems, Evertz, Planar, RCS and WideOrbit.

Intelligent Content (West Hall): Amagi, Amazon Web Services, MediaKind, Microsoft, Telestream and Veritone.

“Companies, large and small, are turning out en masse to exhibit at NAB Show, including more than a few that skipped last year’s show,” said Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president and managing director of Global Connections and Events. “Exhibit sales are already nearly 20 percent ahead of where we ended up in 2022. This is a testament to the power of trade shows to unite the industry, create connections and generate commerce. We are thrilled to see the tremendous momentum established at the 2022 event translating to healthy growth, excitement and what promises to be an incredible showing of the latest and greatest tech and some of the most influential companies on the planet.”

Other NAB Show floor destinations focus on specific themes and innovations and include:

The ATSC 3.0 Pavilion will showcase deployments, consumer products and services, and the opportunity

The organisation also kicked off “Share Your Story,” a community campaign, encouraging individuals to share special memories, serendipitous moments or remarkable stories about broadcasting and NAB Show.

Forthcoming NAB Show Centennial Celebration announcements will include registration incentives, contests, special events and activations, and recognition of exceptional past NAB Show participation.

Visit https://www.nabshow.com for broadcasters as ATSC 3.0 continues its expansion across the U.S. and the world.

CineCentral is a learning lab for Hollywood’s cinematic trends and techniques. Attendees can explore CineLive – the burgeoning cross section of cinematic tools and multicams used to further viewer experiences in live, sports and broadcast programming, in addition to traditional cinematic storytelling techniques.

Futures Park is dedicated to the presentation of today’s edgeof-the-art media technologies from research and development facilities around the world. The PILOT booth will showcase an Android Automotive Broadcast Radio Interface as well as ATSC 3.0 technologies including broadcast applications running on commercially available NextGen TV sets.

The Streaming Experience is the largest showcase of its kind with demos of more than 50 streaming video platforms and devices. From smart TVs and streaming boxes to game consoles, attendees can test

OTT services side-by-side and get their questions answered.

NAB Show will also feature new Experiential Zones in each exhibit hall – starting and check-in points where attendees can gain valuable insight into broader industry trends. Designed around themes of inspiration, innovation and implementation, Experiential Zones will offer a variety of activities, from free learning sessions to handson demos to unique networking opportunities, to prepare attendees before they dive into various exhibits on the show floor.

NAB Show is collaborating with StoryTech to launch three unique attendees tour experiences. Tours explore three central themes: managing data, innovation in virtual production and the evolution of video. Group and individual tours are offered Sunday, April 16 through Tuesday, April 18 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Visit https://nabshow.com