Content+Technology Asia April-May 2013 by Content+Technology

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ASIA VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3 APRIL/MAY 2013

MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

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SET GOES TAPELESS IN TAIWAN

Loudness ISSN 1448-9554

Cloud-Ness

Viva Las Vegas!

Integrating Technologies, Experiencing Content

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3 APRIL/MAY 2013

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Cover Story – Sanlih E-Television Goes Tapeless

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EDITOR’S WELCOME NEWS KT Tests UHDTV and HEVC, Ideal Builds GlobeCast Facility, HARMAN Studer in Brunei and Thailand, TVB HK Using Chyron

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CLASSIFIEDS AND EVENTS OFF-AIR TIME SHIFTER MediaCorp Turns 50

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM Harmonic Launches Cloud-Based

TAKING STOCK Ericsson Buying Microsoft Mediaroom, Autodesk Collaborating with Blackmagic, Chyron to Buy Hego Group

FEATURES 14

3D – THE THIRD DIMENSION The Hobbit in 3D at 48 FPS, Park Road Post Using StorNext

ACQUISITION A&T AV Buys F55, New

Transcoding, Cloud –based Ad Insertion, MAM & Publishing in the Cloud, Cloud Content Storage Management & New Revenue

Cameras from Hitachi, I-MOVIX Ultra-Slow, New Accesories

SPORTSCASTING Sennheiser at Shanghai Grand Prix, Glasgow 2014 Diaries Part 2, MP & Silva Get FIFA Rights

NEWS OPERATIONS CNN Teams with

TNN, IP from VizRT and Chyron, Al Jazeera on Windows Phone 8

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POST-PRODUCTION Digit Digit Using

AUDIO NHK Managing with eFF, The Loudness Debate, Managing Audio Loudness, Loudness Solutions

TRANSMISSION SET Going Tapeless, New Product Round-Up

SMPTE 2013 A Preview from Section Chair, Ian Fellows

DVS, Media Composer 7 from Avid, Krakatoa MY for Maya

CONTENT+TECHNOLOGY: ISSN 1448-9554 PP:255003/06831 Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd (ABN: 34 095 653 277) PO Box 259, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 Australia www.broadcastpapers.com PUBLISHER: Phil Sandberg Tel: +61-(0)2-9211 8205 Fax: +61-(0)2-9211 8208 Mob: +61-(0)414-671-811 papers@broadcastpapers.com

Martin Freeman and director Peter Jackson on the set of the fantasy adventure “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), released by Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM. Photo by Todd Eyre

SUB-EDITOR: Keith Ford PRODUCTION MANAGER: Lucy Salmon Tel: +61-(0)29211 8205 production@broadcastpapers.com DESIGN & LAYOUT: Wide Open Media Tel: +61-2-9690 2835 info@wideopenmedia.com.au PRINTING: DAI Rubicon, Singapore COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All material in Broadcastpapers’ Content+Technology Magazine is protected under

Australian Commonwealth Copyright Laws. No material may be reproduced in part or whole in any manner without prior consent of the Publisher and/or copyright holder. DISCLAIMER: Broadcastpapers Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for omissions or mistakes made within, claims made or information provided by advertisers.

EDITOR’S WELCOME

4K – More Than OK? By Phil Sandberg ASIDE FROM CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES, the buzz at this year’s National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas was 4K and the ecosystem of technologies that has started to form around this higher resolution production and delivery format. The 4K fire was sparked by certain camera manufacturers not so long ago with new fuel being added recently by their consumer electronics cousins in the form of new, higher resolution displays which, unlike HDTV displays before them, have already been subject to a descending price curve. Upon debut, Sony’s BRAVIA KD-84X9000 4K 84-inch TV retailed for around USD$25,000. At NAB, the company showed oﬀ its XBR-55X900A (55-inch) and XBR-65X900A (65-inch) 4K Ultra HD LED TVs priced at USD$4,999 and $6,999. The company also announced a 4K Media Player, the FMP-X1, and a U.S. video distribution service. The FMP-X1 4K Media Player comes bundled with 10 feature films and video shorts in 4K resolution for USD$699. Later this year, users of the same 4K Media Player will be given access to a fee-based video distribution service oﬀering a library of 4K titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment and other notable production houses. Meanwhile in Korea, the LG UD 3D TV, also 84-inch, launched at 25 million won, or around USD$22,000. At its Australian launch, the price was just over USD$16,000. For its part, Samsung has launched the 85-inch S9 which can not only display 4K resolution material, but also features voice recognition (understanding around 300 commands), social media feeds, YouTube, Skype, web browsing, third party apps and integrated sports content – all for a pricier USD$40,000.

By way of example (and in no particular order): Utah Scientific announced an extension to its UTAH-100/UDS routing switcher family with a new range of routing switchers oﬀering 6 Gbps UHD-SDI signal capabilities to support new 4K signal formats (both

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Leader Instruments announced that its LV5330 multi-SDI monitor has added support for the S-Log gamma correction system used in Sony’s F65 digital cinematography camera (8K sensor chip with 4K output); Orad next generation video graphics platform, the HDVG4, can generate 4K signal as well as HD 1080i, SD, and IP stream output, automatically taking into account the diﬀerent aspect ratios and formats; and Snell’s Kahuna 360 multi-format switcher can now accept incoming 4K UHDTV feeds, mix them with 1080p and output as either 4K or 1080p. And that is just a few of the vendors with an eye on a possible 4K future.

4K - A GAME CHANGER? While there is no doubt that HDTV is going to be around for some time to come. Globally, after all, the process of analogue to digital switchover is far from complete and, while 4K is a more realistic upgrade destination for broadcast facilities than, say, 3DTV, it will take a back seat until the current migration is well and truly bedded down. However, could 4K be enough of a driver to prompt a change in a country’s broadcast transmission standards? Korea’s KBS has been broadcasting a DVB-T2 6MHz channel from its Kwanak transmitter site in Seoul, carrying a 4K UHDTV service at 36.5Mbps. The HEVC encoder output is fed to Enensys’ T2 Gateway and then to the Enensys NetMod modulator for reception by DVB-T2 receivers and display on 4K UHDTV panels. C+T spoke to KBS representatives at this year’s ABU Digital Symposium in Kuala Lumpur who stated that the broadcasts could not have been conducted using ATSC, the U.S. DTV transmission standard adopted by Korea and championed by its CE receiver manufacturers.

With the acquisition and display parts of the 4K delivery chain falling into place, a number of manufacturers used NAB 2013 to demonstrate they are ready to fill the gaps in that chain.

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single- and multi-link) used in ultra-high-definition (UHD) TV production;

With the ATSC standards process yet to address 4K, the question is could the commercial imperative of receivers manufacturers be enough to sway broadcasters in the country to consider a move away from the U.S. standard? Time will tell. Thanks for reading Phil Sandberg Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com T: +61-(0)2-9211 8205

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Korea Telecom Tests UHDTV, HEVC with Ericsson

Ericsson’s recent 2012 ConsumerLab TV and Video Consumer Trend report showed that there remains an appetite among consumers for the highest possible quality. The trial of UHDTV will commence during the second half of 2013, and will use Ericsson’s AVP and RX8200 ranges. “We are continually looking at new ways to provide premium quality services to consumers in Korea and, as a result, are exploring the most eﬀective way to deliver Ultra-High Definition TV as we look towards future commercial roll out,” said Han Lee, Head of KT Skylife Technology Center. “Like us, Ericsson has a strong heritage in enabling nextgeneration consumer TV experiences, and we are delighted to extend our long standing relationship together as we look to oﬀer further

innovation.” The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced the formal ratification of HEVC in January 2013. This first stage of approval, formally known as H.265 or ISO/IEC 23008-2, will succeed the Advanced Video Codec (AVC) (or H.264) used in various video technologies such as TV, video cameras and Blu-ray discs. Ericsson introduced the SVP 5500, the world’s first HEVC encoder for mobile applications, in 2012 and KT SkyLife is using Ericsson’s technology to test the suitability of this new codec in a number of uses for improved service delivery and quality of experience to its customers. “UHDTV provides an opportunity for content providers, broadcasters and operators to create a truly immersive experience that allows them to diﬀerentiate their service, and we foresee major sporting events accelerating the adoption of the technology,” said Dr. Giles Wilson, Head of TV Compression Business, Ericsson. “At the same time, HEVC promises to revolutionise video service delivery across multiple applications and we are pleased to work with KT SkyLife in testing both of these new technologies.” Visit www.ericsson.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

KOREA TELECOM (KT) SkyLife, one of South Korea’s leading satellite Pay-TV providers, has been a pioneer in the TV and media industry by implementing new technologies such as multichannel High Definition (HD), 3DTV, and IP Hybrid set-top boxes. As consumer demand for higher quality continues to increase, KT SkyLife is working with Ericsson on diﬀerent test transmissions aimed at the introduction of next-generation TV experiences, including an Ultra-High Definition TV (UHDTV) trial and High Eﬃciency Video Coding (HEVC) tests to determine how the new standard can be deployed.

NEWS + PEOPLE

GlobeCast Selects Ideal Systems to Build State-of-the-Art Facility IDEAL SYSTEMS SINGAPORE has announced that it has been selected by GlobeCast Asia to design and build a new state-of-the-art multichannel broadcast facility in Singapore’s emerging media city precinct, Mediapolis@ one-north. The new GlobeCast facility will be located at Infinite Studios, a brand new building, which is a 10-story purpose-built structure with a gross floor area of 24,078 square metres.

Chanel Automation works seamlessly with the new Evertz VUE facility control system and VistLink Pro facility monitoring system. Also introduced is the Evertz EMS Super NAS as the central storage system. All of these systems are natively integrated to provide a highly optimised and eﬃcient broadcast facility with industry leading redundancy and proactive and predictive fault monitoring.

According to Darby Sanchez, CEO of GlobeCast Asia, “This facility in Singapore will be our new regional headquarters, from where we provide expertise in content delivery and distribution to top-tier channels from around the globe. We awarded this major project to Ideal Systems due to a combination of their quality solution architecture, cost eﬀectiveness, wide ranging in-house expertise in advanced broadcast systems design, and their local implementation capabilities in Singapore.”

“Another key factor in choosing Ideal Systems is their unrivalled approach to customer and systems support,” said Sabil Salim, Vice President, Operations at GlobeCast Asia. “Ideal has invested heavily in building their own local test lab in their nearby oﬃces. Ideal’s new lab contains a full Evertz simulation system, complete with Overture RT LIVE Playout, Mediator 4 MAM, and Playtime Automation together with a full range of Evertz infrastructure hardware. This simulator allows Ideal to provide our operator training in a simulated live environment.”

The new GlobeCast facility will see Ideal Systems introducing a raft of new broadcast technologies to Singapore. The core technology of the new facility is a fully integrated platform based on a suite from Evertz Technologies that includes the all-new Mediator 4 as a centralised media asset management and broadcast automation system, managing all of the media workflows and tasks. A key part of the Mediator 4 system is Evertz Playtime Automation, which allows maximum flexibility for automating the new Evertz Overture RT “Channel in a Box” play-out channels as well as more traditional video server-based channels, which are still required for many channel owners. The Evertz Mediator 4 MAM System with its integral Playtime

GlobeCast provides services to a broad diversity of channel owners and as such the technical requirement is a superset of the requirements of broadcasters. To address this diversity of requirements, Ideal Systems designed a homogenised broadcast platform with native integration between key components. The new system with key components coming from Evertz has fewer custom-made integration points than would be expected with an enterprise-scale multiplatform, multichannel system. This system will streamline operations and enable more services to be delivered to more platforms at a lower cost, with higher reliability and shorter channel launch times. The solution designed by Ideal Systems also

integrates omponents from Cisco, Thomson Video Networks, Aspera, and Harmonic, with Singapore technology debuts for MediaProxy compliance logging and XenData Media Archiving. “We are delighted to be chosen to work with GlobeCast in the design and building of their new class-leading broadcast facility,” said Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO at Ideal Systems Singapore. “This enterprise scale project, the first broadcast facility to be built in Mediapolis, cements our commitment to providing a new level of broadcast systems integration and support in Singapore and is a great credit to our tight partnership with Evertz Technologies in South East Asia. “GlobeCast Singapore is a highly complex technical project involving not just the design and building of a next-generation broadcast facility with a raft of new technologies to enable traditional as well as new cloud and OTT services, but also the migration of all the existing live channels from GlobeCast’s existing facility to the new Mediapolis site. “Changing the main broadcast systems while broadcasting live channels 24×7 and also migrating to a new site is like doing a heart transplant while in a moving ambulance. We must keep all the channels alive without skipping a beat! This requires precision project planning, migration planning and logistics planning that must dovetail into the new system build and delivery of the highest international standards of cabling, installation and training. Luckily, this is exactly what Ideal Systems does.” Visit www.globecast.com and www.idealsys.com

Top ABU Honour for TVRI Engineer ONE OF THE REGION’S FOREMOST broadcasting engineers has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium in Malaysia. Erina Tobing is Director of Engineering at Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), where she has worked for more than 30 years.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Receiving the award in Kuala Lumpur, Ms Tobing said she felt, “honoured, blessed and thankful to be granted such a prestigious award. I never dreamed of [it] in my life.”

In presenting the award, ABU’s Director of Technology Sharad Sadhu said Ms Tobing was responsible for the operation and maintenance of TVRI’s entire network, including its IT development. She supervised more than 1,500

technicians and engineers in a production chain of 24 regional stations and a transmission network with 376 transmitters, with microwave and satellite facilities for distribution. “She had been closely involved in the migration to digital TV in the Asia-Pacific region and was active in national and international professional organisations including the ABU, where she served three consecutive terms on the Technical Bureau,” Mr Sharad said. “The broadcasting industry in the region has benefitted greatly from her contributions.” Ms Tobing said her knowledge and experience in the broadcasting industry were further enriched when she was assigned to participate in the ABU more than two decades ago.

She said the Lifetime Achievement Award means a lot to her, “not only as a recognition of my lifetime contribution, but also as encouragement to continue working hard in broadcasting for a smooth migration to digital in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in Indonesia.” Visit www.abu.org.my

Global TV Indonesia Logs with Magna GLOBAL TV, one of Indonesiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest private national TV stations, recently purchased and installed a new Artec XBL-Broadcast Logger video logging system from Magna Systems and Engineering. Magnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Indonesia Sales Manager, Awan Setiawan, explained, â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition to its youth and entertainment programming Global TV also broadcasts live news, sports and movies so it is a very busy station. As a result they required a reliable broadcast video logger and intuitive

Magna Systems suggested an XBL-Broadcast Logger that Global TV could use for compliance recording, monitoring, streaming media applications and as an online video recorder and the XBL Player for generating video clips that could be easily edited by jog shuttle and converted to MPEG-2.

included a 4-channel XBL-Broadcast Logger video logging system with run log import function, AC Nielsen Data import function and the XBL Player clip maker. The XBL-Broadcast Logger also enables Global TV to utilise the feature rich Microsoft Silverlight for easy GUI and user management and as an added bonus, gives Global TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R&D department the opportunity to analyse not only their own live ratings information but that of their competitors.â&#x20AC;?

Setiawan continued, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The final system design

Visit www.magnasys.tv

clip maker that would help them better and more eďŹ&#x192;ciently respond to their advertisersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requirements.â&#x20AC;?

IMTV Installs Bittree Video and Audio Patching Solutions BITTREE, a manufacturer of audio and video patching systems, has announced that PT Indonesia Media Televisi (IMTV) has equipped its direct to home (DTH) facility with a suite of 53 Bittree video and audio patchbays. IMTV is a new Indonesian DTH television service that is broadcasting 150 SD and HD channels via the LippoStar satellite operating in the Ku band. IMTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bittree solutions were supplied by PT Interindo MultiMedia.

For its DTH headend, located west of Jakarta, Indonesia, IMTV has installed 38 Bittree 2 x 26 WECO HD-SDI patch panels and 15 TT (Bantam) 2 x 48 programmable audio patchbays. The Bittree patching system gives engineers a system backbone with which to reconfigure video and audio feeds rapidly.

patching equipment, we did not hesitate to recommend Bittree solutions,â&#x20AC;? said Djundi Karjadi, sales consultant at PT Interindo MultiMedia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Based on our experience with Bittree installations, we know IMTV will be able to count on the productsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; long-lasting reliability and a consistently high-quality buildâ&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;After evaluating IMTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s requirements for

Visit www.bittree.com

Engineering Excellence... 5NPARALLELED PERFORMANCE

Feature rich, the Skyline 70 adds quality and reďŹ nement to any production.

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s MM "ALL LEVELLING s 0AYLOADS FROM TO KG s 0AN 4ILT m UID DRAG s 0OSITION COUNTER BALANCE s ÂŞ ÂŞ 4ILT s 2EAR FACING ILLUMINATED CONTROLS

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ASIA NEWS

PAKISTAN AMAN TV is a new entrant into the television market in Pakistan, aiming to deliver high quality news and current aﬀairs broadcasting with worldwide coverage. It will operate from a new broadcast centre in Lahore with a complete Harris Broadcast newsroom and playout infrastructure. The Harris Broadcast ADC automated content and distribution system controls the entire news production and playout infrastructure, with Harris Broadcast NEXIO AMP servers and a NEXIO Farad online storage system providing content delivery and storage. Visit www.harrisbroadcast.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

INDIA

TECHNICOLOR has announced that it has won two extension contracts from Tata Sky, India’s leading satellite operator with over 8 million subscribers. Pursuant to the long standing relationship between both parties and the commercial success of its high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) digital TV oﬀerings, Tata Sky has granted Technicolor, until mid 2015, extension of the initial contracts for the STBs already delivered over past years. Visit www.technicolor.com

MALAYSIA

SINGAPORE

A RECENT NEW ENTRANT to the Malaysian broadcast sector, the all-digital ABN (Asian Broadcasting Network) has selected ETERE’s MERP (Media Enterprise Resources Planning) platform as a base for its station infrastructure.

CEDAR AUDIO has announced that Singapore’s national broadcaster, MediaCorp TV, has chosen CEDAR Cambridge V8 to clean up and restore its TV and film soundtracks in its post-production facility in Singapore.

ABN manages its programs and promo scheduling through ETERE BMS and ETERE Promo, traﬃc activities from booking to billing are performed by ETERE Air Sales.

The CEDAR Cambridge system was installed and commissioned by CDA Pro Audio (Asia) at MediaCorp’s Caldecott Broadcast Centre, and training was carried out by Gordon Reid, who travelled from the UK to Singapore.

Visit www.etere.eu

Visit www.cda-proaudio.com and www.cedaraudio.com

KOREA

CHINA MIRANDA TECHNOLOGIES has closed a deal to supply more than 1000 Densité HDA-1911 modules to Shanghai Media Group (SMG). The sale supplements more than 1000 HDA-1911 modules already in place at SMG’s facility. The HDA-1911 is a 3G/HD/SD-SDI video distribution module and will be used by SMG to form the first-tier entrance matrix for incoming sources for subsequent distribution to downstream applications such as ingest, production and NLEs.

KOREAN BROADCASTING SYSTEM (KBS) has invested in the SprintCam Vvs HD ultra slow motion technology from I-MOVIX to enhance its coverage of domestic and international baseball, volleyball, basketball and football events. KBS has been a long-term user of ultra motion for sports productions, but this is the first time the broadcaster purchased the I-MOVIX’s solution. The SprintCam Vvs HD system chosen by KBS was supplied by Korean I-MOVIX distributor D2S. Visit www.i-movix.com

Visit www.miranda.com

INDONESIA IMAX CORPORATION and Cinema 21, Indonesia’s largest exhibitor, have announced an agreement to install eight IMAX theatres throughout Indonesia, bringing to 10 the exhibitor’s total IMAX commitment. “Due to the success, superior quality and performance of our IMAX theatre in South Jakarta, we have exercised our option to expand our relationship with IMAX to further penetrate the Indonesia market,” said Mr. Suryo Suherman, President of Cinema 21. Visit www.imax.com

THE MINISTER for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has announced that NBN Co has signed a contract for the launch of two nextgeneration satellites to deliver high-speed broadband to Australians living in rural and remote areas.

NEW ZEALAND NEWS CORPORATION has announced that its News Limited subsidiary is divesting its 44% stake in SKY Network Television Limited, New Zealand’s pre-eminent pay television broadcasting service.

The contract was awarded to European consortium, Arianespace, and the satellites will be launched separately in 2015 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.

News Limited has appointed Deutsche Bank to underwrite and, together with Craigs Investment Partners, to manage, the sales of its SKY shares. Following the sales, News Limited will no longer have any holding in SKY Network Television Limited.

Visit www.nbnco.com.au

Visit www.skytv.co.nz

NEWS + PEOPLE

AUSTRALIA

NEWS + PEOPLE

Mahajak Trio Supplies OnAir 2500 to RTB RADIO TELEVISYEN BRUNEI (RTB), the state broadcaster of Brunei, runs five radio networks from its base at Bandar Seri Begawan. Recently a HARMAN Studer OnAir 2500 fixed frame console, configured with 18 faders, became the de facto choice for its regional studio in the Tutong district. Previously the broadcasters had been using a Studer 916 for their on-air studio for the past 15 years, and according to the operators, superior sound quality, reliability and the user-friendly interface were the main factors in continuing to specify Studer. According to Mahajak Trio Senior Manager, Sales and Project, Lee Chin Kah, the station had been looking for a reliable, fully flexible and cost-eﬀective solution. The tender was awarded to AFS Engineering

Kuala Lumpur for the complete integration and the HARMAN Malaysia distributor, Mahajak Trio Electronic Sdn Bhd, supplied the console. A spokesman for the RTB engineering team was equally positive. “We needed a console that was reliable, well supported from the supplier and the manufacturer, fully featured and suﬃciently flexible to meet our workflow needs. Furthermore, no advance programming skills are required. The OnAir 2500 has all the features available in Studer’s complete range of OnAir consoles and provides a fully scalable platform of solutions to broadcasters.” Visit www.harman.com

TVB Hong Kong Takes Chyron for On-Air Graphics HONG KONG FREE-TO-AIR TELEVISION broadcaster, TVB, recently purchased and installed multiple Chyron Channel Box HD graphics solutions from Magna Systems and Engineering for the technical and onair graphics presentation requirements of its TVB Jade, TVB Pearl and J2 television channels. TVB reaches out to overseas Chinese communities, with its productions available in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore, among others, on channels such as TVB’s own TVBS-Europe subscription satellite service. The new HD graphics solution was required to provide moving graphics and audio playout alongside TVB’s custom playout application and existing automation system. TVB also had specific criteria for the HD graphics system that included a fast loading time less than one second between graphics scenes, straightforward software development, Unicode language support, high level of flexibility and maximum reliability. Frankie Yau, Engineering Manager at Magna Systems and Engineering Hong Kong explained, “We first showed TVB the graphics capability of the Chyron Channel Box system and then followed up with an intensive Proof of Concept (POC) test and review. TVB are a very thorough organisation and also wanted a POC with an automation control interface playback of various graphics scenes multiple times. With our deep knowledge of automation integration we provided and assisted them with a lab simulation of the automation playout

control interface in order to test the system with a schedule of events, and also the reliability and graphics functionality of the system.” Powered by a realtime 2D/3D render engine Chyron’s Channel Box HD graphics solution delivers TVB’s three channels with up-to-the-minute headlines, financial data, weather reports, live to air credit squeezes, “L” frame tickers and automated promos. The Channel Box system also supports ODBC data sources, text files, XML and a full VB Scripting engine. Control over the system is extensive with support for Chyron’s Intelligent Interface protocol, VDCP, GPI, COM API, or manual control via a custom control panel. Magna Systems has a long relationship with TVB Hong Kong. In the case of the recent Channel Box installation, as a systems integrator, Magna helped the broadcaster launch the first of their channels complete with the new HD graphics in less than five weeks – a feat that included onsite testing and fine tuning during the on air launch period. Frankie Yau concluded, “With their new Chyron Channel Box HD graphics solution all three TVB channels’ scene graphics and data changes fully load and play within one second of the trigger window with predefined time, sequences and eﬀects. The new Channel Box system also supports TVB’s various dynamic database updates and works eﬃciently with their custom application development. Magna Systems provided TVB with testing, support and training on the Channel Box installation and helped with their in-house software application development and automation integration.” Visit www.magnasys.tv and www.chyron.com

MNC Playout Centre Indonesia Upgrades RECENTLY WHEN MNC Channels, the in-house playout centre for Indonesia’s biggest satellite pay TV operator Indovision, required an upgrade of their automation, storage and video server capabilities, they turned to Magna Systems and Engineering.

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MNC Channels began operations in 2007 playing out one international and two local channels using Pebble Beach Systems Neptune automation control of SeaChange BMC video servers. As the centre grew, the original single in-house channel became four channels with further channel expansion and eﬃciencies planned to improve the function, robustness and ease-of-use of all channels.

With growth and expansion foremost in their minds MNC sought a user-friendly multi-channel playout system with flexible and robust redundancy. In addition their requirement called for a video server system that could hold all the content for at least seven days for all 10 channels whilst being fast enough to support 100% NLE sourced clips and eﬃcient daily clip recycling.

Magna’s Indonesia Sales Manager, Awan Setiawan, said, “Magna initially installed the Pebble Beach Systems Neptune automation as well as upgrading the capacity of the existing SeaChange BMC servers. We then upgraded the licenses of channels, server ports and additional redundancy mechanism. Magna also replaced the original BMC video server with an XOR Media’s Universal Media Library (UML), MCL-8200 Media Client, 20 decoders and 72TB storage providing MNC with a throughput of up to 18Gbps” The upgraded MNC system provided the playout centre with an automation and storage solution integrating a fast video server for playout and multi-format file transfer. Setiawan continued, “After replacing the older BMC server, MNC asked us to install another new UML system in their existing racks which involved relocating their remaining BMC server and re-installing it as temporary system, whilst maintaining all on-air services.” Visit www.magnasys.tv

Harman’s Studer Sets Radio Roadmap for Rural Thailand THE THAI GOVERNMENT Department of Rural Roads is responsible for maintaining the roads that connect to the country’s main highways—this enables them to set up bypasses where necessary to improve traffic flow. To assist them in responding quickly to provide information across the vast network of roads, the Department has now set up its own radio station — initially for internal broadcasting before it becomes a full FM/AM broadcast channel, streaming digital information for the benefit of the general public. To help facilitate live broadcasts and flag up immediate alerts, HARMAN’s Studer’s Bangkok-based distributor, 101 Technology (part of the Mahajak Group), has supplied a compact Studer OnAir 1500 production desk. Fitting a tight budget, the desk will be multi-functional, enabling the station to handle live broadcasts and record live sessions — while operating as a dedicated production mixer. 101 Technology’s Wiboon Lertkultanon explains, “We put all the Studer OnAir 1500 launch information up online. The people involved in the radio station knew of Studer’s reputation and I was contacted immediately after they saw it on our website. “In fact, the OnAir 1500, configured with 12 faders, was designed to provide the versatile hybrid solution for radio broadcasting and production that the studio required, a compact and cost effective production room console. The additional integrated USB playback and record functions make the OnAir 1500 a highly comprehensive desk. “After initial concerns about the budget they found they could do everything they needed with the OnAir 1500 and still have funding remaining for room decoration,” reports Wiboon. “The fact that the desk could double as a production mixer was a bonus since they don’t have the budget to build another production studio yet.” The compact form factor provided another compelling reason for adopting this platform. Converted from a small meeting room, the studio measures just 4m x 3m and can accommodate a host and two guests. Assigned to the faders are a host and two guest mics, solid state player, CD players, automatic play out, and two off-air feeds, a telephone hybrid and production workstation (plus GPIOs). The host microphone can also send out to record in the production workstation and the mixer takes the input

from the production workstation back to the studio monitor. The outputs feed: Internal broadcast; Radio broadcast; Internet Radio Streaming and Production workstation which runs Adobe Audition, enabling it to record and edit files. Now up and running, the station is performing a valuable public service — spreading information to road users and enabling them to plot alternative routes. Conversely, drivers are able to phone in live reports to the station, flagging up roadblocks, accidents and hold-ups. Visit www.harman.com and www.mahajakskm.com

Mathrubhumi TV Launches With Dalet

Operating from a modern new facility, the TV channel represents a media expansion for the owners of the popular Mathrubhumi newspaper, which is widely circulated in Kerala, a state located in the South-Western corner of India on the Malabar coast. System Integrator RGB assisted Dalet with the workflow specifications and deployment of the system. “Mathrubhumi wanted a state-of-the-art newsroom and broadcast system that also was cost-effective and flexible. Dalet News Suite perfectly fulfils those goals,” says Johann Zemmour, director of sales, Dalet EMEA/APAC. “In addition to the fully integrated news, video production and broadcast tools, the Dalet MAM layer adds significant value with its centralised content catalogue and workflow engine, which automates many redundant tasks and background processes. This brings real efficiency. We are also very pleased that in addition to our global support resources, we can provide local support from our Dalet office in Film City, Noida.”

Dalet News Suite covers all the tasks performed in an advanced newsroom such as ingest, logging, assignments, rundown management and editorial creation. On their desktops, journalists use Dalet tools to read wires, write scripts, make quick-cut video edits, and create storyboards and packages. When craft editing is required, the Dalet Xtend module allows for direct importing between the Dalet browser and Apple Final Cut Pro bins to produce a smooth production chain that preserves the metadata between systems. Dalet’s open, IT-based architecture made it possible to integrate with Mathrubhumi’s preferred traﬃc, NLE and graphics system, as well as its storage, servers and archive choices. Dalet controls 10 ingest ports and eight playout ports with A/B roll PCR playout on the Omneon Spectrum server and is also integrated with Omneon MediaGrid storage that houses high-resolution assets and NetApp storage that houses proxy resolutions. In addition to the integration with Final Cut Pro, other system integrations include the Gen21 traﬃc system, Vizrt graphics and Pebble Beach MCR automation. Dalet will also provide an interface with a hierarchical storage management system to complete the end-to-end system. Content in the archive can be searched by anyone in the newsroom and the integration with Front Porch Diva supports full or partial retrieval from the archive. Visit www.dalet.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

DALET DIGITAL MEDIA SYSTEMS, a developer of Media Asset Management (MAM) solutions, software and services for content producers, has announced the deployment of Dalet News Suite for the launch of Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam-language television news channel in India. Dalet News Suite provides the 24/7 channel with advanced functionalities for the key parts of its operations – from ingest through playout and multi-platform distribution to archiving. Built on the Dalet Media Asset Management (MAM) platform, News Suite manages and tracks content and metadata throughout the lifecycle of an asset.

NEWS + PEOPLE

Thailand’s SF Cinemas Boost 4K Capabilities with Sony SF CORPORATION, a cinema chain in Thailand with over 200 screens across the country, has revealed plans to install a substantial number of Sony’s latest SRX-R515P 4K digital cinema projection systems nationwide. This makes it the first cinema operator in the country and one of the first in Asia to install the 4K projection systems from Sony. The addition of the new 4K projection systems will bring the cumulative number of 4K projection systems installed in SF Corporation’s theatres to over 100 units, and will see Thailand taking 4K forward in Asia at the same time as Japan, Korea and China. SF Corporation’s rollout of 4K projection systems has taken place over the last two years and is set for completion by May 2013. In 2011, the company installed its first seven units of Sony’s SRXR320SP 4K digital cinema projection systems. SF Corporation’s projection capabilities were demonstrated through 4K screenings of the Dark Knight and Sky Fall, and High Frame Rate (HFR) technologies in a screening of The Hobbit in December 2012. “At SF Corporation, our business direction focuses on delivering the best entertainment experience to customers,” says Suwat Thongrompo, President of SF Corporation. “We have never ceased to find new innovation, especially film projection systems, to thrill movie-goers of all segments. 4K is the future of cinema and it is here today, sweeping across major cinemas around the world and now in Asia as well. The technology is today’s sharpest digital projection system and gives everyone a truly diﬀerent cinema experience.” “SF Corporation is the first cinema operator in Thailand to recognise the heightened levels of engagement and enjoyment that a 4K viewing experience brings to cinema-goers,” said Saito Motomi, Managing Director of Professional Solutions Company (PSAP), Sony Electronics Asia Pacific. According to Suwat Thongrompo, Sony’s 4K projection systems oﬀered clear advantages to SF Corporation. “As the leading manufacturer of 4K resolution digital cinema projectors and the only manufacturer to provide a complete end-to-end digital cinema solution to exhibitors, Sony’s 4K solution is so much more than just the projector,” he said. “They provide everything from the

projection technology to whole theatre management solutions (TMS), oﬀ-site management and support, 3D systems, entertainment access glasses, HFR technologies and more.” The SRX-R515P projection system delivers true 4K projection by using the 4K SXRD panel, projected by a lens specifically made for 4K projection and the F2.5 large aperture lens made of Extra Low Dispersion glass. The new 4K optical engine creates a high contrast image of 8000:1 (average), achieved by improving the separation of light reflected from the SXRD panel. The SRX-R515P projection system is fully DCI compliant. Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com

Encompass Inserts Ads with Mediaware’s InStream GENERAL DYNAMICS MEDIAWARE HAS delivered its InStream Ad insertion and program switching solution to Encompass Digital Media Asia, the Sinagpore-based provider of content management and distribution services. The InStream Insertion Server allows the insertion of regionalised advertising materials into television programming, helping Encompass create a tailored television viewing experience for its unique customer base.

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InStream is a compressed-domain insertion and switching technology, which enables broadcasters and multi-system operators to simply customise and transmit content by market with true frame accuracy and preservation of original video quality. The core architecture allows native switching in real-time between digital video broadcast streams or files on any video frame within the standard- and high-definition MPEG-2 or H.264/ AVC group of pictures.

“InStream is perfectly suited for operators like Encompass who are broadcasting to an extremely diverse audience,” said Garrick Simeon, managing director of General Dynamics Mediaware. “In order for television advertisements to be successful in such a heterogeneous market, they need to be highly targeted with local, relevant content, and that is where InStream

comes in and delivers.” Encompass is using InStream to distribute television broadcasts across standard- and high-definition channels that are accompanied by regionspecific advertising content. This geographically-tailored placement of advertising provides organisations with a cost-eﬀective way to improve their regional broadcasts quickly, all on standard IT hardware. Additionally, InStream maintains a video content library for direct insertion into the live broadcast, removing the need for separate video servers and costly baseband infrastructure. “We are continuing to attract content owners to expand their reach into Asia and recently announced the origination and transmission of 100 channels from our Singapore facility,” said Deepakjit Singh, managing director for Encompass Digital Media Asia. “With the rapid expansion of our business across Asia Pacific, we are very excited to integrate InStream on the Encompass platform to improve operational eﬃciencies, reduce costs and enhance our end customers’ experiences with customised content.” Visit www.mediaware.com.au, www.encompass.asia and www.gencom.com

HK’s CABLE TV Announces New HD Entertainment Channels HONG KONG-BASED PAY TV OPERATOR, CABLE TV, has announced a new line-up and programming plans for its flagship Entertainment Platform this northern summer. At a ceremony announcing the changes, i-CABLE Entertainment Limited Executive Director Mr Samuel Tsang (front row, center) says that CABLE TV endeavours as always to bring viewers quality entertainment oﬀering them greater programming choices and diversity not possible on free television. Starting 1 June, CABLE TV’s Entertainment Platform will launch two new flagship channels in high definition. HD FAN. (HD 212) is an integrated channel providing local entertainment productions, the most popular drama shows in Asia and instant coverage of latest entertainment news and hot topics. HD CABLE Drama (HD 213) is an all-drama channel carrying top drama series from around the world 24 hours a day. “CABLE TV’s Entertainment Platform as market leader continues to garner good ratings and strong support from viewers. The new line-up and programming, together with our top-rated HD picture quality, will bring our customers a much-enriched viewing experience and enjoyment,” says Mr Tsang. Visit www.i-cablecomm.com

StarHub Records and Monitors with Actus

“With the implementation of the Actus system, StarHub monitoring is fully digitised and users are able to view broadcast content live or archived, for any channel, at anytime,” says Sima Levy, CEO, Actus Digital. “With access to

Ideal Systems Installs Mediaproxy at GlobeCast Asia IDEAL SYSTEMS SINGAPORE recently completed the first installation in Singapore of Mediaproxy’s global leading LogServer ASI system, at GlobeCast Asia. Ideal Systems provided what it describes as “a next generation solution for broadcast compliance logging and monitoring for GlobeCast’s multichannel playout facility in Singapore”. The platform provides recording and live monitoring of video and audio channels and real-time data sources. Using LogServer, recorded content may be reviewed and managed long after the event for legal and commercial compliance requirements and competitive analysis. The highly scalable LogServer deployed at GlobeCast Asia uses Web interfaces. The solution records media across multiple channels as the content is broadcast, containing all essential metadata including multiple language tracks as well as decoding and exact positioning of DVB Subtitling, a highly important feature in Southeast Asia. LogServer ASI allows for ingest of these signals in their multiplexed transport formats (MPTS). Program streams and associated sub-streams will be automatically or selectively recorded in both proxy and native MPEG formats. “LogServer ASI allows the user to access all metadata present in the transport stream and provides a much richer logging and monitoring experience compared to the significantly smaller amount of metadata available in baseband solutions,” said Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO, Ideal Systems Singapore. Visit www.mediaproxy.com and www.idealsys.com

recording, logging and media directly from a laptop, Actus has enhanced the eﬀectiveness of StarHub’s content monitoring and sharing.” The visually intuitive Actus user interface enables users of all technical skill levels to step in and begin working quickly. With a few simple clicks, an operator can easily choose the channel and the time frame then export it to just about any location. Actus transparently manages media conversions and migrations rapidly, removing the complexity of dealing with formats. Visit www.actusdigital.com

Harris Broadcast Appoints APAC Region Leadership HARRIS BROADCAST has divided its APAC sales management team into North APAC and South APAC sub-regions. JiShun Mei will now act as vice president of sales for all product lines in the newly created North APAC region, while Joe Khodeir has been appointed vice president of sales for all product lines in South APAC. Each will have specific growth targets and opportunities across the entire Harris Broadcast portfolio, creating a more agile and intimate management team for customers and the channel. JiShun and Joe will report directly to Richard Scott, senior vice president, global sales and services. The North APAC region will cover Greater China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. JiShun will continue to be based in the Harris Broadcast Shanghai oﬃce. The South APAC team will cover all ASEAN countries, Australia and New Zealand, and Joe will continue to be based in the Harris Broadcast Sydney oﬃce. “Joe and JiShun both have a track record of success and strong leadership over many years in the region,” said Scott. “Both have demonstrated outstanding levels of leadership and customer intimacy and are indeed well respected executives in the region.” In addition to their roles leading the regional sales managers, JiShun and Joe will also serve as leaders for the technical pre-sales teams, which are shared across the newly created sub-regions. Visit http://harrisbroadcast.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

ACTUS DIGITAL, a developer of web-based media monitoring, compliance recording, content repurposing and verification solutions for broadcasters, has announced that Singapore-based pay TV operator, StarHub, is now using the enterprise Actus platform for recording and monitoring of channels. Prior to Actus, StarHub had been using DVDs to capture and analyse broadcast content, a system that proved resource-intensive.

TAKING STOCK Moves in the business of content + technology

www.content-technology.com/mediabusiness

Ericsson to Acquire Microsoft Mediaroom ERICSSON (NASDAQ:ERIC) has reached an

capabilities,” Borgklint concluded.

agreement with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to acquire its TV solution Mediaroom business. This will make Ericsson the leading provider of IPTV and multi-screen solutions with a market share of over 25%. Closing expected during the second half of 2013.

The total media solution portfolio of Ericsson in the TV and video space combined with a further increased focus on consumer needs will be the foundation for providing services to end users. The importance of video distribution capabilities for the customers and their consumers will be increasing as more and more LTE networks are deployed and filled with smartphone users.

Mediaroom is situated in Mountain View, California and employs more than 400 people worldwide. Per Borgklint, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Support Solutions at Ericsson said, “Ericsson’s vision of the Networked Society foresees 50 billion devices to be connected via broadband, mobility and cloud. Future video distribution will have a similar impact on consumer behaviour and consumption as mobile voice has had. This acquisition contributes to a leading position for Ericsson with more than 40 customers, serving over 11 million subscriber households. In addition, Ericsson will be powered with senior competence and some of the most talented people within the field of IPTV distribution.” The global IPTV market is estimated to reach 76 million subscribers in 2013 with revenues of US$32 Billion, growing to 105 million subscribers and $45 Billion in 2015. “Mediaroom is the leading platform for video distribution deployed with the world’s largest IPTV operators. This strategic acquisition positions Ericsson as an industry leader thanks to the skills and experiences of the talented people of Mediaroom combined with Ericsson’s end to end service

“We are proud of the number one IPTV market position that we have achieved with Mediaroom. Ericsson’s complementary portfolio of TV and networking services will help drive the future growth and development of Mediaroom,” said Tom Gibbons, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation. “Ericsson is positioned to be a valuable strategic partner for operators and TV service providers around the world as the IPTV market evolves.” Microsoft Mediaroom is the TV technology behind many of the world’s leading television service providers like AT&T U-verse, Entertain of Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, TELUS Optik TV(TM) and Swisscom. Mediaroom-powered TV services are oﬀered on more than 22 million set top boxes deployed throughout the Americas, EMEA and APAC. The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other conditions. Mediaroom will be incorporated into Business Unit Support Solutions. Visit www.ericsson.com

SPX to Close Dielectric Communications U.S. COMPANY SPX has announced that it will close Dielectric Communications, its broadcast transmission equipment business by mid-2013. Since 1998, acquisitions and focused organic growth had helped SPX transition from a U.S.centric automotive component manufacturer with less than US$1 billion in sales, to a globally diversified provider of products in power and energy, and foods and beverages. SPX purchased Dielectric Communications in 2001. Dielectric was established in 1942 when Dr. Charles “Doc” Brown’s Dielectric Products Corporation started developing transmission lines for early wartime radar systems. After the war, Doc Brown’s team applied its technology in the new civilian field of television broadcasting. Dielectric began to invent and supply equipment for all three major U.S. television networks. In a statement to customers, Mark Fichter GM Dielectric Communications, Broadcast and Wireless Antenna Operations, said, “After careful consideration, SPX has decided to discontinue the broadcast television and radio and wireless antenna operations of its Dielectric Communications business unit worldwide, due to extremely diﬃcult global economic conditions in the broadcast marketplace, and SPX’s ongoing eﬀorts to further focus its future growth strategy on its Flow Technology business.” According to Fichter, the company will continue to operate in a limited capacity through the end of June 2013. “Our primary focus will be on completing outstanding orders while also conducting the necessary steps to close the business.” Visit www.spx.com/en/dielectric/

Autodesk, Blackmagic Announce Technology Collaboration

TAKING STOCK

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN and Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) have announced that the two companies intend to collaborate on future integrations between Blackmagic Design technology and Autodesk technology. This collaboration will build seamless workflows for customers in the professional video, television and commercial post-production industries.

The ongoing work between Blackmagic Design and Autodesk will include the testing and development of integrated workflows between Autodesk technology and Blackmagic Design’s PCIe and Thunderbolt based desktop video capture and playback products, including the

DeckLink, UltraStudio and Intensity product lines. “In the post world, customers want the ability to mix and match the applications and hardware that work best for them. By developing tighter integration with Autodesk products and our desktop video products, we are creating a compelling workflow that both Autodesk and Blackmagic Design customers will benefit from,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “Throughout the product development and prerelease trial period of Smoke 2013, Autodesk collaborated with editors to help drive Smoke product development. We are pleased to be

working with Blackmagic Design to create compelling workflows for our customers,” said Chris Bradshaw, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink, UltraStudio and Intensity lines include high performance capture and playback cards for Mac, Windows and Linux. Including both PCIe and Thunderbolt based technology, these products come in both internal and external models and are used by professionals globally in every aspect of film and video production. Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com and www.autodesk.com

TAKING STOCK

AsiaSat Announces Annual Results for 2012 ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Holdings Limited (AsiaSat – SEHK: 1135) has announced its 2012 annual results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Turnover for 2012 was HK$1,884,904,000, a 10% increase over 2011, while profit attributable to shareholders was HK$914,491,000 and earnings per share were HK$2.34, both increasing 11%. New satellites AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 are on track for launch in 1H 2014, to oﬀer further

scope for company growth, while the addition of AsiaSat 7, the replacement satellite for AsiaSat 3S, opens up short-term revenue opportunities. Renewals with major long-term customers increased total new and renewed contract value to HK$2,596 million. AsiaSat’s Chairman, JU Wei Min, said, “As we look beyond 2012, we remain generally optimistic about our prospects. Our market position is strong, and we continue to be regarded as the industry leader in Asia.”

“In the year ahead, achieving another record gain will be a challenge as we experienced some exceptional items during the year under review, which will not occur again in 2013,” added JU Wei Min. “Approaching 2014, however, we can look forward to the launches of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, which will give us the added capacity to serve new customers and to meet the expansion needs of our existing customers.” Visit www.asiasat.com

Chyron to Acquire Hego Group CHYRON CORPORATION (NASDAQ: CHYR), has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hego AB and its subsidiaries (Hego Group), a leading provider of powerful graphics and data visualisation solutions for TV and sports. Hego Group is a privately-held company with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and has operations in Norway, Finland, Czech Republic, UK and USA. The combined company will be rebranded as ChyronHego.

The transaction will take the form of a stock transaction whereby Chyron will issue a number of shares of Chyron common stock which will represent 40% of its aggregate shares of common stock outstanding, including certain outstanding options, after the closing, in exchange for all of Hego’s outstanding capital stock. Chyron’s board of directors unanimously approved the transaction and Chyron shareholders, representing 40% of Chyron’s outstanding common stock, have committed to

vote in favour of the transaction. At the closing of the transaction, Johan Apel, chairman and CEO of Hego Group, will be elected to Chyron’s board of directors and will be appointed president and COO of ChyronHego. Michael Wellesley-Wesley, president and CEO of Chyron, will remain as ChyronHego CEO. Hego’s shareholders will also be entitled to appoint one other member to Chyron’s board of directors. Visit www.chyron.com

EditShare Asia Pacific Expands Operations EDITSHARE ASIA PACIFIC HAS opened an oﬃce in Singapore to further assist in sales and support for the region. “With the amount of growth we are seeing in South-East Asia, I felt it was important to enhance local support for our current and future customers, whilst also assisting our partners in pre and post sales activities,” explains Damian Miles, Managing Director of EditShare Asia Pacific. Sales and Support Manager, Ariﬃn Abdullah, recently joined EditShare Asia Pacific

to spearhead the new Singapore oﬃce. Ariﬃn’s knowledge is well aligned with EditShare’s presence in Asia Pacific, where he demonstrates a deep understanding and hands on experience with MAM and Broadcast automation, together with a high level of experience in Post Production and Newsroom workflows. His previous experience includes Proposal Manager for Asia Pacific with Avid, plus a further twelve years of Sales and Technical Support in Broadcast.

Support Manager in a step to ensure valued Australian customers have a single, dedicated point of contact.

Galen Rutledge is promoted to Australian

Visit www.editshare.com

Bayon Shahidi has had an immense amount of experience installing, training and supporting all of EditShare’s product range throughout the Asia Pacific region. With this experience, Bayon is given the title of International Systems Specialist, where he is responsible for detailed training, high-end support, and enterprise system installations.

Danmon Asia Expands Distribution Range Asia has recently announced a number of distribution deals to carry products in South-East Asia. Danmon Asia, a part of Dan Technologies Group, a supplier of audio, video, transmission products, digital media solutions, systems integration and supporting services, has been appointed as a distributor by Sennheiser Electronic Asia, HARMAN’s Studer, Genelec Oy, and EditShare. Sennheiser Electronic Asia appointed Danmon Asia as the oﬃcial distributor for the Sennheiser range of professional audio products into Vietnam. The agreement includes

Sennheiser microphones, wireless systems and professional headsets. HARMAN’s Studer appointed Danmon Asia as its distributor for Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. The agreement includes distribution of the entire Studer product range including OnAir and Vista audio mixers, Stageboxes, RELINK interfaces, D21 MasterSync and MultiFeed distribution equipment and the CMS Call Management System. Danmon Asia has been named master distributor for Genelec Oy in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Based in Finland, Genelec Oy produces a wide range of

loudspeakers for professional monitoring, audio-visual installations and domestic audio listening. The professional monitor range includes nearfield, midfield and main monitors, and subwoofers. Genelec Oy customers include master sound studios, broadcasters and concert halls. Danmon Asia also announced its appointment as distributor for the entire product range from EditShare. This includes ingest, asset management, shared storage, editing, playout, archive and recovery. Visit www.danmonasia.com

TAKING STOCK

BEEFING UP ITS RANGE of partners, Danmon

THE 3RD DIMENSION Stereoscopic production & exhibition

Sponsored by

www.3d-day.tv

The Hobbit: Post’s Unexpected Journey Posting The Hobbit was an epic in itself, involving massive amounts of data and workflows which had never been done before. Dick Hobbs talked to the team at Park Road Post Production in Wellington, and to their key technology supplier SGO. “IT’S PETER’S CONSTANT DESIRE to push his story-telling forward that keeps us inspired down here.” That was how Tony Pratt, workflow architect at Park Road, summed up the long-term relationship with director Peter Jackson, a partnership that has developed to the point where he counts on the post house to find the latest technologies to deliver his vision. Park Road, of course, has had a long association with Jackson, and together they had developed smooth workflows for handling stereo 3D. So even when additional technical challenges were thrown into the mix the team was confident the technical ducks were lining up and they could handle it. The most talked about new technical challenge for The Hobbit was, of course, Jackson’s desire to work in high frame rate: 48 frames a second rather than 24. The creative impetus for this was strong: it gives a freedom to move the camera quickly when needed. This is most noticeable in the big battle sequences, where the camera dives and swoops to track the action without judder and – for me at least – absolutely no eye strain. I was just immersed in the action, rather than feeling like I was looking at a screen. Some purists complained about the HFR eﬀect as not being “film-like”, but in a sense that was the point. The new technology exists to help tell stories better, and it should not be ignored just because it is diﬀerent. Twice as many frames means twice as much data. Double that again because of course the film is shot in stereoscopic 3D. Storage is a problem, but throughput is a bigger one. At the time, there was no way of moving two streams of 48 frames a second in real time, let alone display them.

(L–R) Martin Freeman and director Peter Jackson on the set of the fantasy adventure The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), released by Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM. Photo by Todd Eyre

A second challenge was that Jackson was keen to retain all of the dynamic resolution produced by the Red Epic cameras so he wanted to keep the 16 bit raw data, giving the equivalent of 13.5 stops all the way in to the final grade. So the data architects had to find a way to capture, deliver to post, edit, grade and composite the 5k resolution, 16 bit per colour output, 48 frames a second output of the Red camera. Two cameras per rig. As many as 16 rigs on a big battle sequence. Sometimes as much as 12 terabytes a day. Continued next page XX

THE 3RD DIMENSION

New Singapore Plastic Film Creating 3D On-the-Go

THANKS TO A SIMPLE plastic filter, mobile device users can now view distortion-free 3D content with the naked eye. This latest innovation from Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering’s (IMRE) is the first ever glasses-free 3D accessory that can display content in both portrait and landscape mode, and measures less than 0.1 mm in thickness.

enables game developers to convert their existing games into 3D versions.

“The filter is essentially a piece of plastic film with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using IMRE’s proprietary nanoimprinting technology,” said Dr Jaslyn Law, the IMRE scientist who has worked with TP on the nanoimprinting R&D since 2010.

Lenticular lens technology creates a transparent film that retains the brilliance of 3D visuals and eﬀects, which does away with the need for stronger back lighting and saves on battery consumption in mobile devices.

To complement the filter, the team developed applications for two software platforms, Apple iOS and Android, which allow users to play 3D content through its filter, in both landscape and portrait formats. The applications also allow 2D pictures taken using mobile devices to be converted into 3D. The team will be releasing a software development kit that

“The team’s expertise in both hardware and software development in 3D technology has enabled high quality 3D to be readily available to consumers,” said Mr Frank Chan, the TP scientist who led the project. “We have taken age old lenticular lens technology that has been around for the last hundred years, modernised it and patented it using nanotechnology.”

“The successful development of this product is indeed testimony that we have been able to bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation in the area of 3D interactive digital media, aided by the NRF Translational R&D Grant and gap funding from A*STAR,” said Mrs Lay-Tan Siok Lie, Deputy Principal of TP. Visit www.imre.a-star.edu.sg and www.tp.edu.sg

THE 3RD DIMENSION COMPELLING

it. And double it again. So we could stay in lock step with the shooting. Our infrastructure had just a little fat in it, so if for instance we needed to redeliver dailies for any reason we could do it without falling behind. In fact, because of the way we built the infrastructure, our turnaround for dailies was faster than most 2D features.”

“When we knew that The Hobbit was coming along, and Peter was on board, we had a busy NAB,” recalled Phil Oatley, Park Road’s head of technology. This was April 2010, and they needed to find a solution that would be able to keep up with this massive data flow. Once principal shooting started there would be little chance to catch up, so the system had to work at full speed from day one.

FINISHING

“We were doing some aggressive testing with all the usual post suspects,” according to Oatley. “Then, on the last day, we saw the most compelling demonstration we had ever had from a manufacturer.”

With all the complications of high frame rate 3D, does this mean that the whole post production process becomes slower? According to SGO’s Moreno, not necessarily.

The demonstration was with Spanish company SGO. Its Mistika finishing system was already well developed and had a strong if not huge following. By this time it was being seen as the best tool for finishing stereo 3D and it was this which attracted the Park Road team to look at it. But Oatley added “we were utterly astounded by the rate at which SGO develop their platform”.

“We worked with Park Road to design a system that delivered realtime performance, even at 48fps in 3D,” he said. “Some traditional platforms find realtime performance demanding in 2D 24fps, and when you are working on 5k 3D HFR full dynamic range media there is nowhere to hide – you cannot cheat on an eﬀect!”

Following the NAB conversation, SGO took a Mistika to Wellington, with product specialist Nicholas Recagno, for a week of intensive HFR 3D testing. “It worked pretty flawlessly, to be honest,” said Oatley. “During that week we more or less formed the bones of the workflow.”

During the design of the workflow, Park Road decided they wanted to investigate performing the final colour grade in Mistika, too. While Mistika had always had colour correction functionality, the SGO team took this as a driver to develop both more sophisticated control and a new user interface.

That workflow starts on set, with some heavy-duty data wrangling. Park Road built trolleys they called “barbecues”, containing three Mac Pros, 64TB of storage, high end networking, and an LTO drive. This allowed the data team to perform the critical QC pass on the data in real time during ingest. Camera magazines were checked, transferred and returned as quickly as possible, with suspect magazines immediately quarantined for further investigation.

“We worked closely with Dave Hollingsworth [supervising colourist on The Hobbit] and his team at Park Road,” Moreno explained. “An important part of what they said they needed was already on our roadmap, but they pushed us in the right direction. The new colour grading toolset inspired by The Hobbit is now part of our standard product.”

Left eye and right eye data went down separate paths, allowing for the alltime failsafe of one eye being regenerated from the other should data get corrupted. All data was mirrored on site and written to multiple LTO-5 backups. One of the advantages of the small city of Wellington is that the studio is just a short distance from Park Road. The barbecues included their own self-contained fibre and very fast networking. It meant that they could transparently attach to the Park Road network and directly transfer verified camera magazine data extremely quickly. On location the fibre was replaced by duplicate LTO-5 tapes hand carried by trusted production runners.

EDITORIAL Once in Park Road’s asset management platform, virtually every creative task was handled by SGO Mistikas. The Mistika is a sophisticated finishing system, based on clever software running on standard hardware. The typical Mistika configuration is an HP Z820 computer with an NVidia Quadro GPU. For The Hobbit, SGO worked with DVS on a 48fps video I/O board. The first task was to derive an editorial version. This pass applied corrections to the 3D geometry where required, and a colour grade, to create an oﬄine copy from the raw 5k data, as an Avid MXF. In general the editorial version was just the dominant eye in 2D, but where 3D was required it was delivered in side-by-side format to make it completely transparent to HD infrastructure. This allowed the oﬄine editors to work on standard Avids using HD televisions as monitors, even if they needed to see 3D.

Deliverables were as much a challenge as any other part of the project. Nine different formats were required, covering 2D, 3D, 48fps, 24fps and film, with 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos soundtracks, and six different home entertainment formats. All versions were exported in a single pass from the master Mistika files, with all versions of each reel created in around an hour. Quality control on each version was hugely rigorous, with different QC rooms looking at the left eye, the right eye and the stereo, on the grounds that three people will not blink at the same time. Signed off outputs were delivered by Aspera from Wellington to Los Angeles, as well as sending a physical backup hand carried by a member of the team. “When we got involved in this project, it became clear just how complex it was going to be, with lots of departments involved and huge numbers of assets,” said Moreno. “There was no product in existence which could sit in the workflow spanning all these requirements.” I asked the Park Road team about where the problems and panics lay in the project. “It was pretty boring for war stories,” admitted Oatley. “Nothing much went really wrong, thanks in no small part to SGO. “We were seeking a relationship with a technology partner, and we found that SGO shares a philosophy with us,” he concluded. “What we demanded, and they delivered, was phenomenal.” Visit www.parkroad.co.nz and www.sgo.es

The workflow also produced single eye MXF and MOV files as dailies for those who did not have to judge stereo. For department heads and leads files were delivered to iPads for quick checks on set. “There were a lot of iPads out there,” Oatley recalled. “They were all super-secured, of course, but it was a great way to get selected dailies out to lead crew in every department.”

“It is only when you get into the workflow that you realise some of the complications,” said SGO’s technical director Javier Moreno. “The oﬄine created a 24fps EDL. When it came to conforming the online then all the live action and VFX were in 48fps, so you have to be able to support both frame rates on the timeline.” “Park Road always builds in a huge degree of resilience, and redundancy, into our systems,” says Oatley. “We ask at production meetings what sort of shooting ratio Peter is planning, then double

Gollum, performed by ANDY SERKIS in the fantasy adventure The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), released by Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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As well as the dailies, the asset management programme had to package files for Weta Digital, the sister company responsible for developing the visual eﬀects. Like every other part of the workflow, tracking the metadata was critical. With the number of clips, eﬀects layers and renders building by the thousands every day, knowing where everything was and the state of progress was critical.

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Mistika: Dwarfing the Competition While in London to attend a special 3D 48fps screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Phil Sandberg caught up with SGO Director of Global Sales and Operation, Geoﬀ Mills, to talk all things Mistika. C+T: Can you talk about the extent of the Mistika installation at Park Road Post? GM: Park Road came to see us maybe two and a half years ago with regard to having a tool for stereo correction, geometry correction at which time we had really one of the best systems if not the best system out there for doing that task and they really loved what they saw, just for stereo correction. So, they asked to get a system down in New Zealand to evaluate and when they had that system there in the summer they realised actually that they could do a lot more with it. In fact, they could do a complete DI pipeline with Mistika and, of course, we didn’t know about The Hobbit at that time so the discussion was incredibly exciting but actually it became even more exciting when we realised actually what they were thinking of and so what we started oﬀ there was a very, very close relationship with them to take what we already had which was some pretty cool technology, but then take it onto another level with a view that it was going to be high frame rate sort of workflow and real time high frame rate workflow. So that introduced a lot of challenges because some of that technology wasn’t there and not just from us but from other parts of the sort of the supply chain and we were lucky enough to be able to provide systems that were used on set right the way through to the rushes sort of pipeline and then ultimately through into the final cut and the deliverables. They’ve got in excess of 30 workstations working down in Park Road on this project and the great thing is also they are using Mistika for other projects, not just The Hobbit. It’s their now DI system throughout the whole facility. So we are very proud of it. C+T: Of the 30 systems, the on-set systems, are they being used as almost instant review? GM: Initially they were used for sort of like as a laptop version for doing the colour. So that colour was set on set with Andrew (Lesnie, cinematographer) and then the metadata was fed through into Park Road.

C+T: So, what type of feedback ended up in refinements to the system? GM: It was a whole raft of different things. Handling metadata is obviously a very important part of this process. So there was lots of development work into the metadata handling but it was right across the board. They wanted developments in that. They wanted developments with the colour grading. I mean the colour grading tool now at Mistika is arguably one of the best colour correctors in the market and a lot of that has come out of the developments we’ve done for this project which we are very, very proud of. So, we are pleased that a project like this helps to move development along and sort of enhance a great product even further and actually, Mistika really has become the product it has because of our customers, not necessarily because of just what we do, from the feedback we get from all our customers around the world actually. C+T: How much cooperation did you have with other providers in the chain? GM: Well, I think if you take, for example, DVS have the Atomix IO card, they need to do the high frame rate stuff, even Christie to do the projection, we actually sent a Mistika to Christie to help with their development for 48 frames. So, it’s all those sort of things that have to sort of come together but we were lucky because the core technology of the Mistika could handle the high frame rate. It’s just the high frame rate didn’t really exist in the way that it now does. Of course, we are not just talking about 48, we are talking about 60 and actually beyond and Mistika could do that. So that’s why we were in a very, very nice place because we were already leading innovation, leading technology and it’s proven. C+T: Aside from Wellington, what is your Asia Pacific footprint like? GM: We’ve got a lot of traction in Australia, which is absolutely fantastic. Obviously, at the moment we are working on The Great Gatsby. I mean there are obviously challenges in there but it’s going to be a great movie and we are seeing quite a lot of stuff going on in Australia which is great but the same through the whole Asia region. China is a very, very important market for us to do very, very well, there is obviously a huge amount of 3D production going on in China but we are seeing Thailand, a lot of interest, Korea, a lot of interest as well. India is a big market for us and we are looking at what we can do in Japan because that’s unknown territory for us at the moment so we are going to see what we can do in Japan, for sure.

So, then as the sort of material was fed into Park Road for processing they would do the geometry, then the colour loop was already there and they could process it very, very fast and if you think about the volumes of data that they were producing, they were able to review those the following morning at full resolution, corrected, colour graded at high frame rate which was really quite incredible for rushes pipeline and in some cases they were even looking at that sort of material at the end of that same day. It was so eﬃcient. So they created an incredibly sophisticated sort of pipeline using sort of our technology.

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We obviously had things like a database sitting over the top of that as well which was managing all that data at the same time but, yes, very, very integrated and we were very much involved from a R&D perspective in that pipeline. So yeah, we’ve got some very cool technology in Mistika but we enhanced that further for this project and the great thing is, all of our customers benefit from that technology too. It isn’t locked into just that one project. It’s become part of Mistika as a product.

The Hobbit

Oﬄine Editing + Workflow + Avids REVISIT OUR FEATURE Scan the code or visit: www.content-technology.com/postproduction

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Case Study: Park Road Conquers up to 20TB a Day with StorNext

PARK ROAD POST PRODUCTION, located in Wellington, New Zealand, was established as a one-stop shop with a film laboratory on site sitting alongside the picture and sound departments. Park Road is placed to supply all post services for a feature from digital and film rushes, stereoscopic alignment, digital intermediate, foley and sound mixing through to the final completion of all film and digital deliverables for distribution. The facility prides itself on its flexibility and has worked on some of the largest-budget Hollywood films, independent American and foreign films, and lower-budget New Zealand features and short films. Since adopting Quantum’s StorNext File System, Park Road is able to stay ahead of demanding digital workflows and the growing amount of associated content.

SCALE & HIGH PERFORMANCE The challenge that Park Road faced was scaling its systems to accommodate the rapid increase in data that digital filmmaking now generates. As production of digitally acquired 3D films is becoming more commonplace, uncompressed digital film can translate into hundreds of terabytes of data per project, and the traditional tools used to manage the content are often overwhelmed by the new demands of data acquisition, collaboration, distribution, and longterm, protective archiving. Fast turnaround is a key factor in motion picture production, so Park Road’s ability to help filmmakers maximise their creative time in post-production is a significant competitive advantage over other facilities. In fact, the kind of technology that Park Road uses has enabled state-of-the-art digital post production to become a seamless part of the filmmaking process. The high cost and quick turnaround of high-end feature film production means material needs to be processed and quality checked as quickly as possible so filmmakers have the option of reshooting, if necessary, before sets are struck. “We faced a very unique challenge on one particular project, and we realised that we would need to dramatically increase our throughput and capacity to meet the potential demand,” says Phil Oatley, Head of Technology for Park Road. “Each shoot day would see us process an average of six to twelve terabytes of new material, and

In short, Park Road was faced with the prospect of “drowning in data.” Not only would the total amount of data grow fast, but the required daily throughput would also dramatically increase. The facility had a traditional archive system built around Atempo Time Navigator and direct-attached tape libraries, but needed a solution with more speed, efficiency, and scalability to handle the ever-increasing deluge of data. A project was initiated to determine if there would be a more efficient and effective way forward. Various topologies and technologies were investigated. Park Road had long leveraged its high-performance SAN infrastructure for real-time processing of picture content, and the facility decided that a further extension of this infrastructure utilising virtualised tape storage would be the best approach. However, hardware was only part of the solution. Software was just as, if not more, critical.

FITTING EXISTING WORKFLOWS Park Road had already utilised Quantum StorNext FX for four years (due to its interoperability with Apple Xsan) for non-Apple SAN clients. Its legacy archive solution software used a Quantum Scalar 50 tape library with older-generation tape drives. Although the system had limited scalability, it validated the eﬀectiveness of Quantum technology. At the recommendation of Park Road’s technology partner, Factorial, the facility decided to take a look at a larger Quantum solution comprised of full-scale StorNext software and a Scalar i6000 enterprise tape library with the latest Quantum tape drives. “StorNext File System delivers high-performance file access, supporting heterogeneous environments including Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems, all of which are in use at Park Road,” says Tim Benson, director and technology evangelist for Factorial. “The intelligence behind the software was a key benefit, ensuring an automated workflow which would enable Park Road to easily scale up without adding more people or needing to re-architect IT solutions. “StorNext Storage Manager would allow Park Road to use tape like disk— providing almost unlimited capacity, while at the same time minimizing data center footprint, power consumption, cooling, and ultimately operational costs.” Park Road elected to move forward with the upgrade at the time of its SAN expansion. The full

StorNext license allowed the facility to deploy StorNext Storage Manager to automatically move data between high-performance disk and a largecapacity tape library archive. The Scalar i6000 also provided a substantial increase in the amount of data that could be kept for near-term re-evaluation or processing as well as long-term archive. Moreover, it scaled easily by adding new slots as needed and supported the LTO-5 tape drives for even higher storage eﬃciencies. Finally, the Scalar system provided optional software that proactively verifies the integrity of tape media and works with StorNext to migrate files automatically to new media if any sign of aging appears. “The open file-based structure of Storage Manager greatly simplified the automation of storing and retrieving files to and from tape— removing the need for complex backup and restore processes,” says Benson. In all, the Park Road system includes: 3 StorNext File System clients, 40 StorNext FX clients, 25 Apple Xsan clients 700TB of online disk, divided up into 7 SAN volumes StorNext Storage Manager – 2PB license Scalar i6000 – 1600 slots, 2.4PB total capacity Vaulting license

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE After the integration was complete, performance increased substantially for Park Road. Source data (eﬀectively the original camera negative) is rapidly acquired onto a StorNext SAN, either on-set or from field LTO-5 tapes, for collaborative processing via multiple SGO Mistika workstations. These access source material concurrently over 8Gb/s Fibre Channel for maximum performance. The source data and all metadata generated onset and derived through processing is archived to LTO-5 tape via StorNext Storage Manager. Tapes are retained within the Scalar i6000 to facilitate quick retrieval back to the SAN for further processing. Tapes are also “vaulted” from the library for long-term archive. The system at Park Road routinely processes multiple terabytes of data in just a matter of hours and can handle in excess of 20TB per day at peak load. “One of the most important factors in selecting a new solution was ensuring that the existing creative workflow that filmmakers enjoy at Park Road was not compromised, but rather enhanced by any technology decision,” says Oatley. “It was very important that software could be tailored to fit Park Road and not the other way around. StorNext exceeded our expectations by delivering on that requirement and more. “We will ultimately transition to Quantum’s StorNext metadata appliances for even tighter integration and development benefits,” says Oatley. Visit www.parkroad.co.nz and www.quantum.com

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on a really busy day this could reach twenty terabytes. All new material needed to be processed and delivered to the client within 12 hours.”

ACQUISITION www.content-technology.com/acquisition

A&T AV Takes Singapore’s First Sony F55 4K Camera THE FIRST CONFIRMED DELIVERY of Sony’s latest PMW-F55 CineAlta 4K camera in Singapore has been secured by A&T Audio Visual Pte Ltd, a full service audio-visual production company servicing Singapore and the regional broadcast market. A&T AV possesses a wide-ranging base of customers involved in broadcast television, corporate productions, documentaries, TV commercials, feature films and more. The company says it has always upheld a reputation for providing high quality production and post-production equipment to videographers, film and television professionals across the industry. A&T AV purchased Sony’s well-received PMW-F3 in February of 2011. At that point, it gave clients cutting-edge imaging technology which could not be achieved by HDSLRs. Fast forward to 2013, and A&T AV’s purchase of Sony’s F55 brings greater enhancements in image quality, colour reproduction, mobility and flexibility in shooting styles to their customers. With a modular and compact design for easy configuration, the F55 features a new type of 4K Super 35mm image sensor that oﬀers a high level of performance. “We were impressed by the build-quality and design of the F55. The modular and slim build really opens up a lot of options for diﬀerent

New Hitachi Cameras AT NAB 2013, Hitachi Kokusai Electric introduced the SK-HD2200 full body HD production camera – a new studio and OB camera that features new 2/3-inch, 1080/60p, progressively scanned, (UltraAdvanced) UAIT-CCDs, 1,100TVL resolution and 3Gbps HD-SDI signal handling from end-to-end. The company also introduced the Z-HD6000 CMOS studio camera, which includes new 2/3-inch CMOS camera processor. Other products on display included: the new SK-HD1500 slowmotion HDTV camera; the HV-HD33 – a compact, 3-MOS sensor, multi-standard, P.O.V. HD camera; the KP-HD20A HD camera; the SKHD1200 native 1080/60p studio and EFP camera; the SK-HD1000 dockable studio and field camera; Z-HD5000 HDTV studio and field camera; DK-H100; and the DK-Z50 multi-purpose HDTV camera.

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The new SK-HD2200 is complemented by the portable, hand-held version model SK-HD1200. Images are acquired by three (R,G,B) 2.3 million pixel UAIT (Ultra-Advanced) 1080-line progressive-scan CCDs. Hitachi’s implementation of digital processing technology assures low-noise, high dynamic range pictures. The HD signal generated by the new sensors, processed by 38-bit Hitachi DSP’s, transported via a digital fibre optic system and output as SMPTE424M SDI, are 3Gbps throughout.

With 2.6 million pixel 2/3-inch, 1920×1080 raster MOS RGB sensors, the new Z-HD6000 satisfies high production standards. It also retains all the functions and features of Hitachi’s existing HDTV camera line, such as: fibre or digital triax cable operation, external auto-setup, advanced colour correction, skin tone detail, prompter power, and two intercom and IFB channels. New functions include: ‘no vertical smear’, F12 standard sensitivity with over 60dB of video headroom, and an ARCF auto-registration correction function. Visit www.hitachi.com

forms of shooting, whether for high-end productions, run and gun documentaries, ENG or sports,” said Nick Koh, Operations Manager at A&T AV. “The F55 brings 4K image quality and a 35mm feel to many diﬀerent applications at a very compelling priceperformance point.” Having used equipment from Sony since U-matic and Betacam was introduced in the early 1990s, Sony was the preferred choice. “Working with the team from Sony was a breeze. They were willing to listen and provide the necessary support we required,” said Koh. “Sony has consistently met market demands and understood the requirements of the end-users.” Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com and www.atav.com.sg

JVC Debuts New Products and Capabilities JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS Company used the recent NAB show in Las Vegas to introduce a variety of new products and unveil an upgraded version of its handheld mobile news camera, the GY-HM650. When equipped with a 4G LTE modem connected to the back of the camera via USB, the GY-HM650 2.0 upgrade leverages the camera’s unique dual codec technology to stream live video transmissions in the background while shooters continue to record footage. Also at NAB, JVC premiered its new GY-HM70U ProHD camcorder. The GYHM70 is aimed at event/wedding videographers and educational users who want a full-sized, shoulder-mount camcorder, but who have limited budgets. Built around a 1/2.3-inch 12 megapixel CMOS imager and JVC’s FALCONBRID high-speed processor, the camera records 1080/60p, 1080/60i, and 480/60i (SD) footage in the AVCHD Progressive format to dual SDHC/SDXC memory cards. Priced for the entry-level professional video market, the GY-HM70 features JVC’s hot swappable dual battery system, which allows for hours of continuous, uninterrupted shooting. It also includes a high quality 29.5mm wide-angle GT lens that oﬀers smooth 16x dynamic zoom performance, as well as an optical image stabiliser, auto focus, focus assist, and manual focus, iris, and shutter controls. JVC also introduced a new portable/studio monitor, the DT-F9L5U. Ideal as a camera viewfinder or field production monitor, it features an 8.2-inch IPS panel with 1280×800 pixel array and mercury-free white LED backlight, plus a variety of inputs for current and legacy equipment. Also on display was JVC’s new GM-552D is a high contrast, full HD 55-inch monitor designed for 24/7 continuous operation in broadcast facilities and other applications. Visit http://pro.jvc.com

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I-MOVIX Gets Ultra Slow

Camera Corps Introduces SIMPLY SMPTE Camera Link CAMERA CORPS HAS CHOSEN the 2013 NAB Show for the introduction of its SIMPLY SMPTE compact remote camera link to American broadcasters and digital cinematographers. Camera Corps also demonstrated a major advance in remote camera control technology, the new RF Q-Ball, at NAB. Demonstrated in prototype at IBC 2012 and now available via Camera Corps’ international rental service, SIMPLY SMPTE will be exhibited as part of a complete system.

THE I-MOVIX X10 is the industry’s first live ultra-motion solution to deliver a continuous real time output of up to 250 fps at native HD resolution and image quality. Giving production teams continuous access to instant replays at up to ten times the normal frame rate, X10 outstrips the performance of existing continuous super-slow motion systems, which are restricted to three times slower than real time, or 75 fps.

“SIMPLY SMPTE is designed for use at major large-scale outside broadcast events and in electronic field production,” explains Laurie Frost, founder and Managing Director of Camera Corps. “Like all all our own-brand products, the link was developed to meet our production requirements in covering world-class events” “SIMPLY SMPTE consists of a robust base unit which connects to the controller plus a smaller remote unit which attaches to the camera,” adds Technical Director Jim Daniels. “It allows allow large remote heads and boxed cameras to be operated 3 miles away or further via SMPTE 3K-standard electro-optical cable.”

Developed in partnership with EVS, the X10 system is used with an EVS XT3 production server under LSM control and provides a familiar user interface and controls that any broadcast crew can use immediately, without any special training. And thanks to its raw video processing enhancements, X10 provides spectacular shots with unprecedented sharpness. For sports productions requiring higher frame rate levels, the X10+ system can also operate on an extreme slow motion mode at frame rates up to 2,600 fps in 1080i50 or up to 5,600 fps in 720p60 (100 times slower than live action) with instant replay, making this new I-MOVIX solution the first fully integrated ultra-slow-motion system for live HD broadcast production. For the first time at NAB 2013, I-MOVIX has shown the capabilities of its new real-time de-flickering solution, designed for use with SprintCam Vvs HD and X10 systems. This product is the first real-time turnkey system providing an eﬃcient solution to the flickering problem encountered by any high-speed camera user. Simple to use, this de-flickering system will deliver flicker-free ultra slow motion shots in real-time, revealing the beauty of the action, and solving distracting problems caused by lighting issues.

Photon Beard Introduces New Compact Light Panel PHOTON BEARD, THE UK lighting solutions specialists for broadcast, film and video, have launched a new one-foot square fluorescent lighting panel that produces more light, and is more economic, than other 1’x1’ fixtures in the marketplace, at NAB 2013. The panel includes eight 5/8” diameter fluorescent tubes that deliver optimum broadcast-quality illumination using the same Osram daylight or tungsten-balanced phosphors that have become industry standard in television studios around the world. This provides predictable colour results with fewer spikes and spectral variations typically associated with similar LED-based fixtures. At only 64W, Photon Beard’s new panel delivers similar output at three metres to comparable fixtures pulling 100W. It is dimmable and can be powered from either mains or a ‘V’ mount camera battery for around one hour. According to Photon Beard Managing Director, Peter Daﬀarn, “While not aimed at studio lighting applications, the consistent, high quality light, portability and low heat benefits are ideal for both broadcast and film, either for on-the-fly pieces to camera or in relatively confined spaces like, for example, a car.” Visit www.photonbeard.com

Powered by 110 or 240 volts AC, the base unit incorporates an optical input for incoming video data. Electrical inputs allow direct connection of analogue genlock video and audio-frequency control data. The remote unit accepts HD-SDI from the camera and provides genlock, audio data, alternating-current power plus dual 12 volt direct-current 60 watt outputs on XLR4 sockets to drive auxiliary devices. Power from the base unit to the remote unit is fully isolated and protected against an open circuit or incompatible equipment. The new RF Q-Ball is a complete wireless remote camera system, which can be installed quickly and easily in practically any location. It will initially be available for rental. “Many of our hire service customers are keen to use wireless remote cameras as part of their outside broadcast activity,” comments Frost. “The advantages are obvious but so is the complexity for anyone trying to assemble a practical system from multiple sources. RF Q-Ball is uniquely reliable and easy to operate. It comprises an HDSDI transmitter, control data receiver, batteries and camera, all in one very compact and portable unit.” Up to 96 cameras can be operated through a single data transmitter attached to a standard Camera Corps RCP remote control panel or Joystick panel. The entire system is waterproofed for use in all weather, on land or at sea. Antennas may be coupled via extension cables if required. Existing Q-Ball, Q-Ball Pre-Set or HD MiniZoom camera heads can be integrated into the system without modification. Visit www.cameracorps.co.uk

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Visit www.i-movix.com

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Anton/Bauer’s DIONIC HD Battery Makes NAB Debut ANTON/BAUER, a global provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, have made the formal introduction of its newest lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery, the DIONIC HD, at the 2013 NAB Show). Part of the company’s Logic Series of batteries, the DIONIC HD powers high-current applications in a lightweight and robust package, making it ideal for digital cinema cameras. Delivering up to 10 amps of power, the DIONIC HD is a 183Wh battery featuring special-application Li-Ion cell technology. Employing sixthgeneration cell technology, the DIONIC HD incorporates the company’s latest software architecture and an improved LCD for superior safety and reliability in the most extreme environmental conditions. Weighing 40 percent less than a NiCad or NiMH battery, the DIONIC HD has 25 percent more capacity and will run a 30-watt camera, monitors and multiple accessories for more than six hours.

“We created the DIONIC HD to help our customers meet the growing power demands of the latest digital cameras,” says Chris O’Neill, vice president of product management and marketing, Anton/Bauer. “Designed from the most innovative Lithium-Ion cell technologies, it provides unrivalled capacities and a longer cycle life, with an extended warranty of three years.” The DIONIC HD also includes the company’s new enhanced RealTime display. Simple and easy to understand, the display indicates both fuel gauge and remaining run-time data simultaneously, without requiring any setup. Its motion-detection feature incorporates a sleep-mode setting that reduces battery self-discharge, allowing for extended periods of storage with minimal capacity loss. The battery can be “awakened” by the built-in motion sensor. Visit www.antonbauer.com

Shotaku Introduces the TK-53VRII SHOTOKU BROADCAST SYSTEMS, a leader in manual and robotic camera support, and virtual reality tracking, has exhibited a mix of new and established products that target sports, studio, virtual reality, and field production applications at NAB 2013. The Company highlighted its latest models, including a VR Tracking EFP head, and a new X-Y Tracking VR Dolly Crane System for Virtual Studios. Shotoku’s ergonomically designed SX-300 is a robust pan & tilt fluid head for field production, OB and studio use. The unit’s high capacity 38kg (83 lbs) payload and wide-balance capability supports a vast variety of cameras, lenses and accessories. The 300 head will accommodate flat base or 150mm ball. Shotoku’s SG-900 manual pan & tilt head oﬀers vibration-free speed in a sturdy package. Ideal for OB and studio production with Teleprompters or box type lenses, the SG900 supports 90 kg (198 lbs), and features single knob balance adjustment. The unit incorporates the VISCAM ultimate fluid drag system to control smooth pan & tilt movement and REULAUX perfect balance system for maintaining the camera’s centre of gravity. The SG-900 is suitable for various pedestals including Shotoku’s TP-200 lightweight, 2-stage pneumatic pedestal and both the TP-80 and TP-90 studio models.

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For VR studio applications, Shotoku’s new SX-300VR oﬀers precise tracking and uncompromised operation. The ergonomic design features a robust,

reliable platform for a wide range of camera and lens configurations. The SX-300VR provides high-accuracy, real-time data output with no loss in manual performance. The VISCAM Fluid-Leaf Drag System supplies smooth continuously adjustable pan & tilt drag with enhanced torque and high levels of operator control. Capable of supporting payloads up to 38kg (83 lbs) and available in 4-Bolt, M70 Mitchell, or 150m-ball mount, the SX300VR is an extremely flexible option for a range of studio configurations. The head may be simply mounted on a tripod, or for real-time full 3D tracking, one of Shotoku’s VR pedestals such as the TP-90. Shotoku also presented its leading model VR crane, the TK-53VRII, to the American market for the first time at NAB. A unique set of VR features coupled with a sturdy twin arm structure provides vibration-free, high performance with a single operator. The VR Dolly Crane System allows any studio to be easily transformed into a virtual environment without the need for targets on the ceiling, floors, or walls, or infrared sensors. VR data, including pan/tilt, zoom, focus and X/Y camera date is sent to the graphic computer via RS422 cable. The TK-53VRII also features Shotoku’s unique SPi-Touch 2 point calibration system for quick set-up. Visit www.shotoku.tv

SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

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Red Bull, Sennheiser Sound Out Shanghai Grand Prix INFINITI RED BULL RACING AND SENNHEISER have joined forces for the 2013 Formula One racing season. The audio specialist has been named as the first Oﬃcial Audio Supplier, supplying professional audio solutions for the Factory debriefs, driver interviews and powering the DJ booth in the exclusive Paddock Club. The cooperation kicked oﬀ at the recent Shanghai Grand Prix with a DJ set from Chinese DJ, Jamaster A, and the creation of an exclusive edition of Sennheiser Momentum headphones. Sennheiser audio equipment will be used by Team Principal, Christian Horner, during his Team debriefs. Meanwhile, Sennheiser will also be helping fans get even closer to the action, with the wireless 2000 microphone series used for Paddock Club driver interviews with drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Throughout the season, the companies will be working together on a number of projects. The first development to be announced is the creation by Sennheiser of an Infiniti Red Bull Racing edition of its Momentum headphones, featuring the colours and logo of the F1 team.

Part of Sennheiser’s Style Selection, this limited edition will be available to the teams and its very special guests. The Momentum and additional Sennheiser flagship products such as the HD 800, HD 700, IE 800 headphones and the 9000 wireless microphone series will be on display in the Paddock Club at selected races. Visit www.sennheiserasia.com

MP & Silva Acquire FIFA Rights in Vietnam MEDIA RIGHTS COMPANY MP & Silva has secured a deal for the exclusive rights to distribute FIFA’s line-up of tournaments in Vietnam between 2013 and 2014 for the first time, including the highly sought-after 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is expected to once again captivate soccer fans as 32 teams get ready to battle for the coveted trophy in Brazil next year 12 June – 13 July 2014, and MP & Silva will be the exclusive distributor for television rights across cable, satellite and terrestrial platforms. The partnership with FIFA, the world’s governing body for football, includes all 64 live matches and ceremonies of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil as well as daily 45-minutes highlights. The oﬀer also includes all FIFA tournaments including the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 in Brazil, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013 in Tahiti, the FIFA Under-20 World Cup 2013 in Turkey, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup 2013 in the UAE, the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2014 in Canada. Andrea Radrizzani, MP & Silva Group CEO, said, “We are very proud of our great relationship with FIFA, the world’s governing body of football. We look forward to working with our robust network of partners in Vietnam and continue distributing top premium content, headlined by the 2014 FIFA

World Cup Brazil. Vietnam continues to be a key market for MP & Silva, and this partnership with FIFA underlines our leadership in sports content across the region.” Niclas Ericson, Director of FIFA TV, MP & Silva Chief Executive, Andrea Radrizzani. said, “MP & Silva is an important player in the sports industry in Vietnam and is joining the FIFA eﬀorts to further enhance football across its platforms in Vietnam. This inaugural deal with them underlines their commitment to football, and ensures that our events, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, will be seen by the widest possible audience across Vietnam – an exciting football market that continues to grow.” Visit www.mpsilva.com

BTS Partners with Grass Valley for SEA Games Myanmar 2013

On board the 10.5m long, two-axel truck will be a full HD OB Van with three rooms. The 8-cam van will be equipped for 8 Grass Valley LDX Premiere cameras, a Grass Valley Kayak HD 2.5 M/E production switcher, a Grass Valley Concerto routing switcher, 2 Grass Valley K2 Dyno Replay System, a Grass Valley Gecko modular and a Yamaha audiomixer.

Although the games will be held in December 2013, the delivery of the OB Van is schedule for August 2013, which means an extremely short lead time of less than six months. Stephen Wong, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific at Grass Valley, commented, “Grass Valley is pleased to partner with BTS to enable coverage of this momentous live sporting event in Myanmar. Both BTS and Grass Valley are a natural fit, as with BTS’ proven OB construction and installation along with GV’s strong heritage in live production portfolio.” Visit www.grassvalley.com

SPORTSCASTING

BTS BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS has received an order from Grass Valley to develop and construct an outdoor broadcast (OB) van for the 27th South East Asia Games to be held in Myanmar in December 2013.

SPORTSCASTING

The Glasgow Diaries: Chapter 2 By David Bowers

SLUSH ... SQUELCH ... SLUICE ... Another stream of cold, gritty water finds its way to the gap between my trouser leg and ankle and trickles down into my boot. IT’S JUST FULLY LIGHT, and I’m surveying what will be Glasgow’s first international-standard mountain bike course alongside a dozen Glasgow 2014 venue representatives, contractors and overlay planners. The first events to be held on the new mountain bike course are planned for the middle of the year, and we quickly realise bikes would have served us a lot better than feet this morning on our soggy trek across Cathkin Braes. We’re just 15 minutes south of the Athlete’s Village and I do my best to ignore the bog-like conditions underfoot and concentrate on the panoramic view back to the city. We are well into the advanced planning and construction stages of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Host Broadcaster contract and it’s already possible to picture how the precinct will look at Games time, which is now just 16 months away.

SPORTSCASTING

Among my goals this morning is to begin identifying landing areas for the helicopters ahead of a meeting with the Civil Aviation Authority next week. With the mountain bike course a short way out of town, the logic of placing a helipad here is obvious.

The helicopters will assist us in capturing footage from events such as the marathon and road-cycling, and essential for covering the outside venues and providing scenic shots of Glasgow itself, giving viewers additional perspective of the city and the energy and excitement of the events. At Games time we will also have multi-functional aircraft that will be used as diversity receivers and repeater platforms for the motorbike-mounted cameras as well as aerial cameras to enhance the coverage. Feeling human again after a change of footwear at our oﬃce, I catch up with Chris Farmer, our Host Broadcaster audio/commentary system control (CSC) manager, who has arrived in Glasgow for discussions regarding telecommunications requirements for the Games. Commentary services is the only multilateral area in which a system is designed, installed and then handed over to individual rights holders at the venues, so they can get their own live reporting back to their home studios. Chris has worked on numerous Summer and Winter Olympic Games, World Cups, Asian Games and the 2006 Melbourne and 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and knows exactly what the broadcasters will need.

SPORTSCASTING

The commentary switching centre at the IBC (the commentary master control for all venues) will have hundreds of digital broadcast circuits and each needs to be totally robust. Every venue will also have at least one English commentary position to enhance the Host Broadcaster’s coverage and ensure we capture everything. Chris brings with him the latest news from Sydney, where the design and pre-build for the commentary control rooms (CCRs) and Broadcast Technical Operations Centre (BTOC) systems for each venue are progressing rapidly. Chris and Mark Ahern, broadcast infrastructure/CDT (master control area) manager, another veteran of such major sports broadcasting events, have been working on the technical designs to ensure that the Host Broadcaster coverage in Glasgow is the best yet. Plans are being laid-out on the floor of Global Television’s temporary warehouse, on the southern fringe of Sydney’s CBD, which is now available following the commission of the company’s newest high definition outside broadcast ‘super truck’, HD9. The intention is to keep all the CCRs and BTOC facilities operationally similar for ease of training, operation and equipment redundancy, as reliability is of course mission critical. Even though the competition schedule is only a bit over two weeks long the system has to look and feel like a permanent installation. Although we are still evaluating some aspects of the technology we know we’ll be predominantly fibre and IP-based with server technology for the video archive. We also have around 30 racks for broadcasting equipment to build for the IBC to cater for rights holders and general broadcast facilities. A significant portion of the technical IBC elements is specialised equipment which needs to be pre-built before being broken down and installed with the IBC. Among other advantages, this process avoids the need to store and construct delicate equipment on site: the systems can be transported to the venues pre-tested and ready to install. As the Games telecommunications and satellite uplink providers will reside alongside us in the IBC, provisions are being made for them, too. And yes, we are well aware that satellite dishes have diﬀerent look angles in the Northern Hemisphere! Also on the list for myself and Chris for the next 10 days is to submit frequency and spectrum plans for the radio mics, satellite links and two-way radio communications and establish suitable city-wide repeater sites to enable radio communication for the road cycling and marathon events.

David Bowers is head of engineering and technical operations for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Host Broadcaster contract.

SPORTSCASTING

With 501 Days 22 Hours, 13 Minutes & 51 Seconds to go (courtesy of the oﬃcial Glasgow 2014 website www. glasgow2014.com) we are well on track.

NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

CNN and Thai News Network Sign Affiliate Agreement GLOBAL 24-HOUR NEWS NETWORK CNN and Thai News Network (TNN), Thailand’s first 24-hour Thai-language news channel, have signed a multi-year broadcast affiliation agreement, expanding on the existing multi-platform partnership CNN has with TNN’s parent company, True Visions Group. The agreement will provide TNN with access to CNN’s live breaking news coverage and premium news and feature programming, as well as CNN’s compelling video portal tailor-made for its affiliates. The affiliation will also allow TNN to benefit from the high quality editorial training and information sharing which CNN provides all its broadcast affiliates. “CNN and Turner International Asia Pacific are delighted to be building further on our long-term partnership with True Visions Group, enabling TNN to provide the people of Thailand and Thai-speaking viewers across the world with best-in-class international news coverage,” said Mr. Steve Marcopoto, President & Managing Director, Turner International Asia Pacific. “By entering into this affiliation agreement with CNN, TNN demonstrates its determination to deliver the best Thai-language international breaking news coverage to its viewers,” added Mr. Sompan Charumilinda, Executive Vice- Chairman of True Visions and Chairman, Thai News Network (TNN) Co., Ltd. Visit www.cnn.com/international.

Al Jazeera on the Move with Windows Phone 8 AL JAZEERA MEDIA NETWORK has launched new, innovative Windows Phone 8 apps for its growing mobile audiences. The new apps will provide users with full-featured news from the most popular sections of the Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic websites – with free access to 24 hour live broadcasts and the latest current aﬀairs programmes. The Windows Phone 8 apps were built in close partnership with Nokia and Microsoft. The apps receive up-to-minute information as well as an innovative My Topics feature that allows Windows Phone 8 users to personalise the way they receive the news – following people, places, organisations and the topics they care about the most. The Windows Phone 8 apps also introduce parallax scrolling to provide deeper interactivity, engagement, and context for every story through video, related content and high quality imagery that is pannable using common gestures already familiar to Windows Phone users. “We are delighted that Al Jazeera’s multi-award winning news and current aﬀairs coverage is now available on Windows Phone 8 devices,” said Moeed Ahmed, Head of New Media at Al Jazeera Media Network. “The launch of the Windows Phone 8 apps comes after our successful Blackberry 10 and Android Tablet launch. [This] announcement reemphasises our commitment to ensuring that people can consume our content whenever and wherever they want – whether it is on a tablet, mobile device, PC or Connected TV,” said Ahmed. Visit www.aljazeera.com

VizRT Brings IP to Broadcast News THE CREATION, DISTRIBUTION AND ON-AIR DISPLAY of broadcast graphics are perhaps the most complex, labour and time intensive parts of the news production process. That’s why it’s important for news department staﬀ to work collaboratively and in many cases simultaneously to get the story out before the competition does. According to VizRT, the key is a fully networked operation that leverages the benefits of the Internet Protocol (IP) to send files in a highly deterministic and reliable way. An IP infrastructure also costs less to deploy and often necessitates less manpower to do so. After extensive field research and customer feedback, the company says it has embarked on a new product roadmap for its next-generation Viz Engine — the core of its real-time compositing technology — that takes into account all of the advantages of IP while conserving spacing and processing capacity. If news producers want to get the story first they have to move to a workflow that requires the least amount of eﬀort and the most flexibility.

NEWS OPERATIONS

Petter Ole Jakobsen, VizRT’s Chief Technology Oﬃcer, says the industry needs to migrate to a platform that can do more with the same resources. IP is the most enabling part of the puzzle.

Yet Jakobsen has even bigger ideas for IP across the product line. The IPbased Viz Engine requires only a network connection and IP input/output. He envisions a day when IP triggers are used to control a media server to play out a rundown of stories, complete with complex transitions, without the need or a traditional production switcher. VizRT’s timeline editor application is used to place desired graphics and video clips on a timeline. Users then drag the video and graphics elements that are built as MOS objects over to the playlist in Viz Trio. This process saves significant time and manpower while getting the story to

air faster. And using this strategy often times results in less on-air technical errors. The IP-based Viz Engine can also work in a hybrid mode, SDI in and IP stream out, providing simultaneous output to air as well as to online and mobile environments. VizRT’s IP strategy also allows reporters to edit clips on-site and transfer them back to the station using any IP-enabled transmission device The IP-based Viz Engine handles streaming media and audio and video clips while compositing the graphics in real-time into an IP stream. The IP-based Viz Engine and the Viz Media Engine media asset management (MAM) solution represents a complete, end-to-end solution that allows broadcasters to manage all of their content — from ingest to distribution. This workflow enables them to increase speed and volume, and adapt content for delivery to multiple platforms. Journalists and producers of live newscasts can search for and access VizRT graphic templates and media content from Viz Content Pilot that open up within a newsroom computer system. Graphics templates are created using the Viz Artist 3D design software and transferred as files across an IP network. Journalists access the Viz Content Pilot template interface from within the newsroom computer system, and then use Viz Media Engine to retrieve the content they want from a VizRT or third-party media asset management system. It will also be possible to use the systems to produce any number of diﬀerent graphics (based on any parameter – geography, time of day, weather, etc.) – which again opens up the door for regionalised sponsorships/commercials allowing for a easily accessible new revenue stream for customers. Visit www.vizrt.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

MAKING ITS NAB DEBUT in 2013 was the all-new ChyronIP, a real-time HD/SD 2D and 3D character and graphics generator specifically designed for the NewTek TriCaster. ChyronIP is a compact, lightweight system that provides producers with up to two HD or SD full-motion channels of Chyron graphics that stream directly into the TriCaster over a network connection. Ideal for sports, news, entertainment, and any other live production, ChyronIP allows TriCaster users to leverage the Lyric PRO graphics application to create live, full-motion Chyron broadcast graphics, 3D animations, and transitions. At this year’s show, Chyron also introduced the next generation of its Axis World Graphics cloudbased graphics creation solution. Axis has been enhanced to provide broadcasters with the latest technology, and Chyron highlighted its newest features including track, order, maps, and news. ENGAGE is Chyron’s second screen and social TV gateway. ENGAGE gives broadcasters the ability to add viewer interaction such as votes, polls, and tweet battles into their live news and sports programming, along with rich call-to-action

Backpacking with LiveU

graphics and infographics. ENGAGE integrates with popular second screen and social data partners, eliminating the need for custom integration while maintaining routine production workflows. SHOUT is a stand-alone software application that enables broadcasters to bring social media commentary into their live broadcasts. SHOUT gives one or more users the ability to monitor, select, adjust, and route social media conversations to broadcast graphics systems either for on-air playback or for storage as data files for later use. Users can add, remove, and authenticate multiple social media accounts from sources like Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Mass Relevance. Also being showcased was the newly enhanced ChannelBox², a channel branding system that features 2D/3D design with a complete data acquisition toolset for all branding applications. New Channel Box² software (v.4.7) includes a point-and-click data tool that allows users to acquire data from many sources quickly and easily. Visit www.chyron.com

Dejero Showing LIVE+ AT THE 2013 NAB SHOW, Dejero has demonstrated its latest innovations in bonded cellular technology that utilise mobile wireless networks to transmit highquality video for electronic newsgathering (ENG). The Dejero LIVE+ Platform includes the LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter, a portable and rugged bonded cellular transmitter for

LIVEU HAS SHOWN its complete range of bonded 3G/4G uplink solutions for broadcast and online media at NAB 2013. Based on the fourth-generation of LiveU’s disruptive technology, the portfolio includes a wide choice of devices to meet diﬀerent needs. The professional-grade LU70 backpack, with its proprietary internal and external antenna arrays for extra-strong resiliency and sub-second latency, and the handheld, lightweight LU40 device, with its internal antenna and new live newsgathering features, were both shown at NAB.

a wide variety of ENG applications; the LIVE+ NewsBook software bringing cellular transmission capabilities to laptop or personal computers; and the LIVE+ Mobile App for iPhone and iPad. At the 2013 NAB Show, Dejero highlighted these core products together with new solutions. Dejero introduced the LIVE+ VSET, a 1U vehicle-mount version of the company’s Dejero LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter. Designed for use with satellite and microwave trucks, the adaptive bit-rate encoder on Dejero’s

The LU-Smart mobile app (iPhone/iPad) solutions, bringing bonded transmission to mobile phones and tablets, and the LU-Lite laptop solution, enabling fast and reliable file transfer and live video via the laptop, were also shown.

LIVE+ VSET reduces the latency and

LiveU and Panasonic also showcased their fully integrated live camera solution, the LiveUenabled Panasonic AG-HPX600 camcorder, on their respective booths.

both traditional and online broadcasters to

Visit www.liveu.tv

improves the reliability of satellite video feeds. Dejero also introduced an Android version of its LIVE+ Mobile App, which enables transmit high-quality HD or SD live video from select Android phones and tablets. Visit www.dejero.com

Autoscript E.P.I.C. Builds Momentum AUTOSCRIPT HAS BROUGHT a range of its prompter displays and accessories to NAB 2013, including the E.P.I.C. (Enhanced Prompting Information Centre) all-in-one prompter display and on-air talent monitor. The first production batch of E.P.I.C. units has already sold out and is being used in countries including the US, Germany, Italy and Austria. Robin Brown, Product Manager, Autoscript, said, “E.P.I.C. addresses many major concerns for today’s broadcasters – it simplifies studio equipment, reduces power consumption and enables easier location prompting.” Autoscript also brought a range of LED TFT prompting solutions to NAB, along with the VoicePlus voice activated prompting software, and a variety of innovative accessories designed to solve real-world challenges. Visit www.autoscript.tv

Ross Going All Out at NAB ROSS HAS DEMONSTRATED full studio systems tuned for specific applications at NAB 2013. Demonstration stations for Sports, News, Events, and Worship productions will allow clients to book a demo that relates to the production type of their choosing. Ross was showing a live demonstration of a fully integrated virtual studio production and augmented reality system. VS & AR partner Unreel provides tracking integration and control via Unreel UX – tying together Ross’ graphics, switchers, robotics and automation technology. The Vision Series production switchers showed the latest enhancements to Ross’ flagship large production switchers with version 16 software continuing to add even more production and eﬀects capabilities. The rapidly expanding Carbonite family was also shown at NAB, including the latest control panels the C2 (compact) and C2X (extended) as well as the new MultiMedia and Plus video processing engines. Carbonite ViewControl – available free – is a new patent pending touch screen control technology that integrates Carbonite, XPression Graphics Systems and BlackStorm Playout Servers into a simple and intuitive live user interface. OverDrive, Inception Social Media Management, XPression, openGear, and BlackStorm all had updated versions on show at NAB. Finally, Ross launched the compressed domain transport stream Nielsen NWE-TS watermarks encoder, oﬀering clients that use compressed domain Nielsen watermarks an upgrade path to next generation technology. Visit www.rossvideo.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

Chyron Graphics Streaming Over IP

POST PRODUCTION

Sponsored by

Marquis Launches Enterprise Version of X2Pro MARQUIS BROADCAST, a specialist in content workflows and media integration software, has launched an enterprise version of X2Pro, its conversion application for delivering Final Cut Pro X projects to Avid Pro Tools for audio finishing. “X2Pro uses Marquis’ Media Highway, the core technology employed by Marquis’ media integration products to integrate Final Cut Pro X into professional audio workflows, delivering seamless integration between the two applications,” explains Chris Steele, product manager, Marquis Broadcast. “In this way, X2Pro provides a smooth workflow between Final Cut Pro X and Avid Pro Tools, allowing users to take full advantage of the functionality of these world-class products. The latest version of X2Pro Professional with its ability to work with referenced media, greatly increases the eﬃciency of moving from Final Cut Pro X to Pro Tools and we are now excited to oﬀer such advantages to multiple users on an enterprise-wide scale.” X2Pro works by converting the exported Final Cut Pro X XML into an AAF file, which Avid Pro Tools can open as a session. Using the enhanced metadata in XML 1.2 from Final Cut Pro X, X2Pro provides a high fidelity conversion to a Pro Tools session, with planned support for audio gain and key frames. Taking advantage of the metadata-based organising features in Final Cut Pro X, X2Pro allows detail control over the conversion of audio Roles in Final Cut Pro X to Pro Tools tracks, allowing sound designers and mixers to start working immediately. Visit www.marquisbroadcast.com

Thinkbox Releases Krakatoa MY For Autodesk Maya THINKBOX SOFTWARE HAS ANNOUNCED the release of Krakatoa MY, the high-volume particle renderer for the Autodesk Maya 3D software running on Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Krakatoa is Thinkbox Software’s volumetric particle renderer previously available for the Autodesk 3ds Max software. Krakatoa is CPU-based, highly optimised, multi-threaded, and can be used on most hardware running Windows or Linux operating systems including laptops and render nodes without dedicated high-end graphics accelerators. Krakatoa MY connects Autodesk Maya with the Krakatoa renderer and provides a number of features designed to accelerate artists’ workflow when manipulating millions of particles. Krakatoa MY shares the same rendering core with Krakatoa SR (Stand-alone Renderer) and Krakatoa MX (3ds Max) and will produce identical results given the same input data and settings. “Versatility and performance have made Krakatoa a favourite tool among studios of all sizes for years. With the release of Krakatoa MY, we are thrilled to bring Maya users access to an eﬃcient pipeline for particle eﬀects creation, something they have been requesting for some time. We love feedback from our clients and are more than happy to go above and beyond to make whatever they want a reality, so it’s exciting to see Krakatoa MY come to fruition,” said Chris Bond, founder, Thinkbox Software. Krakatoa MY requires its own dedicated workstation license for interactive use inside of Autodesk Maya, but is compatible with the network rendering licenses used by the other Krakatoa implementations (Krakatoa SR and Krakatoa MX). Visit www.thinkboxsoftware.com

FSI Adopts LightSpace CMS UK BASED COLOUR management specialist, Light Illusion, has announced that display manufacturer Flanders Scientific Inc (FSI) has adopted LightSpace CMS as it calibration system of choice for its range of displays that utilise their 10-bit panel and FSI’s advanced Colour Fidelity Engine (CFE Board). Bram Desmet, General Manager of Flanders Scientific, says, “Within our manufacturing and service facilities FSI has also adopted LightSpace CMS for factory calibration of 3D LUTs and with this combination of hardware and software we have been able to take the accuracy of our displays to a new level.”

The ability of LightSpace CMS to integrate with a wide range of popular probes enables users to choose their own calibration workflows, and level of calibration investment. To help facilitate easy switching between calibration, FSI added three USER colour space positions to the monitor’s Colour Space Selection toggle. This allows users to import custom LUTs into these 3 user positions without having to override existing colour space selections. Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion, said, “In discussion with FSI we suggested how LightSpace CMS could assist with the calibration accuracy of their displays, and it has been extremely satisfying to see the results bear this out. The added ability for users to self-calibrate as needed extends greatly the appeal of FSI display over alternatives, where calibration is inferior, or requires a return to the factory.” Visit www.lightillusion.com

Boris FX Rolls Out Boris Continuum Units BORIS FX, A DEVELOPER of integrated VFX and workflow technology for video and film, has announced that each category of Boris Continuum Complete filters is now available as a separate Boris Continuum Unit, allowing artists to choose toolsets that are geared towards their specific needs. Boris Continuum Complete delivers over 200 comprehensive filters across 16 categories of effects include 3D particles, image restoration tools such as Noise Reduction and Flicker Fixer, lens flares and lights, chroma keys and mattes, colour correction tools, blurs, glows, and film effects. Each of these 16 categories of filters is now available as a Boris Continuum Unit that may be purchased separately for Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, and Sony Vegas Pro. Visit www.borisfx.com

POST PRODUCTION

The LM-2461W, LM-2460W, and CM-170 displays now feature custom calibration 3D LUT import capabilities that can import calibration LUTs created in FSI’s 64x64x64 3D LUT format. Specifically, customers using the latest version of Light Illusion’s LightSpace CMS calibration and LUT management application can begin exporting 3D LUTs in this format right away for import and use on their monitors. This adds a new level of flexibility for FSI customers, allowing for custom user calibration, user created colour spaces, and custom LUT manipulation.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD Harmonic Launches Cloud-Based Video Transcoding HARMONIC HAS LAUNCHED a cloudbased transcoding service for professional applications available on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. ProMedia Carbon MP, powered by the Harmonic Rhozet technology used in the ProMedia Carbon transcoding engine, enables content creators, service providers, and media professionals to convert broadcast-quality video content to virtually any standard media format, making it a suitable transcoding solution for a wide range of applications. ProMedia Carbon MP allows users to transcode file-based video content in the cloud on an hourly basis. Users can also access the application’s transcoding engine via a familiar XML API to deploy highly scalable, cloud-based transcoding

workflows. In either scenario, the platform’s user interface and flexible API allows users to perform a host of critical video operations, such as SD/HD and PAL/NTSC conversions, logo insertion, colour correction, and multiformat closed-captioning processing. In addition to saving users the expense of purchasing site transcoding licenses, ProMedia Carbon MP supports a broad array of acquisition, nonlinear editing, broadcast, web, and mobile formats including MXF, XDCAM HD, QuickTime, CableLabs, and MP4. The user interface ensures complete control over the transcoding process and simplifies the ability to convert files into any number of target formats. Visit www.harmonicinc.com

MAM, Publishing in the Cloud CAMBRIDGE IMAGING SYSTEMS has launched ImagenCloud, a cloud-based version of its Imagen2 asset management and publishing software. Imagen2 can be used for ingesting, archiving and distributing large quantities of video, stills, audio and documents in a themed web interface. ImagenCloud oﬀers all the features of Imagen2 but without the need for hardware expenditure and hosting expertise. It features powerful ingest workflows and full asset management, as well as geo redundant storage and back up service. Tom Blake, managing director, Cambridge Imaging Systems, said, “There are many small and medium size archives which do not have the internal resources nor the technical expertise to set up the necessary IT infrastructure needed to manage and publish their content online. ImagenCloud removes these technical and cost barriers.” Visit www.cambridgeimaging.co.uk

Cloud-based Ad Insertion Bypasses Client-Side Snags AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES has announced the availability of Ad Integration Services, the newest oﬀering in Akamai’s cloud-based Sola Vision suite of solutions. Ad Integration Services is designed to simplify the insertion of individually-targeted advertising video content into video streams without the potential quality degradation inherent in a client-based approach. Ad Integration Services’ in-network ad insertion approach is architected for high scalability to meet the demands of the largest online audiences.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD

Sola Vision’s Ad Integration Services dynamically inserts targeted ads from multiple ad decisioning/

ad network platforms into linear and on-demand video streams for delivery to any Internetconnected device. Ad Integration Services leverages mDialog’s Smart Stream Platform technology and open standards-based architecture to allow online content providers to maintain existing video infrastructures and workflows. By shifting the complexities of online video advertising insertion from the player to the cloud, Ad Integration Services can simplify or remove many of the functions and third-party integrations that are required with a client-based ad insertion approach. This approach is designed to eliminate the risk of quality problems due

to last-mile bandwidth contention between ad and video content during the critical transition from content to ad playback. The player/client for this new solution uses a lightweight SDK to ensure accurate Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) compliant measurement beaconing. This SDK also supports interactive video ads and ad-skipping prevention in order to deliver a TVquality viewing experience across devices. Sola Vision Ad Integration Services are compatible with a range of leading encoders, including Cisco Media Processor, Elemental Live, and Envivio C4. Visit www.akamai.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD

Advanced Content Storage Management in the Cloud Oﬀers Path to New Revenue by Rino Petricola, Front Porch Digital

Media organisations have a lot of revenue potential locked away in their vast video archives. The trick to unlocking that potential is to find a way to digitise and manage those considerable assets eﬃciently and tap into them easily. Organisations that can do that can build new revenue streams that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

value of this rich source of revenue, most media operations encounter obstacles related to migrating, managing, and distributing the content in a way that makes it easily accessible from any screen, anytime. Doing so requires a sophisticated content storage management (CSM) system — built for video — that can deliver the full productivity benefits a media business needs. On top of that, organisations also need solutions that are agile enough to cope with the consequences of rapid change and sudden fluctuations in demand for capacity. The ideal solution is a system that delivers powerful capabilities in a way that is also very flexible and has substantial on-demand capability, but such an in-house system is one that many content owners cannot afford. The cloud is that ideal solution. It offers the ability to manage assets on a global scale while massively improving efficiency and continuously evolving to adapt to an everchanging business environment. Beyond archiving and management, the cloud has enormous potential for streamlining media operations and making everyone – especially multisite organisations – more collaborative. In the end, those benefits can translate to greater revenue.

CSM IS BUILT FOR BIG DATA CSM systems are designed to serve demanding media-centric operations with terabytes of video to manage. They can automatically and rapidly replicate valuable file-based assets, creating duplicate copies on multiple (and portable) data-tape media without any user intervention while sharing the same management and storage infrastructure. Copies can remain within the system for online restoration, or be taken oﬄine and stored outside for more geographically diverse protection. In addition to basic storage functionality, CSM solutions have evolved to provide various media-centric features — such as distributed transcoding, metadata mining, file-based subjective quality analysis, and timecodebased partial restore — all operating in a file-based domain. They also provide universal accessibility to these features via content

lifecycle and policy engines, workflow tools, and open APIs for direct third-party control, integration, and collaboration.

WHY CLOUD-BASED CSM? It is clear that CSM can help media organisations overcome the challenges of managing ever larger, ever more complex video files, thus unlocking their revenue-generating power. But that is assuming the organisation has made the investment in an in-house CSM system. And even if it has, often these on-premises systems do not have suﬃcient backup and protection mechanisms to ensure valuable digital assets are recoverable now and into the future. Cloud-based CSM, on the other hand, takes advantage of the cloud’s unlimited storage space and computing power to take CSM into the stratosphere.

Cloud CSM has some distinct advantages: COST SAVINGS Most existing cloud-service providers are built for the relatively small data requirements of IT, and therefore can’t handle video data. Applying traditional IT cloud storage services to the media space sends per-use and storage subscription costs skyrocketing — making them much too expensive for most media operations looking to use the cloud even for simple storage, let alone CSM. Part of the reason for this staggering cost is the sole reliance on expensive spinning-disk storage in these IT-centric cloud service facilities. But media-centric cloud services rely on data tape, which is still one of the most cost-eﬀective, reliable, and robust storage technologies available. Simply put, data tape storage makes more sense for organisations with big data.

A BETTER VIEW OF THE FILE SYSTEM Another advantage to cloud CSM is the remote content viewing. Unlike the simple view users get from IT-centric cloud service providers, cloud CSM solutions have a media asset management layer to search, access, control, view, and interact with media content.

AXF SUPPORT The ability to store, recall, replicate, repurpose, and transform complex media objects is the fundamental basis of advanced CSM solutions. The Archive eXchange Format (AXF) serves as a universal container that encapsulates any number of related files (of any type and size) into a fully self-describing and protected object package, helping to ensure resilient and ubiquitous access to valuable assets. As CSM enters the cloud, AXF becomes much more important because transfer authentication, metadata, per-file and per-structure checksums, in-built object resiliency characteristics, access level control, and storage technology independence are inherent in its design. Also, using stand-alone AXF access utilities that are currently available, it allows for universal accessibility to these media assets regardless of the system being used.

CSM AS A SERVICE CSM as a Service (CSMaaS) is emerging as a cost-competitive option to on-premises solutions, whose adoption has been slow due to storage capacities, network bandwidth, and the lack of compelling and cost-effective offerings. Thanks to CSMaaS, along with ever more affordable and more readily available connectivity, previous barriers to adoption are disappearing.

CSMAAS FROM FRONT PORCH DIGITAL Companies such as Front Porch Digital are leading the industry charge in the emerging area of CSMaaS, combining mature IT-centric cloud-service technologies with more than a decade of CSM experience gained at some of the world’s largest and most important media archives. Front Porch Digital’s LYNX cloud-based CSM system eﬀectively takes the world’s best CSM system – DIVArchive – and applies it to the cloud, making the most comprehensive CSM toolset available to any customer in a way that fits almost any budget, with payment on a peruse basis. LYNX provides all the features of a physical CSM system without the infrastructure investment and overhead costs — good news for organisations that are sitting on decades’ worth of content that could be made available commercially.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD

IT IS A JOB THAT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE. When it comes to realising the full

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD

Adobe Takes Editing into the Cloud and Anywhere C+T Talks to Simon Williams, Director of Strategic Relations for Adobe’s Video Team about the Creative Cloud and editing ‘Anywhere’. playback engine and then we’ve made a server version of it. The architecture of it has two parts, it has a collaboration hub and the job of the collaboration hub is to look at the number of users on the network, the quality of the network, what type of editing they’re doing, and then it has the ability to spread the workload across these streaming engines which are essentially rendered notes and this is standard commodity IT, so it’s your Dell, your HP, Hitachi, whatever you might want to use.

C+T Adobe has, of late, been pushing cloudbased solutions. Is there a confidence barrier that you have to get through for people to have trust in something that isn’t installed on a local device? SW Adobe as a business introduced the creative cloud last year, and that is a way to consume our software, so we are starting to move away from the perpetual model to a subscription model and that freed us up to do a few things. So, rather than trying to squeeze all the new features in to one day of the year when the new version came out, we now have a mechanism where we can now on a regular basis bring functionality to our users and in the video space that’s critical became the format is changing all the time, there’s new camera codecs coming out all the time, now we have a native editor so we need to be able to react to that more quickly. It also means that people can be more flexible in the way they consume the software. So if you are a broadcaster that scales up and down in terms of users for key events. Rather than having to buy a licence for that user that may only be there for three weeks, you can now rent that software for that period of time so it gives you a lot more flexibility. In addition to that in the video space, we’ve looked at how we can use the cloud paradigm and apply it to production workflows. So one of the things that we did in CS6, the current version was introduce a package called Adobe storeroom. Now Adobe Storeroom is a cloud based production scheduling and scriptwriting application, so it means that people can work on scripts together or production and in a collaborative way. That collaboration is something that we’re trying to bake in to everything we do.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD

C+T How have people have reacted to that?

SW I think a couple of years ago people were very reticent to put any of their data in somebody else’s environment and I just think that whole world has matured. So, for example, Storeroom has been adopted by ITV the largest commercial broadcaster in the UK and they use it for Emmerdale and Coronation Street which are the two biggest dramas they produce, so they are really the golden eggs of the organisation and, as you can imagine, it’s a daily drama with high tolerance but also the scripts are quite secretive.

These dynamically scale so you just add more render nodes as you need them. And then what happens is you ingest your assets in to your RAM or your storage, just edit and when you press play or ask for a clip, we stream the video to the end client. C+T So, what are you doing going forward? SW We have launched a product at NAB called Adobe Anywhere. Now Anywhere is a private cloud solution that allows you to work with video in a distributed environment, so what that basically means is you take the one time engine of the video products and we’ll make a server version of it. So, this is something that sits within the customers data centre, but instead of having to have fibre attached storage to the desktop or having to create proxies to move around, or people moving around the organisation with jump drives, we will now allow them to have central ingested assets, always one source of the truth so just one copy of the file, it’s always the high res, but then eﬀectively stream it across commodity infrastructure to the desktop so that’s Wi-Fi, Ethernet whatever that may be. And, I think for broadcasters having that – the flexibility of a cloud model but also something they can manage themselves in their server room is a good mix. Over time the plan is to take that proposition to a full cloud delivery and I think it remains to be seen where the adoption is. My instinct is smaller post houses, the individual production companies probably will see that as a real benefit because they can get a lot more horse power without the investment themselves. I think the big broadcasters will probably prefer the more private cloud environment but that remains to be seen. C+T So, how does it work? SW Essentially, the way Anywhere works is we’ve taken the Run time engine, the

Now, the end client is the full version of Premier or After Effects, but because now all the work has been done by the server, the end devices can be very light. It does give you a lot more flexibility, it also means you can sweat your assets much longer. It also means that things like iPads and iOS devices become a delivery platform as well, for things like approve and review. But, probably the biggest shift is the ability to collaborate in real time. C+T OK, presumably you’ve got BETA testers for this? SW We’re testing with two large broadcasters to see how it performs in a broadcast environment. One of them is doing a news workflow. The other is doing more of a long form drama and magazine type format. We’re also testing with a University to see how it works with a distributed high number of users. We’re doing one with a sports federation to see how – and this particular sports organisation takes a lot of sports equipment to a lot of different events and the idea now is that instead of taking a whole production crew down to the event, they just take the camera crew, the acquisition crew, some technicians and they ingest at the sporting event but all the editorial team stay back in head office and edit the material remotely. And then we’re also testing with a big post house in Holland and a large advertising agency. So we’re trying it out in lots of different user cases ready to make sure – we’re seeing how it performs in different stresses and strains. Visit www.adobe.com

AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

NHK Injects Emotion Into Loudness Management EMOTION SYSTEMS LIMITED is a UK company established to build signal-processing solutions for file-based workflows based on the powerful Emotion Systems platform. Its guiding principle is to ensure compliance whilst maintaining content integrity with zero damage to files and wrappers. The first software application built on this platform is eFF, which is an intelligent analysis, reporting and correction tool for audio loudness. It analyses the loudness of content and, if necessary, makes alterations to ensure compliance to the appropriate standards and adjustable local parameters. In October 2012 Emotion Systems, in conjunction with Japanese dealer Kondo Broadcast, started work with NHK, the national broadcaster of Japan. NHK had a specific requirement to process a large number of files in their archive stored in the Panasonic P2 format. P2 has a file structure which contains MXF Op Atom files. This allows a single wrapper to contain a number of video and audio files, with a size limit on any one file of 4GB. To provide accurate loudness correction and compliance for a long form programme, therefore, the software had to be capable of opening all the files within a wrapper and work with them, integrating the result across all files. Emotion had already developed the ability to integrate across multiple files in eFF, to meet a rather diﬀerent requirement. Audio postproduction houses frequently deliver finished surround sound tracks as six mono .wav files, and again the only way to certify loudness compliance was to open them all, measure them as a group, with appropriate weighting and adjust them all if required. It was therefore possible to extend this technique to address the P2 file structure; Emotion Systems and Kondo Broadcast demonstrated this in December 2012. Satisfied that the Emotion Systems technology accurately managed and corrected the files, NHK then moved on to workflow issues. The first issue was one of speed. This requirement was part of a larger project to archive tens of thousands of hours of P2 content, and NHK was concerned that the loudness processing should not have an impact on the rest of the workflow. eFF is designed to analyse and correct many times faster than real time with the result that eFF, on this occasion, was able to work at 13 times real-time. A second issue was that NHK had developed some technology of their own for describing and analysing their P2 files, which meant that loudness

Screenshot of eFF with local language support

profiles and content information of each P2 file was available as .xml files. NHK wanted the audio to be corrected based on this information and measurements. A means of ingesting the .xml information rather than analysing the content afresh was thus implemented by Emotion Systems. Third, when eFF encounters an out of specification audio file it corrects it and replicates the file, to provide a non-destructive solution. NHK were suﬃciently confident in the accuracy and reliability of the Emotion Systems solution that it was content to replace the original audio in the original file. This contributed significantly to the speed of the operation, as there is no need to rewrite the audio and video into a new location. Finally, and not unreasonably, NHK wanted the user interface to be in Japanese. Fortunately, the Emotion System platform has been designed so that this was possible and indeed, support for other language requirements can also be undertaken. Using their customised and integrated version of eFF, NHK, a world-leading broadcaster with considerable engineering expertise, are now able to ensure that their large archive is loudness compliant to their required standards. Visit www.emotion-systems.com

Are loud commercials turning off your viewers? Award-winning StreamScope® MPEG analyzers and transport stream monitors from Triveni Digital help broadcasters and cable operators meet the challenge of loudness normalisation. With StreamScope, you can monitor real-time and spot-checked LKFS levels, view audio buffer graphs, and set loudness alerts. Visit us at Stand SU5602 at the 2013 NAB Show.

StreamScope is available at

+1-609-716-3535 www.TriveniDigital.com info@TriveniDigital.com

AUDIO

Loud commercials can be more than annoying. They can reduce your viewership and ad revenues.

AUDIO

Managing Audio Loudness By Manik Gupta, Product Architect, Interra Systems

Loud commercials and loudness war is a much discussed topic since the U.S. mandated the CALM Act. Today new laws require loudness volume to be consistent across commercials and programs. A lot is being talked about how to manage audio loudness. TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES of loudness measurement such as PPM (Peak Program Meters) and VU (Voltage Unit) meters are often ineffective for digital broadcast. With DTV systems, it was assumed that loudness issues would be a thing of past. But with the availability of wider dynamic range, issues with loudness have only increased. Today, consumers complain more about loudness as compared to the analogue days. VU meters and PPM are commonly used, but often misused as devices for audio loudness measurements. VU and PPM were designed to measure the audio levels rather than the perceived audio loudness. These meters cannot be completely trusted for loudness measurement. Sound engineers in virtual studio environments quickly learn ways to work around these meters and achieve maximum loudness out of a recording by destroying the dynamic range of the content and adding undesired distortion. In 2006, ITU proposed an algorithm, which could objectively measure audio loudness. The ITU-BS 1770 for measuring program loudness talks of some of the following algorithms: K Frequency Weighting that is composed of a first stage shelving filter simulating the head diffraction effects and a second stage 50 Hz highpass filter Mean Square calculation for each channel Channel weighted summation followed by gating

“Loudness complaints have prompted

organisation/governments/broadcasters to introduce regulations for loudness control.

”

AUDIO

A key feature of ITU-BS 1770 algorithm is its ability to measure loudness for multi-channel audio. All channels are processed in a similar way before channel specific scaling is done. Updated ITU recommendation (BS. 1770-2) includes gating too. Gating ensures that long periods of silences or low levels do not influence the overall program loudness. Measured loudness is reported in LKFS units. ITU also proposes a method to measure True Peak Level. True peak measurement is ideally defined as a measure of maximum absolute sample value of an audio signal in a continuous time domain. Digital audio signals can be easily over-sampled by a factor of 4 for estimating the true peak.

59 proposes use of ITU BS.1770 for loudness measurement. Additionally, it recommends the following restriction/thresholds on diﬀerent loudness parameters. Measured loudness for programs must be equal to -24LKFS . The deviation of +/- 1LKFS would be allowed since exact normalisation to target loudness is not always possible Max true peak levels must not exceed (-2dBFS) Dialnorm metadata field in Dolby streams should be set to the actual loudness of the program. This would facilitate in easier loudness control. For long programs, loudness measurement should be based on the basis of anchor element (dialogue). In cases where anchor element is not present or cannot be separated easily such as in music, overall loudness can be measured. With availability of objective loudness measurement techniques, it is now also feasible to eﬀectively control loudness. Hence, there is a need for a change in the leveling paradigm from peak normalisation to loudness normalisation. Loudness control can be primarily achieved in two ways. Metadata approach suits formats such as Dolby Digital’s AC-3. AC-3 has the provision for carrying metadata such as dialnorm, dynamic range control words, etc. AC-3 Streams are expected to always carry a valid dialnorm value that matches with the program loudness. Value of dialnorm can vary from 1 to 31 and has to be set properly by broadcasters during transmission. Audio streams that do not comply with the above requirement need correction. Software based correction tool can be deployed for such cases. The correction process for metadata is much simpler as decode and re-encode is not required. Hence, correction tools can correct the content at the metadata level. Dialnorm values can be re-authored and set to match that of the content Other techniques require uncompressed audio signals to be processed to achieve target loudness. The metadata based strategy is more suitable for content after distribution stages where receivers can control the loudness on the basis of viewer’s settings. In production stages and for formats such as PCM, metadata information may not be available. Hence, a technique is needed which can process the uncompressed audio samples. Normalisation algorithms can be devised which are able to control all three aspects of loudness: Program Loudness, Dynamic Range, and True Peak Level.

Loudness complaints have prompted organisation/governments/ broadcasters to introduce regulations for loudness control. Organisations such as ATSC, EBU, ARIB have developed their loudness specifications based on above measurement technique. The U.S. has passed the legislation H.R. 1084 - also known as the CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act. CALM Act requires all broadcasters to broadcast advertisements at a loudness level no more than that of the accompanying program. Various broadcasters in Europe are voluntarily adopting EBU R128.

Due to flexibility of transforming digital media content, loudness violations can be introduced at different stages of the workflow. Early detection of loudness issues closer to the content source prevents propagation of loudness violations and ensures efficient workflows. Automated file-based QC systems, such as Interra’s Baton, are currently used at different stages of a workflow for verification of media content. Baton verification includes checking the content for organisational requirements and for audio and video quality. These loudness checks can be used at content exchange points between different organisations (broadcasters, post production, content providers), working together in the content supply chain, to maintain consistent loudness. Loudness checks coupled with loudness control, offered by file-based QC systems such as Baton, deliver multiple benefits to broadcasters in terms of optimisation and faster content delivery to the market.

In Australia and New Zealand, compliance to OP-59 is being adopted. OP-

Visit www.interrasystems.com

AUDIO

Tuning in to the Loudness Debate By Keith Ford

WHILE OTHER COUNTRIES in the region investigate which way they will fall on the issue, taking up an existing implementation, creating their own, or leaving things as they are, content producers need to also be paying attention. Producing content solely for the local market is no longer a reality. Due to this, global awareness of new loudness recommendations and regulations is paramount. The string that ties all of the current standards for loudness together is that they are based upon the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recommendation BS.1770. The Free TV Australia Engineering Committee has developed OP-59 (Operational Practice for measurement & management of loudness in soundtracks for television broadcasting) to act as a guide for broadcasters and content producers to control loudness eﬀectively.

“So they have this bizarre system where they have all of these really sophisticated loudness control measures to the European pipe, but it’s deliberately switched oﬀ for the domestic pipe.” The importation of foreign content, of which US content makes up a large amount, also causes issues, albeit not necessarily legal ones. All content coming from the US is likely to be CALM compliant, and European content is likely to be R128 compliant. TVCs (television commercials) that are locally produced will often be played next to imported material. If both are out, no one will notice. But if the program is compliant with the CALM Act or R128 and the TVC is not, the change will be noticeable and prompt viewer complaints. Something that broadcasters certainly don’t want. The fundamental problem with loudness is that it is a human perception, making it diﬃcult to quantify. The ITU went about this by holding a number of listening tests around the world. Consisting of 48 samples of typical TV content that were compared to a piece of reference content, viewers would adjust each piece of content until they were of a comparable loudness to the reference piece. The amount of adjustment needed was logged and results from around the world were collated. Manufacturers were then invited to test their measurement devices against the human results in Montreal, Canada.

“Viewers and listeners complained about loudness jumps and all of the loudness regulations and recommendations that they’ve brought in so far have been a direct result of viewer complaints,” said Adam Birch, Global Product Marketing Manager for Harris Broadcast.

“It’s fair to say they were all terrible and some of them were really complex devices with lots of DSP processing in them and they would have been very expensive things to manufacture,” explained Glenn Carrick, Chair of the Free TV Australia Audio Group.

“That counts for the Americans, it counts for the Italians, it was pre-empted and cut oﬀ by the South Africans, it counts for the English, and it counts for the French. People phone up and complain. So we can talk about all these things, but you need to consider the fact that this is being led from a consumer level.”

“However, one of the guys at the time came up with a very, very simple little filter circuit and an RMS reading meter and we tested those. The results using that against human results were the best performing. By quite a fair margin, in fact. So that simple circuit and simple RMS meter became ITU BS.1770.”

Looking after viewers and reducing complaints is not the only reason to put in place a system for loudness compliance. Content is frequently being delivered to, or received from, other markets. Along with OP-59 and ARIB TR-B32, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has put in place EBU R128, and the US has the CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act based on ATSC A/85, which also handed a number of powers to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It is a deal easier to comply with other regions requirements if you are already doing things in a similar fashion.

These tests were conducted in mono, but have since been expanded to include stereo and surround sound. The most significant addition to the standard came in ITU BS.1770-2, with the introduction of a ‘floating gate’.

“If you’re a customer and you’re providing material internationally, so again most of Europe, US, Canada, you may be required to provide a certified document stamped to say the content provided has been loudness certified to their requirements. You also may be required to prove it. Someone might say I had a problem with one of my channels that was one of your bits of content I need you to go oﬀ and prove that that loudness level was correct,” added Birch. An example of where this has become commonplace is India. “India does not have loudness, nor do they want any kind of loudness control,” explained Birch. “However, India has a problem because they teleport channels across, in their case mainly IP, into Europe, so now as a result of these guys they have to make sure that when their Bollywood music and movie channels go in to be consumed by anyone in Europe, it has to be loudness controlled.

“The floating gate, which is 10db or 10 units below the instantaneous measurement, the idea of that was that the meter would ignore anything that fell 10db below the instantaneous amount and not include it in its integrated time or its integrated measurement,” said Carrick. “In Australia we originally had some reservations about this, so the very early publications of OP-59 did not have the gate in it, but the new one does. And that brings us into line a bit more with the Europeans who have had the gate in for a while as standard.” There is also a new scale for loudness measurement: LKFS (LUFS in Europe). This stands for Loudness, K-weighted, relative to Full Scale, with K-weighted referring to the algorithms filter. Measurements will be presented in the form of a number followed by LKFS, much like in dBFS, and each step on the scale is the equivalent of 1dB. “If you have a scale in LKFS it will read relative to zero dBFS or full-scale digital, so it will always be a minus number. So LKFS will always give you a minus number, whereas the Europeans who are very keen on having LU, Loudness Units, wanted the target level to be zero. So zero LU is in fact their reference level, whereas our reference level is in the minus level, but they are very similar,” explained Carrick.

AUDIO

Loudness, specifically changes in loudness between segments, ads, and promos, is an issue that has been garnering massive amounts of attention throughout the world. The Asia-Pacific region is no diﬀerent, with both Japan and Australia having already put recommendations in place with ARIB TR-B32 and OP-59 respectively.

AUDIO

Triveni Digital Shows StreamScope AT NAB 2013, Triveni Digital has shown how to eﬀectively monitor and analyse DTV transport streams, as well as comply with worldwide audio loudness standards and legislation, using the StreamScope real-time DTV transport stream monitors and analysers with advanced audio loudness monitoring capabilities. Triveni Digital demonstrated the StreamScope MT-40 and RM-40 DTV transport stream analysis and monitoring solutions, featuring advanced audio loudness monitoring capabilities. StreamScope MT-40 provides end-to-end MPEG-2/MPEG-4 transport stream analysis and monitoring for DTV services carried by broadcast, cable, satellite, IPTV, or mobile networks. Utilising the powerful MPEG analysers, users can monitor multiple ATSC M/H transport streams and ensure transport streams meet current industry standards.

The StreamScope RM-40 helps operators maintain a high video QoS by providing comprehensive, configurable, and cost-eﬀective DTV transport stream monitoring for broadcast, cable, telco, satellite, and IPTV networks at local and remote sites. A web-based, colour-coded user interface displays drill-down dashboards, video and audio thumbnails, dynamic charts and graphs, and detailed current and historical reports. Both StreamScope units feature advanced loudness monitoring functionalities that allow users to monitor and analyse audio loudness according to the most recent ITU-R Recommendation BS.1770-3. This dramatically simplifies broadcasters’ ability to log and export accurate dialnorm and LKFS/LUFS loudness measurements of broadcasts continuously and in real time. Visit www.trivenidigital.com

Loudness Monitoring With NUGEN AT THE 2013 NAB SHOW, NUGEN Audio has displayed a range of

64-bit OS X version.

innovations for loudness correction.

VisLM 1.6 also includes a new dialogue gate option that allows automatic measurement of dialogue sections within the source material. Measurements can now be written to automation tracks so that elements such as the loudness profile and true-peak clips can be seen against the waveform in the digital audio workstation timeline for diagnostic referencing.

For the first time, LM-Correct is available as a file-based program, taking it outside the Avid environment. LM-Correct is designed to oﬀer automatic, faster-than-real-time loudness analysis and correction. LM-Correct can be used as a one-stop solution for loudness correction, fixing audio that has not been mixed with loudness standards in mind, or in conjunction with a realtime loudness meter such as VisLM to “fine tune” audio mixed to loudness requirements from the outset. NUGEN Audio is now oﬀering VisLM 1.6, a significant update to its visual loudness monitoring tool. With this new version, VisLM is available for the first time in the Avid AAX format. Additionally, VisLM is now available in a

The NUGEN Audio ISL Inter-Sample True-Peak Limiter is designed for the control of peak levels in audio signals from mono to 5.1. Unlike traditional approaches to limiting, ISL oﬀers a brick-wall solution, measuring intersample peaks and allowing the user to define the true-peak limit of the audio output. Visit www.nugenaudio.com

Emotion Features eFF 3.0 and eVe EMOTION SYSTEMS HAS launched eFF 3.0, the latest incarnation of its eFF 3.0 features Dolby E, True Peak, Short Term and Momentary Correction using its innovative DNA (Dynamic Normalisation Algorithm) and loudness range control.

based loudness measurement and compliance. Over the last year, we have gained tremendous knowledge and experience whilst deploying our loudness solutions worldwide. Loudness presents a lot of operational challenges and we have been working with our customers and listening. eFF 3.0 has been developed by our R&D in order to meet these challenges,” said CEO, MC Patel.

eFF 3.0 also provides multi-profile loudness correction within a single file for multi-language, international delivery requirements and provides enhanced, automated operation with its improved multi-watch folder capability and its extended RESTful API.

NAB will also see the launch of eVe (Emotion Video Engine), a file-based media toolbox that comprises of a media analyseR. eVe is a player and an XML export tool that allows pre-processing and preparation of file-based media for multi-platform authoring.

“eFF 3.0 provides an all-inclusive and totally flexible solution for file-

Visit www.emotion-systems.com

audio loudness compliance and normalisation application, at NAB 2013.

AUDIO

DPA Features the d:facto II

DPA MICROPHONES HAS introduced the d:facto II Vocal Microphone at NAB 2013. In addition to use with the new DPA wired handle, the d:facto II provides the added benefit of an adapter system, which allows for integration with many professional wireless systems.

wireless systems such as Sony, Lectrosonics, Shure, Wisycom and Sennheiser. The d:facto II provides improved audio performance as it is linear in frequency and phase, both on- and oﬀ-axis, while its definition and accuracy reproduces a singer’s voice.

“We are extremely proud to have developed an ingenious adapter range that brings the true DPA sound out of a wireless system,” says Christian Poulsen, CEO of DPA Microphones. “The wireless systems currently available deliver very limited power to drive our high-end condenser capsules, so getting the sound quality we wanted was nearly impossible. We had to be creative and put a huge amount of work and thought into the electronic circuit of the adapter solution. We wanted to be completely true to the input of the vocalist, and with d:facto II we have reached this goal.”

“The launch of the d:facto II Vocal Microphone is a major step for DPA as it means that we now have a microphone for every acoustic miking situation, whether you are amplifying or recording,” continues Poulsen.

The new d:facto II guarantees users the DPA sound with popular existing

Visit www.dpamicrophones.com

The d:facto II’s simple plug-and-play features allow it to reproduce a natural sound, which reaches the extreme sound level handling of 160 dB. The d:facto II provides superior gain before feedback and a robust three-stage pop protection grid built into the microphone to remove unwanted noise.

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Chinese TV Upgrades Audio Ahead of Digital Switchover THE SHUTDOWN OF CHINA’S ANALOGUE TV NETWORK, set to take place between 2015 and 2018, has seen many of the country’s major broadcasters putting their own modernisation programmes in place. Among the equipment manufacturers presently involved in this activity, German broadcast specialist Lawo has been working on a series of high-profile placements of its digital mixing and routing systems – in both television studios and OB units. Among the projects presently underway, ‘standard’ Lawo systems are being installed in Hangzhou TV and Huzhou TV, while both Tianjin TV and Beijing TV are commissioning 3D OB vans. The German broadcast specialist is also reporting television installations of its sapphire consoles with Quingdao TV and the Shanghai Media Group. With its installation completed in June 2012, the first Lawo console to be purchased by state broadcaster Beijing TV (BTV) is the 32-fader mc²66 and Nova73 system in a new 3D OB vehicle. Having used a Lawo console as an integral part of its coverage of the Beijing Olympics, BTV has called on the power and flexibility of the mc²66 for the 5.1 audio capability required to support 3D HD location operation. An important consideration of the console’s selection was the limited space available in the 12m truck. Following the pioneering moves made toward 3D production in China by Beijing TV, Lawo is also part of the 3D OB vehicle commissioned by Tianjin TV. Having selected a zirkon console for its first HD OBV in 2005, Tianjin TV has a second Lawo console lined up for the new truck – a 48-fader mc²56. The OBV technical installation began in February 2013. Another OB vehicle has given Hangzhou TV its first mobile HD facility – with a Lawo system for its audio. Begun in September 2012 and completed in January 2013, this handles its audio using a 32-fader mc²56 console. The second of only two HD OB vehicles currently operating in China, the Shanghai Media Group’s HD-4 OBV joins BTV’s 3D truck in using a Lawo

system for its audio. Completed in November 2012, the SMG HD-4 OBV is a very small vehicle based on a Benz Vario body, where the power and small footprint of a 12-fader sapphire with Visual Extension made best use of the limited available space. Lawo’s sapphire can be expanded to meet the requirements of full production applications with the addition of channel modules providing up to 60 motorised faders. The console uses a modular plug-in card system based on Lawo’s DALLIS I/O, which supports an integrated matrix with up to 512 inputs and outputs (non-blocking, 384 MADI + 128 DALLIS I/O slots). Completed between June and September 2012, and now carrying onair news programming, Qingdao (Tsingtao) TV’s new HD News Studio is regarded as the broadcaster’s most important studio. With its priorities in mind, a double sapphire setup was chosen to provide full redundancy. The studio is the result of an extensive renovation of both video and audio of an older facility, including the installation of a 28-fader sapphire with Rotary and Visual Extensions added to the console, and a second 16-fader sapphire provided as backup. The new setup also features a Nova19 router equipped with two MADI ports. It is the first twin sapphire news studio in China. According to the broadcaster, “For news studio, there’s no dedicated audio person, but the video engineer can understand and work the console perfectly.” Having proved itself satisfactory, the use of twin Lawo sapphire consoles to provide main/backup operation will provide the template for further news studio developments at Qingdao TV. Another studio renovation has seen the first mc² level Lawo console installed in Huzhou TV. Part of a 400m² studio facility completed in November 2012, a 32-fader mc²56 with a Nova73 HD core has been chosen for its cost/performance ratio, and because it oﬀers a ready route to future upgrades. Visit www.lawo.de

SSL C100 HDS Digital Broadcast Console for BTV chosen by Beijing TV (BTV) to complete its move into HD production of sports and interview programs at its new production facility, Studio HD 2. Broadcasting to over 800 million viewers across the People’s Republic of China, BTV oﬀers 12 standard-definition and three high-definition broadcast channels, as well as delivering Internet and mobile television services. “When we were building this new facility, we wanted to have an advanced digital audio console to facilitate our move into an HD production workflow,” says Yin Zhuang Yao, audio section chief, Production Department, BTV. “Because this studio is primarily devoted to the production of sports programming, covering everything from live

events in China to high-level international competitions as well as talkinghead type pre- and post-show interview programs, we have a multitude of audio streams coming in from all over the world. The logical, intuitive layout of the C100 makes easy work of each production, giving us the power to easily move through every programming type.” “The C100 HDS provides an easy way to manage the many sources and destinations for our HD program production through SSL’s MORSE Stagebox, Alpha-Link Live-R and GPIO support elements,” continues Yao. “We also have a 600 square meter arts studio, used for arts programming and talking head-type shows, also linked to the C100 to maximise the scheduling flexibilities of the facility.” Visit www.solidstatelogic.com

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A SOLID STATE LOGIC C100 HDS Digital Broadcast Console was

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Clear-Com Announces New HelixNet Network Linking CLEAR-COM HAS UNVEILED version 1.1 of the HelixNet Partyline Intercom System at the 2013 NAB Show. Included in this new product release is a system linking capability, which extends digital partyline intercom communications over a network among a production’s field users, mobile trucks and studio headquarters cost-eﬀectively and eﬃciently, without compromising the audio quality. Expanded functionality under version 1.1 includes the ability to link up to five HMS-4X Main Stations and up to 100 HBP-2X Digital Beltpacks via Ethernet to build larger and more sophisticated partyline intercom systems. HelixNet’s station-to-station networking function makes this possible by defining up to five Main Stations that can be connected via the new HL1-ET2 Ethernet Module. Main Stations can connect directly or through a LAN using standard IT switches.

A new HL1-FBS Fiber Module is also available for linking stations over long distances. It also allows linking to four other Main Stations in a fibre daisychain. The standard connection is Single-Mode with Multi-mode oﬀered as an option. Since the HelixNet platform is based on Clear-Com’s I.V.Core, a core set of Intercom-over-IP technologies for providing networking flexibility, this entire system can operate over any LAN infrastructure found in studio or remote production environments. Stage managers, along with teleprompter, lighting and camera operators, audio engineers and any HelixNet user can remain connected and interface with remote mobile production trucks and/or studios over HelixNet. Visit www.clearcom.com

Minnetonka Updates AudioTools Server and SurCode The 2013 NAB Show also saw the release of a new version of Minnetonka Audio’s SurCode encoder/decoder for Dolby Pro Logic II. SurCode for Dolby Pro Logic II oﬀers complete, Dolby-certified Dolby Pro Logic II encoding and Pro Logic II, Pro Logic IIx, and Pro Logic IIz decoding of up to eight channels of audio. The product enables auditioning, encoding, and decoding of audio with a Dolby-certified Dolby Pro Logic II codec, making it easy to produce surround-ready mixes in real time. SurCode for Dolby Pro Logic II v3 will be available as a single, cross-platform installer for RTAS, AAX, or VST, or as a stand-alone product. Minnetonka Audio’s new AudioTools FOCUS platform is designed for automated, intelligent audio processing with easy operation. Proven presets provide out-of-the-box usability, and the simple user interface allows for customised DSP that fits unique client and workflow needs.

NAB 2013 HAS SEEN Minnetonka Audio feature the latest version of its flagship product, AudioTools Server (ATS) 2.5. ATS 2.5 is loaded with major enhancements including integrated failover protection; MP2, MP3, and AAC encoding; a new queue-monitoring application; and much more. ATS 2.5 is an enterprise software system for file-based workflows, designed to automate even the most sophisticated audio tasks.

AudioTools FOCUS for Loudness Control provides complete loudness control that conforms to the CALM Act, ATSC A/85, and EBU R128, with refined digital signal processing that applies loudness control optimised for diﬀerent targets and platforms. AudioTools FOCUS for Loudness Control also oﬀers MXF and QuickTime unwrap/wrap of audio-only essence, plus frame-rate tools. Visit www.minnetonkaaudio.com

Bittree Shows Oﬀ New Audio Patchbays AT THE 2013 NAB SHOW, Bittree has displayed its newest innovations in patchbays and patching solutions, each designed to help integrators and audio/video specialists achieve greater flexibility in rapidly changing media environments. Bittree highlights at this year’s show included a new line of fibre feed-through panels to support today’s increasingly fibrebased operations, as well as coaxial audio patchbay solutions — oﬀering a specialised, high-density alternative to video-patching equipment.

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Bittree’s digital audio coaxial patchbay was developed in response to the rapid growth of digital audio content. Traditionally, many installers used video patchbays for digital audio patching. Designed for discreet AES signals, the Bittree digital audio patchbay oﬀers significant cost savings over video patchbays for this purpose, and the BNC rear interface is designed specifically for fast and easy installation.

Bittree also showcased a new line of fibre patch panels developed in response to the rapid growth of fibre optic cable in broadcast and AV environments. Available for LC/LC, ST/ST, and SC/SC, these fibre feedthrough panels are the industry’s first to provide optional designation strips. With the addition of this new fibre product line, Bittree now provides a single source for resellers and integrators to purchase both copper and fibre patching systems.

Programmable audio patchbays from Bittree’s 969-S series of programmable audio patchbays are mainstays in a wide range of largescale broadcasting, mobile production, and post-production operations. The patented front-panel programmable design of the 969-S series allows for quick and easy changes to the normal, and grounding for the entire patchbay or for individual circuits. The switched ground design maximises reliability by eliminating diﬀerences in ground potential. Normals can be changed to full-normal, half-normal, or non-normal, and grounding can be changed to switched or bussed. Bittree’s new 3 x 32 Mini-WECO monitor patchbay features an innovative design that adds an additional monitor row to the traditional Mini-WECO patchbay without exceeding the 2-RU panel height. Since engineers can now use the third row as a test point, this design has enabled new applications for patching — both in traditional broadcast studios and in industries ranging from aerospace and military to large content distribution centres. Visit www.bittree.com

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SBS Korea Covered with Meyer Sound TO ACCOMMODATE A WIDE variety of musical and spoken word programming, South Korean broadcasting and multimedia company SBS has equipped its newest studio complex with a sound reinforcement system built around Meyer Sound JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers. Located in Digital Media City, a high-tech development in the Sangam District of Seoul, the new studio offers adjustable seating for up to 250 people. In addition to hosting a regular music program entitled “The Show”, this studio is also used for live concerts, such as a recent performance by the top Korean rock band CNBLUE. Its changing seating arrangements and programming materials were key considerations in the final selection of the Meyer Sound JM-1P system. “The Meyer Sound system was selected after a thorough examination of the strengths and weaknesses of a number of alternatives,” says Seung Ho Lee of the SBS technical team. “It was determined that the exceptionally clear and intelligible Meyer Sound solution would be more useful in all types of performances, not only all different music genres but spoken word programming as well.” Designed as a collaborative effort by SBS’s own engineers and the staff of the Seoul-based system supplier Incova, the Meyer Sound installation includes left and right arrays of four each JM-1P loudspeakers in addition to a total of eight UPQ-1P loudspeakers. Two 700-HP and 600-HP subwoofers each supply bass, and four UM-1P stage monitors are available for foldback. System alignment and drive is supplied by a Galileo loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors. Visit www.meyersound.com

KTV Japan Communicates with Clear-Com CLEAR-COM, A DEVELOPER OF CRITICAL voice communication systems, is providing the Japanese broadcaster, Kansai Telecasting Corporation (KTV), with a unified communications infrastructure for its remote productions. The Clear-Com Eclipse-PiCo Digital Matrix Systems and V-Series Intercom Panels have been installed in KTV’s fleet of mobile production vehicles and integrated with the station’s other communication systems. This has enabled KTV crew members in the field to communicate easily and collaborate effectively with those back in the studio. The Eclipse-PiCo, supplied by MTC, Clear-Com’s Partner for Japan, is ideal for KTV’s vehicles. The PiCo’s compact 1RU design makes it the perfect size for mobile production vehicles where space is limited. The V-Series 12-key lever control panels are set in the vehicles’ program director, switcher and video engineer positions. The Eclipse-PiCo matrix systems are also integrated with KTV’s other communications equipment, such VHF, UHF and four-way radios, which are required for satellite newsgathering. By connecting the Eclipse-PiCo system in each van along with a variety of other systems, reliable communications coverage has been extended to every KTV production space. KTV is also able to integrate future system purchases with the Eclipse-PiCo systems they have in place. “We were already using an Eclipse-PiCo in one van in our fleet. When it came time to upgrade our other vans, we decided to continue with ClearCom since our existing system has performed flawlessly and our staff members are familiar with its capabilities,” says Yasuhiro Asakura, KTV Production Engineering Department Media Engineer. KTV provides its viewers with a wide selection of drama, sports, news, documentary and variety programming, as well as live entertainment and mobile content. In addition, KTV also produces feature films. The Eclipse Configuration Software (ECS) enables the staff to easily adjust the system setup and customise communication groups for each of those productions. “With the Eclipse-PiCo, crew members are able to collaborate smoothly across all their production spaces,” says Koji Kashimoto, Director of MTC’s Osaka office. “They also have significant control over their systems with ECS, can handle the unexpected quickly and are able to work with great efficiency.” “We’re proud that one of the leading broadcasters in Kansai has chosen to expand their communications setup with Clear-Com,” says Peter Giddings Clear-Com’s Regional Sales Manager. “The small size and rich capability offered by the Eclipse-PiCo system is a huge advantage for small to mid-size production environments such as KTV’s fleet of vehicles.” Visit www.clearcom.com

Fairlight Updates Audio Post Software Nuendo);

XYNERGI and EVO now come with the new Dream Version 4 Software.

Clip Bin and Clip Store functions to store projects; and

The software includes countless new features and options with the aim to make it easier to use for new users, improve workflow, and deliver faster output.

Speed increase and new features for the Audiobase sound FX database.

New features of the Dream Version 4 Software include: Mouse based editing enhancements;

To ensure continued software improvements, Fairlight also introduced a 12 month software license subscriptions scheme.

Improved dynamics, side-chain and MaxLinking across groups;

The license subscription provides access to software releases and updates during a 12 month subscription period.Customers who purchased a XYNERGI or EVO in 2012, will get a 12 month Dream Version 4 software license subscription for free.

Multi Client ASIO bridge for EVO to host other audio products (e.g. Protools,

Visit www.fairlightus.com

Single Screen Interface with comprehensive per-track controls and new Mix Panel choices;

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FAIRLIGHT HAS ANNOUNCED that its audio post production systems

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www.content-technology.com/transmission

SET Builds Taiwan’s First Tapeless Cable Operation on Harmonic Video Infrastructure By Chiang Lo-Hsien, manager, Broadcast Engineering Department at SET

Sanlih E-Television Co. Ltd. (SET) is a leading cable TV operator in Taiwan. Our broadcasts include four cable TV channels — Sanlih Taiwan Channel, Sanlih City Channel, Sanlih News Channel, Sanlih International — targeting both a local Taiwanese audience and overseas Chinese viewers. Within the domestic market, we oﬀer three Taiwanese channels nationwide, and together they have achieved viewership in approximately 80 percent of the country’s total TV households. While SET is known as a cable TV network, we also produce original content, including dramas that have been among the most popular in Taiwan. WE MADE OUR TRANSITION from analogue to digital a couple of years ago, upgrading our network infrastructure and completing the launch of a digital production and broadcasting system in 2011. Though the transition to digital production operations was a significant project for us, it was just the beginning of another large-scale undertaking: the migration from tape-based operations to a more streamlined file-based production and playout workflow. As with the digital transition project, the move toward tape-based operations would play a key role in enabling us to handle the new generation of applications and technologies currently being deployed, as well as those of the future. To begin this process, we knew that we would need to establish a scalable media storage and server platform that could guarantee highly eﬃcient file-based operations from start to finish. Only such an installation would enable us to take full advantage of tapeless operations.

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A SHIFT TO FILE-BASED OPERATIONS

At SET we began our transition to tapeless operations with an initial investment in Harmonic media server systems. For some time, however, the studio production and ingest operations here at SET continued to rely on costly tape-based media and an ineﬃcient linear workflow requiring time-consuming transfers of media among systems. Recognising the limiting eﬀect of our dependence on tape and associated devices, we chose to move forward in upgrading those areas. We maintained our commitment to a Harmonic

production infrastructure because we needed a complete and stable first-class video server and centralised storage system that would enable a highly eﬃcient tapeless workflow. Taking advantage of the scalability and flexibility of systems within the Harmonic product portfolio, we extended our infrastructure by adding a comprehensive range of file-based production systems. Among the new systems we installed were the company’s Spectrum media servers, Harmonic MediaGrid shared storage, Media Application Server (MAS) media management,

and ProMedia Carbon transcoders. The turnkey solution we’ve put in place meets this requirement, providing the capacity and bandwidth we need for HD media access and nonlinear editing by many users. From ingest through to playout of our seven broadcast channels, the Harmonic infrastructure ensures easy, eﬃcient management of file-based assets. We use a Spectrum MediaCenter server with integrated storage to facilitate ingest of media from tape. Oﬀering both flexibility and reliability at an attractive price point, the system provides

TRANSMISSION the media server and storage functions of Harmonic’s well-established Spectrum server family while giving us the ability to add I/O modules incrementally — up to a total of 12 channels — as our needs require. In addition to providing broad support for various video formats and file wrappers, the modular system supports independent scaling of storage capacity, bandwidth, and redundancy, thus ensuring that we have room for growth. Also integrated into the MediaCenter system are the file systems and communication management tools that support video and audio ingest and playout activities.

MAS eﬀectively serves as a common control center for media processing tasks and transfers. As a result, we have been able to reduce the complexity of our file-based workflow and ensure that content is eﬃciently routed

Oregan Deploys OTT in Thailand OREGAN NETWORKS, a British IPTV software and systems specialist, and CAT Telecom have announced a successful launch of an Over-the-Top entertainment service to broadband subscribers on CAT’s 3G and fixed line networks. Following the unveiling of the service in Jangwattana Road, Bangkok, in December 2012, Ms Anothai Klampaiboon – Exclusive VP at CAT e-Business commented, “The PayTV market in Thailand and APAC is growing at an incredible pace. CAT plans to deliver over 100 channels of paid and free to view television within Thailand’s domestic market, as well as internationally within APAC.” The internet streaming Set Top Box powered by Oregan’s middleware delivers information widgets, user generated content and PayTV channels via multicast and unicast modes, as well as enabling users to stream personal content from home network devices. British company Packetship was chosen to provide HLS adaptive bitrate video and AES content encryption servers, integrated by Oregan’s Thailand based representative company Digital Media Interface. Visit www.oregan.net and www.cattelecom.com

throughout the facility. Because Harmonic’s MAS combines standardised third-party service interfaces with comprehensive Web service APIs, we can be confident that it will support any future media processing applications, whether developed externally or within SET. Following content ingest by the MediaCenter system, digitised content is automatically moved by MAS and stored on our 432-TB MediaGrid shared storage system. Engineered specifically for video workflows, the MediaGrid is an Ethernet-based storage system that boasts the performance of a SAN with the simplicity of NAS. While our system already is quite large, the MediaGrid’s scale-out storage gives us the option of seamlessly scaling up both system capacity and system bandwidth. One additional advantage of working with the MediaGrid is that its file system software guarantees performance by facilitating parallel access across many storage nodes and network connections. This is particularly important because the system serves as central storage for HD editing with 50 Apple Final Cut Pro nonlinear editing systems. Because Harmonic has fully tested the MediaGrid storage system with a range of leading media applications, we know that it can support other clients as needed. We use Harmonic ProMedia Carbon nodes for transcoding of edited content — our popular television dramas — from the postproduction format (ProRes 422) to XDCAM HD (50 Mbps) prior to on-air playout via Spectrum video servers. Though we perform this transcode most frequently, the ProMedia Carbon file-based transcoding solution gives us the ability to convert media to any of a tremendous array of formats. The solution supports all major SD and HD formats, and it can handle virtually every necessary transcoding operation, including SD/HD conversion, PAL/NTSC conversion, logo insertion, colour space conversion, colour correction, and closed-caption extraction. The Spectrum servers that handle playout run under the control of a Harris ADC100 automation system. We use main and backup systems on-air in a mirrored configuration to

add redundancy to playout and further ensure continuous airing of content, even in the event of a system fault. The Spectrum systems comprise a MediaPort 7000 real-time video encoder/decoder and a MediaStore storage array. Because MediaPort I/O modules attach to the Spectrum in increments, we can configure or expand our playout system to meet not only changing video compression formats, but also changes in channel count — and we can do so while the system remains online. We have the ability to control every individual channel either via our automation system or, if necessary, using a hardware controller. The MediaStore storage array within the Spectrum system provides scalable and reliable high-performance disk-based shared storage, and each array contains up to 16 highperformance Fibre Channel disk drives. Because the disk subsystem management is provided in software by MediaDirector system controllers, including all file system and RAID information, we don’t need to rely on a hardware controller. Throughout the content life cycle here at our Taipei facility, from ingest through storage and editing to playout, the MAS media management system automates the transfer, organisation, and processing of files across these Harmonic systems and throughout our file-based production and playout workflow. The successful installation of Harmonic media storage, server, and transcoding systems helped to make SET the first cable network in Taiwan running a completely tapeless, streamlined end-to-end workflow. Because we were able to keep the Harmonic systems up and running throughout the upgrade, we realised the benefits of a streamlined tapeless workflow without interrupting playout and other key operations. Furthermore, without relying on costly tapes and the extra personnel required to operate them, we have significantly reduced our capital and operating expenses. The systems’ simple scalability will support additional expansion in accordance with the growth and evolution of the SET production and playout facility. Visit www.harmonicinc.com

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We are shifting to file-based operations because of the opportunity it gives us to maximise our production eﬃciencies and enable the delivery of more content to more devices in less time. The Harmonic MAS is fundamental to our ability to realise these goals. The SOAbased platform provides our staﬀ with a single virtualised, federated view of all managed storage — not only Harmonic systems, but also third-party storage platforms — to simplify the management of media assets across our organisation.

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Riedel Unveils MediorNet MN-GV-2 Card

Snell Prepared for the Future of Broadcast

RIEDEL COMMUNICATIONS HAS UNVEILED the MediorNet MN-GV-2 card at the 2013 NAB Show. This new interface card allows users to network Grass Valley 3G camera systems — the LDK and the brand-new LDX series — and their base stations via the MediorNet fibre infrastructure. Users can route bidirectional camera signals, including all embedded audio and telemetry control data, through MediorNet, which facilitates the free assignment of cameras to any base station or CCU within the network. New RockNet expansion solutions for Solid State Logic (SSL) consoles and Soundcraft Si Compact consoles were also showcased at NAB. Nextgeneration firmware for the RockNet RN.334.MD MADI interface makes SSL mixing consoles an integrated part of the Riedel RockNet digital audio network, with complete remote control functionality over all gains and the flexibility of RockNet’s renowned independent gain feature. As a result, several mixing consoles can operate with the same mic pre-amps without aﬀecting one another. Riedel’s new RN.344.SI card enables integration with any Soundcraft Si Compact console, supporting 32 inputs and 32 outputs to the RockNet system. The interface enables remote control of any RockNet mic pre-amp and also oﬀers the benefit of RockNet’s independent gain feature. Visit www.riedel.net

Bridge Technologies Shows OTT AT NAB 2013, Bridge Technologies, creater of advanced analysis, measurement, and monitoring solutions for the digital broadcast and telecommunications industries, has shown a full implementation of end-to-end monitoring for OTT services, with transparency and data analysis from ingest to viewing device. Bridgetech’s comprehensive OTT monitoring capabilities can be completely integrated with monitoring of conventional digital media delivery services under Bridgetech’s intuitive, graphically-rich user interface, giving operators unprecedented control and eﬃciency. Visit www.bridgetech.tv

Appear TV Exhibits Multiscreen Delivery Solution APPEAR TV, A GLOBAL provider of headends for broadcast and IP television, has showcased its Multiscreen and OTT Solution for its modular headend architecture at the 2013 NAB Show. The module allows users to streamline the encoding and transcoding process, while oﬀering an easily integrated and expandable architecture, making it ideal for streaming content for live applications such as sports broadcasts.

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The Appear TV Multiscreen and OTT module provides a fully integrated, hardware-based system capable of simultaneously preparing multiple signals from any input source in any format for distribution to a high definition television in the home, a high-resolution computer screen, and lower-resolution Web- and mobile-based profiles. The system accommodates diﬀerent bit rates optimised for each destination device while maintaining a high QoS and exceptional reliability.

“Every second counts in live broadcasts, which is why our modules employ hardware encoding. It delivers the operational eﬃciency required by operators and the QoS expected by consumers,” says Carl Walter-Holst, CEO, Appear TV. “We feel the performance advantages of employing dedicated video processing silicon over CPU processors will make a significant improvement in video quality in a real-time multiscreen environment.”. Visit www.appeartv.com

AT NAB 2013, Snell featured new and enhanced products for a vast range of Live TV and TV Everywhere applications. These systems oﬀer greater automation, improved reliability, higher quality, and more flexible media handling for today’s SD/HD/1080p environments as well as future Cloud, IP, and 4K UHDTV-based operations. Snell is ushering in the era of 4K operations with the Kahuna 360 multi-format switcher. With its exclusive FormatFusion3 technology, Kahuna 360 can now accept incoming 4K UHDTV feeds, mix them with 1080p and output as either 4K UHDTV or 1080p, at no additional cost — helping broadcast and media organisations to adopt these new workflows easily as opportunities arise. New features to ICE further extend Snell’s channel-in-a-box by allowing up to four channels of HD per unit depending on the channel configuration. ICE now includes integrated 3D and 2D graphics, CG functionality with timeline editing control, and the ability to populate fields from Morpheus automation schedule events or external data sources. Complementing ICE’s HD and SD simulcast capabilities is the addition of a delay service, which provides the ability to record the output of a channel for delayed playout services. ICE also boasts newly enhanced audio processing and Panoplay multi-system, multi-site redundancy. New at the 2013 NAB Show was the KudosPro MC500. The MC500 provides up, down, and cross-conversion from any broadcast standard to any other broadcast standard, with optional composite and fibre connectivity. A wide range of audio options is available, including embedded, AES, analogue, and Dolby E, as well as extensive utilities such as ProcAmp, enhancer, and closed caption handling. Snell also launched the Luna Series of 1-RU router control panels, including four LED models and two LCD models. The LED panels include a high-density version with 78 button keys, 72 of which can be configured as source or destination keys for increased flexibility. The LCD panels include a rotary encoder control knob for user-friendly “paging”. The Sirius 800 family of enterprise-class routing switchers has been enhanced with the availability of frame synchronisation on the units’ AHP (Advanced Hybrid Processing) input and output cards. At the 2013 NAB Show, Snell introduced a new IQ format converter range. These video format converter modules provide high-quality conversion of common SD, HD, and 3Gbps formats for broadcast systems. In addition to conversion, the new modules can perform a host of video, audio, and metadata functions. Snell also unveiled the IQQSM range of 3Gbps/HD/SD-SDI quad split monitors, ideal for local monitoring with LCD displays. Visit www.snellgroup.com

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Cobham Introduces Solo Micro HD Transmitter COBHAM HAS FEATURED A preview of one of the world’s smallest wireless HD camera transmitters at NAB 2013. The new “Solo Micro HD” transmitter, a matchbox-size addition to Cobham’s “Solo” range, provides all-important transmission stability for high-quality HD images using low-latency H.264 compression in conjunction with Cobham’s powerful UMVL (ultra mobile video link) modulation. With latency as low as 15ms, the Solo Micro HD enables wireless and wired cameras to perform as a unified system to capture and transmit intimate details during events of any size. Cobham also launched a new HD MPEG4 IP Encoder that can easily be connected to virtually any camera. Specifically engineered for broadcast applications, the encoder has balanced audio inputs and, importantly, includes broadcast-standard IFB talkback within the unit. The encoder is available in three forms, a small “brick”, camera back or rack mount. NAB also marks the North American debut of MediaMesh, a lightweight, rapid set-up field newsroom that can establish, in an instant, everything needed for a live broadcast including a broadcast quality transmission path for live two-ways; remote camera control; high quality file transfer; plus a high-capacity internet connection with access to base newsroom computers and cell phones. Visit www.cobham.com

US Debut of iTX Render Service MIRANDA TECHNOLOGIES HAS ANNOUNCED several new solutions at NAB 2013. Additionally, the Miranda stand showcased cable and connectivity solutions from its parent company, Belden, as well as its full range of Telecast Fiber Systems solutions. Making its first NAB appearance was Miranda’s iTX Render Service for Adobe After Eﬀects CS6 software. Instead of using a real-time character generator to play back graphics templates, Miranda’s iTX Render Service automates and manages rendering of Adobe After Eﬀects projects into fully finished graphics. The NVISION 8500 Hybrid Router Series Frame Sync Input Card was also available for demonstrations at NAB. This new input card contains 8 input ports and allows easy synchronisation of incoming wild feeds or signals moving between facilities. The SME-1901 is suitable for a wide range of IP monitoring applications, combining high density with high quality to perform H.264 video and AAC audio encoding for up to 20 streams per frame. Visit www.miranda.com

Fujitsu Encoders at NAB FUJITSU HAS PRESENTED IP encoders, HEVC and Ultra HD encoders, and switches at NAB 2013. Fujitsu showcased a new firmware release that dramatically improves end-to-end latency for its IP-9610, IP-900, and IP-920 HD/SD H.264 video encoders/decoders while delivering an exceptional picture quality at reduced bit rates. Ideal for HD satellite newsgathering, broadcasting, and IP streaming applications, Fujitsu’s H.264 video encoders/decoders are now capable of operating at less than 99 milliseconds back-to-back latency, ensuring a seamless interaction between talent, studio, and interviewees. Recently utilised during the summer games and in demonstrations at CES, Fujitsu will be showing technology for HEVC and Ultra HD formats. Fujitsu’s XG-series switches oﬀer high-performance and high-speed Layer 2 switching. Featuring ultra-low latency, flexible interfaces, and compact form factors, the switches are ideal for enterprise storage and video server applications, high-performance computing (HPC), and the Internet SCSI (iSCSI) and network-attached storage (NAS) markets. The combined solution of the new 1Gb/10Gb uplink switches with the existing XG-Series 10GbE family allows customers to deploy a homogeneous networking solution. Visit www.fujitsu.com

IMT Demonstrates Nucomm Connect Live INTEGRATED MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (IMT) has demonstrated a working model of its Nucomm Connect Live COFDM and Multi-4G/LTE Live-Video HD Transmitter at the 2013 NAB Show. Throughout NAB, IMT hosted on-site demos showcasing the features of Connect Live for attendees. With video quality as its cornerstone, the Nucomm Connect Live combines the ultimate in COFDM wireless camera, 3G/4G bonded and Video over IP technology to produce a versatile SD/HD live-news wireless camera system. The Connect Live bonds multiple cellular services together to improve the overall system performance. Combining multiple services limits the vulnerability of the link, with the system automatically managing what primary service to use at a given time. The Connect Live utilises advanced adaptive encoding and bonding techniques to compensate for changing network conditions by adjusting frame rate, resolution, encoding rates and streaming parameters. Nucomm provides a system-wide monitoring portal enabling users to monitor the Connect Live transmitter’s operating status, geographic location, QoS and usage, and control. Visit www.imt-broadcast.com

New Receiver/Decoders from Sencore

Sencore’s new MRD 5800 advanced modular receiver/decoder supports the highest quality contribution video feeds and provides H.264, MPEG-2, 4:2:2, 4:2:0, 10-bit, and 8-bit decoding with automatic detection and configuration. The MRD 5800 oﬀers up to eight PIDs of audio decoding to deal with the multi-channel, multi-lingual environment of live-event coverage. The new MRD 4400 is a cost-eﬀective SD decoder capable of being upgraded to HD via a software license. It supports decoding of H.264 and MPEG-2 video to broadcast-quality outputs via SDI and composite interfaces. With up to four audio services, distributors can meet upcoming

descriptive video requirements while still supporting surround or alternate language services. Also on display at the 2013 NAB Show was the TXS 8600, which oﬀers high-density, multi-profile encoding and transcoding for real-time adaptive bit rate video-streaming. The TXS 8600 supports all the popular codecs, containers, and adaptive bit rate protocols needed to move content to any display device. The VB330 probe is the flagship of Sencore’s VideoBRIDGE monitoring product line. Recently added features include the ability to monitor hundreds of streams for ETR 101 290 compliance, as well as hundreds of OTT streams to ensure seamless delivery. Visit www.sencore.com

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SENCORE HAS SHOWN oﬀ their new MRD 5800 receiver/decoder, the MRD 4400 receiver/decoder, TXS 8600 transcoder, SMD 989 DVB-S/S2 modulator, and the VB330 10G core monitoring blade, at the 2013 NAB Show.

TRANSMISSION

Harris Broadcast Strengthens Multi-Source Analysis HARRIS BROADCAST CAME to the NAB 2013 Show with several new Videotek test and measurement products and enhancements. Notably, the company has injected loudness monitoring and enhanced multiimage display capabilities into its MSA Series of multi-source analysis software products, enabling more test and measurement functionality in the compressed domain. Harris introduced two new Videotek products at the show. This included the VSG-4TSG test signal generator, ideal for confirming video and audio integrity through 3G/HD/SD/composite test generation; and the DL-870 video legaliser to evaluate and correct 3G/HD/SD signal formats. The DL-870 helps broadcast, post and production operators confirm how colour space, bit rates and other characteristics compare across various formats — and what adjustments must be made to “legalise” a signal for use in multiple formats. The VSG-4TSG completes Harris Broadcast’s portfolio of 3 GB/s-capable test signal generation products, along with its VSG-4MTG master timing generator and VSG-4CSD clock system driver introduced at IBC 2012 in September. Visit www.harrisbroadcast.com

Observer Updates from Volicon DURING THE 2013 NAB SHOW, Volicon showcased version 7.1 of its Observer TS MPEG transport stream logging and monitoring system. Newly enhanced to accommodate an even broader array of inputs, the Observer line boasts support for ASI, QAM, 8-VSB, DVB-T/T2 and DVB-T MPEG TS interfaces. Observer Mobile, which gives users access to content through an iPad or iPhone, was also be on show. Volicon introduced an expandable Observer TS systems that provide a clear path for cost-eﬀective growth of a facility’s monitoring systems. Volicon’s growing array of software modules also facilitates incremental growth by supplying broadcasters with specific monitoring tools and capabilities as needed. With its Observer 7.1 release, Volicon is introducing monitoring for SCTE-35 and SCTE-104 cueing messages, respectively, on the Observer TS system and on SDI Observer systems. Observer 7.1 is also available with a new reporting engine that provides the data correlation and display for program and channel metadata and performance. Volicon’s new Clientless GUI enables operation of the Observer system without requiring the installation of a local player. Visit www.volicon.com

Actus Version 5 Updates ACTUS DIGITAL HAS showcased its latest technology at the NAB 2013 exhibition. The company’s flagship Actus View version 5 compliance, monitoring and content repurposing solution, was at the centre of all technical demonstrations, featuring new capabilities from its Clip Factory, AdWatch, Ratings Analyzer and Mobile Link modules. New in version 5, Actus View records Transport Stream (TS), allowing broadcasters and operators to record the transport stream “as is” from any input (MPEG-2, MPEG-4) and in the same high resolution. Actus View supports ASI, ATSC, DVB-T/T2 Analogue and SDI. Actus Clip Factory supports all formats and resolutions, managing recording of media from any device or source. Users can edit media, transcode clips, and distribute the repackaged content to any destination. AdWatch v5.2 automatically detects advertisements aired on all relevant TV and radio channels, providing simple-to-use media monitoring tools to verify that advertising content is broadcasted according to plan over local and remote aﬃliate channels. Actus Ratings Analyzer provides a clear graphical view of all ratings information including the competitions’. This provides for a complete media analysis workflow where the process is much faster and more accurate. MobileLink is the new Actus Monitoring solution for mobile devices, which features full and recorded media playback, ratings analysis, and monitoring. Visit www.actusdigital.com

Full Complement from Jampro JAMPRO ANTENNAS, INC. HAS demonstrated a full complement of television & radio solutions at NAB 2013. The radome-enclosed JAT-U UHF Broadband, Band IV/V 470 – 860 MHz antenna can be either top or side-mounted on a tower. The unit features minimum wind loading with wide broadband response. The radome-enclosed JUHD Broadband UHF panel antenna, designed for either side or top-mounting, is based on a modular design. It can be configured to provide a variety of azimuth and elevation patterns and offers optional beam tilt and null fill to insure maximum coverage. Jampro’s JA/MS-BB Broadband UHF Slot antenna, part of the Prostar line, offers an economical alternative to buying, installing and maintaining multiple antennas. A single, compact solution, it conserves tower space and minimises wind loading. Jampro’s 8” RCEC Mask Filter provides superior mask filter performance at an affordable price with 5kW of output power. Cross coupling creates steep rejection skirts and its high-Q cavities provide low pass band insertion loss in a compact design. Visit ww.jampro.com

Artel Advancing Video Transport

TRANSMISSION

AT THE 2013 NAB SHOW, Artel Video Systems has demonstrated its latest advancements in video transport technology. In addition, new platform management software and other Ethernet transport capabilities were on display.

The DL4360x DigiLink video transport chassis features an advanced design that combines modular-based transport functionalities with simultaneous internal routing of both video and Ethernet traffic — the DL4360x chassis eliminates the need for external cross connects, significantly streamlining the routing and rerouting of video and Ethernet traffic. Artel also showcased the DLC205 Ethernet aggregator and optical transceiver. Integrating within the company’s DigiLink video transport platform, the versatile DLC205 features an innovative design capable of aggregating nine channels of 10/100/1000 Ethernet traffic for transport

across electrical or optical networks. Leveraging the same functionalities and design of the DLC205, the DLM205 integrates HTTP and SNMP management capabilities for DL4000 chassis. The management traﬃc is combined with other Ethernet traﬃc in the chassis for full in-band management. Artel Video Systems’ DLC055 multiport video I/O access module was also on display at the 2013 NAB Show. The module is designed to provide flexible video inputs and outputs as well as distribution amplifier capabilities to the DL4360x chassis. The DLC055 provides five independent video inputs and five internally routed outputs to or from function modules in a DL4360x chassis. Each port supports all standard video formats from 3G-SDI to ATSC, and outputs are reclocked to ensure video quality and integrity. Visit www.artel.com

CLASSIFIEDS what’s on JUNE 2013 IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON BROADBAND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS AND BROADCASTING (BMSB) June 4-7, 2013 Brunel University, Uxbridge, West London www.ieee-bmsb.org INFOCOMM 2013 June 12-14 Orange County Convention Center Orlando, Florida www.infocomm.org BROADCASTASIA June 18-21 Marina Bay Sands Singapore www.broadcast-asia.com TELEFILM 2013 June 19-21 International Centre for Exhibition Hanoi Capital, Vietnam www.broadcast-asia.com IBC LONDON TECHNOLOGY BOOSTER 25-26 June 2013 Dexter House, Royal Mint Court, London, UK www.ibc.org

Tiﬀen Steadicam Workshops for APAC JULY SMPTE AUSTRALIA July 23-26 Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia www.smpte.com.au

AUGUST PALMM PHILIPPINES 2013 August 15-17 SMX Convention Center Manila, Philippines www.globallinkmp.com BIRTV August 21-24 China International Exhibition Center Beijing, China www.birtv.com

SEPTEMBER IBC September 12-17 RAI Amsterdam The Netherlands www.ibc.org

2013 GSMA MOBILE ASIA EXPO June 26-28 Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre Shanghai, China www.mobileasiaexpo.com

TIFFEN INTERNATIONAL has announced three Steadicam Silver workshops to be held during June and July 2013 in New Zealand, Singapore and Australia. The 3-day factory-certified workshops follow on from two highly successful 5½ day Gold workshops in Australia and Malaysia over the last two years, where the objective was to enhance camera operator technique by adding stabiliser control to their employable skill set. Lead instructors for the courses are all highly experienced, working as Steadicam operators/cinematographers for more than 20 years. They have all been instructors on previous Steadicam Gold Workshops in Asia and Europe with Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown and include Rebecca WilsonJennings from New Zealand, Park Sang Hoon from South Korea and Harry Panagiotidis from Australia. Between these three instructor operators is thousands of hours of on-air footage, shot on Steadicam for every type of production from Feature film and commercial work, to drama, documentary, soaps, corporate, reality and multi-camera sports production. The New Zealand 3-Day Steadicam Silver Workshop will be held from June 5-7 in Wellington, New Zealand at Avalon Studios, and the cost is $1500 USD with all equipment, lunch, dinner, course materials provided. The Singapore 3-Day Steadicam Silver Workshop will be held from June 25-27 at Lasalle College, Singapore at a student cost of $1500 USD which includes all equipment, lunch, dinner, course materials. Lead instructor is Park Sang Hoon from South Korea. The Australian 3-Day Steadicam Silver Workshop will be held from July 31 Aug 2, in Sydney (venue TBA) at a student cost of $1500 USD which includes all equipment, lunch, dinner, course materials. Lead instructor is Harry Panagiotidis from South Korea. All workshops are a great opportunity to operate the latest high capacity Steadicam systems (Zephyr, Archer 2, Shadow and Ultra 2) with instructors following a syllabus approved by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown and evolved over the last 20 years to enable rapid instruction. More information about the workshops can be downloaded from Dropbox/ StudentEOI Student Registration is at www.steadicamworkshops.com For additional information please contact Brett Smith at Tiffen International, email: bsmith@tiffen.com or Robin Thwaites at rthwaites@tiffen.com

Creative Content Production Conference RUNNING IN PARALLEL with BroadcastAsia, and back for its fourth edition,

study presentations.

the Creative Content Production Conference will run from 19 - 20 June 2013 at Marina Bay Sands Singapore. The conference will feature industry veterans in their field of expertise, like Mike Lake, CEO of Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios; Mohd Naguib Razak, Film & Content Industry Development Consultant of Blue in Green Media (former DG of FINAS); Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder & CEO of Graphic India; Stuart McAra, EP of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM); Persis Shanker, EP of Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia; Michele Schofield, Senior VP-Programming & Marketing at AETN All Asia Networks; Eddy Tan, VP of Programming at Fox International Channels; and many more.

According to Mike Lake, the conference will help to educate and create a greater understanding of current and relevant issues, and explore ways to jointly grow and shape the future of the whole communications ecosystem.

Mike Lake will kick-start ‘What is Great Content’ and ‘How to Distribute Them Eﬀectively’ on Day 1, with an Opening Keynote: Capitalising on the Opportunities of the Creative Industries and How Asia is Positioning Itself Globally. The topic will be further debated during a power panel and case

Asia’s Top Programmers Dialogue on Day 2 will spotlight the opportunities and hurdles faced by programmers, including new initiatives that are being deliberated for 2014. This will be discussed by a power panel, with Michele Schofield; Mok Choy Lin, VP Programming of Channel NewsAsia; Eddy Tan; David Gunson, VP of Channels, South East Asia, Universal Networks International; Charmaine Kwan, VP of Programming, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific. The panel will be moderated by Patrick Schult, CEO of Media Stable. Visit www.broadcast-asia.com

CLASSIFIEDS

Themed “Producing and Distributing Successful Content in Asia”, the twoday conference will address the challenge of producing appealing and high-quality content for global audiences through a series of new topics and speakers, including a ‘Producers Dialogue’ that was developed to serve as an additional avenue for participants to address and anticipate the upcoming trends and demands of the industry.

Sourcing for funding is an important consideration for every producer in Asia. An exclusive interview with Bey Logan, Founder and Producer of B&E Productions, where he will share his strategies on securing funding for the right content, will touch on challenges producers face and lessons to be learnt from such experiences. Jouko Ahvenainen, Chairman and Co-Founder of Grow VC International will follow with his session about how crowd sourcing and funding can work.

SMPTE 13 PREVIEW

www.content-technology.com/smptedaily

SMPTE 2013 is coming to a Sydney Exhibition Centre near you! By Ian Fellows, Chair of SMPTE Australian Section This year SMPTE 2013 is shaping up to be one of the best yet despite what they are saying about the downturn. We have had a better than expected take up by Exhibitors and responses from potential presenters are rolling in. EXHIBITOR FLOOR SPACE still the most cost eﬀective and best value

How do the traditional content creation models adapt to this new landscape? Traditional broadcasters need to prevent their message from getting lost in this sea of content.

If you’re a punter put the dates in your diaries. Our Conference packages are flexible and cost eﬀective. Buy the session bundle, stream or complete conference. Go to the website and check out the sessions and pricing.

And what challenges does this pose to the cinematographer, how does he/ she shoot a scene bearing in mind it may end up on a mobile phone? How does his message translate? How does he deliver the personalised content experience?

We will also be featuring our Members lounge again this year for meetings or just to rest your tired feet and have a coﬀee. As always we will be evangelising the three pillars of SMPTE: Membership, Standards, and Education, involving students from Colleges and Universities such as Charles Sturt Uni, JMC Academy, and the AFTRS. Students will be actively participating. We will be actively soliciting for new members and the familiar SMPTE store will be there with merchandise for all. A strategic relationship and cross promotion agreement has recently been struck between SMPTE Conference & Exhibition the NAB Show. This has given our conference and exhibition true international exposure and will lure NAB exhibitors to our shores. This will make the SMPTE Australia Conference & Exhibition an even greater regional forum for technology exchange to stimulate the local industry. SMPTE Members will also benefit, being able to take advantage of special packages and discounts when attending next year’s NAB conference.

Conference Theme This year our conference theme is on “Delivering the Personalised Content Experience”. More so than ever the choices for consumers of information and content is no longer a case of “where do you get it”, it’s “when do I want to get it”. There is so much on so many delivery options it’s a virtual punters paradise out there. We hear about BIG DATA, but consider this. Every minute of every day Google receives over 2 million search requests, YouTube has 48 hours of video uploaded, Facebook users share 684,000 pieces of content. 150,000 tweets

SMPTE 2013 PREVIEW

This is why we think its time to talk about it. Not everything about the personalised content experience is personal. Delivering content to hand held devices takes farms of equipment.

for money in the industry so if you are an exhibitor and haven’t reserved yourself a space on the exhibition floor, best do it now. Go to the website and check out available space at SMPTE13. Exhibition space is selling fast.

If you plan on going to the ever popular SMPTE conference dinner, secure yourself a seat or book yourself a table, but get in quick they go fast.

go out on Twitter. Every single activity is being stored as data. It has been estimated that the world is generating 2.5 billion gigabytes a day. That’s equivalent to 125 years of DVD quality video. In other words; everything ever recorded in the history of mankind has been created in the last two years. That is a staggering amount of information.

What content is best delivered on big screen or small screen, or does it even matter any more? How do we match quality with quantity, deliver it anywhere and get a return on investment? Our industry is facing some very big challenges. Do we have the answers? All this and more will be revealed when you attend the SMPTE 13 Australian Conference & Exhibition.

Call for Papers In 2011 we introduced online papers registration via the EDAS system. This experiment proved to be so successful that we have decided continue. All potential presenters can register and deliver their contributions online where our team of experts can review and grade submissions from a central repository, group papers into sessions and build the entire program using smart software. Our papers Chair is currently looking for contributors RIGHT NOW so if you have that new killer tech solution or the new improved version we encourage YOU the Developers and Vendors to come forth and reveal all. Educate us as to how to deliver the ultimate personal content experience. It could be a new technology or process or you’ve built the ultimate mousetrap and you want to tell the world. We want to hear your story. Submission is an online process, just follow the links on the conference website to register on the EDAS system and submit your abstract. Go to our website and view the conference streams to find one that best describes your topic. You could be chosen to present your paper. Your paper could be published in the International SMPTE Journal. Visit http://smpte.com.au/sydney/

ASIA +ANZ Asia Paciﬁc Conference Issue Advertising Meal-Deal C+T Asia Preview Issue .................................AUD$ 1. 2. 3. 4.

Full Page .......................................................................... 2,500 Half Page.......................................................................... 1,560 Third Page........................................................................ 1,250 Quarter Page ...................................................................... 930

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Ad Artwork ........... May 30, 2013

C+T Anz Preview Issue ................................ AUD$* Full Page...............................................................................2,500 Half Page ..............................................................................1,560 Third Page ............................................................................1,250 Quarter Page ...........................................................................930

Deadlines ..................................................................... Bookings.........June 25, 2013

Ad Artwork ........... July 03, 2013

Ofﬁcial Smpte Showguide ........................... AUD$* Full Page...............................................................................2,000 Half Page ..............................................................................1,300 Third Page ...............................................................................900 Quarter Page ...........................................................................500

Deadlines ..................................................................... Bookings.........June 25, 2013

Ad Artwork ........... July 03, 2013

SMPTE Daily eNewsletter ........................... AUD$* Banner (H486px x W60px) ......................................................900 Tile (H180px x W150px) ...........................................................600 (The Hoppit)

* Goods & Services Tax (GST) of 10% applies.

Banquet Option-30% Discount When Advertising in all Three Publications! www.content-technology.com For advertising, contact Phil Sandberg. Tel: +61 (0)414 671 811 Email: papers@broadcastpapers.com

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OFF-AIR

TIME shifter MediaCorp

Celebrates 50 Years of TV

MediaCorp is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of 50 years of broadcasting in Singapore with a year-long celebration and an intensive media blitz. This includes an all-encompassing campaign that comprises a series of on-air elements, interstitials on TV trivia facts, artistes’ greetings and editorial, and radio publicity. THERE WILL ALSO BE A LINE-UP of branded special programming anchored by each channel that allows audiences to enjoy a whole new experience while viewing television, via multi-platform, second screen and on-ground vehicles. This year-long jubilee will culminate into a grand Variety countdown Special on New Year’s Eve. Though the first TV broadcast wasn’t until 1963, the origin can be traced right back to 1936, when British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation, a private commercial enterprise, set up Singapore’s very first broadcasting station. This first regular broadcasting service was initially sited at Cathay Building, but soon made its way to Caldecott Hill on Thomson Road. When the pilot TV service did come around in January of 1963, it was followed closely by the launch of Television Singapore on February 15. This was done under MediaCorp’s predecessor, Radio and Television Singapore (RTS). On April 3 of that same year, Singapore’s first President, Encik Yusof Ishak, addressed the nation in their homes for the first time, also marking the inception of regular TV transmissions. “Singapore television has come a long way from its pilot service 50 years ago. It transited to colour in the 1970s, and to the digital form we know it today – consumed as much on the TV set in the living room as on the go. Its content has also evolved, reflecting the mores of the times and telling the story of our nation building,” said Shaun Seow, CEO, MediaCorp. “As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, we want to thank all our viewers who’ve grown up with us, cried with us, laughed with us. We’re also reaching out to a new generation of viewers who want to be engaged via social media. Whatever the form, we will strive to innovate and improve ourselves so that MediaCorp continues to be an integral part of the lives of Singaporeans.” Throughout their 50 year history, Singapore’s broadcaster has changed it’s title on numerous occasions, from RTS to SBC (Singapore Broadcasting Corporation) to TCS (Television Corporation of Singapore), before becoming MediaCorp (Media Corporation of Singapore) in 1999. Each of these changes also altered the broadcasters internal structure and allowed for greater flexibility.

TIME SHIFTER

Channel 5, 8, and okto will each be launching part one of their drama trilogies this year, all revolving around the theme of Singapore’s early days such as, Mata Mata, The Journey, and The School Bell respectively. Each series will conclude in the year 2015.

Specifically on Channel 8, there will also be a variety show, The Joy Truck, which aims to spread joy to the deserving, and also to introduce a new experience for viewers by encouraging them to help the needy by playing a specially designed interactive mobile game. Channel U will also launch an interactive treasure race that involves audience participation during the actual recruitment,

as well as crowd-sourcing for challenges from the viewers. Suria and Vasantham plan to add on to the entertainment and festivity, with a cross-platform game show involving radio DJs and TV stars for Suria,Te:Ra Seh!; while a high-energy dance competition on Vasantham,Dhool eVolution, consisting of an Original Sound Track will be specially produced to go viral online. As part of the promotional campaign for the show, the viral soundtrack will be used to obtain user generated content, by getting audiences to create their own versions of the soundtrack. Channel NewsAsia will delve into a documentary, News @ 50 that covers 50 years of iconic news stories, joining the crowd-sourcing bandwagon to let viewers pick the top news stories to be part of the documentary. Exciting events will also take place alongside the branded special programming. A series of celebrative roadshows anchored by respective channels from the month of May will engage Singaporeans all over the island in the festivities. In September, MediaCorp will embark on a large scale TV50 Charity Special, Race ME to the Stars featuring MediaCorp artistes from all channels. The celebrations will culminate into a 3 and a half hour of grand Variety Special, simulcast across the four main channels (Channel 5, 8, Suria, and Vasantham) on New Year’s Eve. This variety special will encompass song and dance numbers, skits, as well as icons from all the main races in Singapore, bringing together the whole of Singapore to celebrate 50 years of Golden TV, as well as ushering in the New Year in 2014. Television in Singapore has come a long way from the single channel monochrome service that debuted in 1963. TV has gone colour, digital, HD, mobile, Out-of-Home, and Over-the-Top. It has covered the history of a nation for half a century, including Singapore’s separation from Malaysia just two years after its inception. Visit www.mediacorp.sg and http://xinmsn.com/tv50

DELIVERING THE PERSONALISED CONTENT EXPERIENCE

23–26 July 2013 SYDNEY EXHIBITION CENTRE DARLING HARBOUR

www.smpte.com.au 3500/24%$ "9

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