Content+Technology Asia March-April 2014

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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 MARCH / APRIL 2014

MEDIA + PRODUCTION + MANAGEMENT + DELIVERY

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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 1 MARCH / APRIL 2014

Also see C+T in PDF at www.content-technology.com

Cover Story – Shooting Through the Stratosphere

16 REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME 03 NEWS Jain Joins Turner APAC, MP & Silva

47 CLASSIFIEDS AND EVENTS

Enlist Valencia, Angie Lau Bloomberg Asia Lead Anchor

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FEATURES 10 NAB 2014 Convention Preview 16 ACQUISITION Shooting Through the Stratosphere, Sony Captures Mecha Movie, Panavision Digital Lenses

20 SPORTSCASTING Philippines TV5 Supports Lone Skater, Glasgow 2014 Diaries Chapter 7, Winter Olympics

26 NEWS OPERATIONS Nippon TV Selects

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TVUPack, 4K Video Wall from Orad, Kompas TV Upgrades with GV Stratus

34 AUDIO Jünger Sales Success in China, DVS Clipster on The Hobbit, Avid Updates at NAMM

38 MEDIA IN THE CLOUD LTFS – Putting the Archive at the Heart of Content Management, Fujifilm LTO Hits 100M

41 TRANSMISSION Phoenix Satellite TV on AsiaSat, Mongolia Launches T-DMB, TV Fights Back - HbbTV

30 POST-PRODUCTION cineSync Used for Gravity, Mistika Used for The Hobbit, New Io 4K from AJA

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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

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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.

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

We’re Not Appy at C+T...

By Phil Sandberg

BY NOW, YOU’LL HAVE NOTICED that the C+T web site has a brand new

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look. Undertaken by Wide Open Media, it is based on a “responsive design” template. What this means is that in most cases (and I say “most” because nothing is 100% on the Internet), the content and layout will automatically adapt itself to the screen size and device of the end user.

solu APAC

+ The need for ongoing investment to keep up with operating system changes, often across different devices;

Tellingly, a former colleague of mine polled the advertisers and agencies who book into his magazine as to how many of them were working on creative to run in iPad or tablet-based publications. The total, none.

At C+T, we have a lot of discussion about reducing “points of resistance”, i.e., those points in the engagement process where one barrier or another leads to reader churn. Whether it is the advertiser-supported, free, printed magazine that turns up on your desk, or the weekly email in the InBox that points to our new responsive web site, we believe in making that connection between readers and content, and readers and advertisers, as open and hassle-free as possible.

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We also kept a watch on our counterparts at other publishing companies noting the different approaches and mixed results of their entries into the app realm. Issues of demonstrated nominal return on investment and readership figures aside, the app approach is plagued by:

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It would be like a free-to-air broadcaster paying royalties from ad revenue to a transmitter builder, or a pay TV operator giving a fibre optic cable manufacturer an ongoing slice of subscriptions.

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Then there were developers who would build you a proprietary app and also expect a slice of your ongoing download revenue - after Apple had taken its bite.

+ The search process for apps largely takes place within the app stores themselves, so you need potential new readers to be trawling the app stores for content like yours and not the latest Angry Birds update (I know that’s so 2010, but you get the picture).

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To get your app on Apple’s app store (this was prior to the rise of Android), you had to pay Apple its fee before it went through their approval process and then, if you were charging for downloads, also forego about 30% of that price to Steve Jobs’ fruit empire.

+ The fact that in-app content is not indexed by search engines, thus making it impossible to for anyone to find your content, especially new readers; and

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Some years ago here at Content+Technology we began playing around with a number of phone app authoring platforms. Mostly drag and drop using the browser as a UI, they allowed you to bring in RSS feeds from a website, bring in your YouTube channel and badge it all with a logo.

both time and motivation to undertake this;

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What this enables is free and immediate access to our content to anyone who wants it on whatever device they want to use. There are no downloads, no updates and nothing for the reader to think about. Combined with our weekly email newsletter (sign up here), it is a powerfully simple means of connecting our readers with content and advertisers.

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Open standards have served the industry we serve very well. You buy a TV or radio, pay TV subscription or cinema ticket and you don’t have to think too much about how you get the content. You just enjoy it. We’d like to think we’ve learnt something from this approach and we look forward to your feedback.

Thanks for Reading

+ The certainty that 100% of your print readership will not transition to a digital-only magazine app, and that those who do will not all use the same type of device; + The certainty that you will lose readers along the way because you are pushing responsibility for distribution onto them and they have to have

Phil Sandberg Editor/Publisher papers@broadcastpapers.com T: +61-(0)2-9211 8205

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NEWS + PEOPLE For the latest news visit www.content-technology.com

ATEME Opens New Regional Office in Singapore ATEME, THE FRENCH DEVELOPER of advanced video compression solutions for the broadcast industry, has announced the opening of a new APAC regional office in Singapore.

Since establishing an office in Seoul two years ago, the company says it has seen tremendous growth in its customer base in the region and decided to establish a second ATEME anchor point in the Asia Pacific, with a business focus on South-Asia, Greater China and the Indian Subcontinent. The Singapore regional office is located in the Octagon building on Cecil Street.

“The opening of the second office in Singapore testifies to ATEME’s willingness to better serve its customers, partners and prospects by offering a local sales and technical presence at the highest level. It proves our commitment to deliver our high performance video solution around the world,” says Emmanuel Boureau, VP Sales with ATEME. “We are extremely excited to be a part of ATEME here in Singapore and contribute in the development and growth of ATEMEís encoding solutions deployed through the Asia Pacific Region,” says Lau Chee Ban, ATEME APAC Regional Director.

The ATEME Singapore office is located at: The Octagon, 105 Cecil Street #07-01, Singapore 069534.

Tel: +65 3157 3100 Email: apac@ateme.com

Anevia Establishes New Office to Serve APAC and India ANEVIA HAS ANNOUNCED the establishment of a new office to promote the company’s activity in south east Asia. Located in Singapore, Anevia APAC is managed by Karlton Burn, Vice President, Asia Pacific & India, who joined the company recently with long experience of the broadcast and telecommunication business.

“We are seeing a lot of interest in convergence technologies throughout the APAC area,” Karlton Burn comments. “Anevia offers an excellent range of OTT, video streaming and video-on-demand products, all designed for easy integration into existing broadcast and telco infrastructure. My role is to expand our customer base and develop the companyís visibility in the APAC and Indian markets.”

Karlton Burn has long specialised in promoting high-technology companies in the Asia-Pacific region. He commenced his broadcast industry career at Tyne Video in 1982, rising from graduate entrant to General Manager within six years. His most recent role was Managing Director APAC of International Datacasting Pte in Singapore.

Visit www.anevia.com

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NEWS + PEOPLE

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NEWS + PEOPLE

MP & Silva Enlists Valencia for Development SPORTS MEDIA COMPANY MP & Silva has announced the appointment of Rene Valencia for the newly created role as Vice President, Business Development and Sponsorship.

Rene will be responsible for overseeing the growth and development of the Olympic Council of Asia marketing programme, in addition to developing and implementing growth opportunities for MP & Silva’s Asia business. Rene will be based at MP and Silva’s Asia Pacific office in Singapore, and report directly to Peter Hutton, Joint-CEO of MP & Silva, and Mark Gorski, Senior Vice President, International Corporate Development and Head of Partnerships.

Rene’s appointment bolsters MP & Silva’s focus on further growth in Asia in exploring new commercial and sponsorship opportunities. MP & Silva has built a strong

reputation as a leading sports media rights agency with an extensive portfolio of major properties, and have recently expanded its business to production, sponsorship and new projects such as media advisory partnerships in co-operation with the Olympic Council of Asia, Formula E and most recently the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Asia Pacific Limited as Senior Vice President – Finance, Asia Pacific.

Most recently CFO and Head of Corporate Services at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, Jain takes on the role of Turner head of finance for the Asia Pacific region. He will lead Turner’s financial growth planning and assisting regional management to maximise financial results across the full portfolio of Turner’s kids, news and general entertainment brands, and businesses in the region.

Jain will have a range of responsibilities which includes forecasting, budgeting and long range planning, defining and managing the achievement of goals, and providing financial analysis and counsel to all business heads.

Ray Hutton EVP & CFO, Turner Broadcasting System International said, “Shitiz has more than

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“We are extremely pleased to have someone with Rene’s solid experience, and look forward to leveraging on many of his proven skill-sets and relationships to continue our success across the region,” said Peter Said Hutton.

Rene has more than a decade of experience in international sports marketing and rights management, and joins MP & Silva from the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he worked as a Director of International

Jain Joins Turner Asia Pacific as SVP Finance SHITIZ JAIN HAS JOINED Turner International

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20 years of international financial management experience which we’re delighted to harness for this critical role within one of Turner’s most important regional operations. His track record in delivering growth, and his evident commercial acumen and leadership skills, make him an ideal fit with Turner’s growth philosophy.”

Jain joins Turner in Hong Kong after nearly 15 years at Discovery in India and Singapore, where his success in forging strong client relationships and creating new revenue opportunities, drove strong revenue and EBITDA growth. Prior to joining Discovery Networks, Jain served in a variety of financial, operating and strategic roles with Cargill Foods, Fujitsu ICIM and Phoenix Industries.

Visit www.turner.com

Development in the New York headquarters after spending time at NBA Asia in Hong Kong, growing the NBA’s business throughout Asia.

Visit www.mpsilva.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

Lau as lead anchor for its daily morning business news programme, which will be re-launched as “First Up with Angie Lau” in February.

“Angie has the perfect blend of deep roots in Asia, a great personality and strong international journalism experience,” said Paul Yurisich, Head of News and Programming for Bloomberg TV Asia.

Angie Lau joins established anchor Rishaad Salamat as well as Bloomberg Television’s roster of personalities including Zeb Eckert, Mia Saini, John Dawson and David Ingles in Hong Kong,

SpotXchange Adds Selva for SE Asia VIDEO ADVERTISING PLATFORM SpotXchange, Inc., has announced the appointment of Sujen Selva as Regional Manager, Southeast Asia.

In the newly created role, Selva will be responsible for leading SpotXchange’s efforts in Southeast Asia and supporting both publisher and advertiser relations in the region. Based in Singapore, Selva will report to Matt Von der Muhll, MD for SpotXchange, Asia Pacific.

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“I am thrilled to work with SpotXchange at a time when digital video advertising is growing rapidly in the Asia Pacific region,” said Selva.

Visit www.spotxchange.com

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Stephen Engle in Beijing and Haslinda Amin in Singapore.

Angie joined Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong from the Chicago bureau and has spent most of her broadcast career in Canada and the United States.

“As Asia continues to move and influence global markets, it is truly the place to be,” said Angie Lau. “I am excited to be back at the heart of some of the biggest business stories, reporting from Asia on Asia, and to be part of one of the most innovative media organisations today.”

Visit www.bloomberg.com/tv

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Angel TV India Spreads its Wings with Harris Broadcast ANGEL TV, A CHRISTIAN broadcast service based in Chennai, India,

Brand New Media Selects SoftCast for Singapore Broadcast Facility BRAND NEW MEDIA has selected SoftCast from Ideal Systems for

has implemented a channel playout solution from Harris Broadcast, which has allowed it to quadruple its channel offerings in half the rack space.

multichannel automation, playout, and media asset management in its new playout facility in Singapore. Brand New Media is a global digital media company that operates multiple TV channels from its broadcast operations and TV studios in Australia, Singapore, the United States, and Europe.

“We wanted to reach a wider audience, yet we required a solution that not only fit our resources today but was also scalable for the future,” said Sundar Selvaraj, CMD of Angel TV. “We analysed many potential solutions, and it was clear that Versio was the right choice for us.”

The SoftCast based solution supplied and built by Ideal Systems features SCAutoPlay for multichannel automation and 24x7 playout of channels. These channels are distributed internationally and locally to multiple platforms and television operators, and to OTT and VOD delivery platforms.

Angel TV was an existing user of Harris Broadcast playout technology, including ADC automation and Nexio servers, for its two-channel service. Versio has allowed Angel TV to grow from delivering two channels to eight, while halving the required space for equipment. To enable processing and compression for distribution of their content, the various channel outputs are encoded and delivered using the Selenio media convergence platform.

The new solution is centrally managed and controlled by the SoftCast SCMAM media asset management system. SC-MAM manages various content workflows including ingest, quality control, and EPG. It also manages the central storage system, a high bandwidth GraniteSTOR TitaniumZ from Small Tree Communications. SC-MAM also imports the channel playlists and is natively integrated with SC-AutoPlay channel automation for playout of video, audio, and graphics through SC-AutoPlay channel-in-a-box.

“We worked diligently with our partner Primetech to win this contract, and were pleased that our strong relationship with Angel TV, our advanced technology and our remarkable support in India were the deciding factors,” said Joe Khodeir, senior vice president for Asia at Harris Broadcast.

“Our SoftCast media asset management system dramatically reduces lead times and shipping costs for system implementation through our direct-tosite software downloads,” said Sing Yee Lee, product manager for SoftCast at Ideal Systems. “In addition, our scalable platform allows for channel expansion, and robust 4K functionality provides future proofing for both SoftCast and GraniteSTOR TitaniumZ.”

Visit www.harrisbroadcast.com

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NEWS + PEOPLE

ASIA NEWS CHINA IMAX CORPORATION has announced that its network of IMAX theatres in China enjoyed its biggest single box-office opening day on Friday, Jan. 31, the first day of the Chinese New Year, grossing $1.8 million across 140 screens. Driven by the stellar performance of The Monkey King, Chinese IMAX theatres bested their previous single-day mark of $1.5 million, established in 2013 with the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3.

Visit www.imax.com

INDIA COINCIDING WITH the near launch of several new private radio stations in India’s 94.3 MY FM, technical direction of the company has decided to renew its central facilities in New Delhi, moving one complete radio studio to digital over new AEQ Forum compact digital audio mixer with 12-faders control surface configuration.

The project has been coordinated by MyFM Technical Manager, Sanjay Pratap Singh, with collaboration from Falcon Technologies, and AEQ-Madrid Technical Support Service.

Visit www.aeq.eu

THAILAND SES HAS ANNOUNCED that Thailand’s IPMTV is leasing additional capacity and extending its current capacity contract beyond 10 years. The broadcaster will also migrate from SES’ NSS-6 satellite to the newly-launched SES-8 satellite.

SES-8 was successfully launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 3 December 2013, and will be co-located with NSS-6 at the prime orbital location of 95 degrees East.

Visit www.ses.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

MALAYSIA ETERE HAS ANNOUNCED that ABN (Asian Broadcasting Network) has confirmed ETERE as the core system for the management of its digital cable television offerings, which now includes a new channel. The implementation of a second channel comes as result of the success of the first channel, where the MERP approach has demonstrated to be the best ABN could have in terms of speed and efficiency.

Visit www.etere.eu

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MEDIACORP HAS ANNOUNCED that all of its seven free-to-air TV channels will be broadcast in digital (DVB-T2 format). In addition, four out of the seven channels – Channel 5, Channel 8, Suria & Vasantham – will be broadcast in High Definition (HD) while the remaining three channels – Channel NewsAsia, Channel U and okto – will be upgraded to HD by 2016.

Visit www.mediacorp.sg

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ENVIVIO HAS ANNOUNCED that Envivio Muse encoders and Envivio Halo network media processors (NMP) have been deployed

by Omni for live streaming of premium content as part of the new blink TV service in the Philippines. The recently launched over-thetop (OTT) video service offers Hollywood blockbuster films, TV shows and other premium content to viewers in the Philippines via a subscription or a la carte model for viewing on PCs, tablets and mobile phones.

Visit www.envivio.com

INDONESIA AUSTRALIAN TELCO Telstra and Telkom Indonesia have signed a non binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a new joint venture to provide network services in South East Asia. Under the terms of the MoU, the proposed joint venture will be the exclusive provider of Network Applications and Services (NAS) in Indonesia for Telstra and Telkom Indonesia.

NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA THE PANEL CONDUCTING the costbenefit analysis and review of regulatory arrangements for Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) has released a Regulatory Issues Framing Paper to seek views from industry and the public on the structure and regulatory environment for Australia’s future broadband market. The panel is seeking initial views on industry structure, the role of NBN Co, and regulatory settings following migration to the NBN.

SKY, THE LEADING pay television service in New Zealand, recently went through a major technology upgrade which saw Magna Systems and Engineering supply and install the largest router of its kind in the southern hemisphere at SKY’s Auckland headquarters.

SKY purchased an NV8576-Plus router populated to 876×876 HD-SDI, an NV5128 populated with 64 RS422, data ports and 32×32 timecode, an NV8144 populated with 72×72 DH-SDI for lab use, two NV967 dual redundant NV9000 control systems and multiple NV9462 LCD control panels.

Visit www.magnasys.tv

NEWS + PEOPLE

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NEWS + PEOPLE

Sing Yee Lee Joins SoftCast Product Team IDEAL SYSTEMS IS CONTINUING to build out its SoftCast product team with the addition of Sing Yee Lee as SoftCast Product Manager for South East Asia. Based out of Ideal Systems Singapore office, Sing Yee will be responsible for market development in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar and The Philippines.

A highly experienced broadcast professional, Sing Yee brings a wealth of broadcast engineering experience to Ideal’s SoftCast team. Sing Yee has worked on broadcast and news room projects in Singapore at MediaCorp, StarHub and GlobeCast, in Malaysia at Astro, Astro Awani News, Astro Arena Sports, RTM and Al Jazeera International and further afield on projects in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Sing Yee has a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology (Hons) from the University of Malaya and a Major in Multimedia. Sing Yee will be leading the team showcasing the SoftCast ecosystem of broadcast software at the upcoming Asia Pacific Broadcast Union Digital Symposium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 4th to 7th on the Ideal Systems booth.

Launched in January by Ideal Systems, SoftCast is an all new software based broadcast technology ecosystem, with modules from News, to MAM to Automation to Playout. Uniquely, all of the SoftCast modules can be bought and downloaded directly from the Internet via Ideal Systems new Ideal Direct web store. The modules are designed to run on standard Dell computers making SoftCast solutions highly cost effective and easy to install and commission.

Visit www.idealsys.com and www.softcast-technology.com

Nic van Zwanenberg Channel Director of ITV Choice ITV STUDIOS GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT has announced Nic van Zwanenberg has been appointed Channel Director, ITV Choice.

Reporting to SVP, ITVS Global Entertainment, Asia Pacific, Augustus Dulgaro, van Zwanenberg is based in Hong Kong. He will lead the existing team and drive the development of the international channel business.

Nic van Zwanenberg has previously held a number of senior positions in the industry including Senior Director, Affiliate and Multimedia Sales at ESPN STAR Sports then Fox Sports for four years from 2009; Commercial Manger and Director at BBC and BBC Worldwide for 15 years up until 2009; Sales Executive at Granada LWT International and Head of Acquisitions at Spafax Airline Network between 1987 and 1992.

Augustus Dulgaro said, “I am delighted we have attracted such an exceptional candidate to the post. Nic is a proven leader, a focused strategist with an impeccable track record and I’m sure he will continue to grow and enhance our international channel business.”

NEWS + PEOPLE

In addition, Nic has held a number of other freelance consultancy roles and has been a Board member of CASBAA and an active contributor to the Association’s development over the past 10 years. He gained his B.Sc in Business Administration, International Marketing at the University of Bath in the UK. Nic said, “This is a very exciting time be joining ITVS Global Entertainment. The team has achieved remarkable success in the last few years and there is now a real opportunity to consolidate and grow these achievements – I’m greatly looking forward to getting started.”

Visit www.itv-choice.com

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BaoShinn Appoints New CTO

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BAOSHINN CORPORATION (OTCQB: BHNN), announced that its

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wholly owned subsidiary Syndicore Asia Limited (SAL), has appointed Mr. Ritesh Jha, as the Company’s new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

In his capacity as CTO, Mr. Jha will be responsible for assisting the company to develop its digital sports video media distribution capabilities, content management solutions, website administration and development and general technology strategy. Mr. Jha holds a Bachelor of Computer Science and Masters of Computer Science and Information Technology from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

He has a strong background in software development, analysis, design and coding skills.

SAL is a provider of digital sports video media in a cloud-based, multimedia conduit serving a growing, global community of content creators, news outlets and leading brands. Sydicore Asia Limited will be a provider of syndicated digital sports video media to news organisations in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, Sydicore Asia Limited plans to aggregate content from the Asia Pacific region and provide it to news organisations around the world.

The Company also announced the engagement of Parkside Communications Inc. to assist with its corporate communication and investor relations activities.

Said Sean Webster, CEO of BaoShinn, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Jha to the Company and look forward to having his technological expertise as a valuable addition as we develop our online presence, and move the company forward in the hopes of becoming a leading digital sports video media distribution provider in the Asia Pacific region. We also welcome working with Parkside Communications to assist us with our corporate communications, investor relations and generally increasing the Company’s exposure to the investment community.”

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iWedia Welcomes Giora Golan as VP Business Development IWEDIA, A LEADING PROVIDER of software solutions for TV devices, announced it has appointed Giora Golan as VP Business Development in charge of Asia and China, confirming its commitment to continuing its expansion in the region.

Located in Haifa, Israel, Giora Golan is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years experience working in the consumer electronics market. He has held senior engineering and marketing positions at SoC makers Zoran and CSR. He was based in China for the last three years.

Hans-Jürgen Désor, CEO of iWedia, said, “I warmly welcome Giora on board.

He is a well known talented player in the digital TV industry and his hire confirms our commitment to becoming a major player in the Asian region.”

“He will be focusing on continued reinforcement of our presence in China and our capacity to accompany our Chinese customers with a wide range of locally-delivered professional services. We have had positive feedback on our technologies in China where we already have a consistent base of existing customers, and we wish to accelerate our deployment on both Chinese domestic and export markets,” he added.

Giora said, “Asia and China represent a huge opportunity for iWedia and I am delighted to be joining the company to play a part in expanding its presence in the region.”

Visit www.iwedia.com

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Saha to Leave Turner Asia Pacific SUNNY SAHA, SVP and MD of Entertainment Networks for Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific is to leave the companyat the end of February.

Gerhard Zeiler, President of Turner Broadcasting System International, said, “Turner owes Sunny a great debt of gratitude. With passion and great professionalism, Sunny has safely guided Turner’s Southeast Asia Pacific business and its kids networks in Asia Pacific through a period of rapid change as a thoughtful business leader and strategic mind.”

Sunny Saha said, “Turner is set for new growth. At the same time, I am looking for new challenges. Leaving on a high note ensures that the transition will be handled smoothly for all our employees and business partners. I am grateful for the time I have had at Turner, and for the support I’ve always received from so many great colleagues.”

Since joining Turner in September 2000, Sunny Saha has led, in turn, advertising sales and research for India & South Asia; the Asia Pacific regional ad sales, promotional licensing, marketing, interactive and research teams; all kids and entertainment networks across Asia Pacific; and most recently the company’s business for Southeast Asia Pacific. He has also continued to have strategic oversight of Turner’s kids businesses across the Asia Pacific region.

He has launched several TV channels, built five kids brands in the Asia Pacific region, and expanded Turner’s portfolio by developing general entertainment brands in India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. In an increasingly competitive environment, he has managed culturally diverse teams, orchestrated strategic partnerships and accelerated new sources of licensing and digital revenues. Sunny Saha currently acts as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Turner’s Southeast Asia Pacific business, and General Manager of its kids networks throughout Asia Pacific.

Visit www.turner.com

i-CABLE Communications Appoint New Director I-CABLE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED has announce that Mr. Tang, Sing Ming Sherman has been appointed as an independent nonexecutive director (INED) of the Company effective from 1 January 2014.

Mr. Tang, aged 56, is chairman and chief executive officer of Epicurean and Company, Limited, a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. He holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and a degree of Doctor in Medicine from the University of Southern California. Mr. Tang is a seasoned entrepreneur in the hospitality industry and currently owns a well-established management and consultancy group in Hong Kong which creates and operates a wide variety of food and beverage concepts. He has over 20 years experience in investment and operation of restaurants, cafes and bars.

Save as disclosed above, Mr. Tang does not presently and did not in the past three years hold any directorship in any other listed company. Mr. Tang does not have any relationship with any director, senior management or any substantial or controlling shareholder of the Company, and he does not have any interest (within the meaning of Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance) in any securities of the Company. Mr. Tang will receive from the Company a director’s fee at the standard rate of HK$60,000 per annum payable to all directors of the Company, including INEDs. In accordance with the provisions of the Company’s articles of association, Mr. Tang will hold office until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in or about June 2014.

Visit www.i-cablecomm.com

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Wohler Appoints Maroun APAC Director of Sales for RadiantGrid IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING DEMAND for its RadiantGrid solutions

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“Jhonny is a dynamic and energetic part of Wohler’s global sales team, and I look forward to working more closely with him as we address rapidly rising interest in RadiantGrid solutions from customers in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Craig Newbury, vice president of sales for the Wohler RadiantGrid business line. “This market holds great promise for flexible file-based processing solutions.

Jhonny’s understanding of broadcasters’ technical requirements and his extensive network of customer relationships will be invaluable as we move to extend RadiantGrid awareness and adoption.”

Maroun has held sales management positions with Wohler since 2011.

In his new role within the company’s APAC operations, Maroun will be responsible for growing new business for RadiantGrid products in the region, as well as for increasing the range and breadth of the company’s channel partner relationships.

Visit www.wohler.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

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worldwide, Wohler Technologies has announced the shift of Jhonny Maroun to the new role of APAC director of sales for the RadiantGrid business line.

His appointment complements that of Andy Stanton as head of sales for Wohler’s monitoring product line in the Asia-Pacific region, assuring complete regional sales and support for the full Wohler portfolio.

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2014 PREVIEW

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US FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to Address 2014 NAB Show US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler will provide the “FCC Keynote” at the 2014 NAB Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 8, 9:00-10:00 a.m. The keynote is expected to provide insight into the Chairman’s views on broadcasting and what his expectations are on the regulatory front in the coming years.

“Broadcasting has a lot at stake when it comes to actions taken by the FCC,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “We look forward to hearing from Chairman Wheeler about his views on spectrum auctions, ownership regulation and any number of issues shaping our industry.”

Tom Wheeler became the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission

on November 4, 2013. He was appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.

For over three decades, Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as a policy expert, an advocate, and a businessman. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and The Wireless Hall of Fame.

MARK RAMBERG, GENERAL MANAGER,

NAB SHOW 2014 PREVIEW

The Media Management in the Cloud

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NEP’s CTO to Present ‘The Future of Live Sports Production’ GEORGE HOOVER, chief technology officer with global production services company NEP, will present a session at the 2014 NAB Show’s Broadcast Engineering Conference. The session, titled “The Future of Live Sports Production,” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, at 11 a.m., in room S227 of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The presentation is part of the conference’s Next-Generation Sports Production and Delivery track.

Media and Entertainment, Amazon Web Services, will keynote the 2014 NAB Show Media Management in the Cloud Conference on Tuesday, April 8 in Las Vegas. NAB Show is the annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage and distribute entertainment across all platforms.

At Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ramberg’s team focuses on how the media industry can leverage the AWS cloud for media storage, processing and distribution. Ramberg has held various technical, business and leadership roles for both startup and Fortune 100 software companies. Throughout his career, he has used his passion for digital media technology to influence the media industry.

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Visit www.nabshow.com

Amazon Web Services to Address Media Management in the Cloud

Ramberg’s keynote will address how cloud services have enabled media and entertainment companies to address the challenges and complexity of offering consumers content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. He will also explore how cloud services can be leveraged to meet ever increasing infrastructure demands of upstream workflow scenarios, such as film production and broadcast. In addition, he will discuss insights and trends that will lead to increased efficiency and collapsing cost structures for the media industry.

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Conference is produced in partnership with the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California. Held April 8-9 and sponsored by Rackspace Hosting (platinum) and Aspera (silver), it will provide an overview of how cloud-based solutions positively impact each stage of content distribution, including production, delivery and storage. The program draws media professionals involved in content creation, software applications, film distribution, production and post-production.

Visit www.nabshow.com

Hoover’s presentation will describe the latest technology breakthroughs and innovations in mobile broadcasting vehicle design such as full 1080p functionality, 100-percent fiber optic connectivity, ultra-high-capacity routers, fully digital recording workflows, and 16-channel embedded audio. The presentation will also examine the implications of I/P, or packetized video routing, in the live multicamera remote environment, as well as new materials and construction techniques that result in trucks that are roomier, stronger, and lighter. With a reputation for some of the industry’s highest production standards, producers working outside the studio are welcoming these innovations to help them take their picture and audio quality to new levels and boost their competitive advantage.

Hoover is a four-time Emmy Award winner and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2011. He is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

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NAB Gives Leg-Up to Start-Ups NAB SHOW ORGANISERS have announced the startups selected to participate in SPROCKIT 2014. These startup companies will collaborate with and present before influencers and decision-makers in media and entertainment at the 2014 NAB Show.

Now in its second year, SPROCKIT, a yearround program, will invite up to 30 companies to participate. A committee of industry experts reviewed a competitive pool of companies and selected the participating startups based on their potential to influence the media, entertainment and technology markets. Over the next several weeks, NAB Show will unveil additional selected startups.

The first 10 companies are: + AudioAir (www.audioair.com) creates captivating entertainment, advertising and engagement for patrons of establishments with TV screens allowing users to listen, watch and interact on their mobile device on or off premise. + Cognitive Networks (www.cognitivenetworks.

com) is a provider of real-time services that power Enhanced TV on Smart TVs, enabling viewers to receive increased engagement and interactions with TV content through their Smart TV. + ExciteM (www.excitem.tv), a self-serve platform enables broadcast stations to create custom interactive mobile and social experiences for their audiences in real-time. + http://theloop.com, a social marketplace website, allowing individuals and brands to showcase and deliver services, as well as monetize their online content. + www.mazdigital.com, a mobile publishing platform that empowers brands to create better user experiences by transforming their media properties into “mini” social networks. + Penthera (http://penthera.com) is a provider of intelligent portable video software solutions for TV networks and content distributors. + ShareRocket (www.sharerocket.com) is a social media ratings and audience solution that helps media companies and

SMPTE to Set the Standard at NAB WITH A FOCUS ON THE FUTURE of motion imaging and sound, the two-day 2014 NAB Show Technology Summit on Cinema (TSC), produced in partnership with SMPTE, will offer an in-depth global view of the current state and future of filmmaking innovation. Key topics will include 4K and beyond, 3D film conversion, the use of high frame rates, on-set workflows, distributed postproduction, laser projection, immersive sound, and next-generation cinema.

TSC sessions begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6. Each day will feature a series of six sessions that extend until 6 p.m.

Ideal for the studio, shop, or truck, SMPTE has released the CamWhite pocket chart, a consistent and reliable neutral white reference with a sturdy laminated surface. Enabling users to white-balance cameras to a scene’s primary light source with precision, CamWhite charts are a versatile tool for improving the production value of images – saving both time and money in post. The standard CamWhite chart measures 6.3 inches by 3.75 inches, but larger formats are available.

SMPTE will provide insight into the goals of the new Joint Task Force on File Formats and Media Interoperability, launched in February in cooperation with the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), and Association of

National Advertisers (ANA). Bringing together manufacturers, broadcasters, advertisers, ad agencies, and industry organisations serving the professional media market, the task force will gather and analyse requirements for a machinegenerated, machine-readable file interchange and delivery specification - including standardised and common structured metadata - for the professional media industry.

More than 100 committees and other SMPTE groups work on myriad technical topics to create, approve, revise, and remove standards for the industry, and this work is summarised quarterly in an outcome report highlighting the most recent developments. During the 2014 NAB Show, the Society will make the latest of these reports, the March Standards Outcome Report, available to attendees. The report serves as a quick reference source for active participants in standards work, as an update for SMPTE members unable to attend the “block” meetings that document progress, and as a resource for both members and nonmembers who wish to learn more about SMPTE standards.

broadcasters quantify their social media equity, benchmark against peers and turn that social market intelligence into actionable insights to drive success. + Tomorrowish (www.tomorrowish.com) is a social media DVR that syncs and curates a live social media TV experience for viewers where they can participate in real-time conversations about a show whether it’s live or after it’s already aired. + Wayin (www.wayin.com) provides real-time intelligence into how viewers engage with TV programming and gives producers creative freedom to easily display social content within their own broadcast production workflow. + WebTuner (www.webtuner.tv) brings Broadband to television, and with its next generation hardware, innovative content guide, addressable and interactive advertising platform, it creates a unique consumer experience advancing industry growth and creativity.

Visit http://sprockitglory.com

4K Zone Coming to the 2014 NAB Show INSIGHT MEDIA AND NAB SHOW have announced a partnership to produce the 4K Zone at the 2014 NAB Show in April. The 4K Zone will be located in the North Hall and consist of exhibits, special structured demo areas and a stage for educational presentations about the 4K/Ultra High Definition (UHD) supply chain. The 4K Zone will be open during regular Exhibit Hall hours on all four days of the Show (April 7-10, 2014).

“At the 2013 NAB Show, 4K was the most widely-covered and talked-about technology trends of the show,” said NAB Executive Vice President, Conventions and Business Operations, Chris Brown. “I expect 2014 to be no different, which is why our partnership with Insight Media is particularly timely and relevant.

The 4K Zone, with its exhibits and educational offering, is sure to be a popular destination for attendees.”

There will be four key focus areas for the pavilion:

SMPTE is celebrating its centennial in 2016, and the Society has extended its Centennial Predictthe-Future Contest through the 2014 NAB Show’s Technology Summit on Cinema. Contest participants who correctly predict the state of television and cinema technology in 2016 will be recognised during the SMPTE Centennial event in 2016. Further details are available at www.smpte.org/100-years.

+ 4K Acquisition;

Visit www.smpte.org

Visit www.nabshow.com

+ 4K Transport; + 4K Edit and Post; and + 4K in the Home The 4K Zone will also present structured demos, featuring multiple companies presenting the same content under uniform presentation conditions and with common objectives.

NAB SHOW 2014 PREVIEW

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NAB SHOW 2014 PREVIEW

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NAB SHOW 2014 PREVIEW

HuffPost Founding Editor at Disruptive Media Conference

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ROY SEKOFF, founding editor of The Huffington Post and president and co-creator of HuffPost Live, will give the keynote address at the 2014 NAB Show Disruptive Media Conference on Wednesday, April 9 in Las Vegas.

NAB Show is the annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage and distribute entertainment across all platforms.

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Sekoff’s keynote will address how the rise of online video and viewers’ growing desire to engage with content is significantly impacting programming, distribution and advertising in media and entertainment.

As president and co-creator, Sekoff oversees all aspects of development, production and programming of HuffPost Live. The network uses HuffPost stories, editors, reporters and bloggers

to live-stream eight hours of original live programming, five days a week, available online, on mobile devices and on-demand. Highlights are shown overnight and on weekends.

Before helping to launch HuffPost and HuffPost Live, Sekoff was a writer and on-air correspondent for Michael Moore’s Emmywinning humorous newsmagazine “TV Nation.” His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Village Voice and The London Times. Sekoff is a frequent guest on a wide-range of TV and radio shows, including MSNBC and Fox News.

The Disruptive Media Conference, produced in partnership with Digital Media Wire, gathers professionals who oversee the digital and interactive divisions within their companies to explore developments in online video, mobile

and branded entertainment.

Held April 9-10, the program covers the impact of disruptive media and more traditional OTT technologies on business models for distribution and consumer engagement. New programming partners, Parks Associates and Mobile World Congress, will curate sessions around “disruptors” in the mobile and broadband space.

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Visit www.nabshow.com

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LIVEU (Booth SU8513), the developer of AT NAB 2014, on booth SU8505, AmberFin, a leading developer of file-based media ingest, transcoding and quality control solutions for owners, broadcasters, sports organizations and post-production houses, will unveil version 10 of its iCR software.

The new version will include support for new codecs and wrappers, new enterprise class-features, a new option for 2:3 adaptive cadence correction and enhancements to UQC, AmberFin’s Unified Quality Control platform.

NAB SHOW 2014 PREVIEW

Designed to further facilitate the digitization and transformation of new and archived content in modern file-based workflows, iCR version 10 will feature more robust, resilient and enterprise-ready transcoding, more wrappers for broadcast workflows (QT ref), more codecs for streaming workflows (webM) and archive conversion workflows (SStP). iCR’s enterprise-class features enable the creation of transcode farms scalable to many nodes while ensuring faulttolerant operations. The iCR Transcode Farm Controller provides a single, reliable, redundant interface. Jobs managed by the controller continually manage the system architecture to achieve the levels of redundancy and throughput required by each individual application. This is designed to combine high throughput with advanced system functionality to deliver great picture and sound quality, while simultaneously generating cost savings through more versatile network licensing capabilities.

Visitors to the AmberFin booth will also be able to see the all new iCR WebFace, an enterprise web-based transcoding interface that will allow users to manage their transcoding jobs from a browser.

Version 10 of iCR will also feature a new option for 2:3 Advanced Adaptive Cadence correction that will allow users to automatically correct broken 2:3 cadence, generating clean blend-free outputs.

Version 10 of iCR also includes enhancements to UQC offering a better user experience on the UQC timeline and new function-specific plug-ins. AmberFin’s Unified Quality Control (UQC) represents a unique approach to file-based media quality control since it combines multiple tools for baseband checks during tape ingest, filebased QC after ingest, and overall operatorcontrolled QC, including annotation and mark-up.

Now with a palette of ten different vendors and systems –including Interra Systems, Digimetrics, and Tektronix — UQC users are able to mix and match tools to create the optimum QC environment for their needs.

New to the UQC ecosystem is Nexidia QC, a software tool that automates the verification of closed caption and video description, closed caption alignment, and language identification in broadcast and IP workflows.

As part of the AmberFin Academy, visitors to the AmberFin booth will be able to attend a series of live educational presentations covering a variety of topics including: “How to make the best progressive pictures” “Enterprise transcoding – how to get great content without breaking the bank” “UQC – using standards, multiple tools and AmberFin to get the best QC ROI in the industry” Visit www.amberfin.com

portable live video acquisition, contribution and management solutions, will demonstrate its complete range of bonded 3G/4G uplink solutions for broadcast and online media.

This includes LiveU’s new professional-grade LU500 backpack, weighing 1 kg, based on LiveU’s fourth-generation patented bonding algorithms and powered by LiveU’s multiprocessor video encoding engine.

LiveU will be presenting LiveU Central, its central management system that allows full control and monitoring of the entire ecosystem and content via any browser-supported device.

Also on show will be LiveU’s mobile application for smartphones and tablets, the LU-Smart with its handheld Smart Grip; LiveU’s Xtender external antenna solution for extreme scenarios; and hybrid solutions with microwave and satellite technologies.

Visit www.liveu.tv

Photon Beard Goes Light Blonde for NAB PHOTON BEARD, the UK lighting solutions specialists for broadcast, film and video will officially launch “Platinum Blonde”, the company’s first HMI-focusable floodlight, at NAB 2014.

Platinum Blonde is a highly energy-efficient 1200W HMI linear lamp, provided in open face format. It is ideal for any application where raw output is required. Because it only draws 1200W, Platinum Blonde can be powered from any domestic supply while also being highly suitable as a generator supply for mobile applications.

Photon Beard will also feature a selection of lighting solutions from its complete range.

Visit www.photonbeard.com

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Aframe Moves Production from Desktop to the Cloud AT NAB 2014, Aframe [Booth SL14209] will

New features include:

launch the next generation of its cloud video platform, Aframe 3.0, including a new desktop app offering automated media movement workflows, custom transcoding technology, an HTML5 player for precision control ahead of the edit and asset management features that save immense time and hassle in broadcast video production.

+ A desktop app with smart upload technology that enables Aframe users to save time and hassle in uploading and distributing files out. The app automatically detects the best connectivity settings before sending the clips to Aframe where it automatically transcodes them to a viewing copy. Users can then configure the app to automatically push the clips to other users’ desktops.

Aframe 3.0 makes news & sports as well as media & entertainment professionals more productive and helps them leverage existing on-premise assets more efficiently with the peace of mind that assets are fully under control and secure.

+ Automatic transcoding features including automatic transcoding to a house format or custom transcoding per clip that mean less effort spent transcoding everything to be used, and less expense on transcoding tools.

+ Expanded access controls and refined permission features that provide a “mission control” administrator view, enabling easier management across cost centres and more fluid asset management. With more adaptable user settings and granular permission structure, Aframe provides added peace of mind against potentially damaging incidents. + New HTML5 Player – faster, frame accurate and universally compatible for faster footage review even on smartphones and tablets that expedites the organisation of vast amounts of video.

Visit www.aframe.com.

Pixel Power Simplifies Workflows AT ITS 26TH CONSECUTIVE NAB, Pixel Power will showcase how its long graphics heritage.

Highlights for NAB 2014 will include: Pixel Factory – Pixel Power’s new server-based implementation of its world-class graphics engine is intended to support today’s filebased operations. It is an ideal solution for adding extra graphics capability to support needs such as Quality Control, Web Delivery and post production, or to enhance program material and add graphics overlays for playout and streaming applications. Integrated Gallium workflow management provides the scheduling, asset management and workflow automation needed to optimally manage multiple rendering devices.

Pixel OnDemand – a first-of-its-kind, softwareonly graphics solution that enables a media company to break free from traditional CAPEX infrastructure and its cycles of depreciation.

Pixel OnDemand gives media companies the flexibility to pay for the rendering time they actually need rather than spend on unused capacity. Pixel OnDemand is provided as an easily deployed software package that runs on standard IT servers, making it perfect to meet the needs of nonlinear, store-and-play content

delivery operations such as IPTV channels, video on demand services, mobile content, news operations, and second screen viewing applications. Output is a pixel perfect match to that of Pixel Power hardware products.

Gallium – Pixel Power’s highly integrated and scalable scheduling, asset management and automation system provides the intelligence to build a variety of playout solutions using Pixel Power output devices for file, IP or SDI domains. It’s ideal for playout facilities that need to implement automated control of the company’s transmission devices for graphics or a complete channel playout.

ChannelMaster – Pixel Power’s complete integrated playout system is the only channel-in-a-box system backed by 25 years’ graphics know-how. ChannelMaster reduces the traditional playout signal path—storage, DVE, audio, subtitling, social media support, master control switcher for live feed and long-form video and graphics—to a single system that doesn’t cut corners when it comes to delivering a compelling look that appeals to audiences and advertisers.

Newsroom – Pixel Power brings efficiency and optimisation to newsrooms by integrating graphics throughout the entire workflow, from

production through distribution. Graphics assets are accessible within any newsroom computer system and templates can easily be populated by staff or through automation, and can then be added to the rundown for playout. Data sources, from election data to crowd-sourced content via social media, are handled as an integral part of newsroom production, allowing for easy integration with news content and moderation. Operators have complete control over playout with Pixel Power Rundown Manager and Control Center making it easy to drive multiple Clarity or LogoVision graphics systems to air.

Pixel Promo – Pixel Power’s fully automated branding and promotion software eliminates the hurdles and lowers the cost to delivering strong branding and dynamic, accurate promos to air. From pre-programmed thematic channels to fully live environments, Pixel Promo ensures brand overlays are consistently and properly delivered. Graphics templates for promos are populated automatically, moments before air, using a channel’s live schedule information. Live versioning and cross promotion is effortless across any number of channels with Pixel Promo.

Visit www.pixelpower.com

Artel Streamlines Media Transport AT THE 2014 NAB SHOW, Artel Video Systems will demonstrate its comprehensive solution for transporting broadcast-quality media across fiber, IP networks, and optical backbones using the DigiLink media transport platform. DigiLink is compact, flexible, and simple to install and support.

At the 2014 NAB Show, along with offering a complete set of solutions for transporting video and Ethernet across fiber and optical networks, Artel’s DigiLink will also support HD-SDI, SD-

SDI, DVB-ASI over IP networks using industry standard SMPTE 2022 Encapsulation and Forward Error Correction.

With its low latency and cost effectiveness, JPEG2000 is rapidly becoming the industry standard compression format for transporting HD-SDI over bandwidth-limited network infrastructures. At the 2014 NAB Show, Artel will demonstrate its cost-effective and easyto-deploy JPEG2000 compression solution for compressing HD-SDI into ASI.

Artel will be showcasing DigiLink’s innovative integrated signal routing capabilities. The ability to route video and Ethernet signals simply, reliably, and in real time within the DigiLink chassis eliminates the need for external video routers and Ethernet switches. By routing the media in its native format, as DigiLink does, operators not only eliminate unnecessary cost and complexities, but can also enhance reliability and quality of service.

Visit www.artel.com

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TECHNICAL STANDARDS www.content-technology.com/standards

Joint Task Force on File Formats, Interoperability THE LAUNCH OF THE Joint Task Force on File Formats and Media Interoperability has been announced by its sponsors, the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM), American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), and Association of National Advertisers (ANA). The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is participating as an observer.

Bringing together manufacturers, broadcasters, advertisers, ad agencies, and industry organisations serving the professional media market, the Task Force has an ultimate goal to create greater efficiencies and cost savings for

exchange of file-based content. The group’s initial focus will be to gather and analyse requirements for a machine-generated and readable file interchange and delivery specification for the professional media industry.

“We believe that, by improving the specification and exchange of professional media between organisations, we can enable new and more efficient file-based workflows,” said Clyde Smith, senior vice president of new technology, Fox Network and a member of the NABA technical committee that initiated creation of the joint task force. “The task force represents a diverse group of sponsor organisations with an extensive global reach, and together we will gather and analyse information not only about user requirements, but also about current standards and specifications.”

In one of its initial actions, the task force has published a survey designed to collect data on user requirements.

Other task force activities will include the collection of data on existing products for transcode, transform, and file QC, and their ability to be driven by data from UML, XML, API, script, and other machine-to-machine communication mechanisms. In addition to analysing and publishing this data within a formal report, the task force will analyse the data in terms of current, planned, and unplanned standards activities and publish recommendations for future activities.

Visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KSMQm qCRFi6i3EpNxqQWd1lIkyq7qg44ZHYYrZB1DC0/ viewform

MPEG Issues Call for Screen Content Coding IN MODERN APPLICATIONS, video and image content cannot be assumed to come only from cameras. Non-camera content and mixed-source content is increasingly prevalent, while designs for “generic” image and video compression technology have primarily focused on the coding of camera content.

Non-camera content applications include screen/desktop sharing and collaboration, cloud computing and gaming, wirelessly connected displays, control rooms with high resolution display walls, virtual desktop infrastructure, tablets as secondary displays, PC over IP, ultra-thin client technology, etc. Mixed-content

sources that contain a mixture of cameracaptured video and images with rendered computer-generated graphics, text, animation, etc., are also increasingly prevalent.

The state of the art of generic video coding technology, as found in the recently approved High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, has excellent compression capability for a very broad range of applications, and screen and mixed content was considered during its development process. However, since it was designed for “generic” use, such content was not the primary focus of its design.

the conclusion that significant further improvements in coding efficiency can be obtained by exploiting the characteristics of screen content. This has lead the standards group to issue a Call for Proposals (CfP) for developing possible future extensions of the HEVC standard. Companies and organizations are invited to submit proposals in response to this Call, which has been issued by MPEG jointly with the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). Responses are expected to be submitted by early March, and will be evaluated during the 108 th MPEG meeting of 31 March – 4 April 2014.

Recent studies in MPEG have led to

Visit http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/

IEEE to Standardise Spectrum Occupancy Sensing IEEE HAS ANNOUNCED the formation of the

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

IEEE 802.22 Spectrum Occupancy Sensing (SOS) Study Group. SOS is a promising technology for optimizing the usage of radio frequency (RF) spectrum for wireless broadband services.

“This new study group, under the guidance of the IEEE 802.22 Wireless Regional Area Networking Working Group, will explore the standardization of SOS technology,” said Dr. Apurva N. Mody, chair of the working group. “Standardisation could lead to the more efficient use of spectrum, especially in places where the information about the primary users is difficult to find. To better understand the standardisation requirements, the study group will explore ongoing research and the various challenges associated with the technology.”

Recently, the IEEE 802.22 working group completed and published the IEEE 802.22-2011 “Standard for Information technology – Local and metropolitan area networks – Specific requirements – Part 22: Cognitive Wireless RAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications: Policies and procedures for operation in the TV Bands”.

Mody added, “The study group will use the IEEE 802.22 standard as a baseline for future SOS standards and efficient use of the technology.

Administrations from all over the world are looking to improve the utilisation of the spectrum.”

The standard focuses on cognitive radio-based wireless regional area networks (WRANs) that provide broadband access to global wide

regional areas and reliable, secure high-speed communications to underserved and unserved rural communities. As a result, IEEE 802.22 supports sensing, beaconing and database access to enable cognitive sharing. SOS is intended to bring the Spectrum Sensing Functions (SSF) and sensing-related messaging formats out of the current IEEE 802.22 standard to create a standalone system of external sensors dedicated to creating a spectrum occupancy survey.

“For example, the locations and characteristics of the radiators are not well documented. Individual and collaborative spectrum sensing is one of the tools to complement the information contained in databases to create an accurate spectrum occupancy survey,” added Mody.

Visit http://standards.ieee.org/

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Shooting Through the Stratosphere

By Keith Ford

Cutting Edge was recently tasked with creating Sony China’s latest commercial, thought up by M&C Saatchi Tokyo, which features a group of skydivers falling from the stratosphere whilst changing the lens of a Sony A7R camera.

THE TVCS WERE DIRECTED by Cutting Edge’s Jeff Gaunt, with the company’s post team, including Compositor, Ant Heberl; Senior Editor, Kerry Farrell; and Senior Sound Designer, Ross Batten, all chipping in.

Nobu Yamamoto, Creative & Strategic Planner of M&C Saatchi Tokyo, said, “To bring this creative to life, we needed an accomplished partner. And it was the team at Cutting Edge, spearheaded by Jeff Gaunt, who were nothing short of outstanding in making this all a reality. With their considerable expertise, and with great passion and professionalism, they expended all of their efforts to achieve a magnificent end result. We hold Cutting Edge in exceptionally high regard and we are more than grateful to have worked with them on this great opportunity provided by Sony our client.”

along the same lines as that,” explained Sparkes. “The fact that they chose to shoot it all in the air, and not go down the path of doing any free fall shots in the studio, is what really knocked us out.”

Essentially any shoot can be dangerous and things often go wrong, but when you are shooting while falling from around 5km above sea level it is even more important to keep safety in mind. Sparkes follows a mantra of “by being the best, we will be the oldest”.

“I operate with a safety officer, hands on safety officer all of the time, for virtually all of our shoots and sequences,” said Sparkes. “Because it’s a way of ensuring that we get through a day without any injury, which by the way we have been filming for 25 years and there has not been an injury on our set.”

Safety also played a role in camera choice for the shoot, as weight can be an important factor for a jump. That’s only magnified when the weight is all focused on the head and neck.

“Well, we can jump anything that we want, but the Red has high frame rates and a damn sharp high quality image. It’s a compact package. When we strip it down to the minimum, being the camera, the grip, battery power supply and the lens, and a card, it’s actually quite a compact device. It’s about as big as, and a little bit heavier than, 6 stubbies of beer,” Sparkes explained.

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“The concept demanded visual authenticity, and shooting from the dizzying heights of 15,000 feet was necessary to fully encapsulate Sony China’s narrative,” said Gaunt. “Visually, we focused on showing a world from a different perspective. The A7R is about possibility, and it being a world first, we alluded to what you can do.”

When it came to actually shooting the free-fall footage, they had no choice but to hire Shane Sparkes and his freefall cinematography associate Rob Douthat.

Sparks has been filming as he skydives for more than a quarter of a century, and has become renowned as the go-to guy in this unique space, thanks in large-part to the 1991 Sky Surfer TVC that he shot for Coca-Cola.

“The Coca Cola Sky Surfer was a very big job that I shot in Broken Hill for the Sydney Film Company and McCann were the agency at the time. The great thing about that job was that the brief was that all of the shots have to be real.

None of them can be studio created. The free fall shots in the Sony ad run

Blackmagic Takes the Spiderbait AUSTRALIAN ROCK BAND Spiderbait’s shot its new music video with Blackmagic Cinema Camera by Toby Angwin, a Melbourne based director.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera was also used as a B camera on the shoot, with DaVinci Resolve 10 used for colour grading.

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“For the ‘It’s Beautiful’ music video, the band wanted the song to speak for itself with pure imagery that helped portray the transcendental sound, so we shot three puppets walking around downtown Melbourne finding beauty in everything they see,” explained Toby. “As it was my first time working with puppets, I couldn’t predict how long it would take to shoot. And instead of hiring a camera, it was more affordable to purchase the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, which I had my eye on because of its compact size, RAW shooting capability, 13 stops of dynamic range and affordable cost.

“Our schedule was crazy because of the unpredictable weather, but because I owned the camera, I could film extra pickups whenever the weather allowed or just because I wanted to. Soon, I stopped filming extra

pickups because I needed them to make the music video and instead, because I wanted to make the music video better,” said Toby.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera’s small size was helpful in getting shots in extremely tight spaces that were too small for even the compact Blackmagic Cinema Camera. “The puppets were so small that we had to get down extremely low for some shots. The Pocket Cinema Camera was perfect and could get shots in really tight spaces,” said Toby.

Once in post, Toby relied on DaVinci Resolve’s tracker and Power Windows to achieve the perfect grade, and he also took advantage of version 10’s new tools, such as new online editing features and OpenFX plug-ins, to help streamline his workflow and the finishing process.

“I needed to make one or two edits, and it was so handy to have that functionality right there in DaVinci Resolve,” said Toby. “Also, having the Sapphire plug-ins meant I could give the footage a little sparkle at the end without having to go through another step.”

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Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

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“Climbing out of an aircraft is a huge strain on your upper body, particularly your neck and climbing out with wind and everything. You’ve got serious wind blowing on you and when your parachute opens and carrying that camera around under canopy and then landing with it on your head, your upper body is taking the whole load. Your neck and your jaw, everything from your shoulders up, it’s a load and it’s increased a lot,” he continued. “The problem is that when we open our parachutes you can routinely be hit with a 4 or 5G load, which means for a moment, if you’ve got 5kgs on your head, and you get hit with 5G’s, then you’ve got 25kgs.”

Throughout the TVC there is a number of still images that are actually shot using the subject of the shoot: the Sony A7R. “We shot with a Red Epic, however one of the important things about the brief was that being an advertisement for China, they’ve got laws regarding authenticity and censorship, and you can’t simulate a product,” Sparkes explained. “We couldn’t pull frames off the 4K Red material and alluding that the camera took this shot. The still frames that are presented in the television commercial are shot with the product itself. We basically had to shoot both Red and Sony A7R cameras. The slow motion 4K images were shot on Red and the still frames shot concurrently with Red were the Sony product itself.”

One of the most impressive qualities of the TVC, as well as being one of its most unique, is the stillness of the shots. Typical freefall footage found in movies and TV is frenetic and fast-paced, often trying to convey a sense of panic. This could not be further from the images Sparkes and his team shot.

“We wanted to have the guys appearing to be floating in space, with minimum movement. The way of achieving it is basically looking at it from

JVC Sets New Benchmark in ENG Camera IP Integration JVC PROFESSIONAL Products Company has introduced its new GYHM890 and GY-HM850 ProHD shoulder-mount camcorders, which set a new benchmark in ENG camera IP integration. Complemented by a new interchangeable Fujinon 20x autofocus zoom lens, the new cameras deliver full HD image capture and delivery, while the built-in streaming engine, FTP and 4G LTE connectivity allows live HD transmission directly from the camera without being attached to external costly and cumbersome bonded cellular solutions.

“We believe the future is with the live video streaming and FTP service fully integrated into the camera, as demonstrated with the new GYHM890 and GY-HM850,” explained Edgar Shane, general manager of engineering, JVC Professional Products. “With the recent advancements in 4G LTE availability and bandwidth, service providers can deliver reliable high-speed connections that can support HD streaming with a single modem. This technology is here now, and will continue to progress and improve.”

The new 800 Series cameras significantly expand on the live HD streaming and file transfer capabilities introduced in the GY-HM650 mobile news camera. JVC’s exclusive dual codec design allows the new cameras to transmit live HD footage or transfer files in the background while shooters continue to record footage in their normal workflow.

When paired with a Verizon 4G LTE modem, which is connected directly to the camera via USB, the camera transmits footage to a broadcast facility in real time. JVC’s Advanced Streaming Technology (AST) provides content-aware error correction, bandwidth shaping, and realtime feedback of streaming status.

Each camera features a built-in processor with proprietary algorithms that maximise bandwidth to ensure reliable transmission even under difficult conditions. Plus, advanced content aware error correction compensates for up to 30 percent packet loss. Streamconfidence provides stream and LTE status in the high-resolution 4.3-inch LCD monitor and LCOS color viewfinder.

The cameras provide secure FTP file transfer on location, as well as live monitoring and extensive camera and lens control via Wi-Fi from a smartphone or tablet (iPhone, iPad, or Android). For broadcasters who use metadata, a built-in GPS allows location information to be recorded.

Plus, metadata can be edited on a smartphone or tablet and transferred to the camera via Wi-Fi.

a different view, with a different perspective of how we are going to fly. We flew close, steady and with the guys. We didn’t fly fast and randomly; we flew our bodies in a smoother way, which is pretty important from a shot steadiness point of view,” Sparkes said. “You can quite often have the jerky cinéma vérité style up in the air, but what we pride ourselves on is being able to deliver steady images at normal speeds, where the sort of things you would expect to see with normal DP putting on a tripod. We step towards the steadiness side of things.”

In order to get all of the footage necessary to bring the creative vision to life, Shane and his team had to make a total of nine jumps over a two and a half day period. Due to the need for very specific lighting conditions there was only two opportunities a day with the right conditions: the hour of light each side of sunrise and sunset. Allowing only two jumps in each time frame.

“We did the sunset on a Friday, which was basically a test. That was a test when we finally got all of the wardrobe and everything together, and a rehearsal,” said Sparkes. “About the third or fourth shot in the advertisement was photographed within the first 3 seconds of us shooting the job, which was really nice to get on the horse and go straight away.

“In total the team did 9 jumps, but with cloud and poor light, the ad was cut really from about 6 jumps between 2 cameramen,” he concluded.

The GY-HM850 and GY-HM890 are also compatible with JVC’s Professional Streaming Services, which include the new JVC Broadcaster server powered by Zixi for reliable live content delivery to variety of hardware decoders, CDNs, and Web. Both cameras feature three, 1/3-inch 2.07 effective megapixel CMOS sensors that capture full 1920x1080 images. The imagers provide 12-bit readout, F11 sensitivity (60Hz), and excellent signal-to-noise ratio. The new Fujinon wide angle 20x zoom lens features auto focus, built-in optical image stabilization, and chromatic aberration correction.

The interchangeable 1/3-inch bayonet lens also includes manual focus, zoom, and iris rings.

Beyond ENG, the GY-HM890 is a versatile studio or multi-camera field production camera, with a 68-pin connection that accommodates JVC fiber or multi-core camera modules. Compatible with a full range of components, including customized studio sled, zoom and focus controls, CCUs, and 8.4-inch LCD viewfinder, as well as box-style lenses from Canon and Fujinon, the GY-HM890 is an ideal choice as an HD studio camera.

The GY-HM890 also includes an HD/SD-SDI Pool Feed input that can record and stream video and audio from another camera or SDI source during press conferences or other pool feed environments. The cameras also support LANC remote controllers as well as JVC’s proprietary wired remote control system.

Visit http://pro.jvc.com

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Sony’s Captures the First Live-Action Mecha Feature in Asia SONY HAS ANNOUNCED its involvement as a production partner in the upcoming feature film ‘The Boy and His Robot’, the first liveaction sci-fi Mecha movie in Asia. Produced

by Richmanclub Studios, a Singapore film production company, in collaboration with production partners such as Sony, NVIDIA, OTOY OctaneRender, and Nanyang Technological University’s Multi-plAtform Game Innovation Centre (MAGIC), ‘The Boy and His Robot’ will be the first feature film to have visual effects fully produced by GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) instead of CPUs. It will also be the first feature film workflow utilising Cloud Computing for the entire project and the first feature film to massively use Markerless Motion capture and with just six gaming Webcams (Sony PS Eye). The film is to be released online in the later part of 2014.

Sony’s NEX-FS100 professional interchangeable lens camcorder captured the imagination of

the film’s Director, Rich Ho, who has previously used many different forms and brands of cameras in more than 20 years of his filming experience. He was attracted to the camera’s picture quality, which matched those of major studios’ pictures, yet remains within reach of smaller independent studios and cinematographers in terms of cost and efficiency. Other content creation solutions from Sony being used in the production of ‘The Boy and His Robot’ include high quality OLED monitors, audio mixers and wireless microphones.

“I knew that the traditional way of movie production would be too costly and time consuming to allow the story to be brought from paper to reality. A new production method powered by new technology needs to be developed. And thus began the journey of seeking production partners and artists who are adventurous enough to experiment and

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create change. And I am humbled that many international partners decided to take the risk with this movie, and dive in to pioneer a new movie production workflow that just might revolutionise the film industry in terms of time and costs. It’s a new faster and better way of working, which essentially frees artists to focus on creation, and ultimately entertaining the public with a dramatic, action-filled, live-action Mecha movie,” said Rich Ho. Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com

“Panavision’s unmatched optical expertise and high-quality manufacturing capabilities have now been brought to bear on lenses adapted for digital cameras,” says Kim Snyder, Panavision’s Chief Executive Officer. “We’re focused on providing cinematographers with the best tools to tell their stories with vision and creativity.

With the industry’s ongoing transition to digital capture, we want our customers to know they can continue to trust Panavision to bring innovative, world-class solutions to the marketplace.”

The Primo V lenses are designed to bring the look and feel of Panavision Primos to digital

cinematography, using the lens elements from existing Primo lenses, long an industry standard for top cinematographers. Primo V lenses take advantage of specific design adaptations to work in harmony with digital cameras, maximising image quality while delivering Primo quality and character.

“Cinematographers tell us that the hyper-sharp sensors in today’s digital cameras can result in images that are harsh and lack personality,” says Panavision’s VP of Optical Engineering Dan Sasaki. “That’s one reason why there’s so much emphasis on glass these days. The Primo V lenses bring the smooth, organic flavour of Primo lenses to the high fidelity digital image. Our philosophy is to take what cinematographers love about the Primos, and update them for the digital world.”

Digital cameras require additional optical elements including low-pass and IR filters that increase off-axis aberrations. ND filters are sometimes part of the chain. Primo V lenses have been re-engineered to correct for this. Patent pending modifications eliminate the coma, astigmatism, and other aberrations introduced by the additional glass between the lens and the sensor, while preserving the desirable imaging characteristics of the Primo optics.

Since the Primo V lenses retain the essential Primo character, imagery from Primo V and standard Primo lenses will intercut well. A set of Primo V primes will include 14.5, 17.5, 21, 27, 35, 40, 50, 75, and 100mm focal lengths.

Visit www.panavision.asia

ARRI Taking Orders for Doco-Style AMIRA Camera ARRI HAS ANNOUNCED that pricing has

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been set for its new documentary-style camera, AMIRA, and orders have begun to be taken.

Customers can choose from a wide range of feature and accessory options to build their ideal package.

Flexibility of configuration is the key to ARRI’s pricing structure. Temporary and permanent software upgrades allow owners to adapt AMIRA according to the changing professional needs of their evolving careers, extending the return on their investment.

AMIRA is a versatile camera that combines exceptional image quality and affordable

CFast 2.0 workflows with an ergonomic design optimised for the shoulder-mounted lone operating typical of ‘run and gun’ documentaries.

709 ProRes 422 recording up to 100 fps and

There are three camera configurations to choose from, differentiated by their software featuresets. Customers then select a lens mount, battery mount and bottom plate to assemble a complete camera; these are configured separately because there are various options for each. Whichever AMIRA camera set is initially chosen, it can be upgraded with additional functionality by purchasing a license at the ARRI website.

configuration that adds features such as Log C,

The entry-point AMIRA camera set allows Rec

Visit www.arri.com

might suit owner-operators working mainly in the corporate, online and television markets.

Next is the advanced set, a true ‘all-rounder’ ProRes 422 (HQ) at 200 fps, in-camera grading and a pre-record function, among others. The premium set incorporates features for highend productions perhaps using AMIRA as a companion to ALEXA, including ProRes 4444 and 2K up to 200 fps, as well as limitless colour control on set and in post with custom 3D LUTs.

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Panavision Unveils Primo V Lenses Optimised for Digital PANAVISION HAS INTRODUCED a new line of Primo lenses, the Primo V series, specifically designed to work with today’s high-resolution 35mm digital cameras.

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Sony Launches New NXCAM HXR-NX3 SONY HAS ANNOUNCED the HXR-NX3 handheld HD camcorder, the latest addition to the NXCAM line-up. Perfect for the professional videographer, the HXR-NX3 has built-in WiFi technology allowing the camcorder to be controlled remotely via tablet and smartphone.

Sony’s Exmor 3CMOS sensor system with three 1/2.8” sensors provides a 1920x1080 Full HD effective pixel count. As a result red, blue and green light are independently and accurately captured by separate image sensors, contributing to high resolution, high sensitivity and wide dynamic range that creates extraordinary natural colour reproduction. A newly developed LSI that includes advanced noise reduction and several distortion correction technologies handles image processing, allowing clear, low-noise recordings to be captured, even in low light.

Sony’s G Lens delivers stunning image quality as well as a wide zoom range that offers a 28.8mm angle of view at the wide end, with a 20x optical zoom range that will easily cover most shooting situations.

In addition, the newly developed LSI contains leading-edge 40x “Clear Image Zoom” technology, which offers 1152mm focal length with virtually the same quality as optical zoom.

The LSI also includes advanced noise reduction

and several distortion correction technologies to handle image processing and deliver notable improvements in image quality. As a result, the recorded images are remarkably lifelike in both texture and detail.

The HXR-NX3 records video in AVCHD 2.0 format, which includes 1080/50P, for smooth, natural subject motion. The ability to record in DV format is also provided for users who prefer a DV workflow and who need to work in a DVcompatible non-linear editing environment.

The HXR-NX3 is capable of light MP4 file simultaneous recording. MP4 (720p, 3Mbps) is a network-friendly file that can be transferred wirelessly from the camcorder to a smartphone or tablet computer with the PlayMemories™ Mobile smartphone application. Once transferred, the MP4 file can be uploaded to a cloud server, social media, video share site and other platforms.

PlayMemories Mobile can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or App Store.

The HXR-NX3 also has a leading edge NFC (Near Field Communication) chipset, which allows users to establish a WiFi connection simply by touching an NFC-compatible smartphone or tablet computer on the camcorder.

Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com

Matrox Ships VS4Recorder App MATROX VIDEO HAS RELEASED the VS4Recorder, a new standalone multicamera recording app bundled with Matrox VS4 quad HD capture cards at no additional cost. VS4Recorder gives live event producers complete independent control over capture of the four inputs connected to the VS4 to create files for use with popular editing apps from Adobe, Apple and Avid and for archiving.

AVI files can be created using the highquality Matrox MPEG 2 I-Frame codec.

MOV QuickTime files can be created using DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD. “With VS4Recoder, multi-camera recording of live events has never been so simple - automatic input detection makes on-site setup quick and easy,” said with Wayne Andrews, product manager, Matrox Video. “VS4Recoder also functions as a multiviewer, offering pristine video quality even when monitoring interlaced sources on progressive computer monitors.”

Visit www.matrox.com/video

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ARRI Releases ALEXA Software Update Packet 9.0 ARRI HAS ANNOUNCED the availability of Software Update Packet (SUP) 9.0 for all ARRI ALEXA cameras. In addition to numerous improvements to the user interface, SUP 9.0 adds a slew of new features including new recording capabilities, new codec options, new recording media and expanded support for accessories.

By optimising the image pipeline, ARRI has increased the maximum frame rate of the highest quality ProRes codec (ProRes 4444) to 120 fps in 16:9 HD mode. This requires ALEXA XT cameras or ALEXA Classic cameras with the XR Module upgrade and the use of XR Capture Drives or CFast 2.0 cards. It is now possible to keep shooting ProRes 4444, no matter what the frame rate.

The release of SUP 9.0, DNxHD becomes available in 444 for cameras with a DNxHD license.

DNxHD 444 supports Log C, a key element of the ALEXA system’s approach to image acquisition. The new codec option offers a range of simple, industry-standard workflows. DNxHD 444 recording will be of great interest to the many corporations and production companies that work with MXF files and the SMPTEstandardised DNxHD codec, which offers high quality at low bandwidths.

Developed in close collaboration with Avid, DNxHD 444 is the flagship Avid codec,

delivering high colour fidelity and image quality for 1920 x 1080 projects.

With an absence of subsampling or averaging of chroma information, the 10 bit 4:4:4 RGB codec provides an excellent basis for creative grading, colour keying and multi-generational finishing and mastering. In essence, it allows the rich colour information captured by ALEXA to be maintained through postproduction.

DNxHD 444 clips can be recorded at up to 30 fps on 32 GB SxS Pro cards and up to 60 fps on 64GB SxS Pro cards, CFast 2.0 cards or XR Capture Drives.

The greater processing power and careful sensor selection of ALEXA XT cameras make possible the new Open Gate sensor mode, which records the entire sensor area in ARRIRAW. While 16:9 and 4:3 modes will remain the standard for most ALEXA capture, some specific situations will benefit greatly from Open Gate mode, including wide-angle establishing shots, image repositioning, resizing, rotating or stabilising, native 3.4K VFX work, special venue projects or up-scaling to 4K. From SUP 9.0 on, all ALEXA XT cameras and all ALEXA Classic cameras with the XR Module upgrade can use the new CFast 2.0 Adapter to record to CFast 2.0 cards. These cards, which are also used for the ARRI AMIRA camera, offer high data rates for up to 120 fps of ProRes 4444 in a robust, reliable and cost-effective package.

With SUP 9.0, ALEXA features the ability to detect an incomplete metadata file, as can be caused by a sudden power loss, compare it with the recorded frames and reconstruct it, allowing the media to be used again.

Support for the Cooke /i protocol as part of the ARRI Lens Data System (LDS), already present in ALEXA XT/XR cameras, will now be extended to ALEXA Classic cameras with a PL-LDS mount.

Being able to recognise the ARRI LDS, as well as the Cooke /i system, allows ALEXA to read and record lens metadata from all lenses with builtin encoders for more efficient working on the set and speedier VFX in post.

The Wireless Compact Unit WCU-4 now offers an even tighter integration with ALEXA cameras, including proper display of prerecording status, the ability to switch from regular speed to high speed, and a software switch for lens motor direction.

With the availability of the new 2x and 1.4x Alura Extenders, ALEXAs with a PL-LDS mount will recognise that such an extender has been installed on an LDS lens, or on a non-LDS lens used with the Lens Data Archive. The camera will record the properly re-calculated lens metadata values and show them on all numeric displays.

Visit www.arri.com

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SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

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Nippon TV Calls Presteigne Broadcast for Support in Sochi BROADCAST RENTAL SPECIALIST, Presteigne Broadcast Hire has supported broadcasters from around the world as they send coverage back from the current sporting events in Sochi, Russia. These include Japan’s Nippon Television Network (NTV).

The broadcaster rented a number of XDCam decks for recording, editing and ingest. NTV also has an on-site studio, for which Presteigne Broadcast Hire has provided two complete camera chains, together with a studio pedestal.

“As Olympic coverage is not an everyday event, we need to supplement our own equipment with

HD Multi-Format LCD Monitors SONY HAS ANNOUNCED new lightweight and slim Full High Definition (Full HD) multi-format LCD monitors, adding to its range of LUMA Series, professional and industrial LCD monitors.

Key Features of the LMD-A Series LCD Monitors include: + I/P conversion system with low latency (less than 0.5 field excluding LCD pixel response). The I/P conversion system delivers automatically optimised signal processing according to the input signals format, with low latency of less than 0.5 field; + In-Monitor Display (IMD) function for source monitoring. The monitors support the TSL UMD Protocol provided by Television System Ltd. The IMD shows the two tally lamps on screen along with dynamic text information received via Ethernet. The text can be positioned at the top or bottom of the screen depending on the IMD position setting, and a new feature includes support for European language symbols such as accent signs, umlaut sign and more;

SPORTSCASTING

+ High speed source switching for seamless monitoring. By speeding up the source switching, seamless monitoring of several video sources can be carried out;

rented kit,” said Yujin Suzuki, technical director of NTV. “We have to balance our needs on site with our production plans back in Japan. We have been working with Presteigne Broadcast Hire for some years now to cover a number of events. Renting from Japan would take up too much shipping time, and dry hire is not common in Russia – they expect to provide personnel alongside the equipment which we did not need.

We have enjoyed good service from Presteigne Broadcast Hire in the past, and we had confidence in their commitment to support us in Sochi.”

Visit www.presteignecharter.com

AT 17, MICHAEL MARTINEZ is the first homegrown figure skater to represent the Philippines in the Winter Olympics – and the first from Southeast Asia.

Back in the Philippines, we were ingesting each MDS channel to be used for our OTT and VOD. We also did live telecast and playback on free TV.

While he may have been by himself on the ice, the coverage provided by Filipino broadcast rights holder TV5 made sure the whole nation was behind him.

“TV5 televised the Olympics in dual format SD for our free TV and HD on our cable TV. Our team consisted of two groups - one for News department and the other one for sports.”

Technical point person for the TV5 team was Broadcast System Supervisor Limuel Miranda who was responsible for feeding that network’s videos back to the Philippines.

Limuel says what Martinez was able to achieve was “… against all odds, given that we’re living in a tropical country he was able to qualify.”

According to Limuel, “[Host broadcaster] OBS provided us seven MDS feeds. Each MDS feed had its own unique breed of sporting event.

Martinez, who finished with a rank of 19th overall in the men’s singles, learnt his techniques on the ice rinks of Manila’s SM Mall of Asia.

TEN Goes Mobile from Sochi with Switch Media AUSTRALIA’S NETWORK TEN brought the Winter Olympics to mobile devices with help from developer Switch Media.

The Sochi 2014 On Ten mobile app, gave Australians access to live coverage and exclusive content from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Switch Media built Apps that allowed viewers to watch the Games live and in Catch Up mode on their iOS and Android devices.

The app featured eight simultaneous live streams, including all of the action live as broadcast on TEN and its affiliated channel ONE, as well as six dedicated live streams straight from Sochi.

Other essential features to support content creation include Payload ID display in the Status menu; and Closed Caption EIA/CEA-608 and 708.

All Olympic events were available as catch-up, with a unique highlights function that allows users to jump to key moments.

Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com

The app also provided access to live event results,

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“In turn that means we can devote the necessary time and energy to solving all these challenges, ensuring we can deliver our high standards of responsiveness and technical excellence on site.”

Philippines TV5 Supports Lone Skater in Sochi

+ Optional rack mounting brackets are available for the LMD-A220 and LMD-A170 monitors.

The monitors also have screw holes on their side bezels for yoke mounting commonly used in program production (3rd party yoke-mount is required). An optional protection kit is also available for the LMD-A170.

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Presteigne Broadcast Hire CEO, Mike Ransome, said, “Everyone will appreciate the challenges in supporting these games in Sochi. It is a remote location, security is extremely tight, and shipping is difficult. What Presteigne Broadcast Hire brings to an event like this is the scale to support multiple broadcasters.

Switch Media’s Apps included a 30-minute DVR window that allowed viewers to rewind up to 30 minutes of an event while streaming it live.

athlete information, statistics and the medal tally, as well as a full schedule of events and coverage.

The XXII Olympic Winter Games was also available via tenplay.com.au, which hosted six dedicated 24-hour live streams, as well as full catch-up for all events, highlights packages and streaming of all related shows, including Sochi Tonight and Sochi Live.

Content was also available via tenplay Xbox 360 and Xbox One, tenplay iOS, tenplay Windows 8 app and Sony Bravia IPTV app.

Network Ten Chief Digital Officer, Rebekah Horne, said: “Our strategy is to bring Network Ten’s content to people anywhere, any time and on any device, and the XXII Olympic Winter Games is no exception.”

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Launched on January 31, the app saw over 120,000 downloads in its first two weeks.

Visit www.tenplay.com.au

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Available in three sizes, the Artemis Bluefin2 core effortlessly manages an astounding range of functions without compromising on performance, while the integrated Hydra2 router provides total distributed routing capability.

Audio broadcast specialists Calrec are peace of mind experts all our ground-breaking consoles feature seamless cross-network functionality, enabling full integration with the wider broadcast community, along with serious green credentials. The world’s most successful broadcasters rely on Calrec consoles.

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Apollo’s dazzling sister console offers compact size with undiminished routing and processing capability.

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SPORTSCASTING

The Glasgow Diaries: Chapter 7

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Returning to Glasgow for my final winter before the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

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Stepping out of the airport terminal to hail a cab, the sky is grey and wet but so predictable for this time of year that I both love and take it as a promise of brilliant Scottish summer weather come Games time in July.

ON THE DRIVE TO OUR PROJECT OFFICE I’m struck by the stark outline of bare tree trunks lining Glasgow Green, where the Marathon and Cycling races will take place.

When the team returns from leave they will do the final wiring, testing and adjustments before breaking down the kit and documenting it for export.

How little people realise those trees will soon erupt magnificent green canopies, making for fabulous television pictures along with radio frequency challenges!

The packing process will take around a month and the equipment will then be loaded into three, forty-foot containers for the sea journey from Sydney to Glasgow in February.

Accordingly, high on my new year to-do list will be accompanying the team surveying the Marathon, Triathlon, Road Race and Mountain Bike courses to go over our RF coverage plans – nothing can be left to chance.

Once re-assembled, these units will form the backbone of the broadcast network that will deliver the XX Commonwealth Games.

I’m back in Glasgow after a two-week break in Prague and, before that, a month in Sydney overseeing the final off-site build that my Global Television engineering colleagues have been progressing over the past nine months.

Project director Andrew Quinn and I have been a relay team, he minding the fort over Christmas and me taking over from today.

It’s a good time to do so as our 12-strong group of Aussie-based design engineers, wire benders and logistical support staff has now broken for the traditional Aussie summer holidays.

They’ve been working continuously on the design and pre-build of the ‘fly away’ portion of the broadcast telecommunications operation centres (BTOC) and commentary control rooms (CCRs) for the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and competition venues.

Each of the 22 venues requires at least one (and some up to five) of these systems, so there are 28 in all to build, encompassing some 135 equipment racks.

SPORTSCASTING

Our system is completely HD digital video and AES-standard audio, from content acquisition to transmission. This will ensure faultless pictures and sound for our rights-holder broadcasters (RHBs) while also providing maximum flexibility for them to repurpose content for their individual needs.

Following lengthy scoping, planning and design, installation in Global’s warehouse on the southern fringe of Sydney’s CBD began last August. It has been something of a logistical challenge as the equipment is spread across 150 racks ranging from 10 to 45 rack units in height.

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To interconnect the equipment upon arrival, we have so far installed 180 km of cable and terminated 18,000 connectors in the venues and IBC – and those figures are increasing daily.

In addition, we are holding at least 23 kilometres of stock in reserve to complete the inter-connect to the RHBs.

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Not surprisingly, our Host Broadcaster project office is also expanding (again!) as we welcome our newest colleagues and enter the 22-week Operational phase on our critical path.

Our team will further treble in size by June when we become fully functional at the purpose-built IBC at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, four weeks before the Opening Ceremony.

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It is now just shy of a year since I took up my role in Glasgow. The break – my first since starting – has been a chance to not only recharge after a non-stop 11 months but also reflect on how much the Host Broadcaster team achieved last year.

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We are right where we should be on the critical path, even given inevitable surprises along the way – a credit to the diverse group of professionals working on the Games’ biggest contract, and one of Scotland’s largest-ever projects.

Everywhere you go in Glasgow, a sense of expectation and excitement is building. Not even the short winter days can dampen it.

I turn the key to the door of my flat, drop my bags and boot up my computer in anticipation of a full day ahead.

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David Bowers is head of engineering and technical operations for SVGTV, which holds the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Host Broadcast contract.

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SPORTSCASTING

Riedel Enhancements at NAB 2014 be expanded to include WAN capabilities.

of real-time networks for video, audio, data, and communications with MediorNet 2.0, a firmware update for MediorNet. At the 2014 NAB Show, the company will show how the new firmware provides video router functionality and highspeed rerouting.

Enabling direct integration of Riedel MediorNet real-time networks with Studer consoles and cores, the new A-Link interface module gives Studer users a highly scalable audio routing system offering I/O capacities in excess of 10,000 I/O’s. Facilitating use of MediorNet as a decentralized audio router with integrated port redundancies, this solution offers massive I/O capacity in a very small hardware footprint.

The integrated system may be configured to provide a video and audio routing solution with de-embedded audio from the SDI streams being sent to the Studer consoles, with the return signals then embedded back into the video.

The MediorNet family of real-time networks has been expanded with the addition of the 2-RU large-scale MediorNet MetroN core router. In enabling Riedel’s acclaimed networked approach to signal distribution and routing, the new MediorNet MetroN provides a real-time routing capacity of 64x 10G ports. During the 2014 NAB Show, Riedel will demonstrate how, with these capabilities, the new frame can function within a larger MediorNet installation, interfacing with other MediorNet frames via fiber.

Leveraging their newly acquired WAN expertise, Riedel has developed its first WAN-focused solution. Using the MediorNet platform as a base, attendee’s at the 2014 NAB show will see how the networked approach of MediorNet can

Riedel’s Artist virtual key panels enable the use of smartphones and tablets (iOS, OS X, and Android) as control panels in combination with any Artist digital matrix intercom system. These handheld devices can then provide the same functionality as full-featured, 12-key Artist control panels. The user operates the virtual control panel using the device’s touchscreen

EVS Unveils New Production Workflow Solutions EVS WILL DEMONSTRATE improved live, near-live and post-production efficiency and enriched content capabilities at the 2014 NAB Show, booth SL-3819.

EVS live, fast-turnaround solutions are based on the company’s XT3/XS server architecture and a new range of live browsing software and web-based remote production tools that stem from EVS’ C-Cast connected technology.

EVS multi-format file mastering and archive management solutions rely on EVS OpenCube file-based server and its media interoperability software applications.

EVS will demo solutions that enhance live content value across each of its four key markets - sports, entertainment, media and news.

EVS Sports will showcase the enhanced XT3 media production server that now offers built-in proxies, 4K zooming, live multi-angle review and 12 live recording channel support.

EVS’ new C-Cast Xplore web-browsing interface provides immediate access to live multi-camera recording feeds and clips on XT servers, giving production teams capability to work remotely, enhance content on the fly, and reduce the number of onsite production personnel. NAB attendees can also see C-Cast at work within the Cisco StadiumVision Mobile (SVM) solution, which uses the technology to make multi-camera content instantly available on web-connected mobile devices in sports and entertainment venues.

Providing flexible workflows for entertainment productions including concerts, stage shows, reality TV, game and talk shows and TV series, EVS Entertainment solutions offer advances in multi-camera ingest (up to 12 input server)

fast-turnaround editing and playout. At NAB, EVS will showcase the full features of the XS video server with advanced multi-codec, native support including popular formats such as I-Frame (DNxHD, ProRes, AVC-I) and Long Gop (XDCAM HD), with powerful new 10GigE connectivity. Updates to trusted EVS entertainment solutions such as IPDirector, Director’s Cut, IPEdit, XFly Streamer and NanoAir will also be unveiled.

EVS Media will highlight enhanced ingest for mastering and archive solutions, with its demonstration of the EVS OpenCubeHD/ SD server for streamlined file-based, multiformat workflows that comply with all MXF standard formats (IMF App 2 and UHD, AS-02, AS-11, and DCP). The file-based server will be presented with its extended range of codecs and format support comprising H.264 AVC, XAVC, JPEG 2000 and MXF 4K. EVS Media will also present its latest closed captioning and subtitling solution, which includes S346M or .ssc/.mcc support.

Visitors are also invited to bring a USB key with their production-made MXF files - hardto-play files in particular - and play them using EVS’ self-service MXF UniReader.

EVS News will debut the XS NewsFlash, a compact, cost-effective end-to-end solution that provides smaller newsroom environments with full production capabilities. Based on the robust XS server for ingest and playout, XS NewsFlash provides everything from file and feed ingest, metadata and quick-turnaround virtual editing to disaster recovery and fastbreaking news playout.

Visit www.evs.tv

interface that can be configured via Riedel’s Director software.

Finally, Riedel’s AVB manager is a manufacturerindependent software solution that provides generic AVB control for any and all IEEE 1722.1-compliant AVB devices. Providing a global overview of AVB infrastructures, this free solution automatically detects and enumerates available AVB devices, supporting straightforward connection management via an intuitive graphical user interface.

Visit www.riedel.net

Broadcast Pix Unveils ReVue HD Slo-Mo BROADCAST PIX HAS INTRODUCED ReVue, a new HD slow motion replay system that work with any Broadcast Pix integrated production systems or independently in other production environments. Developed in collaboration with strategic partner EditShare, ReVue will be available in March and demonstrated at the 2014 NAB Show (Booth SL6325).

Available in two and four-channel configurations, ReVue features SDI connectivity and up to eight tracks of embedded audio, with optional 1080p recording and playback. The system is housed in a 2 RU chassis and includes 8 TB of RAID 6 storage, which can be expanded up to 16 TB. ReVue’s compact controller includes a jog/ shuttle wheel for reviewing footage, with dedicated buttons for marking in and out points for playback. All video sources are played back in sync, so it is easy to cut between cameras and find the best replay angle. Playback speed is controlled manually with the fader bar, but three preset buttons allow users to assign specific speeds for more consistent slo-mo results. Other intuitive controls allow easy navigation between cameras, clips, and servers.

ReVue’s two output channels can be configured as preview/program or as two programs. With its built-in multi-view, ReVue provides monitors for all active sources, plus preview and program windows. ReVue’s on-screen user interface makes it easy to keep track of marked clips and replays. Plus, Broadcast Pix integrated production systems can trigger ReVue playlists directly from the production switcher.

Visit www.broadcastpix.com.

SPORTSCASTING

RIEDEL HAS ENHANCED its MediorNet family

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SPORTSCASTING

Snow Business for NBC Olympics

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Always the largest rights holder at any Olympics, the 2014 Winter Games saw U.S. broadcaster NBC descend on the Russian city of Sochi like, well, an avalanche.

OB services provider (and new owner of Australia’s Global Television) NEP were selected to provide mobile broadcasting facilities and specialised engineering management services to NBC Olympics during its production of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

NEP DEPLOYED five mobile broadcasting units and two flypacks from its NEP Visions facility in the U.K., as well as all required equipment and engineering staff, to supply feeds to NBC Olympics from several key Olympic venues and events. These included the Fisht Olympic Stadium for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the Bolshoy Ice Palace and Shayba Arena for ice hockey, the Iceberg Skating Palace for figure skating and short track speed skating, and the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park for freestyle skiing and snowboarding events.

In addition, NEP provided operational and technical management to the engineering staff at the venues as well as the broadcast centre.

ChyronHego was selected to provide 12 Lyric PRO-powered Mosaic XL on-air graphics systems to NBC Olympics. Lyric PRO offers support for Windows 7 64-bit playout, native support for stereoscopic 3D, scriptless transitions, and touchscreen-enabled graphics. The software is standard on ChyronHego’s Mosaic platform.

Miranda Technologies was selected to provide a wide array of Densité modular signal processing, iControl control and monitoring solutions, and Kaleido multiviewers.

NBC used Miranda’s solutions to help manage and prepare the huge number of signals the Broadcast Operations Center received from the various venues. Using Miranda’s new Streaming Media Encoder (SME) card, NBC created a closedcircuit IPTV monitoring system to view critical signals from any location equipped with an IP or WiFi connection. The production of NBC’s telecast, as well as feeds provided for all of

NBCUniversal networks and worldwide partner broadcasts, were managed using a series of Miranda infrastructure components, including the Densité XVP-3901 up/down/cross converter.

Broadcast signal feeds were controlled by NBC operators using critical information powered by Miranda’s iControl automated monitoring and Kaleido multiviewers.

Kaleido-X units were used to drive displays in multiple environments, including the Operations Center, control rooms, and monitoring rooms, while Kaleido-X16 and KMV units were used for other applications, such as smaller-scale monitoring workflows and for providing thumbnails for web streams.

For the seventh straight Olympics, NBC Olympics again turned to ScheduALL’s software and services group to orchestrate the logistics of people, equipment, locations, and transmission feeds from Sochi.

ScheduALL manages critical information such as video router assignments and satellite uplink scheduling, and automatically passes the information to downstream systems to facilitate on-air coverage for each feed.

its video contribution and distribution systems to NBC Olympics. Ericsson provided a range of its video processing solutions and advanced modular receivers, enabling NBC Olympics to deliver high quality, reliable HD broadcast to millions of viewers.

Tektronix was selected to provide video test and network monitoring. Beginning with the production at the sporting venues in Russia, Tektronix provided WFM5200 and WFM7200 waveform monitors for on-site camera set up, and verifying gamut signal quality and integrity. NBC Olympics backhauled contribution quality feeds through several service providers to their facilities in the US. To verify the compressed video signal quality at each end of the transmission, they used Tektronix Sentry family of video quality monitors.

Once again, NBC Olympics selected Harmonic’s MediaGrid shared storage and Spectrum MediaDeck integrated media playout server systems to support a ‘highlights factory’ in which staff based at the broadcaster’s Stamford, Conn., facility had access to event footage captured in Russia, created highlights clips, and then made them available to mobile devices and computers.

Snell was selected once again to provide its Alchemist Ph.C-HD standards converter to NBC Olympics, who used the Snell system for frame rate conversion from 50Hz to the 59.94Hz U.S. television standard. In all, NBC Olympics used 25 Snell converters, the majority of were Alchemist Ph.C-HD units. Of these, several were outfitted with the FileFlow option to enable seamless input and output of broadcast file formats.

Harmonic MediaDeck video servers recorded as many as 25 incoming venue feeds as both XDCAM-HD at 50 Mbps and H.264 low-resolution proxy. These systems also gave Stamford personnel independent control over 60 channels of local ingest. Each recording’s proxy was replicated in near real-time on a 480TB Harmonic MediaGrid storage system connected via two 10-Gigabit circuits to a second 384TB MediaGrid installed at the Stamford facility.

Meanwhile, Ericsson was selected to provide

Visit www.nbcsports.com

SPORTSCASTING

Fujinon have supplied a wide array and quantity of high-definition lenses including the Long HD EFP telephoto lens XA88x8.8BESM-TK; Long HD EFP telephoto lens XA101x8.9BESM-TK; HD EFP telephoto lens HA42x9.7BERD-U; and HD ENG Wide angle lens HA14x4.5BERD-S, all of which

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A team of Fujinon Technical Engineers is at the 2014 Winter Olympics for the entire duration of the event in order to provide onsite support for its optical products. Fujinon provides this service to all of its clients at major sports and entertainment events around the globe.

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Visit www.fujifilm.com.au

24 C+T ASIA_Dec_p1-25_FRONT.indd 24

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Fujinon Supplies Lenses for Sochi Games FUJIFILM’S OPTICAL DEVICES division Fujinon is a major supplier of lens technology to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games at the winter resort Sochi in Russia.

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SPORTSCASTING

Telestrator Now with “Posed Players” REAL TIME 3D BROADCAST graphics developer RT Software has launched a new “Posed Players” feature for its tOG-Sports telestration solution.

pose to be selected quickly. If it is required to match the real video more precisely the operator can then fine tune each joint with rotations in each axis.

Using Posed Players, the tOG-Sports operator can freeze at any point of sporting action and create 3-D posed models of the players to replicate the real camera view in a virtual stadium. It is then just a simple click to zoom to a different Point of View from any angle. This makes it perfect for explaining tactical plays or to review contentious decisions, perhaps from the referee or linesman’s view.

“What sets tOG-Sports Posed Players apart from other systems is how quick and easy it is to create a realistic and closely matched Posed Player scene” says Mike Fredriksen, Commercial Director of RT Software. “Our tOG-Sports customers tell us that if they can’t get something to air quickly, then the impact is lost. It is also perfect for studio shows - we are rendering this live so presenters can use this interactively with a touchscreen or tablet while on air.”

Fast turnaround is achieved through use of a database handling the player’s attributes such as kit, physical build and skin tone, even boot colour.

The choice of base pose can be taken from a series of animations, such as walking or running to allow a close approximation of the real player

Posed Players is included in the newly released version 4.6 of tOG-Sports Pro, with upgrades available for existing customers.

Visit www.rtsw.co.uk

New Camera Tracking System from Shotoku SHOTOKU BROADCAST SYSTEMS, a developer of manual and robotic camera support, and virtual reality tracking, is introducing in joint cooperation with ncam, a manufacturer that enables virtual production through real-time camera tracking, the new ncam Camera Tracking System at this year’s 2014 NAB Show (Booth C8731).

The ncam Camera Tracking System features a multi-sensing bar that is unobtrusively mounted on the studio camera and provides real-time data to its associated tracking server. ncam provides complete 8-axis 3D position information via industry standard protocols compatible with any VR/AR graphics system. It is suitable for a wide range of applications both indoor and outdoor, with mounted or even hand-held as well as Steadicam cameras.

As part of its range of VR camera tracking solutions, the company is also showcasing its advanced TK-53VR crane, which features mechanical stability, control precision and tracking sensitivity offering all-round performance for any VR or AR production.

Freeze Frame of Live Action.

Rendered Posed Players from different POV.

Visit www.shotoku.co.uk

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X10 Ultra Motion from I-MOVIX DEBUTING AT NAB 2014, I-MOVIX will showcase its new line of products based on X10 ultra slow motion technology. The new product line emphasises modular configurability to suit any Vision Research Phantom camera, and any configuration can be customised to meet performance and budget targets across a wide range of production scenarios. The entire X10 product range has been optimised for upgradeability to allow for evolving production requirements and upcoming generations of cameras.

“At NAB 2014 we are bringing the latest in X10 ultra motion technology – now in a new modular product range that allows broadcasters to build the ideal system for any kind of sports broadcast application,” said Laurent Renard, CEO at I-MOVIX. I-MOVIX is a leader in extreme slow motion for sports broadcast (from 75 to over 5,000 FPS).

The company’s products provide true ultra-slow motion systems, fully integrated for broadcast use, offering the combination of very high

frame rates and instant replay, or continuous streaming.

Visit www.i-movix.com

Grid

Orad Releases MVP 3.3

Other new graphic capabilities include; 3D marker, multi marker, 3D counters, spins/rounds

counters, 3D offside including a virtual offside wall, boxing dedicated graphics, and more.

Enhancement clips helps the talent to better tell the story and therefore fast turnaround of a clip is a key factor for successful production. With MVP 3.3’s new clip preparation wizard, enhancements such as iFly, Run by Run, and Eraser can be quickly prepared. Players can be quickly erased/ frozen/highlighted on the video feed.

MVP’s 3D tracked telestrator tool can be used in a studio environment enabling the commentator to control the video and draw graphics on screen or on field. The touch telestrator application’s new design is integrated with Orad’s PlayMaker sport

replay server, enabling the user to go directly to a specific video location by merely tapping on its thumbnail.

Using MVP 3.3 dual output capabilities, one output is sent to the device that the presenter is interacting with, which shows the complete interactive scene; the second output shows a cut-out section enlarged to full screen, so that user-interface elements are not shown.

Other new features include new external tools, such as video server control, video format configurations, video grabber tester, and more.

Visit www.orad.tv

SPORTSCASTING

ORAD HAS RELEASED the newest version of its Emmy Award-Winning MVP, offering greater performance and richer enhancement capabilities. Amongst the new features are Run

by Run (RBR) where only the desired player continues to move while the others in the frame are frozen in place. Also available with MVP 3.3 is the new and improved iFly enhancement with smooth camera movements and fast clip creation, allowing object tracking arrows and players’ highlights while virtually flying from one camera to another.

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NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

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Nippon TV Selects TVUPack for Global ENG TVU NETWORKS, the developer of live mobile electronic newsgathering

Nippon Television Network Corporation.

(ENG) solutions, has announced that Nippon Television Network Corporation has deployed TVUPack 3G/4G/LTE ENG solutions in its regional bureaus around the globe to expand its ability to deliver live coverage of important breaking news and events around the world.

After evaluating multiple cellular ENG products, Nippon Television selected TVUPack because of the system’s flexibility, ease of use and ability to deliver a strong and resilient transmission. “Our correspondents love TVUPack’s simplicity and one-button operation. The fact that the system works with any combination of cellular, WiFi, or satellite network enables us to plan ahead and ensure that we have a successful live shot, regardless of the location,” explained Yazawa.

As Japan’s first private broadcast organisation, Nippon Television has a longstanding reputation for utilising innovative technologies to enhance its broadcast capabilities. In order to expand its ability to deliver relevant coverage of important global reaching stories, Nippon Television has deployed TVUPack transmitters in its bureaus in New York, Los Angeles, London, Seoul, Beijing, and Bangkok. The broadcaster has plans to deploy additional TVUPack units at its remaining global bureaus in the near future.

“As a global news organisation, the ability to deliver live video from any location at any time is essential. TVUPack enables our correspondents to not only report on breaking stories, no matter where they happen, but to report on them in interesting and innovative ways,” said Mr. Naoki Yazawa, Head of International Satellite Operations, Foreign News, News Division,

Nippon Television has used the TVUPack extensively to deliver live coverage of important breaking news in several countries, including presidential elections in Seoul, South Korea, the Asiana airline crash at San Francisco International Airport, the birth of the royal baby in London, the Trans-Pacific Partnership ministerial meetings in Singapore and the International Olympic Committee meeting in Argentina that selected Tokyo as the host of the 2020 summer games.

Visit www.tvupack.com

nonlinear media production tools from Grass Valley for its newsroom operation upgrade. Kompas TV selected to upgrade because the scale of their news and sports production has increased from three hours per day to more than eight hours per day. With this increased production scale, Kompas TV opted for GV STRATUS as it met the broadcaster’s requirements for a more reliable system that provides a faster turnaround on news and includes shared storage and collaborative workflows. GV STRATUS will be used with K2 Summit 3G production clients, K2 SAN production storage and EDIUS Elite multi-format nonlinear editing software.

“GV STRATUS allows us to work in a truly nonlinear fashion,” explained Harya S. Pratama, Vice President of Technology, Kompas TV. “We now have a new working area for ingest and archive purposes so that all users

can have access at the same time soon after our ingest process begins.

Plus, the open nature of GV STRATUS allows integration with our existing newsroom computer system, ENPS, which is a huge benefit to us.”

GV STRATUS is a software-centric platform that provides Kompas TV staff with tools for ingest, editing, content aggregation, logging, transfer, and playout, and enables a ‘create once, publish everywhere’ workflow.

Kompas TV will also use GV STRATUS in tandem with EDIUS to provide editing functionality across its newsroom operations, with integration K2 SAN production storage.

A key benefit of GV STRATUS is its full compatibility with the MOS protocol, which allows it to interface with and take programming instructions from most newsroom computer systems including ENPS, iNEWS, and Octopus.

Visit www.grassvalley.com

Shure Delivers Seamless Mixing for Sky News SKY NEWS, the multi-platform, 24-hour channel providing news services

NEWS OPERATIONS

to Australia and New Zealand, features news on the hour, every hour and headlines every fifteen minutes. Sky News also produces a variety of halfhour programs each week, including Agenda and Sportsline.

Australian News Channel, which owns and operates Sky News, recently invested in eight Shure SCM820 8-Channel Digital IntelliMix Automatic Mixers. Designed for use in speech applications including sound reinforcement, broadcasting, and recording, the SCM820 uses proprietary IntelliMix technology to improve audio quality in any application where many channels of microphones need to operate simultaneously. Multiple I/O configurations and networking options ensure analogue and digital connectivity between devices.

According to Rick Zecivic, Australian News Channel’s Director of Engineering & Technology, “We recently automated our studio control for our national, business and weather channels, as well as our New Zealand prime news production. The automation system we installed is called Mosart and its software controls all of the hardware you require to be

automated. We wanted an automated mixer to handle the levels of the microphones situated on the desks, rather than a person controlling a fader for each microphone.”

The Shure SCM820 automatically adjusts the level which is particularly useful on the Paul Murray talk show where there may be up to five panelists. Shure’s IntelliMix technology delivers activation of the best microphone for a particular talker, while attenuating microphones that are not being addressed. By minimising the number of open microphones, the SCM820 increases intelligibility and reduces background noise.

“You can have everyone trying to talk at once but since we’ve switched to the SCM820, there is never any clipping if someone jumps in to talk when someone else is already talking,” Rick said. “Also, if someone is breathing heavily, the SCM820 automatically deals with that so you can’t hear it. The SCM820’s are undetectable, transparent in the system, working away in the background. It all works very well – they’ve cut out a lot of worry and work for a good price.”

Visit www.shureasia.com

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NEWS OPERATIONS

CNN International News Channel of the Year - Again THE RECENT UK ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY (RTS) Awards saw CNN International crowned News Channel of the Year for the second year running beating Sky News and the BBC News Channel. It also won Best News Coverage – International category for its outstanding reporting of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines beating ITN and BBC One. The network’s coverage of news events such as the Westgate Mall siege in Nairobi, the struggle for power in Egypt, the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the on-going crisis in Syria, and the rise of extremism in the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, won over the RTS jury.

Tony Maddox, Executive Vice President of CNN International, said, “To win News Channel of the Year for the second year running, against some strong submissions from our peers, is a very special honour. Our profession is being

tested today more than ever before, but the bravery, determination, skill and fortitude of my colleagues around the world has been unwavering.

“Our coverage of Typhoon Haiyan was exemplary from start to finish.

Our crews showed enormous bravery as well as great sensitivity on what was both a physically gruelling, emotionally draining, and very important assignment. I’m delighted that their efforts have been recognised here, and I couldn’t be more proud of their work.”

The two awards are the latest recognition of CNN International’s editorial strength. The channel was recently named Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year at the Asian Television Awards, and had a strong showing in the Emmys, FPA Awards, Peabody Awards and the Overseas Press Awards.

Visit www.cnninternational.com

Orad Releases 4K Video Wall Solution ORAD HAS RELEASED 4K, a powerful, yet affordable real-time 4K video wall solution.Using Orad’s canvas concept, Morpho 4K outputs can be arranged in different aspect ratios and layouts according to the shape of the video wall. The resolution can range from 3840 x 1080 in the 2 x 1 setup, to 3840 x 2160 in the 2 x 2 setup, and 7680 x 1080 in the 4 x 1 setup all from a single Morpho 4K station.

Unlike traditional video wall processors, Morpho 4K offers both real-time graphics and video capabilities from a single system. All on-screen elements (tickers, videos, animated items, etc), remain synchronized across the whole of the video wall, with no tearing visible on any sections of the output. As all

content is displayed in real-time, it is possible to make last minute changes to the content, or to send new data to the graphics in order to make updates on-air.

Morpho 4K can accept up to four HD or four SD live video insertions, as well as video clips in most industry accepted formats, which can be mapped to different graphical elements on the video wall. All of these video elements then become an integral part of the graphics and are not overlaid as ‘picturein-picture’ objects, and with just two frames delay, they can be used for live link-ups.

Visit www.orad.tv/morpho-4k

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Mid-Sized Production Switchers

are the Carbonite has become the Mid-Size Production Switcher of choice for many producers thanks to its amazing capabilities and ease of use. We have now added new unique features - MiniMEs™ and MultiScreen™.

MiniMEs simply increase production power by a huge factor, there are 4 of them in addition to the installed MEs. When combined they also allow full MultiScreen processing across up to 4 displays with edge blending & bezel compensation. If you already own Carbonite – download version 8.0 from the Ross site today for these cool new features. Carbonite – Pure Production Power!

www.rossvideo.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

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NEWS OPERATIONS

AzzuroCam Production System MAGNA SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERING is now representing the AzzurroCam Production System in Australia and New Zealand.

AzzurroCam is a high quality HD/SD live shot system that offers complete remote control of cameras, audio, lighting and IFB from an easy to The AzzurroCam system touchscreen. use touchscreen and joystick. Ideal for insert studios, news bureaus, in-home studios, sports arenas, financial institutions and corporate AV departments.

AzzurroCam comes complete with a 1080i/720p/SD switchable robotic camera (SD output selectable: anamorphic or centre cut), four-input audio mixer with two Senheiser MKE-2 lav mics (expandable to eight or twelve input), three Lite Panel instruments with standard DMX protocol, a single line digital hybrid IFB with talent amplifier and earpiece, cordless headset phone and touchscreen controller for local or remote control via an IP connection.

Magna Systems and Engineering Group Engineering Manager, Barry Pegg, said, “The AzzurroCam system is both clever and powerful with many uses across many industries. The touchscreen controller allows the operator to control multiple locations from a single unit and provides low-res video and audio meters and store/recall camera presets on-screen. There’s also IFB dialup control and easy to understand red/green status lights which tell you when you’re ready to go on air. As an added bonus all hardware and software can be customised for a user’s specific needs.”

Visit www.magnasys.tv

AP and Streamworks Expand Live News Streaming

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STREAMWORKS INTERNATIONAL have renewed their contract to provide live streaming of AP’s content to AP Video Hub. AP Video Hub enables online publishers with limited editorial resources to quickly access and create rich online content, which increasingly includes live streams.

“Demand for live content from digital platforms has increased rapidly since AP launched the first live coverage service a decade ago in 2003,” said Sue Brooks, director video transformation at AP. “Online audiences increasingly expect broadcast-quality footage, so it’s essential to guarantee a high superlative experience."

AP Video Hub’s live service provides a 24-7 stream of breaking news, as well as access to pre-planned news events. Video Hub customers have benefited from AP’s live coverage of major stories, including the election of Pope Benedict XVI and the birth of Prince George.

“As a leading news source trusted to deliver breaking global events to a committed international audience, delivering the AP Direct service into AP Video Hub represents mission critical live broadcasting at its purest,” Streamworks International CEO, Ray Mia, said. ”There is no room for error here. No excuse for poor performance. You simply can’t interrupt footage from a warzone and then use SLAs to argue that the downtime represents a reasonable level of service.”

Available through customisable desktop, online and mobile interfaces, the streaming solution allows uninterrupted feeds to be delivered in multiple bitrates - including HD - and distributed to multiple content providers to ensure efficient global reach and guarantee stable delivery.

As one of Australia’s leading free-to-air commercial TV networks, Nine Network has deployed Dejero’s rugged and portable LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters to its field news crews, enabling them to transmit high-quality live or recorded HD video from remote locations using available cell or wireless networks. Dejero LIVE+ Broadcast Servers installed in Nine Network’s broadcast centres receive the video feeds and process them for playout to live news broadcasts.

To date, Nine Network news crews have used the Dejero equipment to cover a wide variety of live and breaking news stories across Australia and as far away as the U.K. and the U.S. The equipment was used for live coverage of the 2012 bush fires in New South Wales, the recent flare-up of tension between North and South Korea (live from the Korean DMZ),

and coverage of the 2013 Ashes series of test cricket matches between England and Australia.

NEWS OPERATIONS

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For the Ashes series, the Dejero LIVE+ Nine Network reporter Mark Burrows and cameraman Platform created Michael Sammut using a Dejero ENG kit near the a live connection border of North and South Korea. between the Nine Network news anchor in Australia and the reporter in the U.K. using 3G and 4G cellular networks with only one second of latency.

Visit www.dejero.com

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EURONEWS HAS CONFIRMED its position on the international news

screen is an opportunity to reach our audience.”

market as a pioneer by becoming the first news source to globally support the Sony SmartWatch2.

Made for Android, the Sony SmartWatch 2 is the world’s first watch that is compatible with all Android mobile phones and interacts with them over Bluetooth. Euronews connects its free Euronews Express application to the device. Every user can now receive Breaking News Alerts sent by the journalists of the international newsroom of Europe’s leading news channel.

This Alert service is available in English or French for the moment.

Visit www.euronews.com

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Euronews Launches on Sony SmartWatch 2

Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews said: ”Innovation is at the heart of the strategy of Euronews, as a global media group offering the right content, to the right place, at the right time. I’m convinced this is the ‘smart’ way to expand both our reach and our awareness worldwide in such a competitive market. Wearable devices perfectly answer one of our essential needs: to facilitate access to information for everyone in the world. Any connected

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Visit www.ap.org and www.streamworksint.com

Nine Network Expands Live News Coverage with Dejero DEJERO, the creator of mobile newsgathering products, has announced that Australia’s Nine Network has chosen Dejero solutions to expand and enhance its electronic newsgathering (ENG) capabilities.

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NEWS OPERATIONS

CNN Boosts Regional Ranks CNN INTERNATIONAL HAS GIVEN a boost to its Asian operations with the appointment of Ravi Agrawal as the New Delhi Bureau Chief and Will Ripley as the network’s Tokyo-based correspondent.

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Ravi Agrawal will commence in his new role with effect from April 1, 2014.

Based in the Indian capital, Agrawal will manage and oversee CNN’s multiplatform newsgathering operations from India.

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Agrawal is an award-winning CNN producer and has worked with the network across its London and US offices for eight years. He assumes this new role from being the senior producer of CNN’s flagship Sunday program on world affairs ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’.

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Before GPS, Agrawal was the senior producer for ‘Connect the World’, CNN International’s daily primetime show. Previously, he produced key news programs from the London bureau including Business International, CNN Today and World Business Today. Having joined the network in 2006, Agrawal rose to become a producer in a very short span gaining extensive “live” and in-field production experience from around the world including, Davos, Delhi, London, Mumbai, New York and Washington.

While Agrawal was its senior producer, ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ won a Peabody Award and garnered three Emmy nominations. In 2013, Agrawal was named a “Young Global Shaper” by the World Economic Forum. He received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Harvard College where he was elected to the editorial board of The Harvard Crimson in his freshman year.

Meanwhile, CNN International has also announced the appointment of

“Will is a tenacious, dedicated, courageous reporter – exactly what we look for at CNN,” Executive Vice President and Managing Director of CNN International Tony Maddox said. “We are thrilled to welcome him to the CNN family as we continue to strengthen our coverage in the Asia region.”

Ravi Agrawal.

Ripley has spent the last three years as an investigative journalist and anchor for KUSA-TV in Denver, Colorado.

Prior to that appointment he spent seven years on the U.SMexico border as an anchor and reporter for KRGV-TV in Will Ripley.

South Texas. He reported on drug cartels, border violence and illegal immigration. Before moving to Texas, Ripley worked for KRCG-TV in Missouri.

Throughout his career, Ripley has won numerous reporting accolades including four Regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Heartland Regional Emmy award. Ripley studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, is an accomplished cameraman and editor, and speaks fluent Spanish.

Visit www.cnninternational.com

Mosart Newscast Automation 3.6 MOSART NEWSCAST AUTOMATION is designed to make it easier for control room crews to focus on creating greater amounts of content at a higher quality.

Mosart can control more than 55 different peripheral broadcast devices: vision and audio mixers, video servers, graphics systems, camera robots, routers, light desks, and other systems, very often through native API. With the release of Mosart Newscast Automation version 3.6 at the 2014 NAB Show, Mosart has introduced new “boxed stories” functionality.

Designed for an intuitive touchscreen interface, it puts the focus back on the news story rather than on individual technical events. By making all stories and their elements in the rundown executable at the push of a button, this feature allows journalists to concentrate on telling those stories and lets directors focus on the flow of the news show as a whole.

In another updated feature, content and sources from any point of the rundown can be sent to studio walls, both directly and through preprogrammed salvos taken to air at a single click. These innovations in the

Mosart product improve nonlinear news production by giving directors instant content access and further enhancing the Mosart automation system’s ability to perform in breaking news situations, during deviations from the NRCS rundown, and when directors are making on-the-fly decisions about which content and assets to use.

Mosart has also announced that it will premiere support for video playout from Viz Engines at the 2014 NAB Show. By playing video content straight from the Viz Engine, Mosart opens the door to a cost-effective setup that achieves more functionality with less hardware.

Also new is Mosart Cue Cards, a stand-alone tablet-based application that gives presenters live and direct access to vital information in the newsroom computer system (NRCS) rundown, allowing them to be updated on and make personal script notes for both the current and any future story. Requiring only a tablet device and an Internet connection, Cue Cards helps presenters in the studio and journalists working live on location to stay up to date on selected stories, thus eliminating the need to maintain direct access to the NRCS or to ask the producer for updates.

Meanwhile, Mosart Multi-Studio Solution is a software package for larger broadcasters with multiple studios. Combining Mosart Media Router and Mosart Template Sharing, the package enables sharing of resources and coordination across several control rooms. New functionality added to the Mosart Media Router enables the sharing of video wall, lighting, and camera resources.

Visit www.mosart.no

NEWS OPERATIONS

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“India has the world’s interest and CNN has had a long standing presence and robust operations in the country for well over two decades now.

Ravi’s appointment is very timely as we prepare to cover the world’s largest democracy going to the polls in the coming months,” said Ellana Lee, Vice President and Managing Editor, CNN International Asia Pacific.

“The wealth of talent and experience at CNN has enabled us to recruit the strongest candidate from inside the company for this vital role. With a combination of Ravi’s deep knowledge, understanding of India and his indepth experience with the network’s global shows and operations, we will continue our comprehensive coverage from this country,” she added.

Will Ripley as the network’s Tokyo-based correspondent. A journalist with almost 15-years experience, Ripley will be responsible for covering major news stories from Japan.

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cineSync Used to Complete VFX for ‘Gravity’

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COSPECTIVE’S VIDEO REVIEW SOFTWARE cineSync

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played a key role in a globe-spanning VFX pipeline for Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. Charting the lonely quest of an astronaut (Sandra Bullock) to survive after her spaceship is crippled, the film received ten Oscar nominations.

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Framestore, principal VFX vendor on Gravity, tasked Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) with completing a spectacular reentry sequence. From their facility in Adelaide, RSP was able to integrate with Framestore via cineSync. With cineSync as a remote collaboration tool, distributed post-production teams can work closely regardless of locations and time zones.

In fact, cineSync was used for remote review on all of the movies nominated for Best Visual Effects this year, including The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Star Trek Into Darkness, as well as Gravity.

The film’s climactic scene shows Bullock’s character, astronaut Stone, attempting reentry into earth’s atmosphere. RSP completed 17 shots for this sequence. Using Framestore’s pre-vis for reference, RSP worked with director Cuarón, executive producer Nikki Penny and Tim Webber, VFX supervisor at Framestore, to craft and deliver the 2.5-minute sequence.

“We came up with technical and creative solutions through talking to Tim and Alfonso,” said Tony Clark, VFX supervisor and co-founder of RSP. “These conversations required a large number of cineSync sessions, usually including various reference clips of elements they wanted to include in the reentry scene.”

For the scene, RSP created stereoscopic, all-CG shots that included the space station and reentry module, plasma and flame effects surrounding

Eyeheight Used for “I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!”

EYEHEIGHT LE-2M LEGALISERS and CC-2M colour correctors have contributed to the successful production of the latest I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here series, broadcast on ITV in the UK and channel 3e in Ireland. Eyeheight legalisers are also being used during the German follow-on series Ich bin ein Star – Holt Mich Hier Raus! which is currently being transmitted by RTL. Both series are created in 1920 x 1080 HD at a jungle camp in Australia.

The Eyeheight LE-2M auto-detects incoming SDI or HD-SDI video and applies the appropriate legalising format. It then ensures that incoming signal video is held within the required broadcast colour-space parameters. Six user memories plus common presets are provided.

POST PRODUCTION

Additional legalisation features include automatic luma overshoot and undershoot suppression together with luma and chroma gain, black level adjustment, hue rotation, adjustable clipping levels and soft-clipping-knee levels. An ‘out-of-gamut’ indication feed displays overshoot or undershoot severity and shows the user where on the picture any signal correction is being performed.

Eyeheight’s CC-2M colour corrector allows independent real-time adjustment of red, green and blue component levels, master gain, lift, gamma and hue. A preview output provides a configurable split screen showing processed and unprocessed picture.

Visit www.eyeheight.com

the descending vehicle, the violent destruction of a space station, earth environments, atmospheric effects, parachutes, and panoramic matte painting.

“It’s always great to work with a local VFX house, but these days, with communications as advanced as they are, it’s getting easier to work remotely,” said Webber. “On Gravity we worked with Rising Sun, literally at the opposite end of the world from our base in London. This was made significantly easier using cineSync. It is tried and tested software that has been such an integral part of so many films that it’s almost synonymous with remote working.”

“As the VFX industry continues to grow worldwide, we are seeing how facilities are constantly discovering new means to do better, more inventive work, with tight timelines and, in some cases, shrinking budgets,” said Cospective’s Rory McGregor, product manager of cineSync.

Visit www.cospective.com

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Frankie Helps Trizz Move Toward the Virtual Studio FRANKIE, THE BROWSER-BASED video review tool from the maker of Cospective, is a part of a new globe-spanning workflow created by Trizz to produce its innovative commercial campaigns. From its headquarters in Barcelona, Trizz uses Frankie to collaboratively develop spots with producers, agencies and clients from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

With Frankie, creatives and post-production teams can now operate as “virtual studios,” employing the best talent regardless of location, and communicating with their clients on an ongoing basis, wherever they are based.

Chris Vulpi and Oriol Puig, who co-founded Trizz in 2009, have identified inefficiencies in the VFX and post industry and applied a more streamlined, workable model to their business.

“Our philosophy has always been to bring the best talent into our projects, whether it’s around the corner here in Barcelona or across the ocean,” said Vulpi, executive producer at Trizz. “In the same way, we are able to share what we offer at Trizz to our clients, wherever they are.”

Trizz taps into the specialist pool of talent in Barcelona and brings people in on occasion from L.A. or London, but its need for remote collaboration with distant artists continues. Vulpi has learned that, regardless of studio size, the management of the design and postproduction workflows is extremely important, requiring tools like Frankie that facilitate remote collaboration.

“We have some clients who tell us that they’d rather work with us on Frankie than go to the studios, even if around the corner,” said Vulpi.

Visit www.cospective.com/frankie

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Park Road Post Use Mistika to Grade The Hobbit SGO’S MISTIKA DI COLOUR GRADING post systems form the core at Park Road Post Production, and were utilised again in epic fantasy film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in The Hobbit Trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.

Mistika’s involvement at Park Road included supporting on-set services and screening HFR digital dailies, all the way through to the DI online, stereoscopic work and final grade for the film.

The facility boasts purpose-built state-of-the-art DI theatres for both high-end 2D and stereoscopic finishing work, supported by Mistika 4K/ Stereoscopic master systems combined with dedicated finishing suites with matching SGO technology and shared storage for speed and fluidity between their online editors and colourists.

Supervising Digital Colourist for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Trish Cahill, worked with a team at Park Road alongside Lead DI Colourist Vickie-Lynn Roy, using Mistika’s world-leading colour grading toolsets to complement the second film’s darker and richer narrative as the company head through Middle-earth toward both Erebor and, of course, Smaug – the dragon brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch and the VFX team at Weta Digital.

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“At Park Road, we are inspired by filmmakers who share our constant desire to push storytelling tools forward. That motivation allows us to deliver worldleading results for our clients which never let technology take the lead, but which give us compelling colour grading tools with which to achieve a director’s vision. The Mistika is simply a great asset creatively and technically, and is at the core of our work on this incredible production,” said Cahill.

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Vickie-Lynn expands, “Beyond the look development undertaken prior to the final online sessions, such as the variable ‘lens’ effects built entirely in the Mistika, we were able to effortlessly fold in highly technical requirements

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

for specific shots – such as deep mattes, themselves mathematically driving complex grade and stereo effects – all on the same platform, and all the time running critical stereo work in parallel with the ongoing look refinement, as the team headed towards the final delivery.”

Lead Stereographer, Meetal Gokul, explains, “The interaction of grade and stereo is so often underestimated, so at Park Road we work in parallel – with any screening format, 2D or 3D, available for review at any time. The stereo toolset in the Mistika was definitely used to its fullest for the second film in the Trilogy, and as always my team’s focus is on an incredible 3D experience which drives the story forward. This film is amazing, and the Mistika continues to provide exactly the right platform to service productions of any scale.”

Visit www.parkroad.co.nz and www.sgo.es

Jack Ryan Returns to The Big Screen With DaVinci Resolve BLACKMAGIC DESIGN TODAY ANNOUNCED that big budget thriller “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” has been finished on DaVinci Resolve by Company 3 London. Kenneth Branagh directed Paramount Pictures’ reboot of the spy film franchise, based on bestselling author Tom Clancy’s ‘Jack Ryan’ character.

“Shadow Recruit” is a sharp, fast paced thriller set in the present day. Producers have created an original story, taking audiences back to the early days of the character.

“Shadow Recruit” focuses on the time after Ryan has joined the CIA when he comes across a possible terrorist attack that would cripple the United States’ financial system.

Company 3 colourist Rob Pizzey first met with director Kenneth Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos at Pinewood Studios London in the early part of 2013. There the trio watched the first assembly edit of “Shadow Recruit,” which had been shot in anamorphic 35mm.

“This is was my first opportunity to get an idea of what I would have to grade,” explained Pizzey. “I was blown away! So many fast moving action scenes and a great storyline. The images we were watching were from the one light dailies transfer, so a lot of the shots didn’t match and some scenes were a bit off colour due to the transfer.”

The starting point for Pizzey was to create a quick preview grade in DaVinci Resolve to aide the editing process. “We all sat down to run through each scene and discussed what needed to be done. It was all straight forward enough: good skin tones, bring out the characters’ eyes and make the faces stand out, nothing forced. This first preview grade

would set the basis for the main DI grade,” he revealed.

“I spent several weeks with the cinematographer on the DI grade,” said Pizzey. “He’d done a fantastic job lighting the whole film. It made my job a lot easier. Once we’d completed our first pass setting the mood for each scene I concentrated on the smaller details such as eyes. During the fast cut action scenes this was tougher due to the camera or actor moving around. However, Resolve’s auto tracking saved the day yet again! After we were happy with the grade, Kenneth came in to give notes before we delivered the finished film.”

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

POST PRODUCTION

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Quantel GE2 Delivers

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QUANTEL HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of Genetic Engineering 2. GE2 is Quantel’s second-generation shared storage solution for post that delivers new levels of flexibility, performance and productivity for Quantel Pablo Rio colour and finishing system users. The original Genetic Engineering transformed the efficiency of many post houses; GE2 will do the same for today’s multi-resolution post world.

GE2 enables instant sharing of high-resolution jobs between suites giving users total flexibility to move jobs at a moment’s notice. Crucially, each GE2 connected Pablo Rio has guaranteed real-time performance whatever the other suites are doing – even at 4K. GE2 is great for facility scheduling as it makes it possible to take on short notice jobs. It allows multiple suites to teamwork on tight deadline jobs and enables more suites to get involved when a job suddenly needs more resources. GE2 enables up to four Pablo Rio systems to share the same GenePool storage. Third party systems can read and write to GenePool storage via the GenePool Gateway. Pablo PA also connects to the GenePool Gateway to handle back-office tasks, ensuring that the frontline Pablo Rio systems spend the maximum time on client-facing work.

There is a huge range of potential GE2 configurations, which means that GE2 systems can be tailored to meet individual facility’s workflow requirements.

For example, the GenePool shared storage can range from 18TB to support a two-suite HD production requirement, to almost 400TB – more than enough for even multiple simultaneous 4K or 6K Red Dragon jobs.

“The number one issue facing post houses today is workflow, and Genetic Engineering 2 delivers the kind of flexibility and productivity they need to compete in a market where clients demand quality and speed in equal measure,” said Quantel Sales Director, Martin Mulligan.

Visit www.quantel.com

Matrox Adds to Mojito 4K Card MATROX VIDEO HAS ANNOUNCED the availability of 10-bit H.264 intra-frame rendering with the Matrox Mojito 4K quad 3G-SDI 4K video monitoring card for use with Adobe Premiere Pro CC on Windows platforms. Matrox Mojito 4K enables realtime monitoring and output of video footage at resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 and at frame rates up to 60 fps (4Kp60).

POST PRODUCTION

“With the Mojito 4K card, Matrox leads the way in 4K postproduction with Adobe Premiere Pro CC, providing the only solution that offers 10-bit H.264 intra-frame rendering for a complete end-toend 4K delivery workflow,” said Wayne Andrews, product manager at Matrox. “Until now, all renders were done at a maximum resolution of 1080; Mojito 4K lets users ingest, edit, render and export in full 4K.”

AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS HAS ANNOUNCED availability of Io 4K, an evolution of its popular devices for professional video I/O, updated and customised for Thunderbolt 2 technology and the latest 4K workflows. Io 4K connects to any Thunderbolt 2-enabled device such as the new Mac Pro, and offers an additional Thunderbolt 2 port for daisy-chaining other peripherals in supported workflows.

Io 4K offers a broad range of professional video and audio connectivity, supporting the latest 4K and UltraHD devices. AJA’s conversion technology allows realtime high-quality scaling of 4K to 2K and UltraHD to HD. Io 4K seamlessly integrates with leading broadcast, post-production and delivery tools such as Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Creative Cloud, Avid Media Composer, AJA Control Room, Telestream Wirecast 5, and more AJA was one of the first out of the gate with support for Thunderbolt with their Io XT and T-TAP products. Thunderbolt 2 enables unprecedented high-resolution workflows for video professionals.

“There has been so much anticipation for the Mac Pro from video professionals whose workflows truly stand to benefit from its incredible power,” said Nick Rashby, president, AJA Video Systems.

“Io 4K not only represents a new evolution in our video I/O devices, it is also the first product to market showcasing AJA’s new product design aesthetic while still embracing our commitment to performance, reliability and support.”

Visit www.aja.com

Etere Integrated Captioning in MAM to-use enterprise software designed to enable any broadcaster or media company to freely produce their own subtitles (e.g. movies subtitles, news captions, etc.) with multi format import and export.

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Etere Subtitles Tool offers the chance to migrate from a complex standalone captioning system into a fully software based solution that use all the resources of MAM, able to simplify subtitle handling thanks to a key set of features, including:

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+ User-friendly interface to produce your own subtitles + Import and export subtitles in all major standard formats

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+ Free speech-to-text and accurate spell-checking

+ 8- and 10-bit YUV output at all resolutions and frames rates

+ Automatic playout of subtitles from IT-based servers

+ Up to 16 channels of SDI embedded audio support

Etere Subtitles Tool can eliminate the need to always handle several captioning files or burning captions into video, a centralised database storage will make your subtitles better organised, safer, and immediately available for automated workflow tasks (e.g. playout, delivery, etc.).

+ Facilitated translation of subtitles between languages

Integration with Etere Workflow ensures full compliance with your subtitling requirements, executing automatic workflow actions to make subtitled media available in the right place in the right format.

Visit www.etere.eu

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+ Simultaneous preview of multiple languages

Visit www.matrox.com/video and www.newmagic.com.au

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Additional key features of Matrox Mojito 4K include:

+ Bi-level and tri-level genlock input

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Thinkbox Announces Krakatoa for MAXON CINEMA 4D THINKBOX SOFTWARE HAS ACQUIRED code to bring its particle renderer, Krakatoa, into MAXON’s CINEMA 4D modelling and animation software. Initial efforts to link the plug-in with CINEMA 4D were led by Ugly Kids artist Daniel Hennies, who collaborated with a developer to program a bridge to the stand-alone version of Krakatoa (SR). Leveraging the C++ API of Krakatoa SR, Hennies and a small team were able to fully integrate the particle renderer with CINEMA 4D and first demoed the technology at SIGGRAPH 2013.

“I was really motivated to incorporate Krakatoa into my workflow since the majority of my projects involve creating fluids, particles and high quality renders, which are time and memory intensive in CINEMA 4D,” explained Hennies. ”I didn’t want to switch creative applications so I took matters into my own hands. Krakatoa renders blazingly fast in CINEMA 4D and handles particles in a way that wasn’t possible before. The plug-in was fun to develop and I’m eager to see it grow with the expertise and support of Thinkbox.”

“It is great news that Thinkbox and Daniel Hennies are enabling Krakatoa for CINEMA 4D; we’ve had multiple requests for Krakatoa. This bridge is a huge win for our users and I am looking forward to great artwork rendered with Krakatoa C4D,” noted Oliver Meiseberg, Product Manager CINEMA 4D, MAXON Computer.

“We’re super excited about bringing Krakatoa to CINEMA 4D and are thankful that Daniel has done the heavy lifting on integration,” said Chris Bond, founder, Thinkbox Software. ”We’re always on the look out for ways our solutions can better serve artists; extending support to additional software packages is just one of the many enhancements up our sleeve.”

Visit www.thinkboxsoftware.com

The Foundry Launches NUKE 8 SOFTWARE DEVELOPER THE FOUNDRY has released the new version of its node based compositor, NUKE. NUKE 8 includes countless exciting features and updates for artists working across multiple industries.

Hugo Guerra, Head of NUKE at The Mill, comments, “This update of NUKE cements it as the most powerful compositor in the market today.

It doesn’t matter if you are making a film, a commercial, a TV show, game cinematics or creating an art installation, you will never be disappointed with its unique scalability and raw versatility.”

Tweak RV-SDI Delivers 4K Output with AJA and NVIDIA TWEAK SOFTWARE HAS ANNOUNCED support for AJA Video’s KONA 3G, T-TAP and Io XT, and NVIDIA’s GPUDirect for Video in RV-SDI, the advanced playback, review and image manipulation software for screening rooms and theatres.

RV-SDI’s capabilities for playback, review and collaboration include support for hundreds of media formats, all standard SDI output resolutions, completely GPU-based image processing, advanced colour management and support for Windows, Mac and Linux.

When combined with an AJA KONA 3G and an NVIDIA Quadro GPU, RVSDI enables 4K video output along with a range of digital cinema and video formats.

RV-SDI’s universal media engine can mix multiple media types on a single timeline including different file formats, resolutions, bit depths, and colour spaces. RV-SDI delivers the benefits of a floating point, linear colour workflow with GPU-accelerated support for CDL, LUTs and shaders, and the ability to build custom colour pipelines.

The new release of RV-SDI supports DCI 4K, UHD 4K, DCI 2K, HD, and more formats. It supports stereo dual stream playback, and interactivity that is demanded by top studios, VFX facilities, networks and post production houses for colour critical review and approval.

“KONA 3G and Tweak’s RV-SDI together deliver a very robust and costeffective 4K and stereo output solution for screening rooms,” said Nick Rashby, President, AJA Video Systems. “RV-SDI is unique in that along with a full range of support across multiple DCI and video formats, you can do real-time image processing on the GPU and hand it off for SDI output seamlessly.”

“RV-SDI takes advantage of NVIDIA’s GPU Direct for Video exactly the way we intended, enabling low-latency video output from our GPUs for immediate viewing a range of resolutions on any SDI display,” said Andrew Page, Product Manager, Professional Video, NVIDIA. “RV-SDI has become a trusted solution for review and approval in the pressure cooker environment of high end VFX and animation production. We are pushing the limits of AJA SDI hardware and NVIDIA’s Quadro cards to combine SDI output of 4K, 10-bit stereo, and more with RV-SDI’s real-time colour, collaboration and review features,” said Seth Rosenthal, President, Tweak Software.

Visit www.tweaksoftware.com

The list of features include the new Dope Sheet, allowing artists see and move keys around in the context of a timeline style view, a brand new Text node letting artists compose, edit and animate directly in the viewer.

NewBlueFX Supports Premiere Pro CC Enhancements

There are big updates to NUKE’s grading and colour correction tools with a new intuitive in-panel colour wheel to control hue, saturation and value as well as Scope tools to help users analyse the picture like Waveform, Vectorscope and Histogram viewers and a pixel analyser. There’s also a new Match Grade node enhancing NUKE’s grading capabilities.

FOLLOWING TWO SIGNIFICANT Adobe Premiere Pro CC enhancements, NewBlue, Inc. announced full compatibility of its entire line of 68 NewBlueFX video transitions with the newest Adobe release.

Making environment work a faster and easier process, a further update to NUKE’s Camera Tracker adds to the set solve functionality and lets artists track and solve cameras from reference stills, helping to assist object or set modelling within one integrated environment. The Model Builder now also features UV creation for even greater 3D control.

Brand new 3D tools include Viewer Capture to allow users to flipbook images from the 2D and 3D Viewer, a new Edit Geo node, a Particle Cache node to speed up rendering times and the Wireframe Shader node for various visual effects and increased control over projection mapping.

Overall speed and performance are also improved with the addition of OpenEXR 2.0 multi-part image read and write support, Alembic 1.5 and Planar Rendering. NUKE 8 also features a new intelligent incontext help system.

Visit www.thefoundry.co.uk

Editors who update to the latest version of Adobe Creative Cloud receive two powerful new features in Adobe Premiere Pro CC that dramatically increase the speed and ease of editing with video transitions: fast drag and drop insertion and native editing in the effects tab and the ability to run transitions directly in the GPU, via OpenCL or CUDA, for real-time performance. Through technical collaboration with Adobe, the NewBlueFX team delivered transitions that fully leverage these powerful new features.

“Adobe Premiere Pro CC customers want the fastest access to transitions possible. Our newest release provides the ability to work most efficiently with brilliant results. In addition, NewBlue responded quickly, bringing its rich lineup of beautiful transitions up to speed,“ said Simon Williams, director of strategic relations at Adobe.

“We’re committed to providing our customers with the best options, and that includes a healthy partner ecosystem. NewBlue’s support is part of that equation.”

Visit www.newbluefx.com

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Jünger Audio Celebrates Sales Success In China AS CHINA CELEBRATED the start of a New Year, dynamics specialist Jünger Audio also marked an important event – the culmination of its most successful sales year in the country.

“Since opening a dedicated regional office in Beijing in 2010, we have seen our Chinese sales grow year on year,” says Jünger Audio CEO Peter Pörs.

“However, 2013 was successful with sales exceeding our expectations. We shipped a wide range of audio processors, which were delivered to a number of different Chinese broadcasters.”

Pörs adds that Jünger Audio’s achievements in China are down to two key factors – having a permanent base in the country, which inspires customer confidence, and offering a range of high quality products.

“Our Beijing office is headed by Jian Gao, a Chinese national who understood both the business climate and our own industry,” he says. “Jian’s broadcast and pro audio experience, combined with her local knowledge, make a huge difference to how we are perceived by our Chinese customers. Having a local presence reassures our customers as they know they will be properly supported after they buy.”

Jünger Audio’s D*AP4 LM series has proved particularly popular in China because it gives users the processing quality and features offered by Jünger Audio’s flagship T*AP Television Audio Processors, but in a smaller 4 or 2 channel system. Incorporating Jünger Audio’s LEVEL MAGIC algorithm, the unit focuses on automatic and adaptive loudness management compliant with all current broadcast audio loudness recommendations including ITU.1770 Standards (revisions 1, 2 and 3) as well as recommended practices ATSC A/85 (2011/2013), ARIB TR-B32, Free TV OP-59, Portaria 354 and EBU R128.

Recent customers in China have included Guang Zhou TV, which has invested in 44 D*AP4 LM processors, making this one of the largest single orders to PRC in the company’s history. As the TV station of Guang Zhou city, GZTV is determined to ensure that its viewers receive the highest quality audio and it is therefore installing Jünger Audio’s loudness control throughout its playout chain and advertising servers.

Another Jünger Audio customer is Nan Fang TV Station, the second provincial terrestrial and satellite TV station in Guang Dong province. Nan Fang TV is now using D*AP4 LM processors and J*AM loudness logging software to control and monitor loudness quality on all eight of its TV channels. In the same region, Guang Dong TV Station in Guang Zhou city has invested in 12 D*AP4 LM processors and six T*AP Television Audio Processors as part of a station upgrade to HD. Finally, major satellite TV station ShenZhen TV, based in Shen Zhen city, has recently started using Jünger Audio D*AP4 and J*AM loudness logging software to monitor and log its program loudness.

“Chinese broadcasters are now well aware of the importance of loudness control and are choosing Jünger Audio’s products to achieve it because they meet China’s demands for technical sophistication and audio quality,” Jian Gao says. “In recent months, Jünger Audio’s loudness control and Surround production tools have been used on some highly prestigious broadcasts – for example Shanghai Media Group’s Season One finale of The Chinese Idol, all Guang Dong TV’s New Year’s Eve concerts since 2012, and ZITV’s Voice of China.”

Visit www.junger-audio.com

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Park Road Takes Hobbit into Atmos Sphere with DVS Clipster WHEN THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), premiered in December 2013, the new Dolby Atmos standard added another dimension to the experience of sound, alongside stunning images.

Dolby Atmos allows for precise sound event positioning in the auditorium, complimenting the High Frame Rate (HFR) 3D images. The full three dimensional experience was brought to life at Park Road Post Production, mastering both HFR-3D at 48 fps and immersive Dolby Atmos sound, all on the DVS CLIPSTER. Dolby Atmos takes into account each venue’s unique configuration; the powerful and sophisticated sound mix is adjusted to each and every cinema.

Instead of assigning audio tracks to discrete channels, 64 objects are available and are freely positioned spatially within the auditorium. Thanks to an intelligent decoder box, sound events are rendered and distributed to the required number of speakers. Thus, Dolby Atmos enhances quality and performance of the surround speaker installation.

advancements in the CLIPSTER platform along with their absolute willingness to innovate and push the technological boundaries has not only helped to master a 3D HFR DCP with incredible speed, but has now bought Dolby Atmos mastering within the same platform.”

Bernhard Reitz, Head of Product Management at DVS, added, “It is a true honour to once again have played a role together with Park Road Post in the The Hobbit Trilogy. It is a stunning testimony of how CLIPSTER is being used for both high frame rate mastering and exquisite DCP creation. We feel very proud that we can once again pioneer with CLIPSTER by including Dolby Atmos in our system. This will undoubtedly add an exceptional dimension of sound on top of a breathtaking image quality to the audience.”

Visit www.dvs.de and www.parkroad.co.nz

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

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On the production side, the audio (dialogue, music and effects) is fed into the Dolby Rendering and Master Unit (RMU), this allows flexible rendering for different configurations. The final package is then fed into the DCI mastering pipeline, headed by CLIPSTER. The CLIPSTER generates the final DCP or, to be more precise, the various versions of DCPs required by Park Road. CLIPSTER’s powerful feature set allows creation of a variety of versions, within a very short timeframe. CLIPSTER masters the material in high quality at 48 fps in 3D – plus the respective Atmos track.

Ian Bidgood, Technical Director at Park Road Post, said, “Again, DVS has proven themselves to be the invaluable partner we have become accustomed to.

We were extremely happy to continue our innovative partnership that was started on the first part of The Hobbit Trilogy. Once again, DVS’s significant

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SPANNING 200 SQUARE METRES, Shenzhen’s SZMG TV Network recently underwent a massive overhaul, significantly increasing the audio and mixing capabilities of its two studios. To keep up with the network’s popularity, contractor Anheng Li Company installed a HARMAN Studer OnAir 3000 digital console in each studio to boost audio quality and capacity. The consoles were supplied by HARMAN’s distributor Advanced Communication Equipment Co Ltd. (ACE).

The Studer OnAir 3000 console is equipped with 30 motorised faders, three master faders and the Studer SCore Live processing engine connected to a D21m I/O audio interface system. With the addition of a GPIO card, the OnAir 3000 console can support up to 16 channels, which enable audio and video functionality to be used in two live studio shows and broadcasting programs.

According to the operators, this feature reduced the SZMG TV Network’s workload considerably.

To prove the OnAir 3000 mixing console’s system reliability, safety and stability, Shenzhen TV Studio went through a series of rigorous tests from August 26 through September 29.

The OnAir 3000’s snapshot recall ability helps broadcast multiple news programs, sports broadcasts and guest programs by switching between different mixer settings. Each profile can be loaded onto the 33 faders quickly and accurately, for efficient and safe control over the audio signals.

While large video content can sometimes lead to a delay in sound signal, the OnAir 3000 5-second delay function allows the operator to cope with a variety of screen time delay conditions, for a perfect synchronisation between video and audio.

Visit www.harman.com

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Sony Releases Upgrade to Sound Forge Pro Mac and SpectraLayers Pro SONY CREATIVE SOFTWARE recently released new versions of its Sound Forge Pro Mac and SpectraLayers Pro (Win/Mac) applications.

These products can be purchased separately or together in the new Audio Master Suite Mac bundle.

Sound Forge Pro Mac, now at Version 2, comes with the addition of new features including: batch processing, refined metering for discriminating mastering and broadcast professionals, more processing tools, and event editing improvements.

The free SpectraLayers Pro 2.1 update features interoperability with Sound Forge Pro Mac, an efficient reverb removal process, an improved noise reduction algorithm, expanded noise removal process options, and user interface improvements.

“Sound Forge Pro Mac and SpectraLayers Pro are evolving rapidly,” said Dave Chaimson, Divisional Vice President of Sony Creative Software.

“Adding comprehensive batch processing functionality to Sound Forge Pro Mac fulfils our single most frequent customer request, and the new processing options available via the included Nectar Elements plug-in represent an unparalleled value. Mac-based SpectraLayers Pro users will now be able to enjoy the sensational Sound Forge Pro interoperability experience previously available only on the Windows platform, as well as the new reverb removal and noise reduction features we’ve built into the free SpectraLayers Pro update.”

The interoperability feature that now unifies the cross-platform Sound Forge Pro and SpectraLayers Pro product lines first became available for Windows-based platforms in July 2013. With the release of Sound Forge Pro Mac 2 and SpectraLayers Pro 2.1, this interoperability is now mirrored across both platforms.

Sound Forge Pro Mac Software New Features: + ‘Convrt’ Batch Processing Automation Tool – A freestanding utility for mass file format conversions, plug-in signal and effects processing treatments, and file metadata attachments including art. ‘Convrt’ can handle repetitive chores in the background while recording and editing audio in the Sound Forge Pro Mac workspace. + Interoperability with SpectraLayers Pro 2.1 – Transfer audio data between Sound Forge Pro Mac and SpectraLayers Pro.

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+ iZotope Nectar Elements – The included Nectar Elements plug-in makes vocal treatment a snap.

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+ Loudness Meters – New metering options. EBU R128/CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act) compliant metering helps you follow the new rules while maximising the dynamic range potential of your audio.

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LAWO HAS TAKEN ITS V__PRO8 video processing tool to the next level, announcing the release of a new AV-sync measurement feature in the V__pro8 for lip-syncing. This new functionality provides accuracy better than +/- 2 audio samples. The V__pro8 now provides the wellknown EBU test pattern, plus a Lawo-developed V__line test pattern that can be generated from any of the V__pro8 video outputs or as an mp4 file.

Operators can automatically measure all 16 embedded audio channels of up to eight SDI signals. The video processor allows graphical and numerical presentation of measurement results with definable coloured regions (green, yellow, red) for early and late signals. A zoom function and time stamping of the measurements makes it easy to detect and correct signals as needed.

Lawo introduced the V_pro8 in April of 2012 to provide a full suite of video processing and audio-for-video signal flow management tools in production environments that require high density channel count in a minimum amount of rack space. The product design fits in a single 1RU space and provides a 8 x 8 3G/HD/SD-SDI video matrix and 384 x 384 MADI audio matrix with the ability to switch any signal to any other signal.

Visit www.lawo.de

+ Event Mode Improvements – Convert regions to events, lock event markers, region markers, and envelope points to events, and automatically ripple successive events forward in time while editing. + FLAC file format support – Generate files in this popular lossless format that features space-saving compression and comprehensive metadata-handling capabilities. + Auto Trim/Crop tool – Automatically remove unnecessary silence in a sound file while fading the edges of program segments in and out with user-controlled fade lengths.

SpectraLayers Pro 2.1 Software Update New Features: + Free update for registered SpectraLayers Pro 2.0 users – purchase price unchanged. + Interoperability with Sound Forge Pro Mac – Move audio data between SpectraLayers Pro and Sound Forge Pro Mac. + Reverb removal process – Reduce or eliminate reverb in the spectral domain. + Improved noise reduction algorithm. + Noise reduction process option – Send program material directly to a new layer.

Visit www.sonycreativesoftware.com

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Avid Updates and Improves at NAMM AT THE RECENT NAMM EXHIBITION, Avid announced Sibelius 7.5 software for composers, arrangers, music publishers, students, and educators. Avid also introduced the Eleven Rack Editor, the Avid Space plugin for Pro Tools 11, as well as a Pto Tools 11 compatible version of the MDW Hi-Res Parametric EQ 5 plug-in.

“With Sibelius 7.5, composers can create professional scores more quickly and deliver higher quality, inspiring content,” said Chris Gahagan, Senior Vice President of Products and Services at Avid. “Sibelius continues to provide the fastest, smartest, easiest way for professionals and students to write music for live performance, film and television, and media entertainment.”

New features in Sibelius 7.5 include: + Accelerated navigation – The new Timeline window allows for a quick view of the entire structure of a score for faster editing and playback, no matter how large or complex the score; + More expressive playback – The redesigned Espressivo 2.0 feature delivers complete control over the customisation of the rhythmic feel of any individual part of the score; + Improved notation interpretation – Sibelius playback has been enhanced, providing better interpretation of notation distinctions such as tempo markings, metric emphasis, grace notes, mordents, caesuras, and breath marks; + Easy collaboration and sharing – Sibelius 7.5 enables collaboration and distribution of compositions through score sharing and social media features; + Full Scorch app integration – Sibelius scores can be exported to Avid Scorch on iPad for fully interactive playback, practice, performance, and publishing. Sibelius automatically optimises the score for iPad display.

The Eleven Rack Editor provides owners of the Eleven Rack guitar system with a faster, more open workflow for creating and editing guitar tones. The no-cost application makes Eleven Rack software control available for Pro Tools 11 and third-party digital audio workstation solutions.

“As the cost associated with audiences’ rising expectations for sound quality continues to grow, artists and musicians need innovative and affordable solutions to deliver higher quality, inspiring music,” said Chris Gahagan. “The release of Eleven Rack Editor fulfils our customers’ request for a standalone software editor, and allows artists and music professionals to create highquality, inspiring guitar tones with greater speed and efficiency.”

Eleven Rack Editor replaces the software control window that was built into previous versions of Pro Tools, and makes it available as a standalone application. Eleven Rack owners can now upgrade to Pro Tools 11 and enjoy

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The Eleven Rack Editor enhances software control for artists and music professionals, allowing them to operate Eleven Rack with any digital audio workstation.

Avid Space is a convolution reverb plug-in for Pro Tools Avid Space User Interface music and postproduction projects, available in 64-bit AAX Native, DSP, and AudioSuite formats. From large concert halls to dense plate reverbs, Space delivers the sounds of natural reverb spaces with familiar controls from high-end hardware reverb units. By combining the sampled acoustics of real reverb spaces with advanced DSP algorithms, Space offers full control of reverb parameters in mono, stereo, and surround formats.

“Avid has already changed the game endless times with their vast array of amazing plugins including the EQ 3, Pro Limiter, Pro Compressor, and others available for Pro Tools 11,” stated Junior Sanchez, remixer for artists including Madonna, Gorillaz, Daft Punk, Shakira, and more. “Now that Space is available in the 64-bit AAX format, along with a tonne of other amazing Pro Tools plug-ins, now is the perfect time to upgrade to Pro Tools 11.”

Avid and Massenburg DesignWorks jointly announced the MDW Hi-Res Parametric EQ 5 plug-in is now compatible with Pro Tools 11. Version 5 offers AAX Native 64 and AAX DSP 64 formats, providing the flexibility to use the EQ across the entire Pro Tools 10-based product line.

George Massenburg, who has spent a lot of time refining this AAX 64-bit version, says, “The latest MDW EQ5-AAX DSP continues the MDW tradition of highest-quality, double-precision math, resulting in the highest measurable performance – the lowest artefacts of any commercially available digital equaliser. The MDW EQ user interface presents a finely tuned EQ human interface, with controls that reflect a deep understanding of the ergonomics of EQ control and use, and the expectations of what an engineer expects to hear when a knob is turned. MDW EQ controls are always easily readable and controls are easily settable. The MDW EQ and the MDW EQ5-AAX continue to be the standard against which all other EQ plug-ins are measured.”

Visit www.avid.com

Audio-Technica Remaster M-Series Headphones AUDIO-TECHNICA HAS REMASTERED its M-Series professional monitor headphones, replacing the range with four renewal models: ATHM20x, M30x, M40x and M50x.

Taking cues from the sound and proprietary design of A-T’s ATH-M50, the ATH-M20x, M30x and M40x deliver accurate audio and comfort. All three models feature 40mm drivers with rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminium voice coils, as well as a circumaural design that contours around the ears for sound isolation in loud environments. The ATH-M50x (featuring 45mm drivers) has the same sonic signature as the original ATH-M50 and adds refined ear pads and three detachable cables.

AUDIO

The M50 has been the choice of studio, mastering and live audio engineers alike. The M50x now offers improved ear pads and three detachable cables (coiled, 1.2m and 3m straight). Available in black, white and limited-edition blue with brown headband.

The M40x also offers swivelling ear-cups for convenient one-ear monitoring if required. Engineered with pro-grade materials and robust

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construction, the M40x excels in professional studio tracking and mixing, as well as DJ monitoring.

The M20x and M30x offer a comfortable listening experience with enhanced audio and effective isolation. Both are an excellent choice for tracking and mixing but, with its fold-up design, M30x is the pick for field recording.

Visit www.audio-technica.com

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Studer Unveils New Infinity Series Processing Engine and Vista X

TSL PRODUCTS RECENTLY INTRODUCED a major software upgrade for its Touchmix (AVM-T-Mix) rackmount audio mixer/monitor system at CABSAT 2014.

“The free software upgrade for Touchmix marks a seismic development for this product line allowing broadcasters to significantly upgrade capabilities and address extended production needs without purchasing and integrating a new unit,” said Martin Dyster, Head of Audio for TSL Products.

When operated as a mixer, the Touchmix allows the user to mix and monitor any combination of 5.1, stereo and mono signals, in their native form without the need for up- or down-mixing, via two independent, multichannel mix engines. Mixer 1 (formerly stereo-only) now features a parallel 5.1 bus, which becomes active as soon as the user identifies a 5.1 signal source, whilst the secondary mixer maintains its original stereo configuration.

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STUDER HAS INTRODUCED its Vista X digital console and the Studer Infinity Processing Engine. The Vista X offers an intuitive user interface, retaining the Vistonics and FaderGlow user interface, providing control of 800 or more audio DSP channels and more than 5,000 inputs and outputs.

At the heart of the system is the Infinity DSP core, which uses CPU-based processors to provide DSP channels for large-scale, high-resolution audio processing and mixing. Thanks to the ‘Infinity core’, this is the first time more than 800 audio channels have been processed in a single CPU-based board.

This offers significant advantages, as CPU processing provides a scalable system, faster development of new signal processing designs, huge channel counts, full system redundancy without a single point of failure and the possibility of running third-party algorithms.

The impetus behind infinity was Studer’s desire to create a DSP engine that is adaptable and flexible. The attraction of CPU technology as used on most computers has resulted in huge worldwide R&D investment in this technology. As such, these chips are not only reliable in operation but also result in a doubling of processor power every 24 months.

The new Infinity DSP engine provides 12 A-Link high-capacity fibre digital audio interfaces, providing more than 5,000 inputs and outputs. A newly designed high-density I/O system – D23m, is used to break out these A-Link connections to standard analogue, digital and video interfaces. The A-Link interface also provides direct connection to the Riedel MediorNet distributed router, allowing many Infinity systems to be connected together with router capacities of 10,000 square or more.

A key element in the design of the Infinity Series is to avoid the possibility of a single fault causing loss of audio. The Vista X console features four processors, offering complete redundancy of the control surface. Now, the Infinity Core, with a combination of CPU-based DSP and A-Link audio interfaces, offers N+1 redundancy of the DSP engine and I/O with instant switchover between main and standby system without audio break.

CPU-based DSP means it is now economically viable to provide two completely independent DSP cores running in parallel with instant change over in case of DSP problems. The provision of two independent DSP engines overcomes potential single points of failure offered with traditional TDMbased systems. This new design also offers the possibility of two complete Vista X surfaces to be working on the same project at the same time.

A number of key features have been bundled as part of the mix capability, including a combined panner/divergence control so the engineer can direct a mono signal to any spatial position across the LCR front channels. The 5.1 monitoring outputs can be routed to surround sound speakers via analogue or AES connections, and controlled using the onboard master volume encoder, while the 5.1 mixer line output can be routed independently to an external device such as a downstream router, editor or embedder via analogue or AES connections.

The Touchmix’s onboard 48 x 24 XY audio router handles mono, stereo or 5.1 SDI, AES and analogue signal sources, and gives the user control of source to destination routing configuration. A physical input or internal bus (mixer, monitor) can be assigned to any of the multichannel AES or analogue output connections. The XY router also allows the creation of different configurations for each of the 18 onboard user snapshots, so that connectivity can be tailored to suit different project or production workflows, enabling the user to recall as required.

Mixing and monitoring capabilities aside, the Touchmix upgrade also means that the product doubles as a 16-channel SDI source deembedder to AES or analogue outputs and a multi-format audio cross converter with A> D/D>A functionality.

Visit www.tslproducts.com

Ambient Recording TinyMike DSLR Set AMBIENT RECORDING HAS RELEASED the Ambient TinyMike DSLR Set (ATM 216 DSLR). The microphone weighs a mere 30g, and with a length of 14cm and a diameter of less than 8mm, the ATM216 is smaller than most pens.

Along with the Infinity processor, it also includes the new A-Link audio interface system.

Thanks to its hyper-cardoid directivity the ATM 216 TinyMike captures sound from the front while eliminating the ambient noise coming from the side. The miniature microphone can operate directly from the low voltage power on DSLR or small HD cameras. Alternatively, an active adapter cable allows phantom powered operation, which makes it a suitable accessory for the popular small HD cameras with XLR inputs.

“In developing the Vista X and the Infinity Core, we needed to provide a suitable audio interface system to connect the huge number of audio channels,” said Andrew Hills, Product Director, Studer. “Out of this need came the development of the A-Link digital audio interface.”

The TinyMike Set also includes a Rycote shockmount. Thanks to Rycote’s Lyre technology, handling noise is isolated from the microphone. The TinyMike suspension system is equipped with a standard 3/8-inch thread for immediate use on any boom pole or microphone stand.

Visit www.studer.ch

Visit www.ambient.de

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LTFS – Putting the Archive at the Heart of Content Management Since its launch in 2010, LTFS has attracted growing interest from systems developers working on behalf of broadcasters and media companies. It offers security and longevity for archive storage.

Perhaps more importantly, it allows designers to put the archive at the centre of the asset management system, playing an active role, rather than something added at the end of the process and requiring additional steps to store and retrieve content.

This paper briefly describes LTFS, explains why it is relevant to and valuable for media organisations, and outlines some of the ways in which it can be used in new workflows.

LTFS Most will be familiar with the series of LTO archive tape formats. Originally developed by Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Seagate (now Quantum) as an open archive standard, LTO stands for Linear Tape – Open. The three founders created the LTO Consortium, which develops the standards and makes them openly available to any vendor.

LTO is a tape format. As tape technology advances, so new versions of LTO appear. The current iteration is LTO-6, although systems using earlier versions are still in widespread use.

LTFS, although it comes from the same organisation, is not a tape format but a file system: Linear Tape Filing System. Most importantly, it is a selfdescribing file system, using XML to define the organisation of both data and metadata on each tape.

The important point to bear in mind is that it is not a wrapper, which requires each system to understand it to access the content. The tape itself is completely self-describing.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

Tapes written in the LTFS format can therefore be used independently of any external database or storage system. An LTFS-format tape can be taken from one system and read by any other, without problems. Content can be taken from one organisation’s archive and delivered to another’s asset management system without thinking about how to manage the transfer. For the first time, assets are truly portable.

Some argue that it is a compromise design. The emphasis has been on portability, the ability to take a tape from one system and read it in another.

It means, for instance, that LTFS tapes cannot include permissions and ownerships: all content is accessed by the root. For media applications, which tend to have their own quite complex structure of access control, this is not a problem.

It is worth reminding ourselves of one other key factor at this stage. LTFS comes from an open organisation within the IT industry, led by three of the leading storage suppliers, and supported by other major players. This puts the R & D resources of the IT industry behind it, which is orders of magnitude greater than anything that the media industry could ever bring to bear.

In turn, this means that products are quickly optimised and commoditised, making solutions based on LTFS very cost-effective. As future technologies develop so they will be brought into the LTFS fold, without compromising the essential portability. In years to come LTFS content could be connected to an asset management system using any hardware from spinning disks to holographic storage, and still be instantly accessible. So LTFS represents, at the conceptual level, a long-term content preservation methodology.

LTFS IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY Although LTFS is an IT standard, the LTO Consortium chose to launch the new file system at NAB in April 2010. Broadcast and media applications have been seen as important from the start. The headline benefits include portability and extreme resilience.

Because LTFS is a self-describing file system, each tape is a complete and self-contained system of assets and related metadata. A tape can be written in one archive system and will be immediately readable in another. So rapid exchange of content is hugely simplified.

There is no need for translation utilities to go from one archive or content management system to another. The index information and metadata on the LTFS tape automatically populates the database receiving the tape. Nor do you need specialised software to write the tape in the first place.

One of the key concerns for media enterprises is the ability to maximise the value of assets by monetising content quickly and cost-effectively. The ability to deliver material in a completely standardised format, without downstream processing to create a client-specific deliverable, is a major advantage.

The same advantage of portability makes it equally ideal as a disaster recovery solution. We talk so often about “asset management” that it can be easy to forget we really mean that content is an asset to the business, which if lost or destroyed could have a catastrophic effect on its ability to continue. Content that is archived to LTFS can be reconstructed on a completely different system, even if the original asset management is completely destroyed.

So LTFS represents an excellent archive medium, which is inherently futureproof and adds an extra layer of resilience over the already highly reliable LTO format by virtue of its portability. It also has the potential of providing a simple way of delivering content, particularly where there are multiple elements rather than just a finished programme.

LTFS also has the potential to transform workflows by placing the archive at the centre of the operation rather than at the end.

LTFS AND NEW WORKFLOWS Consider sports production. The typical live sports event generates a huge amount of content, and an equally huge amount of descriptive metadata from the logging team marking each play and each interesting shot.

During the event the fast turnaround team are creating highlights packages, which in turn become more content and metadata to be logged. But you do not know until after the event which parts of the content will be relevant or valuable. It may be some considerable time later that the significance of a player’s actions in one game becomes significant because of what happens in another.

The solution is to write the content, together with the logging metadata, to LTFS tape using a standalone drive, on location and as it happens. All of the material is preserved so there is no worry about losing a vital sequence during a game or even a season.

The portability of the tapes means that they can easily be transported back to the broadcaster, the production company or the sport’s body, or indeed all three. The outside broadcast company does not need to worry about different clients needing material in different formats: anyone can read an LTFS tape, and an intelligent archive control system can store the material instantly without the need for further processing.

That intelligent archive could also generate proxies so that the content is instantly available to all who need it. The logging data is automatically transferred to the asset management system.

The same process could also be used in reverse. A large amount of archive content could be sent to the location on LTFS tapes. Should a situation

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

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arise where it would be good to use archive footage for context, it could be recovered without the need for a dedicated asset management system, effectively by dragging and dropping from the LTFS tape.

FIMS The Framework for Interoperative Media Systems (FIMS), the joint development from AMWA and EBU, is seen as a significant enabling technology in the move towards service-oriented architectures and largely automated workflows. It is dependent upon open systems, which respond predictably to standardised messages, allowing content to be pushed around a large-scale system.

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LTFS is a natural companion to FIMS. Archive systems using the file system can sit on the FIMS network, making it part of the live content repository rather than just a back-end archive. It is a simple step to put all the enterprise’s content online at all times, without the need for offline search and restore processes.

SUMMARY To meet the challenges of more content, more deliverables and tighter budgets, the broadcast and media industry has to seize the advantages offered by off-the-shelf IT solutions. The scale of the IT market – with the consequent large R&D budgets and rapid commoditisation – means that standard solutions will deliver better value, better reliability and better

future evolution.

LTFS meets this model. It offers the media enterprise an architecture whereby the archive is also the primary source for content, accessible throughout the workflow.

In the future as service-oriented architectures become more prevalent, many elements of the infrastructure will be replaced as required, rather than re-engineering the complete system. With content stored using LTFS it will be practical to replace the asset management system as part of this ad hoc upgrade cycle: the structure of the archive is not “owned” by an particular database.

Rather, you “own” the content without reliance on a third-party development or application. You can take your content anywhere, confident that the essence and the metadata will be accessible by any system that has a tape drive.

Content can be written to, and read from, LTFS devices on standalone drives or large robotic libraries via multiple operating systems. Content can come and go simply using the appropriate hardware for the task in hand.

LTFS is being widely adopted in other industries, ensuring its success. Its adoption in the media industry will deliver simple interoperability, high resilience and a solid future-proofing strategy.

Visit www.sglbroadcast.com

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EditShare Flow 3 Media Asset Management Solution EDITSHARE, a developer of shared media storage and end-to-end tapeless workflow solutions, has released a new version of its Flow media asset management solution. Flow 3 offers new features such as AirFlow for web-based remote access and Flow Automation for designing smart, timesaving templates that automate repetitive tasks like file copying, deleting, transcoding and archiving.

The new Flow 3 release also features significant UI enhancements, including vastly improved cuts-only editing, enhanced drag-and-drop facilities, and support for third-party storage.

Fully integrated with EditShare shared storage (XStream, Energy, Field and Ultra) and archiving (Ark) products, Flow 3 is an end-to-end workflow solution, from baseband SDI and file-based ingest with transcode to asset logging, browsing and retrieval of content on EditShare media spaces and archives. Integrated production tools facilitate fast shot selection, rough cuts and preview of media with associated metadata from standard desktop systems connected to the EditShare network.

The new “AirFlow” module provides web-based access to content stored on EditShare Media Spaces and Archives with easy-to-use tools to browse, search and annotate media. Users can readily add or update metadata, markers and subclips – collaborating with other Flow users in real time.

Flow Automation is a powerful workflow tool designed to automate repetitive tasks such as transcoding to/from specific video formats. The module’s Workflow Designer and Job Designer functions feature intuitive drag-and-drop tools to create simple and complex workflow templates, orchestrating Triggers, Inputs, Tasks and Filters to better manage media and increase productivity.

With new Flow API, users can capitalise on the power of Flow by connecting third-party systems into the EditShare workflow. The flexible JSON-based interface provides a wide range of functionality options, from simple metadata exchanges to complete workflow processes.

Visit www.editshare.com

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FUJIFILM HAS ANNOUNCED that it has now manufactured over 100 million LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Ultrium data cartridges since its release of the first generation of LTO in 2000. This equates to over 53 thousand petabytes of data storage and more than 41 million miles of tape, enough to wrap around the globe 1,653 times.

Exponential data growth and extended retention period requirements are challenging corporations, government agencies and other organisations that are faced with limited IT budgets. As a result there is an increasing need to cost effectively store large volumes of data over long periods of time. The LTO Ultrium format; a powerful, scalable open tape storage format, meets the challenge by delivering performance, capacity and reliability while offering lower total cost of ownership compared to other technologies.

Since 2000, Fujifilm has led the development of large-capacity LTO Ultrium data tape for backup and archival applications. The most recent Fujifilm LTO Ultrium 6 Data Cartridge is based on Fujifilm’s NANOCUBIC technology and incorporates Barium Ferrite (BaFe) particles, with superior performance and longer archival life compared to conventional metal particle (MP) tape. BaFe particles are also used in the production of large multi-terabyte enterprise

system data tape, supporting the needs of various customers in diverse industries for their large volume backup and archival needs.

In January 2010, Fujifilm and IBM Corporation announced a world record in data density on linear magnetic tape of 29.5 billion bits per square inch using Barium Ferrite particles. This demonstrated the potential of a high capacity tape cartridge capable of storing 35 terabytes of uncompressed data.

Fujifilm also conducted a study that demonstrated the long-term archivability of Barium Ferrite magnetic particles, withstanding realistic storage environment simulations. Results showed no change to BaFe magnetic properties under accelerated test methods, proving its reliability to be well over 30 years.

Visit www.fujifilm.com.au

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

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Fujifilm Hits 100 Million LTO Ultrium Data Cartridges

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MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & DAM

Proavio Delivers SSD-Powered DS240 Storage Solutions for 4K Video

Facilis Releases TerraBlock 6.0 FACILIS TECHNOLOGY HAS ANNOUNCED immediate availability of TerraBlock 6.0, the latest iteration of its shared storage solution. First unveiled at IBC in September 2013, TerraBlock 6.0 features several improvements designed to augment usability, collaboration and performance – including Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)/Active Directory synchronisation, volume size reduction on the fly, a sleek new customisable GUI, support for Adobe Anywhere for video and more.

TerraBlock delivers highly collaborative workflows in post production and content creation environments. The solution supports 8/16Gbps Fibre Channel and 1/10Gbps Ethernet through the Facilis Shared File System and is compatible with most all industry-standard creative applications.

PROAVIO, A DEVELOPER of professional storage solutions for content creation, has released the new DS240 dual-active storage platform and ultra dense JBOD systems. The DS240 series expands Proavio’s professional DS platform with high performance 2.5” Enterprise SAS SSD and 10K SAS drive solutions specifically designed to meet the demands of 4K cinema production.

The DS240 combines a compact 2U, 24-disk design with Proavio’s powerful 8Gb/s Fibre Channel and 6Gb/s SAS hardware technologies to deliver a superior, cost-effective solid state storage solution for editing, colour-grading, VFX and broadcast requirements. The Proavio DS240 delivers sustained sequential performance when used with editing, grading and VFX systems as well as accelerated random I/O capabilities for use in shared storage configurations or mixed-load SAN applications.

Optimised for 4K production use, the DS240 provides a total of eight 8Gb/s Fibre Channel ports resulting in real-world performance of over 3,500MB/s from a single storage array. By leveraging Enterprise 10K SAS hard drives, the DS240 offers a lower cost per terabyte without compromising performance.

“Proavio is constantly evolving and responding to the market through development of affordable solutions that greatly enhance the creative workflow. By focusing our efforts on the needs of professional 4K post production users, we are affirming our commitment to the cinema, broadcast and VFX communities,” said Jon Schilling, senior manager for Proavio. “With the addition of accelerated SSD-based solutions, we now have a powerful active-active storage platform that delivers solid, predictable performance and reliability – critical in today’s fast-paced post production environments.”

The DS240 is available in capacities starting at 19TB up to 38TB, expandable up to 190TB using DS240 SAS JBOD enclosures. DS240 storage systems feature a 3-year factory warranty and include free advance replacement of disk drives and components for the first year of ownership, with the option to purchase an additional two year advance replacement warranty.

Visit www.proavio.com

Support for LDAP/Active Directory allows synchronisation of user groups to TerraBlock and seamless management of permissions and user accounts through group access. An updated interface with enhanced functionality enables flexible layouts and limits on information provided to normal users.

Shrink Multi-user Write and NTFS-formatted Single-user Write volumes free up space in the pool of storage for volume creation and expansion.

TerraBlock is now compatible with Adobe Anywhere for video – empowering virtual teams to collaborate efficiently across projects stored on TerraBlock.

Visit http://facilis.com

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Quantum Releases Flash-Based StorNext 5 Appliance QUANTUM HAS EXPANDED its StorNext platform with two new StorNext 5 metadata appliances. The new StorNext M445 SSD leverages flash technology to maximise the benefits of StorNext 5, the company’s completely re-architected solution optimised to deliver the greatest level of performance and reliability in modern workflow environments.

The StorNext M445 SSD significantly raises the performance bar with a 7x boost in metadata operations. A second new metadata appliance, the StorNext M660XL, offers greater capacity and scale with support for up to 5 billion files, 100 percent compatibility with Apple Xsan, and fully integrated scale-out IP connectivity for Windows and Linux workstations.

In addition to introducing the two new metadata appliances, Quantum also announced that StorNext 5 is now available to existing StorNext appliance users for free, enabling greater efficiencies in their media workflows. StorNext 5 provides optimised support for IP, NAS, SAN and cloud-based networks, up to 10x higher performance, native object storage and LTFS support, and 5x greater scale.

Because it serves as the underlying platform for extremely fast sharing and moving content from ingest to archive and back, StorNext 5 is highly optimised to provide the flexibility, scale and performance required for the unique characteristics of video and other types of unstructured content in varying file sizes.

Visit www.stornext.com

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Thinkbox Software Releases Deadline 6.1 THINKBOX SOFTWARE HAS LAUNCHED a new version of the company’s production-proven high-volume data management solution, Deadline 6.1.

Compatible across all platforms, the release leverages the efficient UI and flexible database backend introduced in Deadline 6 and features improved stability, enhanced housecleaning operations and faster job submission.

With highly optimised functions that can perform more than 10x faster, the significant update can also be easily scaled up to support thousands of machines. Additionally, Deadline 6.1 incorporates Draft 1.1, the latest iteration of Thinkbox’s lightweight compositing and video processing plug-

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in designed to automate typical post-render tasks, which now includes improved OpenEXR support.

Support has been added for Adobe After Effects CC, Smith Micro Software Anime Studio 9/9.5, MAXON CINEMA 4D 15, Side Effects Software Houdini 13, Side Effects Mantra Standalone 13, Next Limit Technologies Maxwell Renderer V3, The Foundry’s NUKE 8, Next Limit Technologies RealFlow 2013, Planetside Software Terragen 3, Chaos Group V-Ray 3 for 3ds Max, E-on Software Vue 2014 and Santiago Ogaz & co xNormal.

Visit www.thinkboxsoftware.com

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Phoenix Satellite TV Launches New HD Services on AsiaSat ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY LIMITED (AsiaSat) has announced that Phoenix Satellite Television Company Limited (Phoenix TV) has signed a contract for one C-band transponder on AsiaSat 3S to deliver a bouquet of up to three High Definition (HD) and three Standard Definition (SD) television channels from 1 January, 2014.

by providing expansion capacity and satellite services that addressed their broadcast needs. AsiaSat offers a comprehensive array of leading Chinese channels in the region, the addition of these channels will offer our audience more great viewing choices!” said William Wade, President and Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.

This new television bouquet will initially include HD and SD services of Phoenix TV’s flagship channel ‘Phoenix Chinese’, information and finance news channel ‘Phoenix Infonews’, and Cantonese language HD channel ‘Phoenix Hong Kong’, to be joined by family movie entertainment SD channel ‘Phoenix Movies’ from 1 May 2014.

Meanwhile, Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) recently announced the signing of a construction agreement for a high power, multi-mission satellite, AsiaSat 9, to be used for television broadcast, private networks and broadband services across the Asia Pacific. The satellite is expected to be launched in 2016.

In addition to C-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S, AsiaSat will provide uplinking and transmission services from its Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong, allowing Phoenix TV to distribute its new array of high quality Chinese programming to viewers across the Asia-Pacific region.

Designed to operate in C, Ku, and Ka-band, AsiaSat 9 will be located at 122 degrees East Longitude where it will replace AsiaSat 4. AsiaSat 9 will provide service to multiple markets with more active transponders and higher power performance than the current satellite.

“Phoenix TV has been providing quality programs for the Chinese community around the world for the last 17 years. The launch of these new HD services on AsiaSat 3S marks a new era of Phoenix TV’s broadcasting service in Asia. We look forward to bringing superior picture quality and unparalleled viewing experience to our audiences with the support of our long-term partner AsiaSat,” said Changle Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Satellite TV. “AsiaSat has been serving Phoenix TV since their first Phoenix channel to Asia in 1996. We are delighted to have expanded our collaboration with Phoenix

The satellite is based on the SSL 1300 space-proven platform, which has a long history of reliability and provides the power and flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. The AsiaSat 9 spacecraft is designed with the flexibility to include a weather sensor, at a future date.

AsiaSat’s two new satellites AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8, scheduled for launch in the first half of 2014, are also built by SSL. Visit www.asiasat.com

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DECEMBER 2013 SAW the launch of a new mobile digital media broadcasting service in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

Based on the Korean-developed T-DMB standard, the Mongolian service will begin with an initial four free channels. It will add five more channels in early 2014 before transitioning to subscription-based channels.

Since 2011, the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) has been providing the broadcast equipment and consultation required to launch the service . Mongolian T-DMB service provider UBDMB, and UNITEL, Mongolia’s second largest mobile telecommunications company, have taken part in a pilot service.

Among those present at the launch ceremony on December 12 were officials from the Mongolian Information, Communications, Technology and Post Authority (ICTPA), the Mongolian Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) and Unitel and representatives from Korea’s MSIP. “I am glad that Mongolia’s mobile broadcasting service has started with Korean T-DMB technologies,” said CRC Chairman Balgansuren Batsukh.

“I hope the two countries will cooperate further on technological exchanges and in the field of broadcasting and telecommunications.”

Countries that have adopted the T-DMB standard include Korea in 2007, Norway in 2008, Cambodia in 2009, and Mongolia in 2013. Vietnam and Laos are also considering commercialization of the service.

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES (SpaceX) was awarded a contract with SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation of Japan to launch the JCSAT-14 communications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2015.

“SpaceX looks forward to working with SKY Perfect JSAT on this mission,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and COO. “As Asia’s largest satellite operator, we appreciate JSAT’s confidence in our ability to reliably deliver their satellite to orbit.”

JCSAT-14 is a Space Systems/Loral (SSL) telecommunications satellite that will succeed and replace JCSAT-2A, providing coverage to Asia, Russia, Oceania and the Pacific Islands. With 26 optimized C-band transponders and 18 Ku-Band transponders, the satellite will extend JCSAT-2A’s geographical footprint and address fast-growing mobility markets across the Asia-Pacific region.

Visit www.spacex.com

ILS Proton Launches TURKSAT-4A FEBRUARY 15 SAW International Launch Services (ILS) launch the TURKSAT-4A satellite into orbit on an ILS Proton vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The satellite was built by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation for TURKSAT Satellite Communication, Cable TV and Operation Inc. Co. (TURKSAT A.S.).

TURKSAT-4A will provide telecommunication and direct TV broadcasting services over a wide geographic region between west of China and east of England, spanning Turkey, as well as Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. TURKSAT-4A is a multi-band satellite with an expected on-orbit maneuver lifespan of 30 years. The satellite will provide high flexibility of switchability and connectivity among different service areas to its customers.

Visit www.ilslaunch.com, www.khrunichev.com and www.turksat.com.tr

TRANSMISSION

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Mongolia Launches T-DMB Service

SpaceX to Launch SKY Perfect JSAT-14

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TRANSMISSION

TV Fights Back – HbbTv

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By Trevor Bird, Group Manager Group Technical Services, Seven Network

The Seven Network has seen the emergence of Hybrid TV as a huge opportunity to combine the benefits of Broadcast with the breadth of content and personalisation of the Internet. There already exist many proprietary examples of the Hybrid approach including TiVo, Telstra T-box and Fetch TV. SOME CHALLENGES TODAY arise from the fragmentation of devices and products in the “Connected” or “Smart TV” content delivery market. Manufacturer implementations are all technically different, so applications usually have to be developed individually for each platform, which has the consequence and costs associated with rapid obsolescence. Also the viewer experience using current “Smart TVs” is not optimal. Broadcast and Internet content exist as completely distinct separate services with little integration.

There is increasing evidence that the Hybrid approach of tightly integrating DVB receivers with Internet delivered content and services is a compelling proposition. This enables consumers to have a seamless experience between Broadcast, video-on-demand and live internet streamed TV. Additionally some receivers can also provide personal video recorder functionality.

Implementing Hybrid services in Free-to-Air receivers requires a commonly accepted standard so that any manufacturer can implement the functionality and the FTA industry can ensure interoperability with all service providers.

The Free-to-Air environment is a simple one. It is a standards-based, horizontal market with a history of technical reliability. The basic business model is well known and based on high quality mass marketable content delivered to a large audience.

The online paradigm is different as many business models can be exploited and the outcomes are not as easily predicted as in the traditional television environment. As Free-toAir meets this new world of innovation we must extend the notion of simplicity to the 10 foot experience, to the lounge room and provide the same level of technical reliability and consistency enjoyed throughout our history of FTA broadcasting.

WHAT IS HBBTV

TRANSMISSION

The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard is ideal for FTA broadcasters as it provides an open and business neutral technology platform that seamlessly combines TV services delivered via broadcast with services delivered via broadband. The HbbTV specification is based on existing standards and Web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C. HbbTV provides the ability to load a web browser on the TV over Broadcast content and this enables a range of video and supplementary services. The intention is not for a PC experience on the TV, but rather a lean back TV remote

control experience.

This opens up the expanse of media landscape available to our viewers. We can enter a world of virtually unlimited possibilities of delivering through a medium that is designed for individual content consumption but linked to a medium designed for mass consumption.

HbbTV 1.1 was published as an ETSI standard in 2010 and by 2011 this European standard was emerging as a well-defined method of merging broadcasting and online delivery methods and it seemed clear this standard was worth investigating. We sought a more streamlined way for our TV viewers to enjoy extensions of our current FTA offering and we had high hopes for the continued development of this already quite substantial standard.

In 2012, further research work by Australian broadcasters was undertaken and after visiting IRT in Germany we realised this method of integrating broadcast and broadband content was about to have a profound impact on our future business models. We saw how the Europeans had embraced and standardised to the best practical extent the traditional and the new delivery methods.

HbbTV 1.5 was subsequently published as v1.2.1 of the ETSI standard and this is the version adopted in Australia. The key additions in version 1.5 includes DRM compatibility, DASH adaptive streaming and access to the DVB EIT schedule information from applications.

BENEFITS Broadcasting is about to undertake a leap to allow individual choice from a position of mass market dominance to further fulfil the needs of our clients for more targeted opportunities. No longer must the viewer exit the Free-to-Air world and enter a world of proprietary manufactures applications or leave the relaxation of the lounge room and seek content elsewhere. We are on the cusp of a change in thinking, a change in the business paradigm of the FTA broadcaster.

We are entering a period that is very important for Australian TV where existing technical restrictions are to be lifted allowing contextual extensions to existing content or new product offerings altogether. It is fitting for these technology innovations to be available so soon after analogue switch off and we are excited by the May launch.

Since those earlier investigative days we have formed and developed new offerings that provide the introduction of a lean back experience to a predominately lean forward world.

In Australia we are preparing for the introduction

of TVs that could take information from the broadcast transport stream and allow the viewer to access content offerings in accordance with the URL contained with the stream. This allows the broadband offering to be contextual with the broadcast service or more generic.

No longer is the content offering to the individual viewer constrained by the broadcast spectrum occupied by the broadcaster. This broadcast spectrum is ideal for delivering content to a mass audience but is too precious for individual tastes. While the individualisation may be basic at launch, with each successive release, Seven’s ambition is to uniquely meet the needs of the viewer by gaining much greater insight into their preferences.

The HbbTV service is active on TVs when those TVs are connected to the broadband service.

When a channel is chosen a reminder tells the viewer that by simply pushing the red button they can enter a world of catch up, VOD, OTT channels, social interaction and targeted advertising.

The HbbTV consortium has brought together the experts from Broadcasting, manufacturers and the online world to ensure the product offering satisfies the norms of each sector so as not to disenfranchise any of the industries feeding this ecosystem. Through collaboration they have managed to provide a standards based approach to satisfying the needs of many.

SEVEN APPROACH Sevens approach last year was to develop a Proof of Concept (POC), a physical prototype allowing our sales, legal, business and creative experts to view and comment on the product offering. This seems simple but in fact can be quite challenging as we distil the feedback from all parties to ensure we have considered all of the possibilities available to us.

It is as challenging to reject ideas as to embrace them as we are now working in a world of endless possibility. It is easy to get carried away with exciting possibilities and let ambition take over from implementation capability.

Understanding that robust delivery of a product and planning the extensions in functionality with subsequent product releases is an important part of managing this ongoing project.

The user experience ambition is to satisfy the individual needs of consumers through a very simple interface, the TV remote control. The level of interactivity cannot be compared to that of mouse, keyboard and computer screen or even the tablet and touchscreen. The interactivity of our offering must be more “lean back” than “lean

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live or catch up assets linking to those assets within the broadcasters’ portal.

Seven’s POC demonstrated various functions that provided a sneak peak as to where we were heading. It included analytics, VOD, linking to “over-the-top” (OTT) services and social media interaction. We are also keen on what we call “blue button rewind”, a function that allows a viewer to join a linear programmed channel late and simply press the blue button for instant rewind to the start of that show.

The program is delivered over the broadband service so the viewer does not have to wait for the catch up availability of the program and can instantaneously see the content without the need for a local PVR in their home. This function may not be available in the first release, but is an important function for later consideration.

Freeview have four committees handling the various aspects of the product including Technical, Product, Standardization and a Steering group.

Through these committees, with representation from all broadcasters, an industry EPG has been developed with a look and feel that satisfies the needs of the industry. The industry EPG will seamlessly integrate with the broadcasters’ offerings allowing the viewer to transfer from EPG to broadcaster portal and back with a minimum of fuss.

An exciting prospect for Seven is the ability to extend our linear product offering by using broadband delivery without an obvious change in delivery technology to the viewer. Because we carry the URL in our transport stream, we can assign a logical channel number to the OTT service so a viewer can watch FTA TV and then, by selecting another channel number automatically see a linear service delivered over the broadband network. This allows Seven to provide enhancements to existing services such as streaming extra tennis courts for the 2015 Australian Open Tennis or the provision of a more permanent genre based OTT service if a need arose.

Partnering with content providers allows us to offer a more diverse product through the new service.

Healthy Me TV (http://www.healthymetv.com.au/) is an example of Seven providing our viewers with information to keep them healthy through the use of broadband delivery of health tips and advice on a number of issues. This partnering in the delivery of content is a new realm and may open up new business opportunities.

Mid-May is the launch date for the new service and at the time of writing we are finalizing the product scope so some issues are yet to be completely resolved.

FREEVIEW Although Seven has been an evangelist for the use of HbbTV in Australia it can never be successful unless the entire industry recognises the potential and supports the introduction of services. Freeview have been the industry body responsible for establishing industry cooperation and guiding the process of product definition for the introduction of the industry EPG. We know that the incentive is there to meet new business models and new ways to entertain our most precious resource, the viewers, but how do we make this a reality and implement in the timeframe that is reasonable?

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Well the Freeview management team quickly assembled working committees to handle the various aspects of harmonisation required to give the viewer a unified experience across the various brands of TVs sold in Australia.

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A key Freeview initiative is for an industry “Backwards EPG” whereby linear schedule and catch up Internet TV are in the same Electronic Program Guide. This allows the viewer to select

ject.

HbbTV is a fairly clumsy and technical description of the service and it is hoped we will refine the marketing speak to something like Red Button TV. We need a simple message and a message that conveys how hard we are working on keeping the entire system unthreatening and easy to operate.

Manufacturer support for the service has been pleasing, particularly when they realise we are very serious about launching in May and we are working on developing product for that launch.

It provides incentive for viewers to upgrade their TVs which is welcomed by retailers. Of course, the onus is on us to provide a compelling

flexibility from a business model perspective.

Current versions 1 and 1.5 of HbbTV use CEHTML (Consumer Electronics) browser, which is designed for display of HTML on TV screens with Javascript and CSS TV profile 1.0. This is a mature web technology that most web developers would be familiar with although there are subtlety’s to be aware of. The interfaces to DVB services with API’s to any DVB controls or information are provided by the Open IPTV forum.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is something that causes some implementation headaches but it is a very important part of our ongoing strategy if we want to be successful in the distribution of content obtained from our studio output deals.

The HbbTV standard version 1.5 includes the necessary hooks to integrate DRM and Freeview has recommended manufacturers implement either Microsoft Playready or Marlin. We are working through the implementation of these systems with both our distribution partners and manufacturers.

Seven is now extending upon the Proof of Concept and developing the first release

Manufacturer support for the service has been pleasing, particularly when they realise we are very serious about launching in May and we are working on developing product for that launch.

experience making that investment worthwhile.

TECHNICAL Technically the service is simply a browser in a TV and the target destination of that browser is dictated by the URL present in a part of the Service Information (SI) called the “Application Information Table” (AIT). The AIT is inserted into the transport stream at our broadcast centre and can be dynamic to be contextual with the broadcast service or static if contextual offerings are not required. Triggers in the broadcast can be carried as “stream events” that allow time accurate synchronisation with web application content.

We are yet to fully test the commercial models of contextual applications but it does open the way for much greater engagement with our sponsors if the need arises. It also allows for much greater social interaction on programs that may benefit from viewer voting or commitment to purchase calls to action.

Some aspects of the service do present technical challenges. The service is standards based and while we do not want to delay launch until the standard evolves, we do want to provide functionality that can allow us the greatest

production version for May. We will provide periodic releases with functional improvements and we are committed to a continuous regime of product releases so we can build upon our learnings and provide the best viewer experience we can.

Specifications and standards continue to evolve, with HbbTV V2.0 due in late 2014. It is expected Version 2.0 will include a TV profile of HTML5 and move away from the legacy CE-HTML browser.

Backwards compatibility will be important for existing receivers, but obviously connected TVs continue to improve at a rapid rate. The benefit of a standards based approach is ensuring stability of support for services ongoing.

As we prepare for the launch of this product we contemplate the costs to provide the service.

We realise that penetration and hence the ability to monetise the service will be limited until enough TVs or set top boxes with HbbTV capability can give us commercial scale. We know Australians love technology, but it will take some time to reach a meaningful viewer cohort.

We are prepared for this and see this early work as laying the foundations for what is a very exciting new opportunity.

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Speaker Snapshot: David Price

Ide Te

Head of TV Business Development, Ericsson

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Addressing the role of HbbTV and related technologies in next generation broadcasting, David Price sees HbbTV as a viable enabler for terrestrial broadcasters to not only generate new revenues, but introduce functionality traditionally associated with cable technology.

I DO SEE FREE TO AIR BOXES having IP connectivity - for a number of reasons. As soon as we have got Free-to-Air boxes with IP connection you have got all kinds of interesting new revenue options.

You’ve got, of course, the buy button so you can get that movie, or if you take it free - remember 70% of On Demand is still Free on Demand - but then free rolls, especially targeted free rolls, can really come into their own and then you’ve got the other things with that two-way connectivity.

You can ensure that there is good security if you are putting some high value content down there on a purchase basis. You want to ensure that no one is hacking into that and taking it off the device and making copies of it. Twoway IP connectivity is a secondary benefit for that.

Where do you see things standing globally for HbbTV in terms of standardisation?

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Another interesting thing, especially given its local significance, is LTE broadcast.

Telstra has taken a really early adoptive stance and is moving out aggressively.

I think we have had a lot of false starts in that world over the past 10 years with DVB-H and MediaFlo and things like that. This looks like it could actually stick, simply because there are no special handsets required and you’ve got a standard base solution which doesn’t require a lot of upgrade to the existing infrastructure, and very importantly it uses existing spectrum. It doesn’t have to have its own special spectrum.

But, LTE really leaves mobile broadcasting in the hands of incumbent Telco companies, doesn’t it?

I think there are a number of pieces to the puzzle. Obviously, the first thing is Yeah, it does, but the people who own content can add value to their content the encoding. I think everybody is agreed that our HEVC is the way forward rather than just flowing out to the conventional networks and it can actually when everything becomes be an incremental revenue stream, much more mainstream. HEVC because if you own the content you is a mature technology in that are not going to give it away. the specification is already a That’s the reason why you have got to have adaptive year old. I do see HEVC as being So, things like close-up shots in a bit rate solution element. It’s part of your solution. one cornerstone of the centre cricket match, or pictures of the cockpit standard that is needed.

You have to be able to continue to engage the viewer view of a driver in a Formula One. If The second one is MPEG DASH without buffering or freeze framing. That’s what you are there and you’ve got the rights (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming to do the filming and you own the adaptive bit rate capabilities do for you. over HTTP) which is an interesting rights to distribute that filming, then one because it hasn’t got a lot of having LTE broadcasts adds another traction yet, certainly not been pretty important opportunity for publicised, and yet it is a very revenue gathering. viable alternative to HLS (HTTP Live Streaming).

Outside of mobile, what minimum infrastructure should a country have in place In particular, the common scrambling capabilities, so that you can actually to deliver these services, to guarantee a satisfactory user experience? commonly encrypt.

There has got to be a realisation. You can’t have one size fits all. The people That means you can have a pipe delivering broadband services, broadband in the inner cities are going to, probably because of shorter loop lengths TV to load the boxes, but the pipe could be sublet, if you like. The Sony on DSL, etc., enjoy higher data rates, and probably incur higher costs. But, channel could be managing their keys, the HBO guys could be using their that means they probably will be able to enjoy some of the higher end-user keys, and they are using a common encryption but they still have control experiences, the 4K and certainly HD as their experience. over the key management. That is something you can’t do in HLS, but you can

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do in DASH and I think that’s a key differentiator.

Then there’s HbbTV, which is a subset of the open IPTV forum specifications which we have pioneered. So we are actually happy that that has happened, that we’ve got the subset called HbbTV and HbbTV in turn has gone out and said they want DASH as the adaptive streaming format.

Today you can put a movie on H.264, at high definition, I am talking about a movie, nothing really that difficult with not a lot of action, shots and fast motion, but just a conventional movie, you can probably do that. I think you probably need to have, at least for high definition, something around to 3-6 MB/second.

So they are starting to coalesce their standards and I see this year is going to be a critical year for it coming together with some flagship deployments using just standard based solutions to provide hybrid services.

That’s the reason why you have got to have adaptive bit rate solution element.

It’s part of your solution. You have to be able to continue to engage the viewer without buffering or freeze framing.

I also make reference to HTML5 in this as well, because it is possible now in the connected TV world to have browser-based viewing, but HTML5 allows you with video and audio tags to be able to embed. You don’t need to have plug ins or anything else, it is there in the browser.

That’s what adaptive bit rate capabilities do for you. DASH I think is the best thing, because it’s a standards-based approach and is a better solution than anything out there to date.

So if you’ve got a browser in the TV which a lot of TVs do have, then if it’s got HTML5 capability then it’s going to come as just another device like all the other devices, tablets, mobile phones, laptops and things like that.

I just believe, and Ericsson always believes, that standards will win out, because proprietary solutions will inevitably try to optimise for one particular entity, rather than being the necessary compromise needed to be universal.

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Ideal Systems Launches SoftCast Technologies IDEAL SYSTEMS GROUP HAS ANNOUNCED the launch of SoftCast Technologies, the world’s first suite of downloadable solutions for broadcast television operators.

The SoftCast range is a comprehensive suite of software products for operating and managing broadcast television channels. In an industry first, Ideal Systems is making the new SoftCast range of products available for broadcasters to purchase and download online through its new online store, www.Ideal-Direct.com.

Ideal Systems’ broadcast engineers and growing network of offices, which currently includes locations in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia, will support SoftCast.

The new SoftCast range of products includes modules for channel in a box; traditional automation; hybrid automation; content ingest; content playout in HD-SDI and IP; CG graphics; media asset management; newsroom computer system; live feed edit and censorship; broadcast schedule planning (traffic); and broadcast ad sales and contract management.

The SoftCast modules can be used as standalone solutions or natively connected to provide an end-to-end broadcast system. SoftCast modules can be delivered internationally over the Internet and are optimised to run on standard Dell computers that can be obtained locally in the user country. The ability to use standard equipment removes any difficult import regulations that many countries impose on broadcast equipment.

SoftCast is already available in multiple languages including English, Thai, Japanese, and Chinese, and will be localised into more languages as required.

“This is the first time this type of product has been sold and delivered on the Internet, and it’s very exciting that Ideal Systems is pioneering this new delivery method and customer engagement paradigm,” said Fintan McKiernan, Ideal Systems’ spokesman for SoftCast. “This is also the first time that all of Ideal Systems Group offices will be supporting a common product set. At each of our offices, we will provide a high level of support with trained SoftCast engineers and production equipment for demonstrations, trials, and proof-of-concept work.”

Visit www.idealsys.com

New Modular Units from Elber CLEBER FROM ELBER offers a flexible and modular hardware and software platform for broadcasting and contribution networks, where customers can install up to six boards with no limitations in terms of position.

Based on a Linux embedded OS, the CLEBER detects the presence of the boards and shows the related control interface to the user, either through web GUI and touchscreen TFT display. Two power sources (AC and DC) are always available. For the DC source, users can chose between 22-65 VDC or 10-36 VDC for site or DSNG applications.

CLEBER can host any combination of boards, particular applications and use cases can be considered and described separately. CLEBER is the control unit for Elber’s new portable link XPM. In case of transmitter control unit, the chassis is equipped with digital modulator (DVB-S/S2 and DVB-T), up-converter and, if needed, one or more encoders HD/ SD (MPEG-2 or H-264) while in case of receiver control unit it hosts a digital demodulator, down-converter and decoders. Multiple E1 and SMPTE-310 signals are now supported with several features like distribution, switching and multiplexing.

The REBLE610, like its predecessor, contains two hot swappable power supplies – both AC and DC versions are available. From an RF point of view the new transmission circuitry is able to guarantee at least 1 watt at the head with every modulation scheme, introducing in addition, wideband precorrection (up to 1GHz depending on frequency band).

Major innovations on the digital input side include two data interface boards. One is equipped with 10 ASI/BTS ports on BNC connector, configurable as inputs or outputs, so that it is possible to include the ASI distribution and ASI matrix capabilities in the same equipment – it also provides a GbE port for IP traffic, a 2048 Kbit/S E1 data channel (as an alternative to 2 ASI/BTS ports), and a ‘transit’ connection (not to waste coaxial connectors). The second one is equipped with 5 DVB-ASI/BTS/ SMPTE-310 ports (in or out) and 5 E1 channels.

To transfer all these signals the channel capacity has been increased to 56MHz and bit-rate equal to 310Mbit/s; using an optional XPIC module (and an extra REBLE610) it is possible to duplicate the bitrate increasing it to 610MBit/s, exploiting H and V polarisations and cancelling undesired content.

Visit www.elber.it

Thomson and MStar Reveal 4K OTT Delivery AT THE 2014 INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (CES) in Las Vegas recently, Thomson Video Networks and MStar Semiconductor demonstrated advanced delivery of over-the-top (OTT) content to connected TVs via the emerging High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. The demonstration highlighted the interoperability of Thomson Video Networks’ ViBE VS7000 multi-screen encoding/transcoding platform with MStar’s 4K system-on-a-chip (SoC), which provides native HEVC decoding in next-generation connected television sets.

“As the worldwide market leader in controller SoCs for TV sets, MStar is the ideal partner with which to showcase a full 4K OTT broadcast chain based on the HEVC standard,” said Christophe Delahousse, president, Thomson Video Networks. “By collaborating with leading consumer technology providers like MStar, we’re able to show how perfectly our ViBE VS7000 HEVC video system facilitates end-to-end OTT delivery from headend to user device via emerging standards such as Hbbtv 2.0 and MPEG-DASH.”

H264/AVC, HEVC is rapidly becoming the standard for customers to deliver the most advanced HD and Ultra HD video offerings to any type of device, including connected TVs and advanced set-top-boxes,” said Phillippe Notton, Vice President, SetTop-Box Business Unit, MStar Semiconductor.

MStar’s latest SoC is designed for high-end connected TV sets, and is currently being embedded in the products of major consumer display manufacturers to enable decoding of HEVC content streams in resolutions up to Ultra HD.

“As one of the first worldwide implementations of HEVC, Thomson Video Networks’ ViBE VS7000 is a best-of-breed solution for encoding OTT content at the headend that can be displayed on the most advanced connected TVs. We’re excited to work with Thomson Video Networks on this demonstration, and look forward to the unveiling during CES.”

“Like previous waves of encoding technologies such as MPEG2 and

Visit www.mstarsemi.com and www.thomson-networks.com

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Telestream Announces Availability of HEVC Transcoding TELESTREAM, A PROVIDER OF video transcoding and workflow solutions, is now shipping HEVC encoding within its Vantage Transcode Multiscreen product. This is the first commercial product to leverage the x265 encoding technology, which was developed by an open source community to create a highly optimised HEVC H.265 codec. HEVC offers the promise of higher frame rates and lower bit rates, doubling the compression compared to AVC/H.264, and enabling next-generation Ultra HD 4K video services.

“We’re excited about the addition of x265-based HEVC encoding,” said Paul Turner, vice president of enterprise product management at Telestream. “We had great success in the past with the x264 project, both by contributing OpenCL-based optimisations to the project, and by including a commercially-licensed implementation in our commercial offerings. The x265 project builds on that robust codebase. The consolidated expertise of the open source community ensures that the new codec is as robust, efficient and high quality as its predecessor.”

Telestream is a co-founder of the x265 project, which utilises the work of a global community of experts from universities and labs that span the world to bring their creativity and knowledge to bear on the challenge of creating the best H.265 HEVC encoding technology.

“The x265 project is achieving fantastic quality and performance, and we are excited to see it going into production with Telestream’s Vantage Transcode Multiscreen product,” said Curtis Davis, Chief Operating Officer of MulticoreWare. “We are seeing very strong adoption from leading content producers and video services. Telestream’s leadership in this project has helped us to create an HEVC encoder that is second to none.”

Vantage Transcode Multiscreen is a complete video transcoding, packaging and workflow automation solution that includes x265 and x264/H.264 encoding to provide pristine image quality and compelling bit-rate efficiency.

Vantage Transcode Multiscreen software runs on the Telestream Lightspeed Server to enable blazing-fast video processing and acceleration across multiple GPUs and CPU cores.

Visit www.telestream.net

Etere Adds OTT Delivery to Broadcast Management Suite ETERE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED that OTT delivery capability has been added to its suite of broadcast management solutions. Etere’s solution allows you to export your content to OTT platform providers meeting all contract terms and media formatting requirements while ensuring the protection of premium assets.

The integration between Etere OTT delivery and other Etere modules such as Workflow, Automation and MAM creates a high-level business architecture able to maximise revenue generation and efficiently deliver your content to the OTT marketplace and the video service providers available on it.

The OTT Delivery solution has been powered with workflow technology to provide automated and accurate transfer and transcoding capabilities that will allow you to make your media suitable to the requirements of any OTT video delivery platform. OTT Delivery can be seamlessly integrated with your existing broadcast workflows to easily expand your multi-platform product offerings.

Etere OTT delivery enables content providers to get a quick and easy way to manage and monitor delivery of content through the use of highly-detailed delivery orders empowered with the following features: + Exclusive relation to a specific platform + Easy duplication of orders to extend platforms + Multi-platform delivery of assets through different orders + Custom XML headers per order/platform + Automatic workflow preparation and export of files Visit www.etere.eu

Aspera Labs (the research arm of Aspera), has done in collaboration with Intel Corporation to investigate ultra high-speed (40 Gbps and beyond) data transfer solutions built on Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family-based systems and Aspera’s ‘fasp’ transport technology.

Aspera’s fasp transport technology was created to overcome the bottlenecks of traditional transport protocols in moving large data over the wide area network. Aspera fasp has no theoretical throughput limit, and is practically constrained by the available network bandwidth and the hardware resources at both ends of the transfers.

The initial research work between the two companies used the novel Intel Data Direct I/O Technology (Intel DDIO) and Single-Root I/O Virtualisation (SR-IOV) resulting in 10 Gbps transfers, 300% improvement versus a baseline system, and similar results across both LAN and WAN environments, and across both physical and virtual environments.

The Intel DPDK provides Intel architecture-optimised libraries that allow developers to focus on their application. Designed to accelerate packet processing performance, the Intel DPDK contains a growing number of libraries including memory and buffer management, queue/ring functions, flow classification, and NIC poll mode library.

Phase II of the research focused on an experimental integration between Aspera fasp and Intel Data Plane Development Kit (Intel DPDK), which makes it possible to directly access the network interface controller, bypassing the kernel networking stack. Using Intel DPDK, Aspera was able to boost single-stream data transfer speeds to 40 Gbps.

The Intel DPDK provides non-GPL source code libraries to support exceptional data plane performance and ease software development, while minimising development time. It offers a simple software programming model that scales from Intel Atom to the latest Intel Xeon processors, providing flexible system configurations to meet any customer requirements for performance and scalable I/O.

Key benefits of the fasp prototype using Intel DPDK include: + Maximising packet throughput by minimising traditional CPU, memory, and I/O bottlenecks;

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+ Bypassing the kernel networking stack by reading data directly from storage into designated memory; + Eliminating the per-packet processing bottleneck of using a socketbased interface; + Reducing the number of memory copies needed to send and receive packets.

The research results confirmed Aspera fasp can leverage modern computer, network and disk I/O architectures and development kits that enable low-latency, high-speed throughput.

Details about the tests including full results from the first phase research are published in a whitepaper developed by Aspera and Intel available here.

Details about the latest tests using Intel DPDK are published in a whitepaper developed by Aspera and Intel available here.

Visit www.asperasoft.com

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Aspera Labs Uses Intel DPDK to Deliver Superior Transfer Speeds ASPERA, INC. HAS ANNOUNCED the results of a research project that

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