Tech Leadership Awards 2021 - Products of the Year 2021 by Future PLC

Presented by

Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology 3 Beachfront: Unified Decisioning Engine

Future US presents the nominees and highlights the winners of the inaugural Tech Leadership Product Awards. The awards, which recognize outstanding product introductions that brought entertainment to life in 2020, were part of and announced during the Tech Leadership Series in late March. The products featured in this Program Guide are nominees submitted by manufacturers who paid an entry fee to be considered. The winners, identified by the award logo, were selected by a panel of professional users, editors and technical contributors to TV Tech, Broadcasting + Cable, Multichannel News and NextTV. During a year full of changes due to the pandemic, these nominees and winners prove our industry is adaptable and innovative when faced with challenges. We hope you find this Program Guide useful and informative.

Congratulations to all our winners!

ENGINE Media Exchange (EMX): CTV Incremental Reach Impact Measurement Solution

5 MediaKind: PRISMA 6 Premion: Premion CTV/OTT Advertising Solution 7 Viaccess-Orca: Targeted TV Advertising Solution

Best Cloud and IP Technology 8 Dalet:Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service 9 EditShare: EFSv: Seamless Proxy Editing 10 LiveU: LiveU Matrix 11 MediaKind: MediaFirst 12 Minerva Networks: Minerva’s Smart Highlights

Best Production Technology 28 Adobe: Adobe After Effects 29 Adobe: Premiere Pro 30 Audio Design Desk: Audio Design Desk 31 Bitcentral Inc.: Oasis Remote Contribution 32 Blackmagic Design: DaVinci Resolve 17 33 Blackmagic Design: URSA Mini Pro 12K 34 Bridge Technologies: VB444 IP Audio Metering 35 Canon U.S.A.: Canon C300 Mark III 4K UHD Digital Cinema Camera 36 Canon U.S.A.: Canon EOS C70 4K UHD Digital Cinema Camera 37 Canon U.S.A.: Canon CJ20ex5B 4K UHD Portable Zoom Lens 38 Canon U.S.A.: Canon CINE-SERVO 25-250mm T2.95-3.95 4K UHD Lens 39 Dalet: Dalet Galaxy xCloud

13 SDNsquare: GRID

40 disguise: disguise xR

14 Stringr: Stringr

41 Dream Chip Technologies GmbH: AtomOne SSM500

15 Telos Alliance: Telos InfinityTM VIP Virtual Intercom Platform

42 Grass Valley: K-Frame XP

16 TSL Products: GTP-V1

43 Grass Valley: LDX 100

17 TVU Networks: TVU Partyline

44 LiveU: LU800

Best Facilities, Studios and Service 18 LTN Global: LTN Kansas City Production Facility

Best OTT and Streaming Technology 19 Accedo: Accedo Sponsor 20 CSG: Ascendon 21 Harmonic: VOS360 Platform 22 Interra Systems Inc.: ORION-OTT With ORION Central Manager 23 JW Player: Live Channels 24 MainStreaming: MainStreaming iMDP

45 Mo-Sys: StarTracker Studio 46 PEBBLE: Oceans 47 Planar: Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex 48 Primestream: Primestream IP Network Operation Center 49 Ross Video: Ross Graphite PPC (Portable Production Centre) 50 Telos Alliance: Linear Acoustic LA-5291 Professional Audio Encoder 51 Wildmoka: Wildmoka Auto ReZone 52 Zero Density: Reality Hub

Best TV Infrastructure 53 Digital Nirvana: Trance 3.1

25 Premion: Premion CTV/OTT Advertising Solution

54 Edge Networks: Evoca

26 Verizon Media: Verizon Media Platform

56 OWC: ThunderBay Flex 8

27 Zixi: Software-Defined Video Platform

55 MediaKind: VSPP 57 Playbox NEO: AirBox Neo-20 58 Quantum: StorNext 7 59 Triveni Digital: ATSC 3.0 Cloud

Beachfront

Unified Decisioning Engine used today by several leading media owners and programmers to achieve higher yield for their CTV inventory. Additionally, the product enables premium ad experiences for viewers, and more value for brands investing in CTV. As a result of these efforts (to modernize the ad tech being used in CTV), our Unified Decisioning Engine has been recognized by Business Insider (https://bit.ly/3ppGJHT) and the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) (https://bit. ly/2ONLOgL).

to TV environments, where commercial breaks feature multiple spots and programmers need to meticulously control the way their inventory is sold. To solve these challenges, Beachfront developed a more TV-centric way to monetize CTV in launching our Unified Decisioning Engine (or Pod Bidding). As the first ad management solution designed to honor full TV commercial breaks, our Unified Decisioning Engine (https://bit.ly/3dlNs3f) helps programmers better manage their inventory, buyer relationships and partner creatives. Launched in May of last year, the product is

Given the value that Beachfront’s Unified Decisioning Engine brings to all stakeholders in the Connected TV ecosystem — programmers, platforms, advertisers and viewers — we feel strongly that it is deserving of a TV Tech Leadership Product Award. The industry is on the cusp of great innovation and change, and we’re confident Beachfront’s Unified Decisioning Engine will continue playing a major role in the way programmers manage their advertising — and deliver value to viewers and advertising partners alike.

Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology

Connected TV (CTV) grew exponentially in 2020, with viewers streaming more ad-supported content and media buyers looking to invest more in CTV advertising. Amid this growth, it became incredibly challenging for programmers to manage and monetize their CTV ad inventory, while delivering TV-like ad experiences to viewers. These challenges stemmed from the use of antiquated advertising technology originally built for web environments (where there is one pre-roll ad per one video). This tech doesn’t translate well

https://www.beachfront.com

ENGINE Media Exchange (EMX)

Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology

CTV Incremental Reach Impact Measurement Solution With the massive growth in CTV consumption since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands sought tools to better navigate the medium and create cross-screen strategies. One happened to be Whataburger, which sought to reach new audiences beyond its existing linear TV spend in CTV. But without a unified view of its media reach, Whataburger needed tools to seamlessly shift their strategy, measure the efficacy of CTV in driving incremental reach in their local markets and ensure they were reaching the right audience. To address these needs, Whataburger leveraged ENGINE Media Exchange’s (EMX) newly launched CTV Incremental Reach Impact Measurement solution. It provides a better understanding and cost analysis for audience reach as well as a single view of spending with a cost-per-reach comparison of CTV versus linear TV. With this solution, Whataburger was able to balance reach across linear and CTV — effectively driving optimization of reach and media for greater ROI with the most efficient cost per deduplicated incremental reach point and market. Fueled by EMX’s impact measurement insights, Whataburger was empow-

ered to increase CTV reach and shift spending from linear to CTV — achieving incremental reach, cost-effectiveness, greater return and ultimately the ability to improve future buying strategies and make better media decisions. Specifically, EMX helped Whataburger achieve a 30% lift in reach compared to linear along with a

136% new household penetration, outperforming Whataburger’s goals of +196% quarter on quarter (QoQ). EMX proved that the cost per incremental reach of CTV versus linear TV was 21X more effective. The measurement EMX provided also showed that CTV was 2X more effective at reaching the right audience. EMX helped Whataburger solve for these challenges — effectively linking their CTV and linear buys together for more comprehensive campaigns.

https://enginemediaexchange.com

MediaKind

PRISMA

Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology

MediaKind PRISMA is a market-leading media advertising and linear content rights solution that personalizes the viewing experience by managing audience-based targeting use cases. It is designed to help bridge the gap between content providers and service providers by offering highly specialized content distribution rights definition and enforcement for traditional broadcast and OTT-based delivery, advanced scheduling control and targeted advertising capabilities. These include Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), localized content, content blackouts and security against piracy. PRISMA is tailored to manage and enforce contractual and legal obligations related to linear content rights across traditional broadcast and IP delivery. It enables broadcasters and service providers to evolve from the traditional “one-to-many” approach to “one-to-one” session-based conversations with targeted audiences in a high-value premium TV environment. PRISMA helps to simplify the process of DAI across an operator’s existing workflows, providing the tools to deliver a more seamless, targeted and relevant advertising experience across all screens. The platform provides additional opportunities for operators to monetize their advertising inventory by leveraging data to build more in-depth

knowledge and understanding of their audiences’ demands. In doing so, PRISMA unlocks the full revenue potential of advertising and alternate content and some of the increasingly complex challenges faced by operators and MVPDs today. Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecommunications service provider, recently deployed PRISMA to power its targeted advertising across all of its multiscreen TV services. This marked

the first commercial deployment of a targeted TV advertising solution for OTT streaming by a European operator. It covers all viewing formats, including linear, time-shifted and video-on-demand content. PRISMA can be deployed as a solution in the cloud, as an appliance or as components integrated into the broader MediaKind Universe portfolio of solutions.

https://www.mediakind.com/prisma

Premion

Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology

Premion CTV/OTT Advertising Solution The pandemic has propelled a three- to fiveyear acceleration of where ad-supported OTT was already headed. As a CTV/OTT advertising leader, Premion has invested boldly to deliver brand-safe and fraud-free streaming TV advertising and we achieved more than 40% revenue growth in 2020. In addressing top advertiser priorities of simplicity, scale and transparency, we serve local and regional advertisers with access to premium OTT inventory from 125+ branded networks, advanced targeting and performance insights. Today, Premion is delivering billions of impressions, tens of thousands of campaigns, for thousands of advertisers in all 210 DMAs. Through our in-house capabilities and tech partnerships, Premion is at the forefront of innovation. We invest heavily in our advanced targeting and data solutions including our industry-leading household device graph that provides precision targeting and unparalleled reach that drives measurable business outcomes. Our solution enables advertisers to reach audiences at scale based on location, behaviors and interests. Furthermore, we empower advertisers to unify audiences across our premium inventory so they

can activate cross-screen campaigns against custom segments. We’ve achieved the TAG Certified Against Fraud seal for OTT ad fraud protection, a validation of our strategy of directly sourcing inventory from premium publishers and using cutting-edge technology to detect and filter for fraud. We’re recognized for our advanced closedloop attribution capabilities that connect OTT viewership to direct business results. We pro-

vide advertisers with the insights to prove the efficacy of campaign performance in driving outcomes, whether its website or in-store footfall traffic. Furthermore, we enable advertisers to compliment linear as a “reach extension” to engage with shifting audiences that they wouldn’t reach with linear alone. Our solution enables advertisers to target cord-cutters and measure unduplicated reach and we validate the effectiveness of our OTT campaigns by measuring brand favorability through our brand lift studies.

https://premion.com

Viaccess-Orca

Targeted TV Advertising Solution Best Advertising, Subscriber and Enterprise Technology

Video service providers are in a challenging situation, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Service providers face an increase in cord-cutting, growing competition from agile competitors and SVOD, a rise in content rights prices coupled with the loss of exclusive content, and a decreasing share of viewing time and advertiser revenue. Targeted TV advertising is a promising opportunity, but to succeed service providers must be able to attain valuable, in-depth insights into viewers’ behaviors and preferences. VO’s Targeted TV Advertising is an end-to-end solution for fully monetizing first-party usage data. With this cutting-edge solution, service providers are empowered to maximize their revenues and dramatically surpass the revenue of traditional TV advertising. VO’s solution includes data management enablers that are natively compliant with GDPR regulations and ensure full service provider control from segment creation to monetization. What makes this solution especially unique is VO’s behavioral insights on TV usage data, the results of the company’s extensive AI research,

which provide an elegant and innovative route to TV audience monetization while alleviating reliance on legacy, controversial, third-party, data-based targeting techniques. The solution’s holistic ad monetization capabilities also

cover cross-channel advertising, from direct IO management to programmatic transactions. In addition, the solution supports KPI-focused advertising implementations, with real-time ad analytics to evaluate the effectiveness of ads and make advertising content as relevant as possible to the audience. Through VO’s Targeted TV Advertising solution, service providers can gain real-time insights into viewers’ behaviors and preferences, providing advertisers with a wider set of audiences. Driven by AI analytics, VO’s solution enables service providers to accurately segment audiences based on household composition, life moment events, demographics and more. VO’s Targeted TV Advertising deserves to win this award because it enables service providers to fully monetize their first-party usage data by harnessing engagement.

https://www.viaccess-orca.com/targeted-advertising

Dalet

Best Cloud and IP Technology

Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service is a SaaS-based, high-quality media processing service offering robust transcoding, media packaging and distribution capabilities with unlimited scalability. It includes every feature from the on-premises version of Dalet AmberFin, with tools beyond simple media conversions, facilitating access to image scaling, standards conversions, cut/splice, caption conversion, audio normalization, localization versioning, IMF creation and submission, and HDR conversions. Unique among elastic cloud transcoders, the service can be accessed via a public cloud managed service environment, or deployed as a scalable container-based service inside a customer’s existing private cloud infrastructure. It supports a wide range of formats and takes a factory-like approach to managing media conversion projects from small-scale post-production operations to larger media enterprises, with high quality and economy. It’s the same set of features as the on-premises Dalet AmberFin transcoder, running in an elastic, serverless architecture designed to optimize resources and costs for customers who require burst capacity, a native cloud presence and/or usage-based pricing. Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service is accessed through the same workflow engine as the on-premises transcoder, with the advantage of accessing extra processing power in the cloud,

giving facilities the ability to control an on-premises, fixed-capacity deployment and a burst-capacity deployment from the same workflow engine and REST API. Dalet AmberFin Cloud Transcoder Service enables media and entertainment businesses to deliver more programming content worldwide as

it provides scalable tools to accelerate automated media processing and distribution, from repurposing old-time favorites to fast-tracking new productions. Customers can use existing conversion profiles and workflows fully in the cloud or create a hybrid framework without compromising on quality. The Cloud Transcoder capability is included seamlessly within the Dalet AmberFin Workflow designer so customers can work in the cloud without involving a professional services team to move, test and debug media conversions.

https://www.dalet.com

EditShare

EFSv: Seamless Proxy Editing Best Cloud and IP Technology

EditShare’s cloud-based EFSv seamless proxy editing innovation redefines the economics of editing in the cloud while significantly improving the overall user experience. The open EFSv solution supports industry-standard nonlinear editing solutions (NLE) including Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve and Grass Valley Edius. EFSv puts high-resolution files into cost-effective object storage. These files are read through the EFSv native file system and to the user, look as if they are on a standard file system mount. Simultaneously, EFSv puts the lightweight proxy files on the high-performance block storage for low-latency access and rendering. Both high-resolution and proxy versions are accessible to the NLE, streamlining the overall editing, color grading, mixing and conforming workflow. Enhanced integration with Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, through EditShare’s APIs, automates import of high-resolution and proxy versions. Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve keep track of both file versions

with options to easily toggle from proxy to high resolution and back. The intelligent and seamless movement between storage tiers minimizes the use of expensive block storage by using lightweight proxy files while the high-resolution files are stored on the less expensive object storage.

The innovative approach improves the editing experience while cutting cloud costs by up to 75%, overcoming the primary objections of migrating editing workflows to the cloud. The EFSv seamless proxy editing innovation enables irresistibly affordable cloud editing using the tools you know and want to use.

https://editshare.com

LiveU

Best Cloud and IP Technology

LiveU Matrix LiveU Matrix has transformed the way that news is shared and distributed. Large media groups have been able to share content — whether it be storm coverage, school shootings, protests, etc. One station could share the live content with the entire group, enabling media groups to be leaner, more budget conscious, yet still provide expansive live content to its local audiences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, strict social-distancing guidelines meant that stations had to get creative with the way they covered news and events. LiveU Matrix has been paramount for stations to cover more ground with less resources, while adhering to social distancing guidelines. The George Floyd protests/Black Lives Matter movement and other protests/gatherings have reached global audiences by leveraging LiveU Matrix to share and distribute content efficiently and safely. Governors in several U.S. states are using LiveU

Matrix to deliver their daily live briefings directly to stations and networks from remote locations. LiveU has established a system of local loops around the globe through LiveU Matrix, allowing content from government and health agencies to be shared safely and easily with local and national broadcast networks. In these cooperating mar-

kets, stations can coordinate coverage of news conferences, press briefings and important government communications Without this live content, communities wouldn’t be aware of the current news, updates and restrictions. The ability to go live has helped connect and inform viewers around the globe.

https://go.liveu.tv/matrix

MediaKind

MediaFirst Best Cloud and IP Technology

Consumer demand for content, anytime, anywhere, and on any device is at an all-time high. That is why so many people subscribe to at least one or more subscription-based services. Deloitte reported that the average U.S. consumer pays for four different streaming video subscriptions. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. consumers (23%) have added at least one new paid streaming video service since the pandemic began in spring 2020. Therefore, it is the role of media technology vendors, such as MediaKind, to equip customers with the tools to create video content for a plethora of platforms in the most efficient way. Built on agile, scalable and fast-to-market capabilities, MediaFirst TV Platform enables the creation, management and delivery of personalized, next-generation viewing experiences. This cloud-native, end-toend platform is designed to engage the customer in the live, video on demand and subscription content best suited to their viewing needs. MediaFirst enables operators to rapidly define and deploy competitive next-generation services, increase operational management efficiency, and deliver an array of compelling user-experience enhancements to the consumer. Its latest advancements aid and deliver minimized operational costs, additional broadband pull-through revenues, and reduced subscriber churn for streaming pay-TV services. The platform is flexible enough to adapt to any business model, including traditional managed TV, multiscreen “TV Anywhere”

and pure OTT services. The recent consumer experience updates to MediaFirst include enriched content discovery, encompassing universal search, rich metadata and advanced personalization. These new features incorporate several new dynamically generated promotional rows, including a premium streaming service integration within the discover feed. This enables operators to unleash the full pay-TV experience with live, VOD, time-shifted content, restart TV and Cloud DVR plus Multi-DRM and packaging on the fly. It also allows consumers to watch anywhere and seamlessly bookmark content across any device with Chromecast, Download & Go.

https://www.mediakind.com/media-platforms/mediafirst

Minerva Networks

Best Cloud and IP Technology

Minerva’s Smart Highlights Live sports gives pay-TV services an advantage over OTT streaming apps, which in turn gives marketers ways to differentiate their services and create engagement with viewers. That’s why Minerva developed Smart Highlights. Users can now personalize how they watch games they missed or rewatch games of their favorite teams. Minerva’s Smart Highlights features capture all the best action during the game and lets users compress the game to fit the time available, or allow users to focus on specific players or certain

As broadband providers look for ways to engage viewers and reduce churn, Smart Highlights helps to increase revenue and drive retention. This helps build value beyond ad-sponsored freemium packages, premium subscriptions or pay-per-view events. Minerva’s Smart Highlights supports NFL, NBA and Premier Football leagues with more leagues and sports coming. The team at Minerva recently demonstrated how its new highlights technology can be used for non-sports programming, for example the

types of plays, such as penalties, long passes or touchdowns. This new way of enjoying recorded content is enabled by combining AI video analysis which identifies and prioritizes every moment of the game, with a personalized playlist generator to create a series of highlight reels from which users can choose. A demo of the service with highlights from a soccer match between Real Madrid vs Liverpool can be found here (https://www. minervanetworks.com/smart-highlights/).

U.S. Presidential Debate (https://www.minervanetworks.com/smart-highlights/). Minerva’s underlying technology allows dynamic playlist generation that gives users more control over their recorded programs. Catchup/Restart and on-demand have greatly reduced the need for personal recordings. With Smart Highlights, users gain more control over their experience. And more control over their time.

minervanetworks.com

SDNsquare

GRID

Best Cloud and IP Technology

GRID is SDNsquare’s patented, software-defined network controller. SDNsquare GRID uses software-defined networking to deliver IP network orchestration for media, whatever the use case, whatever the type of workflow. GRID can cope with all types of data streams in a predictable way. With GRID, IP data paths can be set up without packet loss, with low latency and with the exact bandwidth needed — even in bursty, high-impact traffic in many-to-many environments. While networking vendors and traditional broadcast manufacturers can propose limited, single-vendor setups for specific-use cases, they fail in more complex, convergent and scaled-up setups. GRID addresses the challenge of how to orchestrate the network so that it meets the exact needs of broadcasters dealing with a wide range of media workflows, and delivering guaranteed Quality of Service per stream on a single converged network with a scalable architecture. GRID delivers IP network management for media that is reliable, flexible and cost-effective. The numerous advantages of GRID include the fact that it is easy to deploy: it is truly plug-andplay, with autodiscovery, registration and con-

nection management according to AMWA and device specifications. GRID can be scaled from single studios and events to large and interconnected facilities, events and data centres — both LAN and WAN. With GRID, there is no need for users to duplicate their network, as it enables fully redundant paths to be set up, with automatic failover if links go down.

GRID is vendor-agnostic, reliable, flexible and scalable. GRID’s software transforms and orchestrates the IP network and the data flows to be fully predictable, non-blocking and 100% reliable. As a result, the network is also used much more cost-efficiently.

http://www.sdnsquare.com/grid

Stringr

Best Cloud and IP Technology

Stringr Stringr is the cloud-based engine behind some of the world’s most important breaking news and innovative video content. Stringr is a SaaS platform for video — offering footage, hosting, editing, app-based shooting and upload, collaboration and transcription tools — connected to a proprietary network of 120,000+ independent videographers who can get footage, interviews, and live streams anywhere. Clients include Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and local U.S. broadcasters. AP and Reuters are also now investors. Their partnership with Google News Initiative put footage in more than 75 percent of U.S. households. CEO and co-founder Lindsay Stewart started her career as a TV news producer with ABC, Fox and Bloomberg TV. She spotted inefficiencies in an industry that needed innovation. After earning MBAs from Wharton, Lindsay and cofounder Brian McNeill reimagined the newsgathering process, developing an intuitive cloud-based delivery platform that completely centralizes video acquisition and editing workflow. Gathering footage is costly for news organizations, especially if travel is required. So Stringr spent years recruiting tens of thousands of videographers, optimizing their app for record-

ing and uploads, building features like Dual Live (enables two simultaneous HD streams from one smartphone), and ranking videographers for special assignments. Today, Stringr offers almost a million video clips, with breaking news added daily. At conservative estimate, outlets that make full use of Stringr’s offerings can save $100,000 or more on newsgathering.

Outside of newsrooms, digital creators at studios like MGM rely on Stringr, as do hundreds of independent filmmakers, marketers, and agencies. Stringr has developed services for SMBs and DTC companies, creating product-focused videos in half the time at about a third the cost. Their Vantage tool enables companies with hundreds of SKUs to collect and organize user-generated videos in one place, transforming the way product video is managed.

home.stringr.com

Telos Alliance

First, Telos Alliance broke the matrix with IP Intercom. Now the company is putting Intercom in the Cloud with Telos Infinity™ VIP Virtual Intercom Platform. VIP delivers sophisticated comms virtually, making cloud-based media production workflows available on any device — smartphone, laptop, desktop or tablet. Users can even use third-party control devices, like Elgato’s Stream Deck®, to control Telos Infinity VIP.

Telos Infinity VIP Deployments On-Prem — Use Telos Infinity VIP hardware appliance or your own server for On-Prem installations. Integrated — For both On-Prem or Cloud versions, Telos Infinity VIP system can be integrated with Telos Infinity beltpacks and hardware panels, or any third-party intercom or audio subsystem using AES67 or SMPTE 2110-30 connectivity.

VIP lets users harness Telos Infinity IP Intercom’s award-winning performance, scalability, ease of integration and operational/cost efficiencies anywhere — at home, on-prem, site-to-site, or in the cloud. Meeting users where they are on the path toward virtualization, Telos Alliance offers several deployment options for VIP, which scales to suit users’ varying requirements, from a few remote smartphone VIP instances to an enterprise solution requiring hundreds of instances. It’s available as a physical appliance, and users can also install systems of any size as cloud services, both on-prem and on platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. Deployment options are as follows.

Cloud Server — Software for supported Cloud platform installations. A complete Communications infrastructure in the Cloud with connectivity options for integration with third-party cloudbased and On-Prem audio subsystems. Software as a Service (SaaS) — Various third-party Telos Alliance partners will offer a Telos Infinity VIP SaaS option, allowing users to lease it in a virtual environment. Telos Infinity VIP is part of Telos Alliance’s strategy to offer new virtual audio solutions that further expand the company’s growing virtual ecosystem. For more information on the Telos Infinity VIP Cloud-Based Intercom, click below.

Best Cloud and IP Technology

Telos InfinityTM VIP Virtual Intercom Platform

https://success.telosalliance.com/telos-infinity-vip-virtual-intercom-platform

TSL Products Best Cloud and IP Technology

GTP-V1

TSL’s virtualized control processor, the GTP-V1, provides broadcasters with greater flexibility and increased rack density for more advanced installations, ease of management and life cycle. With lower hardware costs, reduced maintenance costs, the ability to manage hardware obsolescence and simplified IT maintenance, it is easy to understand why broadcasters are trending towards virtualized systems. Virtualization can provide highly reliable performance, as well as dramatically simplified upgradability with minimal downtime, as users scale and adapt their system as requirements change over time. It is crucial that manufacturers recognize that future trends and technical advancements must align with requirements of customers as the demand for remote production solutions continues to rise. Using a virtual control system can deliver optimized solutions that are dependable and simple to adjust quickly to changing needs. Virtualized control also supports network growth and identifies workflow gaps or trigger interruptions. • The GTP-V1 allows TSL’s control systems to be hosted as on-prem, off-prem or in cloud control

solutions, working as a virtual machine on existing hardware. • As the GTP-V1 can run on most cloud solutions, the virtual set up allows customers to keep the resource where the talent is, or hand over to a third-party provider perhaps where space is limited elsewhere. • In addition, the GTP-V1 offers lower power consumption and heat generation (a 46% reduction), to meet the ever-growing need for efficiency savings of both power and cooling, but also the greater effects of energy consumption for a reduced carbon footprint.

tslproducts.com

TVU Networks

TVU Partyline Best Cloud and IP Technology

Consumer-grade video conferencing applications have skyrocketed in popularity due to COVID-19. While these apps are perfectly suitable for simple online meetings, they fall short of the higher requirements needed for remote collaboration in a broadcast video production environment. A more effective tool is required to allow technical staff and talent to work together remotely using broadcast-quality video conferencing. Cloud-based TVU Partyline allows all members in a remote production environment to communicate seamlessly. Production crews, talent and guests can use production tools and interact in real time with full HD video quality, perfectly synchronized audio and video and mix minus one audio feedback. With a simple shared URL, participants can join TVU Partyline to watch all program feeds live and interact, discuss, control and participate in a production with almost no latency. In a live production, TVU Partyline permits a single video conferencing session to run live in which all participants can interact while in parallel production crews can have separate private conversations in the same session. Ultra-low latency, broadcast-quality video and perfectly synced video and audio are critical for effective collabo-

ration in a remote production environment. With Partyline, all parties participating in a production — crew, talent and guests — can experience the same high-quality HD video and low latency. TVU Partyline is flexible. In addition to conferencing for broadcast-quality production, Partyline allows users to hold virtual press conferences in which a reporter can provide their questions in advance and then the reporter will appear in the same live frame with the host during their turn. It also has a mode that’s perfect for sporting events such as in a stadium in which an unlimited number of remote fans appear on a monitor as a part of a live broadcast.

https://www.tvunetworks.com/products/tvu-partyline

LTN Global

Best Facilities, Studios and Service

LTN Kansas City Production Facility LTN Global’s cutting-edge 30,000-square-foot centralized global production facility in Kansas City, Mo., is producing the future of video. The fully flexible facility was custom-built with eight modular, connectable studios to scale production from small to large, and 8,000 feet raised flooring for custom configuration, cabling and expansion. The facility is also fully redundant and managed and monitored by a fulltime NOC staff and proprietary monitoring software to deliver a scalable and dependable 24/7/365 solution. While the Kansas City facility is available for on-site productions, its most innovative use case is supporting advanced remote production for live broadcasts. Producers can access its state-of-the-art technology and full-time staff of industry professionals as part of a cohesive production and transport system. Powered by LTN’s low-latency and ultra-reliable IP network, LTN Global enables sports, news, entertainment and other live events to create high-quality productions with fewer resources than traditional production — while taking advantage of best practices and innovative workflows created by LTN’s experienced production teams. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote production at scale, and LTN met the unprecedented challenge with innovative solutions that pushed the boundaries of video production and virtual interactivity. Over the past 12 months, LTN’s Kansas City production facility has been crucial to many

broadcasters’ success. LTN Global’s technical team helped Freemantle air its first-ever “American Idol” virtual show — while hosts, contestants, judges and production crew broadcast from their homes in real time. SportsGrid, a 24-hour linear network covering fantasy sports and wagering, also used the LTN facility’s visualization tools to remotely configure, manage and monitor live programming during the pandemic. LTN Global has helped producers pivot to highly scalable cloud-based remote production tools to achieve cost savings and social distancing goals while maintaining the “A grade” quality of traditional broadcasts.

https://ltnglobal.com/solutions/flex/remote-video-production

Accedo

Accedo Sponsor Best OTT and Streaming Technology

At Accedo our core focus has always been the end-user experience and we know that end users expect constant innovation in the video experience. Presentation of sponsor brands in digital services is too often flat and one-dimensional. Not enough thought is given to how to present the sponsor brand in a compelling way that turns fans into customers and brand advocates. We see an opportunity to raise the creative bar around the digital implementation of sponsorship agreements, creating more value for the sponsor, the sport and the fans. Service providers can differentiate themselves from the competition by bringing an immersive aspect to the relationship between sport and sponsor. Sponsor brands can go “beyond the logo” space, creating a means to present their products and services in a unique and interactive way. Accedo Sponsor is a suite of digital tools that creates long-term value for the sponsor brands, the fans and the sports. We leverage augmented reality to bring new content formats into the “fanless” experience, creating personalized digital offerings to activate new fans. Our solution integrates into your existing service or as a component of your new offering. With Accedo Sponsor, OTT sports service providers leverage the next generation of interactive content experiences to increase the value of their sponsor relationships and delight their fans.

https://www.accedo.tv/innovation

CSG

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

Ascendon CSG’s Ascendon is a globally recognized and award-winning Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), running in the public cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and leveraging cloud-native technologies. Ascendon empowers brands, media companies and other enterprises to launch new services in less than 90 days and participate in the digital economy. Utilized by Formula 1, AMC Theatres and others, Ascendon helps innovative companies launch new live and on-demand streaming services, designed for fans that want to connect with content anytime, anywhere and across any device. Ascendon also provides a cost-effective platform for rapidly deploying, scaling and monetizing new innovative services, taking the fan experience to new levels. Customer Experience Features: • Catalog content and other content service offerings based on consumer preferences and usage history. • Slice-and-dice service offerings any way possible by defining and selling content titles independent of subscriptions and across device ecosystems. • Audience measurement tools and integrated recommendation engines for intelligent merchandising approaches rooted in consumer behavior insights to increase sell-through rates on offers, upsells and special deals. • Robust content catalog to manage and maintain inventory for easy access, search and purchase capabilities. Next-Gen Billing: • A federated identity, digital locker and Ascendon E-Wallet work in concert across customer

devices, delivering a simplified experience that makes finding and acquiring the rights to content effortless. • Impulse buys, subscription management and contextual notifications at just the right time give the ultimate flexibility, all without having to ever wait on hold or talk to a person. • Put customers in control to manage their relationship from the palm of their hand. Ascendon is part of CSG’s suite of end-to-end

revenue and customer management solutions. With over 35 years of experience, CSG supports over 500 companies around the world, providing them with flexible and configurable solutions that help them monetize and digitally enable their customer experiences.

https://www.csgi.com/portfolio/ascendon

Harmonic

VOS360 Platform Best OTT and Streaming Technology

As service providers and content owners deliver more content in a variety of formats and on different devices, the requirement for an efficient media processing, channel origination and video streaming solution is increasing. With the latest release of its cloud-based VOS®360 platform, Harmonic is empowering service providers to achieve unparalleled efficiency, flexibility and reliability as they pivot to cloud-native environments on public clouds. The VOS360 platform makes live video streaming smarter, faster and simpler thanks to several new technology innovations. • Harmonic’s VOS360 platform is the world’s first statmux support in the cloud, reducing infrastructure costs. • Seamless 1+1 cloud-based geo-redundancy capabilities on the VOS360 platform ensure uninterrupted streaming. • The VOS360 platform provides support for flexible and real-time scaling, allowing users to handle peaks in viewership, which is critical for live sports. This is achieved through dynamic, real-time CDN selection. • The VOS360 platform simplifies cloud playout workflows by supporting partnerships with multiple traffic management and playout automation vendors. With Harmonic’s VOS360 platform, streaming services can be scaled up and down based on actual needs, allowing service providers to avoid

significant upfront investment or ongoing maintenance costs. The flexibility of this approach allows users to pursue a smart, incremental growth strategy aligned with business goals and market forces. Running on the public cloud, Harmonic’s VOS360 platform sets the benchmark for efficiency and for delivering an exceptional-quality live video streaming and broadcast experiences. Harmonic’s VOS360 platform deserves to win this award because it leverages the cloud, along with innovations such as 1+1 cloud-based geo-redundancy; dynamic, real-time CDN selection and statistical multiplexing to bring unparalleled efficiency to live video streaming; as well as the creation of linear channels, live events and streams, direct to consumers or syndication partners.

https://www.harmonicinc.com/video-streaming

Interra Systems Inc.

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

ORION-OTT With ORION Central Manager OTT service providers today are handling a vast amount of complex content. In the multiscreen environment, content goes through a process of being re-encoded, transcoded and multiplexed. These transformations can adversely affect content integrity and user experience. Interra Systems’ ORION-OTT is a software-based, over-the-top monitoring solution that performs critical monitoring functions on hundreds of services simultaneously from a single platform. It checks content integrity and

across diverse geographies. In the OTT workflow, errors can occur at multiple points. Having a centralized view of errors, with monitoring probes placed at the encoders, transcoders, origin servers and CDNs, helps in error isolation and correlation. Alerts are aggregated from different probes in the video streaming workflow into a single location. With OTT video consumption skyrocketing over the last year, Interra Systems’ solution deserves to win this award because it is the only comprehensive, web-based, enterprise-level solution that

related network performance of ABR content for multiscreen service delivery. Leveraging industry-proven audio/video quality analysis technologies, ORION-OTT allows OTT service providers to seamlessly monitor online video delivery for quality and compliance, looking at all aspects of video streams such as quality of service (QoS), quality of experience (QoE), closed captions, ad-insertion verification, reporting and troubleshooting. Part of what makes ORION-OTT so unique is the ORION Central Manager, which provides enterprise-wide visibility into QoE and QoS issues

centrally monitors broadcast and OTT services, providing unprecedented visibility and control over the entire video preparation and delivery chain for live and VOD content. ORION-OTT and ORION Central Manager are a must-have solution in today’s highly competitive television market, assuring flawless video and audio. Relying on the comprehensive video insights provided by ORION-OTT and ORION Central Manager, service providers can deliver video with a high QoE on every screen, improve operational efficiency and increase monetization.

https://www.interrasystems.com/OTT.php

JW Player

Live Channels Best OTT and Streaming Technology

As video consumption ballooned with the pandemic, JW Player, the video delivery and intelligence platform used by more than half of the world’s top 50 media properties, saw adoption of their platform surge, gaining over 850 new customers across diverse industries and regions. To help their new customers navigate the loss of in-person events, JW Player launched a new live-streaming platform, Live Channels. The new platform provided a simple workflow for media companies and enterprises to reach new virtual audiences in real time and monetize their streams. Among the first users was video-conferencing platform Zoom, who used Live Channels to stream their Zoomtopia user conferences to tens of thousands of viewers. With seamless workflows for hands-off publishing, JW Player makes it easy for companies to maintain audience loyalty with broadcast-quality live streams for up to 12 continuous hours. Live streams can be up and running in less than 30 seconds, with replays available in under a minute.

The JW Player platform can also automatically generate highlight clips, leveraging video intelligence to detect when audiences are engaging with the live stream, for example by rewinding and rewatching certain clips. Live Channels supports live streaming on the web, mobile, OTT or

social channels, so streamers can reach their audiences on any device or platform. If companies need the flexibility to control who they reach, Live Channels makes it easy to protect your content with geo-blocking. Plus, ad support enables companies to monetize their streams while maintaining the best viewer experience.

https://www.jwplayer.com

MainStreaming

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

MainStreaming iMDP In today’s current broadcast climate, content consumers are more demanding than ever, have more provider options than ever and experience little to no switching cost. Content delivery networks must operate seamlessly; buffering or quality lapses can result in an instant loss of a customer, so broadcasters cannot afford to rely on “best effort” network configurations with no guarantee of quality. They need delivery networks that are adaptive and reactive, navigating the path to viewer in a way that ensures the highest level of reliability and exceptional Quality of Experience. MainStreaming’s Intelligent Media Delivery Platform (iMDP) was designed to ensure these outcomes. Representing a single integrated platform based on proprietary AI-powered Smart Synapses technology, the iMDP enables real-time decisions based on a continuous flow of metrics relating to viewer Quality of Experience. Taking advantage of a network backbone of over 4,300+ interconnections with ISPs worldwide, its smart selection of network paths with close-tozero latency ensures bufferless delivery even of real-time, live video. Far more than a conventional CDN solution, the exceptional network delivery performance facilitated by iMDP springs in part from the fact

that the technology was developed specifically for the delivery of video (with particular attention to the needs of this data type), as opposed to conventional CDNs, which are frequently based on legacy technologies designed to manage more generalized forms of data transfer. Covering the full video streaming workflow, from ingest to delivery, the platform uses AI to make intelligent decisions, while still granting content owners full transparency and control over the streaming process. Capable of being implemented as either a global, dedicated or hybrid private network based on viewer location, the iMDP allows for more efficient accommodation of fluctuating low-volume to peak distribution demands — making for an optimized, cost-effective content delivery process that maximizes broadcaster ROI.

https://mainstreaming.tv

Premion

The pandemic has propelled a three- to fiveyear acceleration of where ad-supported OTT was already headed. As a CTV/OTT advertising leader, Premion has invested boldly to deliver brand-safe and fraud-free streaming TV advertising and we achieved more than 40% revenue growth in 2020. In addressing top advertiser priorities of simplicity, scale and transparency, we serve local and regional advertisers with access to premium OTT inventory from 125+ branded networks, advanced targeting and performance insights. Today, Premion is delivering billions of impressions, tens of thousands of campaigns, for thousands of advertisers in all 210 DMAs. Through our in-house capabilities and tech partnerships, Premion is at the forefront of innovation. We invest heavily in our advanced targeting and data solutions including our industry-leading household device graph that provides precision targeting and unparalleled reach that drives measurable business outcomes. Our solution enables advertisers to reach audiences at scale based on location, behaviors and interests. Furthermore, we empower advertisers to unify audiences across our premium inventory so they

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

Premion CTV/OTT Advertising Solution can activate cross-screen campaigns against custom segments. We’ve achieved the TAG Certified Against Fraud seal for OTT ad fraud protection, a validation of our strategy of directly sourcing inventory from premium publishers and using cutting-edge technology to detect and filter for fraud. We’re recognized for our advanced closedloop attribution capabilities that connect OTT viewership to direct business results. We pro-

https://premion.com

Verizon Media

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

Verizon Media Platform Verizon Media offers an industry-leading, integrated digital media platform to prepare, deliver, display and monetize online content. The company’s platform is built on a global network that has more than 165 points of presence on six continents, ensuring high-quality viewing of digital content on any device, anytime, anywhere. The platform powers websites, apps and OTT video services for many of the world’s largest broadcasters, media companies and enterprises. As testament to the success of the Verizon Media Platform, it was the primary streaming workflow and delivery vendor for the 2020 Super Bowl LIV, bringing Fox viewers the big game in dynamic UHD HDR for the first time ever. Fox Sports chose Verizon Media Platform as its primary streaming workflow and delivery vendor to bring Fox viewers the Super Bowl in dynamic UHD HDR, delivered through 4K streaming devices for the first time ever. Fox Sports used Verizon Media’s Streaming and Delivery products, along with its Smartplay Stream Routing feature, which offers multi-CDN capabilities to ensure viewers did not miss a second of

the world’s most-watched sporting event. At the 2021 Super Bowl LV, the Verizon Media Platform helped further elevate the fan experience by powering the “ 5G SuperStadium” experience in the NFL app and Watch Together available in the Yahoo Sports app. Verizon Media

Platform’s real-time streaming technology was used to keep fans at the center of the action. Fans had access to seven different camera angles while in the stadium and five angles at home through the 5G SuperStadium in the NFL mobile app, and through Watch Together could watch the game virtually with friends and family on their phone.

https://www.verizondigitalmedia.com/media-platform

Zixi

Zixi provides the cloud-based and on-premises Software-Defined Video Platform (SDVP) that enables reliable broadcast-quality video delivery over any IP network, any protocol, any cloud provider and any edge device, making it easy and economical for media companies to source, manage, localize and distribute live events and 24/7 live linear channels in broadcast QoS, securely and at scale. The SDVP is the unique integration of four main components that make live video distribution with Zixi unparalleled. The SDVP accepts 17 industry protocols and containers, advancing the Zixi protocol while adding value to tangential offerings from other standards, and open-sourced initiatives. Most customers rely on the Zixi protocol for transport as it is congestion and network-aware and can dynamically adjust to varying network conditions and employ forward error-correction techniques for error-free video delivery. Zixi’s Video Solutions Stack provides essential tools and core media processing functions for broadcast-quality transport that corrects for packet loss and jitter. Patent-pending Hitless Failover techniques provide 99.9999%+ reliable transport between sources and receivers. The Video Solutions Stack also provides enhanced tools to streamline workflows including protocol switching, analytics, live 4K transcoding and repackaging, machine learning-based ePSNR, recording, time-shifted delivery, and auto-slating. With Zixi’s ZEN Master control plane, users can cost-effectively manage and monitor complex

Best OTT and Streaming Technology

Software-Defined Video Platform deployments at scale and configure and orchestrate live broadcast channels across protocols and the Zixi Enabled Network. ZEN Master allows for control of the edge, network and cloud with full telemetry visualization of network streams. It offers essential monitoring and management

tools like workflow visualization, alerting, history, automation, scheduling, reporting and root cause analysis across complex media supply chains. The last component of the SDVP is the Zixi Enabled Network of 250+ integrated partners from cameras, encoder/decoders, forensic watermarking systems, editing platforms and playout systems. This unrivaled network allows Zixi users to integrate seamlessly with software and hardware partners providing live video solutions, with the ability to monitor and manage the UIs of integrated systems from within ZEN Master.

https://zixi.com/video-streaming-solutions/the-zixi-platform

Adobe

Best Production Technology

Adobe After Effects Adobe is focused on developing solutions that simplify tasks and improve efficiency to make storytelling easier in the broadcast and news business. To that end, Adobe has rolled out several recent improvements to After Effects that cement its place as the most reliable and agile tool for motion designers and video creators working today. A major release last year, Adobe’s Roto Brush 2 saves countless hours spent on the time-consuming task so that editors and artists can keep their focus on the creative process. Adobe’s Roto Brush 2 in After Effects uses Adobe Sensei machine-learning technology to quickly and easily generate accurate mattes when separating foreground and background elements in video sequences. Users simply paint over the object that they want to isolate in a reference frame, including edge refinements for hair or other textures, and Roto Brush 2 tracks the object automatically and follows its motion, eliminating the need for tedious manual frame-by-frame rotoscoping. Adobe has also recognized that working in 3D has become essential in producing compelling content for broadcast and advertisers. To mod-

ernize the 3D experience in After Effects, Adobe is currently testing key features through its Public Beta program. This includes 3D Transform Gizmos, which help users navigate a scene faster and more intuitively. Users can scale, position and rotate layers with helpful guides that show how far a layer or object

has been moved and how many degrees it has been rotated. Additionally, After Effects camera navigation tools are reimagined, giving artists an intuitive and flexible approach to navigate 3D spaces. Additional Public Beta features include Media Replacement in Motion Graphics templates (to be released on March 10), which provides new options for graphics workflows across After Effects and Premiere Pro. And, new Lighting Correction options in Content-Aware Fill will deliver cleaner object removal results, even with changing lighting conditions.

https://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html

Adobe

Premiere Pro Best Production Technology

Adobe Premiere Pro is powerful enough to create everything from Hollywood blockbusters, news and sports broadcasts, branded content for social media and everything in between. In the last year, Adobe has unveiled several improvements to the tool that directly serve the needs of video creators. A major feature release last year, Productions in Premiere Pro provides a new, highly scalable framework for organizing multi-project workflows, sharing assets and keeping everything streamlined whether individuals are working alone or collaborating. Productions improves workflows for broadcasters, providing editors new tools for staying organized, managing complex workflows efficiently and collaborating easily. Also, last fall Premiere Pro welcomed a trio of features that enable broadcasters to uplevel their content and work faster. HDR for Broadcasters enables users to produce programming in Rec2100 HLG HDR for modern HDR broadcasting, including automatic color conversion, HDR scope support, color space overrides for incorrect metadata, and full color management for Apple ProRes and Sony XAVC Intra formats. Quick Export offers easy access to the most popular and frequently used

export settings, right from the header bar in Premiere Pro. Editors can use the default, high-quality H.264 output with matched Source Settings or choose from a short list of H.264 presets that allow for the user to reduce the size of their export files. Scene Edit Detection allows editors to quickly find cuts in previously edited video, faster and more accurately, thanks to Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s machine-learning technology. The feature adds

cuts and markers so that users can apply effects to individual shots and re-edit previously rendered content quickly and efficiently. Lastly, Adobe has also expanded its partnerships for systems integrators with the Adobe Certified Service Partner for Video and Audio program, to ensure that Adobe customers get the support they need to produce high-quality content as efficiently as possible.

https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html

Audio Design Desk

Best Production Technology

Audio Design Desk Until now, there hasn’t been an application built from the ground up to connect audio to video. Finding and placing audio using industry standard tools is slow, uninspiring and expensive. It takes forever to search libraries, download sounds, drag them into your timeline and edit them to sync. Plus, to make changes, you have to go through this outdated process all over again. Audio Design Desk introduces a revolutionary way to add sound to picture. It’s the audio workstation you can play like an instrument. Using an A.I. called Sonic Intelligence™, users can perform sounds in real time using their QWERTY keyboard while watching video, and they can then replace their sounds with alternates at will, which increases their workflow 20x. Audio Design Desk comes with more than 25,000 sounds embedded with this Sonic Intelligence™, which makes finding, placing, manipulating and creating music, sound design, and sound effects faster than ever—and once your first set of sounds are placed, you can create infinite alternate compositions refined by genre or mood with a few mouse clicks while retaining sync. As Academy Award-nominated editor Matthew

Cooke says, “There isn’t another piece of software that allows you to instantly create at this level of professionalism.” These types of automations are exactly what professional applications need to allow artists to instantly create rather than struggle through confusing file menus and complex processes. This software is more than a tool; it is a creative assistant. Audio Design Desk is currently saving time for editors at Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max and many others. We deserve this award because we have built a game changing production suite that is unlike anything on the market and we did it on our own through focus, research, creativity and hard work.

https://www.add.app

Bitcentral Inc.

Oasis Remote Contribution Best Production Technology

Oasis is a collaborative workflow solution for news production and archiving. It is a field-centric tool that allows users to contribute remotely from their homes or on the field with their laptops, tablets and mobile devices using a secure and managed file transfer system. The complete Oasis asset management system is securely shared across all authorized users including those in the field, with an efficient interface for uploading and downloading content to aid in their remote story production. With a laptop, NLE — or a smartphone — crews can work from home or stay in the field while filing video and stories to the station and requesting additional source material from the station’s Oasis repository. Mobile Contribution enables teams working remotely to instantaneously deliver video, images, scripts and other metadata back to the facility. Items can be immediately attached and available for playout or digital distribution. Remote journalists can turn in more stories every day without the need to go to the studio. Key Benefits • Enhances Collaboration: Centralizes asset management functions to provide users with an efficient tool to share media. • Increases Speed: Streamlines the operations required to push stories on-air and to social media/digital outlets. • Enables Field-Centric Workflows: Provides jour-

nalists with a remote contribution portal and full access to the Oasis archives for downloading clips to the field and upload edited packages to the newsroom using a managed transfer system. • Automates Archiving: Archives news stories that are produced daily to allow journalists in the field the ability to search and clip across all shared content and raw video repositories within the group.

bitcentral.com

Blackmagic Design

Best Production Technology

DaVinci Resolve 17 Combining editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics and audio post production, DaVinci Resolve 17 (free; Studio $295) adds hundreds of features and improvements. The improved cut page has features to help finish quick turnaround projects even faster. The metadata slate view with bin dividers is a revolutionary way to visually view, sort and find shots quickly. Audio trim mode displays larger waveforms for more precise trimming. Smart reframing automatically reframes images for exporting projects in vertical, square or other aspect ratios without having to manually reposition every shot. Icon view in the library previews effects, transitions and titles. Import and edit projects from ATEM Mini Pro ISO, there’s a clip inspector, fast timeline switching and more. The edit page adds dozens of time-saving features. Proxy workflows dramatically improve performance and make it easy to move projects between systems. Sync clips on the timeline and convert them to a multi-cam group, make source side adjustments before editing a clip into a project, share individual timelines and bins, remove 3:2 pulldown in real time, and more. The edit page also supports

mattes and keying for composites, motion blur on certain transitions, and the ability to render effects heavy portions of the timeline to a new file. DaVinci Resolve 17 features useful timeline management and organization tools, including disabling unused timelines without deleting them. This removes them from the viewer’s timeline drop down menu, which can also now be organized alphabetically, by creation date or in order of recent use.

Scene cut analysis can now be performed on both the cut and edit pages. It’s the fastest way to cut up long clips that users need to re-edit or color grade without the original source files. The DaVinci Neural Engine analyzes the images, finds the edit points and cuts up the clip.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com

Blackmagic Design

URSA Mini Pro 12K Best Production Technology

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K ($9,995) is a revolution in digital film with a 12,288 x 6,480 12K Super 35 sensor, 14 stops of dynamic range and high frame rate shooting at up to 60 frames per second in 12K at 80 megapixels per frame. The combination of 80 megapixels per frame, new Blackmagic Generation 5 Color Science and the flexibility of Blackmagic RAW makes working with 12K a reality. The new 12K sensor has equal amounts of red, green and blue pixels and is optimized for images at multiple resolutions. Shoot 12K at 60 fps or use in-sensor scaling for 8K or 4K RAW at up to 120 fps without cropping or changing the field of view. Blackmagic Generation 5 Color Science features a new film curve designed to make full use of the massive amount of color data from the sensor. This delivers even better color response for more pleasing skin tones and better rendering of highly saturated colors. Generation 5 Color Science informs complex Blackmagic RAW image processing, with color and dynamic range data from the sensor preserved via metadata for use in post production. The sensor and Blackmagic RAW were designed together to make 12-bit RAW workflows in 12K ef-

fortless. Shoot 12K and edit on a laptop, which isn’t possible with other codecs. The sensor and Blackmagic RAW allow users to work in any resolution in post production, reframing shots for 8K and 4K delivery, without rendering, while retaining the full sensor’s color accuracy. URSA Mini Pro 12K’s extreme resolution goes well beyond traditional film but still retains the benefits, including incredible detail, wide dynamic range and rich, deep color. Oversampling from 12K provides the best 8K and 4K images with subtle skin tones and extraordinary detail, including a smoothness that comes from making aliasing invisible.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com

Bridge Technologies

Best Production Technology

VB444 IP Audio Metering While video production frequently focuses on visual quality, research indicates that audiences are more likely to turn off on the basis of poor audio quality. Bridge Technologies’ new VB440 IP Audio Metering introduces advanced “visual” audio monitoring features to an already award-winning set of wider IP-based monitoring metrics, ensuring the highest production standards for on- and off-site production, whether live or recorded. These enhancements include the ability to measure multichannel audio across 64 channels within one flow (with a service containing as many flows as desired). A microphase meter gives quick insight into the phase balance of each audio pair, but is further enhanced with the integration of a Gonion meter, which can reveal incompatibilities in multi-microphone sound fields. A LUFS meter has also been added, facilitating vital control over the dynamic range of an audio mix and ensuring that audiences experience a full range of sound (from dialogue to music) without constantly reaching for the volume button. Be it the pianissimo and forte of classical music or the roar of a crowd in a stadium, Bridge’s VB440 IP

Audio Metering allows sound engineers the precision they need to manage the ultimate sound experience that viewers receive — in real time if needed — facilitating not only technical precision, but creative control. The meters have been designed in collaboration with professional audio engineers, ensuring that each meter maintains appropriate ballistics; delivering measurements that are precise without being unreadable. This stands in line with Bridge’s

more broad philosophy that monitoring metrics should be comprehensive and detailed, but more than anything, comprehensible and capable of informing decision-making. As such, the highly intuitive visual GUI, which has always been at the heart of the VB440, remains, ensuring fast access to source selection, and keeping the context of the task front and centre.

https://bridgetech.tv/products/vb440

Canon U.S.A.

The next-generation modular Super 35mm workhorse features a new Dual Gain Output (DGO) sensor and, like the full-frame EOS C500 Mark II digital cinema camera, employs a modular design and an interchangeable lens mount optional accessory that allows users to easily customize the camera according to the needs of each project, making it an ideal tool for a wide range of video content production. The newly developed 4K Super 35mm DGO imaging system generates high dynamic range and maintains low noise levels by reading out each photodiode with two different gains. One gain prioritizes saturation in highlight areas while the other suppresses noise in the shadows. The result is an image with up to 16+ stops of dynamic range, clean rich shadows and vibrant highlights in up to 4K/60p. The EOS C300 Mark III camera is modular and customizable, just like the EOS C500 Mark II camera. Included with the camera are 13 accessories, such as a 4.3inch LCD monitor and the GR-V1 grip. Users can also choose from a wide range of additional optional accessories that allow them to configure the EOS C300 Mark III camera to their preferences. Optional accessories include the EVF-V70 electronic viewfinder, SU-15 shoulder support unit and EU-V1 and EU-V2 expansion units. The EU-V1 expansion unit allows for gen-lock, sync

Best Production Technology

Canon C300 Mark III 4K UHD Digital Cinema Camera

out, remote use and Ethernet connection; while EU-V2 expansion unit features those functions plus a V-mount battery connection, two analog XLR audio ports and 24V DC Out. Additionally, the mount kits (sold separately) allow users to exchange the EF mount with an EF cinema lock mount or PL mount.

https://www.usa.canon.com

Canon U.S.A.

Best Production Technology

Canon EOS C70 4K UHD Digital Cinema Camera The first Cinema EOS Camera with an RF mount, both compact and lightweight, the camera features Canon’’s innovative and next-generation Super 35mm DGO Sensor that further extends the high dynamic range and lowers noise levels by reading out each photodiode with two different gains. One gain prioritizes saturation — protecting detail in highlight areas — while the other suppresses noise in the shadows. The result is an image with up to 16-plus stops of total dynamic range, clean, rich shadows and vibrant highlights in up to 4K/ 60p or 2K/120p in Super16mm Crop mode. The camera supports XF-AVC format (in variable bit-rate) — both Intra and Long GOP with MXF file format. The intra-frame format compresses the data after analyzing each frame separately, while Long GOP format compresses data at a higher rate, creating an even smaller file size. A secondary choice is Long GOP 10-bit 4:2:2/4:2:0 MP4/HEVC (a next-generation HDR video recording compression standard) with

an MP4 file format — a first in the Cinema EOS line. The camera’s independent air intake system is separated from the electrical systems to protect the sensor from water, sand and dust. In addition, the camera also features two air outlet vents that allow uninterrupted recording for extended periods of time.

https://www.usa.canon.com

Canon U.S.A.

The new lens, which is designed to be used with broadcast cameras that have 2/3-inch sensors, delivers outstanding 4K UHD image quality in a lightweight (4.76 lbs.) and compact form factor (9.9 inches long) that empowers agility in shooting. The lens also features a built-in 2x extender that can expand the zoom range up to 200mm. The ergonomics and digital servo operational controls of the lens are similar to Canon’s current lineup of portable zoom lenses, providing users with maximum mobility in a variety of shooting situations. The CJ20ex5B lens achieves a high-level 4K UHD performance across the entire zoom range thanks to Canon’s proprietary optical design technology and coatings, which incorporate materials such as UD and Super-UD lens elements and a fluorite coating, that help to reduce chromatic aberration and minimize ghosting and flaring. Focusing fluctuation has also been decreased due to an improved inner focusing system that improves resolution in the periphery areas of the screen. In addition, the lens supports the wide color gamut approved by the ITU-R BT.2020 UHD broadcasting standard — all features that are essential to HDR/WCG imaging.

Best Production Technology

Canon CJ20ex5B 4K UHD Portable Zoom Lens

The CJ20ex5B lens also boasts enhanced operational control over its previous models. The quick power-on button allows the value encoder to initialize at the same time the lens is turned on, enabling users to operate the lens more quickly. The lens also features an on-board display that provides users with the ability to access and adjust various settings rapidly. It is also compatible with Canon’s recently announced G-Series zoom and focus controllers, which deliver increased control of zoom and focus speeds and range.

https://www.usa.canon.com

Canon U.S.A.

Best Production Technology

Canon CINE-SERVO 25-250mm T2.95-3.95 4K UHD Lens Similar to the existing award-winning 17-120mm and 50-1000mm lenses, the CINE-SERVO 25-250mm offers outstanding 4K optical performance thanks to its ultra-low dispersion glass and a large-diameter aspherical lens. Combined with Canon’s unique optical design technology, these components work to help correct color fringing and limit chromatic aberration during operation. The lens features Canon’s renowned warm color science and an 11-blade aperture that produces a beautiful, smooth bokeh. The new lens is ideal for cameras with a Super 35mm sensor. While the 10x zoom covers a focal range of 25-250mm, the built-in extender stretches that range to an impressive 375mm with an added benefit of allowing for full-frame sensor coverage with only a stop of difference in light loss. The servo drive unit included with the 25250mm lens can be easily removed to allow for manual operation, and the gear pitch is compat-

ible with standard cinema controls of zoom and focus. The EF mount version of the lens allows for the utilization of Canon’s proprietary Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which provides users with smooth AF operation and high-speed tracking performance, and the PL mount version supports Cooke/i Technology. In addition, like the 17-120mm, the 25-250mm lens also features a macro function to enable closeup shooting.

https://www.usa.canon.com

Dalet

Dalet Galaxy xCloud Best Production Technology

Dalet Galaxy xCloud is a full-featured version of the Dalet Galaxy five platform that leverages the cloud to facilitate end-to-end, remote news and content production workflows. The highly scalable SaaS solution runs on AWS infrastructure and incorporates the highest levels of security best practices including ISO 27100. Dalet Galaxy xCloud connects to users’ existing on-premises systems and supports workflows for remote editing teams, responding to today’s content creation needs. Enabling and enhancing home-based news production, Dalet Galaxy xCloud fosters remote collaboration and automates production workflows. Dalet Galaxy xCloud enables mid- to large-scale productions to quickly pivot their operations and support staff working from home, without needing to make rushed or costly infrastructure changes. Dalet Galaxy xCloud enables users to work from home using the tools and workflows they are used to from their production hub. Interfaces like Dalet WebSpace, a web client that provides authorized users with connectivity to their Dalet Galaxy five platform, allow users to browse, search and share assets. The core remote editing framework using Dalet OneCut supports advanced proxy editing workflows and mixing of locally and facility-stored content. Adobe® Premiere® Pro-based editing workflows are also

supported through the Dalet Xtend plug-in. Rendering can be offloaded to Dalet Galaxy xCloud, optimizing performance to break news faster. Dalet On-the-Go, a mobile app designed to facilitate collaboration with the newsroom from the field, lets users browse wires and stories, check assignments, edit and contribute stories, staying connected with their community. Recently, France Télévisions subscribed to Dalet Galaxy xCloud to enable critical news remote workflows. Once rolled-out, Dalet Galaxy xCloud will give France Télévisions the flexibility to support the remote work requirements of its 300+ journalists. It will also facilitate news production workflows across national channels and the franceinfo rolling news channel, and support key newsroom editing applications.

https://www.dalet.com

disguise

Best Production Technology

disguise xR disguise has led the way for Extended Reality (xR) and virtual production, accelerating development of its workflow and launching at a time when the live events industry has started recognizing the demand for immersive yet remote real-time production. Our technology blends virtual and physical worlds together using augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) in live production environments to create fully immersive experiences. By enabling real-time graphics to be mapped onto LED surfaces, xR places performers and presenters into computer-generated environments on camera, allowing them to see the content they are immersed in. Born out of a need to deliver a new form of immersive studio environment for Eurosport’s coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics, disguise xR has since developed into a robust workflow with applications across broadcast, film and episodic TV, corporate events, live music and esports. Following two years of continued research and development, the technology reached a level of maturity that enabled an official release in April 2020, accelerated by the demand from artists, brands and organizations to engage remote audiences like never before. In under a year the importance of xR innovations have revolutionized production. Over 100 disguise xR stages have been built in 35+ countries to support the growing demand. These stages have been instrumental in spearheading xR for key projects like the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and “America’s Got Talent,” live performances from artists like Billie Eilish and Katy Perry, corporate presentations from Siemens and

SAP and on-set virtual production from notable VFX studios like Framestore and Orca Studios. At disguise we continue to invest in our technology, unlocking creative opportunities in new markets and lowering the barrier of entry to xR. We also launched an e-learning platform offering free online training into disguise workflows, enabling users to deliver complex productions with ease.

https://www.disguise.one/en

Dream Chip Technologies GmbH

AtomOne SSM500

Our Deep, Dark Secret Conventional wisdom tells us that to shoot at a high frame rate, you need optimum lighting conditions. Well, at Dream Chip, when it comes to technology, we’re not so keen on “conventional wisdom.” The exceptionally sensitive sensors of the SSM500 means that they capture crystal clear, super-slow-motion images even in low-light conditions. Atmospheric concerts, moonlit events, hidden corners, terrible weather — there’s no escaping the eye of an SSM500. The Workflow That Works for You The SSM500 is designed not just to fit in the palm of your hand, but to fit in with your existing workflows too. Making use of IP control, capturing high-definition images, integrating your existing lens equipment and operating with all major broadcast servers — as well as providing five HDSI outputs and a genlock to synchronize video with other sources in your setup — the SSM500 gives you a revolutionary tool without requiring a

Best Production Technology

Super-slow motion is at the heart of the action. The exceptionally small size of the AtomOne SSM500 (just 190mm x 60mm x 60mm) combined with its 500fps frame rate capability provide unrivalled opportunity to position cameras almost anywhere, and capture shots that tell a story. The SSM500 gives you the opportunity to break down creative walls, without breaking your production budget.

revolution in your workflow. It also grants flexibility with two unique modes of operation. In Trigger mode, the SSM500 gives 60 seconds of 500fps footage (that’s 10 minutes of playout), stored on the camera’s SSD, and allowing for live output and replay output to occur in conjunction. Alternatively, SSM allows for su-

per-slow-motion capture through 2, 3 or 4 phase connection to any server, facilitating capture at up to 240fps. Some Videos Ultra Motion Crane in Action at ISL 2020 in Budapest: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alain-souffi428a45a_ultra-motion-crane-in-action-at-isl2020-activity-6731265242199797761-_MWb AtomOne SSM500 Test Shooting: https://vimeo.com/415822779 Skaten: https://vimeo.com/425868354

www.atom-one.de

Grass Valley

Best Production Technology

K-Frame XP Demand for stunning, high-quality content is at an all-time high, with Statista reporting global sales of 4K UHD televisions growing tenfold since 2014 and surpassing 100 million units in 2019. Enabling workflows that are future-proofed for 4K productions — and ultimately to meet consumer demand for viewing experiences that are as good as being there — starts with the solutions, such as Grass Valley’s K-Frame XP switcher — the beating heart of remote productions. This no-compromise 4K UHD/HD, IP and SDI video processing engine launched in April last year, features true single stream, full raster, 4K processing at 2160p to deliver richer storytelling more efficiently. Designed specifically for 4K UHD production, the GV K-Frame XP has no reduction in I/O count in 4K UHD, no reduction in M/Es, keyers or DPMS in 4K UHD, and no change in operator workflow. This solution has the smallest footprint of any professional 4K production switcher, packed into a compact 8RU footprint, while still delivering the processing power to handle any resolution (HD, 3G and 4K UHD) — as well as HDR. The K-Frame XP also allows its 80x40 I/O count to remain unchanged, regardless of whether customers are producing in all IP, all SDI or in hybrid environments at 1.5G, 3G and 12G. The switcher supports all the latest IP and workflow standards such as SMPTE 2110 and AMWA/ NMOS IS-04 and -05.

The new K-Frame XP meets all the needs of today’s 4K UHD production environments, allowing production teams to fully express their creativity with zero compromises and no change in operator workflow. It equips operators with the freedom to deliver the stunning images and captivating viewing experiences that audiences around the globe demand.

https://www.grassvalley.com/products/production-switchers/ k-frame-production-switchers/gv-k-frame-xp-switchers

Grass Valley

LDX 100

Best Production Technology

Requiring the lowest latency, highest simultaneous signal counts and highest number of operators to keep in sync, live productions are among the most demanding broadcast-industry applications. It is up to vendors to identify and harness technologies, such as IP, to improve operations and ultimately provide consumers with better content and services. Built from the ground up with native IP connectivity, Grass Valley’s LDX 100 camera platform is the latest addition to its camera portfolio, launched in April 2020. It is a high-speed, native UHD camera that takes a revolutionary approach to camera design by delivering IP signals directly into the network. It enables convenient access to them wherever they are needed, such as return feed monitoring from another camera position. The LDX 100 leverages the full power and agility of IP by delivering easy, rapid setup and configuration and the ability to add features as needed. At the heart of the camera is Grass Valley’s all new Titan imager. Designed to answer the specific demands of live sports production, this 2/3-inch imager provides superior UHD resolution and HDR/ WCG color reproduction at up to 3X high speed. The camera easily pairs with industry-standard B4

lenses to provide the zoom range and depth of field needed in sports without the optical gymnastics of other competitive solutions. This new solution allows production teams to create rich images in full raster native UHD without compromise. IP technology provides flexibility and efficiency, enabling the remote and distributed workflows that have become crucial in the current global climate and in October 2020, ES Broadcast made a significant purchase of 50 LDX 100 cameras in preparation for major sporting events in 2021. The LDX 100 is the most advanced camera on the market and brings heightened innovation to the live production arena and beyond.

https://www.grassvalley.com/products/cameras/ldx-100-series

LiveU

Best Production Technology

LU800 The LU800 combines multicamera production and superior video and audio capabilities with missioncritical transmission in a native 5G unit. Designed from the ground up to unlock 5G potential, the unit offers unparalleled quality of service and resiliency. The LU800 supports up to four fully frame-synced feeds in high resolution from a single unit, using powerful IP bonding of up to 14 connections. The unit also offers the highest-quality video performance, with up to 4Kp60 10-bit HDR transmission for optimal color depth and richness, as well as up to 16 audio channels for high-end productions. Samuel Wasserman, LiveU’s CEO, said, “Launching this ground-breaking product has taken on extra relevance with the industry experiencing social distancing and budget limitations. There is an acute and growing need for high-quality, reliable and cost-effective solutions, supporting remote production (REMI) workflows. The LU800 offers unlimited possibilities for customers to enrich their productions and cover more events at a fraction of the cost of traditional transmission methods.” The LU800 provides new levels of resiliency, combining superior 5G performance with up to

eight 5G internal, dual-SIM modems, supported by high-efficiency internal antennas. The unit has been optimized for 5G operations, addressing unique 5G requirements with maximum versatility and full support for 5G network evolution. With the LU800, LiveU now offers a full endto-end contribution, production and distribution solution. The unit’s multicamera production streams are fully managed by the LiveU Central cloud-based management platform and automatically fed into the LiveU Matrix IP content management and distribution workflow.

https://go.liveu.tv/lu800

Mo-Sys

StarTracker Studio Best Production Technology

StarTracker Studio is a unique all-in-one 4K virtual production system. It’s preconfigured and precalibrated, and capable of all types of virtual production using green screen studios or LED volumes, whether multicamera live to air, or shot-by-shot recording. Specifically designed to reduce equipment count and costs, it is simple for operators unfamiliar with virtual production to use with the minimum of training. The preconfigured package includes three cameras with tripods and a jib, plus Mo-Sys’ world renowned StarTracker camera tracking system, which uses “stars” — reflective dots — placed at random on the ceiling. A spotter with an LED light source on each camera tracks the positions of the “stars” on the ceiling. The resulting three-dimensional positional information is fed into a powerful graphics system using the Unreal engine and an Ultimatte keyer. The software also includes Mo-Sys Beam In technology, which brings remote guests into the virtual studio. An eight-channel ATEM production switcher means complex productions can be shot live; three video recorders are also in the rack; and audio is handled by three radio microphones and a mixer. The virtual graphics system uses all the power of the Unreal engine, including top-end effects like hyper-realistic reflections, soft shadows to match real-world lighting, continual depth-of-field processing to emulate lens performance, and oc-

clusion handling so talent can walk around virtual objects. Because the system is very simple to set up and use, and extremely cost-effective, it can be used in many applications. It is ideal for news and magazine programs or commercial production, but it can also be used for product

launches and to add very high production values to webinars and social media responses. The system is scalable up to the largest size of virtual production. StarTracker Studio delivers top-end, uncompromised virtual production, in a simple one-stop package.

https://www.mo-sys.com/product/camera-tracking/virtual-production/startrackerstudio

PEBBLE

Best Production Technology

Oceans Pebble’s next-generation, service-oriented technology, Oceans provides the broadcast community with a technology platform that supports flexible workflows. Built for all clouds but equally happy on-prem, it enables broadcasters to deploy, manage, host and upgrade broadcast workflows and services from a single intuitive unified interface, now and in the IP future. Oceans supplies the building blocks for businesses’ IP future by integrating new technologies and offering security, authentication and resilience developments. As broadcast industry operations transition to IP and expand to include VOD services, and other OTT offerings, broadcasters and operators are exploring ways of working in the cloud that make practical and financial sense. Oceans enables broadcast teams to handle their complex workflows in simple and intuitive manners, thanks to common core services across multiple functional applications. Regardless of scale, Oceans allows broadcasters to expand deployment as new services are released, and write and integrate their own functionality using Oceans open and secure APIs. Oceans has been designed to: • Help broadcasters and media companies transition towards IP-based technologies, including the cloud • Bring existing Pebble customers along and offer access to the new functionality • Offer technology for changing business and external developments • Support new technologies with iterative,

flexible, modular solutions from single channel infrastructures to multichannel, multisite, geodispersed operations With significant advantages: • Choice of cloud or on-prem with the ability for hybrid deployments and migration to new hosting infrastructures • Centralized and simplified access to core functionality • Ability to exploit the newest technology by upgrading to access new solutions from Pebble, or by controlling third-party technology • Remarkable adaptability • Allows users to write their own business logic and functionality A journey with Pebble provides interfaces to existing installed Pebble solutions: • Resilience distributed, load-balanced, selfaware, self-healing technology to safeguard operations • Baked in security configurable user permissions, authentication, authorization, encryption and logging

https://www.pebble.tv

Planar

Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex Best Production Technology

New on-air and off-air display technology trends are emerging in broadcast every day, taking on-camera set designs to new heights. With Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex, customers can create curved video walls producing “wow factors” that not only look great on camera, but also enhance broadcast presentations. The line of pliable LED video wall displays combine to create immersive concave or convex curved video walls that bring stories to life and captivate audiences. Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex displays bend into curves as tight as 25 inches or 637 millimeters and are available in 1.5, 1.9, 2.6 and 3.9 millimeter pixel pitches. As a custom front-service solution that attaches magnetically to a customized sheet metal frame, the series supports wall-mounting, free-standing or hanging installations, and is ideal for indoor, fixed video wall installations that require smooth curves, waves or column wraps. Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex displays do not cause color shift. As a result, broadcast professionals can provide the visual performance audiences expect and more importantly, deliver

a more visually-appealing alternative to faceting flat LED cabinets into segmented curves. Plus, users can combine Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Flex displays with the Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Series, a line of lightweight, adaptable LED video wall displays ideal for indoor rental, staging and fixed installations, to create one-of-a-kind video walls that include both flat and curved surfaces. Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Series also features Planar® CarbonLight™ bracketry and a modular design that can be quickly constructed and accommodate fast-paced settings, making the solution a perfect fit for broadcast environments. Customers can remove and install Planar® CarbonLight™ CLI Series displays at any location in a video wall without disrupting the overall layout, which is essential for today’s broadcast settings demanding continuous operation and reduced delays or downtime.

www.planar.com/products/led-video-walls/carbonlight/cli-flex

Primestream

Best Production Technology

Primestream IP Network Operation Center As IP continues to go mainstream for remote video production, producers are moving away from bulky, expensive hardware to more flexible software and cloud solutions. They need IP streaming solutions that can integrate easily into production workflows and ingest nonbaseband sources. They need to be able to use all IP-based protocols, and require fast, frictionless ways to transcode feeds into multiple house formats for asset management and distribution. The Primestream IP Network Operations Center (NOC) addresses all of these requirements through advanced, IP-based signal acquisition and cloud-based media asset management (MAM). These technologies offer a paradigm shift from traditional broadcast operation centers and satellite trucks to smaller and more nimble transmission gear, cameras and capture devices. With the IP NOC, broadcasters can assemble an entire IP operation using off-the-shelf hardware and acquire signals from any IP source. The Primestream IP NOC consists of the following: • Primestream Media IO, an on-premises and cloud production solution for recording and playing out virtually any type of live video, including HD and 4K UHD, from anywhere. Media IO can capture content from any baseband or nonbaseband broadcast source including SRT, NDI, HLS, RTSP, DASH and even SDI. Then, it

transcodes the live content in real time into broadcast formats (ProRes, XDCAM, AVC-Intra, DVCPRO, H.264, and H.265/HEVC) for fast integration into production, management and delivery workflows. Support for real-time editing in Apple Final Cut Pro X™ and Adobe Premiere Pro™ enables editors to preview and

edit live streams while the video feed is still being captured. • Primestream Xchange Media Cloud, a webbased, enterprise-ready software platform that brings powerful MAM functionality to the cloud. With Xchange Media Cloud, remote teams are able to store, access, produce and manage all of their media assets as well as collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world.

primestream.com

Ross Video

The Ross Graphite PPC (Portable Production Centre) addresses the current need for remote production due to COVID-19 restrictions. Graphite PPC brings big switcher performance, XPression graphics, instant-access clip servers and RAVE audio in one compact package to the home studio. Graphite PPC is also a very compact yet powerful “flight pack” for such applications as sports, live-events and houses of worship. The Ross Graphite PPC is a complete production solution neatly housed in a single compact carrying case. This powerful all-in-one production platform combines big switcher performance, stunning XPression graphics, instant-access clip servers and pristine RAVE audio with unmatched portability and ease of operation. Like the popular Ross Graphite All-in-One Production System, the Portable Production Centre can be run by a single operator and its ultra-quiet fan means it can be deployed just about anywhere, even next to on-air talent! Graphite PPC offers customers a remarkable amount of production horsepower — up to two MEs (and four MiniMEs), four DVEs, six frame syncs, four media stores and two multiviewers. Capable of handling up to thirteen inputs and up to eight outputs, Graphite PPC also includes the same RAVE audio engine (with sample rate converters) that comes with the larger Graphite solution, as well as the same XPression graphics and clips package also found in its elder sibling.

Best Production Technology

Ross Graphite PPC (Portable Production Centre)

Graphite PPC is incredibly light; it weighs only 42 pounds (19 kg) including its dedicated soft-shell carrying case equipped with a pull-out handle and wheels. It’s also extremely quiet — ultra-quiet fan-cooling means the system can easily be used in the same space as the talent with microphones. Graphite PPC is simple to set up and requires just a single operator, so you can now deliver a high-impact, high-efficiency production even more easily.

https://www.rossvideo.com/products-services/ acquisition-production/production-switchers/graphite

Telos Alliance

Best Production Technology

Linear Acoustic LA-5291 Professional Audio Encoder

Dolby tends to build hardware products to help establish new Dolby formats and then, once a new format is established, looks to partner with other manufacturers who can take up the baton and build even better versions of the originals. The Linear Acoustic LA-5291 expands on the Dolby’s DP591 feature set by offering a comprehensive HTML5 Control and Monitoring interface with integrated audio router, AES67 support for AoIP and SMPTE ST 2110-30/31 workflows, Quad HD-SDI connectivity for 4K UHD environments,

plus five pairs of AES3 I/O alongside MADI and GPIO. The Linear Acoustic LA-5291 Professional Audio Encoder allows you to create an exciting and immersive Dolby Atmos® experience via a Dolby Digital Plus JOC bitstream for production workflows, platforms and delivery streams that do not require Dolby AC-4. The LA-5291 offers decoding, encoding and transcoding to and from PCM and select Dolby® coded formats for up to 16 audio channels.

https://www.telosalliance.com/Linear/LA-5291

Wildmoka

Wildmoka Auto ReZone Best Production Technology

The Wildmoka Solution: Auto ReZone (Third-Generation of Image Auto Verticalization) The Wildmoka Auto ReZone has been developed to transpose a 16:9 feed, in real time into a vertical 9:16 (or even 1:1) feed and this, powered by the Wildmoka AI/Machine Learning engine. Some solutions to transpose images from 16:9 to 9:16 automatically have been recently announced (Adobe Auto Reframe at IBC Sept. 2019, or Google AutoFlip in Feb. 2020) but 1) none of them are real time (they are made for post production versus live feeds); and 2) they are what we call a Second Generation since they only dynamically and automatically extract a 9:16 zone within the 16:9 as shown in the picture. It is a simple cropping that results in a lot of information lost (including titles, lower third, watermarks, etc.).

ReZone supports an unlimited number of situations, combining speakers, studio shooting and recorded video, weather forecast and so on. All the zones of interest are detected frame by frame by the Wildmoka AI/ML algorithms. The Benefits to Broadcasters • Deliver a premium mobile-first experience without changing your existing newsroom workflow. • Boost your audience, including on youth and senior market segments. • Extend your mobile audience’s average viewing time. • Differentiate on social media with vertical formats. • Become the place to be for advertisers.

How Does “Auto ReZone” Work? The process to transform a feed takes less than 10 seconds by the servers in the cloud (so the newly generated stream has a minimum timeshift compared to the 16:9 original feed). The goal for a broadcaster is to offer both the horizontal format and the vertical ones for live shows.

www.wildmoka.com

Zero Density

Best Production Technology

Reality Hub Reality Hub brings ecosystem connectivity, automation and workflow integration from a single hub, not just for 2D broadcast graphics but also 3D virtual studio and AR graphics. It provides a unified, HTML5 dynamic user interface for entire Reality and Unreal ecosystem. Reality Hub redefines the control applications by upgrading them to a web-based technology where users can access from their tablet or phone. Its drag-and-drop user interface design capability requires no coding and users can define rules, organize and customize their data to tightly match the design. Reality Hub is a fully modular system with a thin core and an open-source API. All functionalities can be developed as separate modules such as server and client modules. The modules fully integrate with native modules and other third-party modules. Reality Hub has a holistic and brand-new approach to broadcast graphics. Besides AR and virtual studio graphics where Unreal is rapidly growing. It allows broadcasters to utilize Unreal Engine for other broadcast graphics such as channel-branding, lower-third graphics, bumpers, full-screen info graphics, sport/news graphics, tickers etc. — all in real time. Reality Hub utilizes Unreal UMG module to replace and upgrade all broadcast graphics systems. Reality Hub also creates ideal workflows for remote production with the multiple live video

preview capability. Anytime on any point of the production pipeline users can choose and monitor high-quality, low-latency video. Reality Hub manages all type of data with ease. It creates bridges between any data and any engine whether to be broadcast engines (UE or Reality Engine), mechanic engines, robotic cameras or studio lights. It also integrates with any external data sources such as weather and finance, in addition to providing newsroom integration with MOS or any proprietary protocol. Lastly, integration with studio automation systems allows users to control all daily operations and live/recorded events from a single hub. As Reality Hub uses the latest technologies in its infrastructure, it is flexible and open for new features for a few lifetimes.

https://www.zerodensity.tv/products/reality-hub

Digital Nirvana

Trance 3.1

Best TV Infrastructure

Trance 3.1 is an enterprise-grade, cloud-based application for closed captioning and transcription. With Trance 3.1, Digital Nirvana has added new features that use natural language processing (NLP) to convert transcripts into captions automatically and to detect shot changes automatically. Trance 3.1 is the industry’s first closed-captioning solution to offer NLP-based auto-conversion, which automatically converts transcripts into highly accurate, time-synched closed captions. As part of this exclusive feature, Trance automatically identifies music, silence and other nontext audio and provides intelligent line breaks for captions. Previously, operators had to manually correct the awkward splitting of words that appeared at the end of lines or dangling punctuation. Now, Trance automatically moves such words to the next line and takes into account multiword proper names that should be kept together. For instance, if “New York” appears at the end of a caption line, Trance will move the full title to the next line. Robust presets and grammar rules ensure that lines do not start with misplaced punctuation, such as the apostrophe in a contrac-

tion (e.g., with the contraction “they’re,” Trance will move the entire word to the next line). The latest version of Trance sets another industry standard with automatic shot change detection, including configurable thresholds for generating alerts when captions fall out of compliance. For instance, Trance can identify the end of a shot and ensure that captions belonging to the shot do not cross over. Trance 3.1 now includes a

frame-rate conversion feature that automatically converts captions and video that is to be repurposed for multiple platforms. Trance automatically converts the original captions from 29.97 fps (for broadcast) and generates a new caption file with time codes in the 24.97 frame rate needed for web streaming.

https://digital-nirvana.com/products/trance

Edge Networks Best TV Infrastructure

Evoca

Through a unique blend of Next-Generation broadcast and broadband, Evoca delivers HD and 4K quality programs more reliably and affordably than legacy cable, satellite and streaming providers. Evoca combines free over-the-air TV channels with premium live content, featuring more than 60 channels and growing. This lineup of high-quality, high-definition content includes sports, news and entertainment channels, plus some of the most popular video-on-demand programming. In small and midsized markets with one or two providers, consumers have expensive, limited options for premium, live content. Evoca is a revolutionary television service that provides an affordable solution for the 82% of American homes that lack access to competitively priced, high-speed broadband. Evoca’s subscribers can get 4K UHD television over the air flawlessly, while experiencing as many video games or video conferences as they want on their broadband connection. Evoca’s innovative architecture combines Next-Generation broadcast and broadband through the use of an antenna and a proprietary receiver (called “Scout”). The service features an intelligent switching technology that selects the best delivery method based on content type and viewer interest, ensuring a seamless, buffer-free experience.

In September 2020, Evoca began the Early Access Program in Boise, Idaho, providing a limited number of subscribers with a discounted monthly

fee and a free receiver and antenna. In the three months since, Evoca has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participating consumers in Boise, with thousands more across the country confirming interest in the service for their own markets. Evoca can be efficiently implemented in additional cities across the country with the simple upgrading of broadcast stations to ATSC 3.0, creating the perfect opportunity to provide many Americans with high-quality, affordable television in a short period of time. Evoca will roll out to additional markets throughout 2021.

https://evoca.tv

MediaKind

VSPP

Best TV Infrastructure

As viewing habits become increasingly fragmented in today’s streaming landscape, broadcasters, operators and content owners must deliver across more digital platforms, irrespective of often static budgets. To ensure efficiencies, they are looking to maintain legacy environments with minimal overhead costs. Streaming platforms accommodating both CBR and ABR subscribers require streamlined solutions for recording and playing the same content for different clients. MediaKind’s Video Storage and Processing Platform (VSPP) is a unified solution for cloud DVR, on-demand and time-/place-shifted services, offering better performance, reduced latency and lower CAPEX and TCO. VSPP provides CBR and ABR streaming services allowing users to build a unified cluster with a single ABR recording copy. It, therefore, removes content recording duplication and enables savings on storage of up to 30%. VSPP features a high-performance scale-out file system that clusters all storage server nodes into a single namespace. The solution leverages a shared resource concept, meaning each added VSPP storage-less node contributes its local compute resources to the entire processing power of the VSPP cluster; maximizing the deployment efficiency, and saving on processing costs and overall server footprint.

VSPP also harnesses a geo-redundant self-healing architecture for multiple use cases — including a rolling buffer for replay services, nPVR assets, and archive content — to allow for layers of content protection. The solution extends content durability and availability by providing a continuous streaming experience, even when the original content is corrupted by external (source, network) or internal (hardware or disk failure) fac-

tors. VSPP enables recording recovery by using data synchronization to remove any service impact, for example, in a site failure case. This means less service outage and reduced subscriber and viewer churn, ensuring revenues are maintained. MEO, Portugal’s leading pay-TV service, expanded its video storage and processing capabilities with VSPP to deliver multiple OTT services to any device.

https://www.mediakind.com/video-processing-storage/ video-storage-and-processing-platform

OWC

Best TV Infrastructure

ThunderBay Flex 8 The ThunderBay Flex 8 is a professional-grade eight-bay Thunderbolt 3 storage solution for pros who refuse to compromise. Think of it like a high-performance personal data center offering a multitude of configuration possibilities and almost limitless storage capacity for filmmakers, video production gurus, photographers, graphic designers and small business workgroups. With eight hot-swappable drive bays, OWC ThunderBay Flex 8 offers massive professional-grade storage capacity in a Thunderbolt 3 desktop-sized design. Mix 2.5inch and 3.5-inch HDDs and/or SSDs in any combination up to 112 TB of capacity and use them independently or match drives and combine them in a speed and/or redundant RAID with the included SoftRAID setup and management software.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/thunderbay-flex-8/thunderbolt-3

Playbox NEO

AirBox Neo-20

AirBox Neo-20 features include, among others: • Cloud and in-premise-based installation • Low latency, secured and reliable, high-quality stream delivery via public internet • Web-based multiviewer • Mixing different media formats, frame rates and

Best TV Infrastructure

Available as either a cloud-based or in-premise installation, the flexible AirBox Neo-20 from PlayBox Neo provides automated content streaming and broadcast playout for any kind of TV channel: cloud-based, satellite, cable headends, over-the-air broadcasters, corporate TV or internet-based TV. AirBox Neo fits within existing workflows and handles both SDI and IP inputs and outputs. Users can easily migrate playout from SDI to IP and then to entirely cloud-based operations. AirBox Neo has parallel outputs for SDI playout/streaming engine. It can mix a variety of media files in one playlist and provides multiple SDI UHD/HD/SD and IP streaming outputs simultaneously. It also allows for any changes to the playlist to be made while on air. Live productions are streamlined to allow insertion and/or execution of various events or live streams into the playlist. For automated playout/ streaming AirBox Neo-20 allows playlist scheduling weeks in advance. Gaps and time overlaps are automatically resolved for continuous operation even when there are conflicting timed events.

resolutions in a single playlist • Supported output video standards: 4K UHD/ HD/SD • Multiple simultaneous outputs: IP and SDI at the same time • Live Input: UHD/HD/SD SDI, IP stream — MPEG-2 TS (UDP/RTP), HTTP(S), RTMP, MMS(H), NDI input

• Output: UHD/HD/SD SDI and UDP/RTP/RTMP Stream output in accordance with DVB and ATSC standards • Closed-caption playout support (embedded or external MCC 1.0/2.0) for EIA 608, EIA 708 and XDS • Multichannel audio support • Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby-E audio media playback and output • Metadata support for text-rich graphics insertion • Playlist export to EPG generators

www.playboxneo.com

Quantum

Best TV Infrastructure

StorNext 7 Quantum’s latest version of its award-winning parallel file system — StorNext 7 — introduces a new File System Pools feature to automate data placement on NVMe and HDD storage for high-throughput, low-latency workloads. This newest StorNext version is much easier to use and offers a redesigned and more intuitive user interface. The StorNext 7 File System is a key addition to the company’s new portfolio of offerings to classify, manage and protect unstructured data across its lifecycle, and is another step in Quantum’s strategy to be the leading provider of data and storage management services for video and unstructured data, especially video workflows. Organizations needing to ingest and process video, digital images and other large unstructured data sets are increasingly turning to NVMe storage because of its dramatic performance advantages over traditional SSD and HDD storage. By implementing NVMe in a StorNext file system environment, StorNext accelerates throughput for streaming workloads for fast ingest of large data sets and improved processing, editing and analysis of video and other forms of unstructured data. NVMe is also enabling customers to gain back valuable data center space by replacing racks of HDD storage with compact NVMe storage servers. The new StorNext File System Pools enable

administrators to define pools of NVMe, SSD and HDD within their file system and create policies to move files and folders between those pools automatically. As a result, files move seamlessly between pools for greater performance at a lower overall cost. StorNext 7 offers expanded web services APIs that provide new ways to query metadata, automate data movement, and configure and manage the file system. An all-new user interface makes the StorNext File System significantly easier to navigate and manage. StorNext 7 is available via a simplified, capacity-based licensing model that better aligns software services with customer value.

https://www.quantum.com/en/products/file-system/stornext

Triveni Digital

ATSC 3.0 Cloud Best TV Infrastructure

ATSC 3.0 will create important new opportunities for U.S. broadcast television stations, including the ability to deliver advanced emergency alerts, program guides and targeted advertising. However, the ATSC 3.0 environment is complex, and broadcasters need a fast and efficient way to launch NextGen TV services. Triveni Digital’s ATSC 3.0 Cloud service enables broadcasters to launch NextGen TV services faster and more efficiently. The solution integrates the company’s software-based ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Gateway scheduler, GuideBuilder® XM ATSC 3.0 Transport Encoder, and state-ofthe-art, third-party systems. Available as a software-as-a-service business model, Triveni Digital’s solution lowers the cost to market for new channels and services by eliminating capex. A key benefit of Triveni Digital’s new ATSC 3.0 Cloud service is instant scalability and upgradeability, providing broadcasters with flexibility

for future growth. The ATSC 3.0 Cloud service includes support for the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocol to minimize the effects of jitter and bandwidth changes and ensure a secure communications path in the cloud. Using SRT, content is protected from the point of contribu-

tion to distribution. Featuring a pay-as-you-go pricing model, the ATSC 3.0 Cloud service is especially valuable for broadcasters in small and mid-sized markets. ATSC 3.0 Cloud deserves to win this award because it empowers broadcasters, enabling them to make a smoother, cost-effective transition to the next era of TV.

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