TVBE February 2015 digital edition by Future PLC

www.tvbeurope.com

Business, insight and intelligence for the broadcast media industry

February 2015

THE CUMULUS EFFECT Broadcasting in the cloud

High dynamic range 4K in 2015 Vision mixers forum Imagine where you could take your business... if technology didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stand in your way. An all-new blueprint for managing, moving and monetizing video content is here. an evolutionary path that aligns current investments with the network of the future.

Find out more. imaginecommunications.com ÂŠ 2014 Imagine Communications

TVBEurope 3

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

EDITORIAL Executive Editor - James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Editor - Melanie Dayasena-Lowe mdayasena-lowe@nbmedia.com Staff Writer - Holly Ashford hashford@nbmedia.com NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002 Contributors - Chris Forrester, David Fox, David Davies, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine Wright Head of Digital - Tim Frost Human Resources & Ofﬁce Manager - Lianne Davey Head of Design - Jat Garcha Editorial Production Manager - Dawn Boultwood Senior Production Executive - Alistair Taylor Publisher - Steve Connolly sconnolly@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Sales Manager - Ben Ewles bewles@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Account Manager - Richard Carr rcarr@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Managing Director - Mark Burton US Sales - Michael Mitchell Broadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY 11740 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv +1 (631) 673 0072 Japan and Korea Sales - Sho Harihara Sales & Project, Yukari Media Incorporated sho@yukarimedia.com +81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800

Welcome

Broadcast’s 2020 vision A new week of events dedicated to establishing a ﬁve-year roadmap e’re deep into awards season in the

world of ﬁlm and television, with the Golden Globes having opened 2015’s

celebrations in January, and with the British Academy Awards (BAFTA) and 87th staging of the Oscars just around the corner as I sit to commit this issue to the printing press. You can see from the variety of excellence being celebrated and nominated that 2014 was a signiﬁcant period of success for the moving image, and already, you can start to pick out the potential nominees for our own TVBAwards

and cloud technology on the production chain.

later this year. By then, we will have had a

We will also look to the future connected world with

majority of 2015’s innovations and achievements

a dedicated ‘Broadcast 2020: visions of the future’

to account for, and if this year is any

session that seeks to deﬁne our industry’s place in

improvement on last, then our nominations

a hyper connected, networked society. We will be

list will be one to look forward to.

conﬁrming a ﬁnal agenda shortly, but it you are

The nominations for the 2015 TVBAwards will

interested in being involved or have any questions

ofﬁcially launch during our new conference

about any aspect of TVBEurope Broadcast Week,

Circulation NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 9EF, UK

initiative, TVBEurope Broadcast Week, at the end

then please feel free to get in touch.

Free subscriptions tvbe.subscriptions@c-cms.com Subscriptions Tel +44 1580 883848

our existing Beyond HD Masters and IT Broadcast

broadcast and the cloud, starting with an insight

Workﬂow events, and will be made up of a

into the adoption of cloud technology by media

series of webinars, a roundtable event, and our

entities in France, being led by Canal Plus. We

centrepiece one-day conference, Broadcast

also look back on our executive ‘evolution of the

TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN, England

2020. We’ve taken a great deal of time and

workﬂow’ roundtable event with root6, peer into

care in piecing together a new and improved

the discussion around high dynamic range, and

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association

agenda that will go beyond the discussion stage

talk to two leading trade shows about their 2015

to bring tangible strategic insights and analysis of

events: BVE and ISE.

of June. TVBEurope Broadcast Week replaces

the business landscape on the road to 2020. © NewBay Media 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners. TVBEurope is mailed to qualiﬁed persons residing on the European continent. Subscription is free.

Our sessions will offer detailed insights on the UHD

This issue, we begin a two-part examination of

There’s plenty to get stuck into this issue, and I hope you enjoy the insights we’ve lovingly

movement beyond resolution – monetisation, new

created and assembled for your consumption.

Allow 8 weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery. Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England. ISSN 1461-4197

and existing standards, high dynamic range – as

Please feel free to contact me, as ever.

Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA

cases in the area of workﬂow and the impact of IP

well as cornering the latest real-world business

James McKeown Executive Editor

4 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

In this issue

26 Broadcast in the cloud Unsurprisingly, if you consider its inventive and innovative outlook when it comes to programming, Canal Plus seems to be leading the way on the adoption of cloud technology in France. Catherine Wright investigates

Roundtable

We reflect on our recent executive roundtable, in partnership with root6, that assessed the evolution of the workflow in a post production environment

12-24 Workflow

44 TVBEverywhere

Flyaway kits have usually been reserved for difficult-to-access locations. But, as Philip Stevens discovers, the cost factor is now making such packages even more attractive.

Melanie Dayasena-Lowe speaks to Paolo Bazzola, CEO of ContentWise, ahead of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent customer project with Sky Italia

4K: The programming stampede begins Chris Forrester looks at how broadcasters are progressing with testing and producing 4K content as well as analysing the 4K prospects for 2015

Interview

David Davies speaks to ISE MD Mike Blackman about the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing appeal to different technology communities, including broadcast

31 34 Feature

46 Vision Mixers Forum

Higher dynamic range, or extended dynamic range, has become a vexing subject and curve ball for revered institutions like the ITU, DVB, SMPTE and the EBU. George Jarrett gets the lowdown

Future proof your facility with advanced 4K SD, HD and Ultra HD mini converters! Blackmagic Design’s new high performance mini converters switch instantly between all SD, HD and Ultra HD video formats so they’re ready for Ultra HD when you are! Mini Converters are available in regular or heavy duty models that are machined from solid aluminum so they look beautiful and are super tough! Choose from models with 6G-SDI, HDMI, analog, optical ﬁber connections and more.

6G-SDI Technology Mini Converters include multi rate 6G-SDI so you’re always future proofed! 6G-SDI is fully compatible with all your existing SD and HD SDI equipment and will automatically switch when you need to run Ultra HD! Broadcast Quality

Auto Switching SD, HD and Ultra HD Mini Converters instantly switch between Ultra HD and all SD or HD formats, including NTSC, PAL, 1080PsF23.98, 1080PsF24, 1080PsF25, 1080i50, 1080i59.94, 1080i60, 720p50, 720p59.94 and 720p60. Updates can be loaded via USB. Redundant SDI Input Mini Converters feature a redundant input and loop through SDI output. Connect a redundant SDI cable to the second input, and if the main SDI input is lost, Mini Converters will automatically switch over in an instant. That’s great for mission critical tasks such as live events. Pro Analog and AES/EBU Audio Standard 1/4 inch jacks are included for professional balanced audio that switches between AES/EBU or analog. Unlike other converters you don’t need expensive custom audio cables so you’ll save thousands of dollars!

www.blackmagicdesign.com/nl *SRP is Exclusive of VAT

Designed with Ultra HD technology, Mini Converters give you even better performance when used with SD and HD! You get low jitter, the longest SDI cable lengths and the highest quality broadcast video and audio performance available. Mini Converters Mini Converter SDI to HDMI 4K .........¤235* Mini Converter HDMI to SDI 4K .........¤235* Mini Converter SDI to Analog 4K .......¤235* Mini Converter Analog to SDI ............¤235* Mini Converter SDI to Audio 4K .........¤235* Mini Converter Audio to SDI 4K .........¤235* Mini Converter Optical Fiber 4K ........¤395* Mini Converter SDI Multiplex 4K ........¤395* Mini Converter SDI Distribution 4K....¤235* Mini Converter Sync Generator..........¤245*

6 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Opinion and Analysis

Don’t box yourself in By Jan Weigner, president and CTO, Cinegy

same technology, or boxes that contain it, as a

one of those functions. Content and data goes in,

‘straight line migration’ when it’s anything but.

gets stored or transformed as necessary, and gets

Software deﬁned networks (SDNs) are being

pushed out again. That’s all there is to it, whether

touted as the way forward for television. It’s now

you’re printing pages or ‘printing’ television. Even

possible to build highly dynamic networks for tens of

Cinegy’s playout service (notice I said “service” not

thousands of virtualised instances that enable you

“server”) is more like a printer that spools television to

to get the most out of the hardware you bought

air rather than a traditional video server approach.

or decades, our industry has been driven

for the shiny new data centre you built. It’s a great

by new developments, most of which

technological advance and highly capable facility,

it’s done and dealt with, whether you’re sitting in the

came in a box. These boxes of tricks, for

but the truth is, it’s a nuclear-powered ﬂyswatter and

same room or half-way around the world. Where

far more than most broadcasters would ever need.

the content is, and where you are, is irrelevant. All

Racks upon racks in row upon row of new boxes

you care about is what you deﬁne for the services

the most part, worked very well: developed and manufactured by very clever engineers and, it must be said, marketeers. Because of

are proudly displayed that can play out 30,000-

their ubiquity amongst multiple manufacturers,

plus channels. Well, congratulations. You can now

these boxes could come in any colour you like,

run every channel in the world from your facility.

so long as it was a box.

Everyone else can go home, eh? But ask yourself

Over time, the boxes became smaller while

how many virtualised networks you are actually

delivering the same or more functionality, their USP

going to run from your data centre and you will

being ‘save rack space’ for, of course, more boxes.

probably ﬁnd that it’s nothing a couple of VLANs

The reality today for those making, or soon expecting to make the transition to an IP-based

couldn’t handle using switches that you have.

You call up the service, give it a playout job and

you want, not which cluster of boxes is going to

‘Even Cinegy’s playout service (notice I said “service” not “server”) is more like a printer that spools television to air rather than a traditional video server approach’

Of course, it doesn’t cost you anything, except

infrastructure is that the clever boxes that ‘deliver

lots of money, to have those new capabilities

a solution’ are no longer a reason to be boxed in.

and I confess that if I bought new equipment

perform (or not perform) those services for you.

In fact, most boxes are no longer necessary at all.

today I’d want to make sure it was SDN-capable,

I realise that this is quite a departure from traditional

but I wouldn’t look forward to the day I had to

broadcast thinking where everything is boxed

explain to the boss why I needed it right now.

and linked with a ﬂow chart to show how it’s all

Some in the industry understand that the transition to IP/IT has already happened, but many are still reluctant to abandon the

The term ‘software-deﬁned television’

connected, but traditional thinking is what has so

traditional box. When I hear someone say, “This

resonates because it sounds trendy alongside

many wringing their hands over business models,

is our new IP-based future”, I think: “Oh. Really?

software-deﬁned…anything really: but what

dissipating revenues and their child’s university

That’s so ten years ago.”

does it actually mean to you?

savings fund. Far too many CTOs in the traditional

What seems odd to me is that some of the

broadcast space are clinging to technical legacies

world’s most experienced broadcasters are

Enterprise environment

that may soon have them wondering where their

often the most determined to resist change. For

For me, we’re essentially talking about an enterprise

next meal will be coming from.

example, instead of burying SDI, they just replace

environment that you break down into a variety

the letters SDI with IP and market virtually the

of software functions, with television being just

If they’re not careful, I’m guessing it’ll be coming from a box.

8 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Opinion and Analysis

Vaulting the fragmentation hurdle to true TV Everywhere By Joerg Eggink, global product director, ACCESS

remotes, touchscreens, mouse and keyboard

Finally, operators rely on analytics to predict

combination or even joysticks. However, solving

customer viewing habits and preferences and

this user experience (UX) and user interface (UI)

adapt their services to ﬁt the consumer’s needs.

issue is only the tip of the iceberg.

o stay competitive in the multiscreen era,

While the UI plays a crucial role in ensuring

operators need to entice new customers

customer retention and increased subscriptions,

Standards help to solve the fragmentation issue

and retain existing users with additional

operators also need to handle rights negotiations

Standards negate the need for operators to invest

features in their pay-TV offerings. However,

to gain the content industry’s trust to deliver

in bespoke applications or adapt applications

added device and security disparity can prevent

high quality video securely to any authorised

from other platforms. Instead, they allow operators

the deployment of TV Everywhere services.

device. This leads to added security and rights

to use ‘code once, deploy everywhere’ models,

Whether operators choose to offer catch-up

management issues. Television’s future will be

reducing the testing phase and ensuring a

TV, Video on Demand (VoD) or streaming to

made up of a mix of traditional broadcast TV and

seamless experience on all devices. Standards

complement the main TV service, they need to

IP-delivered content. Increasingly, content owners

also facilitate interoperability and enable easier

address this fragmentation issue as each service

demand that all networks have to be secure,

sharing between multiple devices around the

brings added complexity.

even those used to share content within the home

home and beyond. This ability to have all devices

or to access personal content stored on the home

work in harmony with the main TV screen holds

devices and applications, operators need

PVR or a cloud server. As Wi-Fi, mobile over-the-air

the key to increasing loyalty and reducing churn.

a solution that can adapt to all devices

and TV networks all require speciﬁc encryption

and support a wide range of browsers,

algorithms, technology solutions have to offer

supporting HTML5 and responsive design

operating systems, screen sizes and security

support for popular Conditional Access (CA)

functionality can solve the UI/UX issue. This

speciﬁcations. The service also has to handle

and Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems,

combination provides operators with an efﬁcient

different interaction methods, such as

adding to the technical complexity.

platform on which to design a UX that can

To deploy a seamless service across multiple

Using a single standards-based browser

dynamically adjust to any screen without manual interaction. The new DLNA CVP-2 guidelines are another essential standard in the quest for fully secure and interoperable in-home content distribution. They allow device discovery and remote user interfaces (RUIs), easing consumer adoption and promoting the operator’s brand to unmanaged devices without the rigmarole of writing a new app for every screen. Standardisation will be vital in driving TV Everywhere, regardless of what form it takes. However, as the cloud becomes a more effective alternative to the home network, consumers are starting to raise concerns surrounding reliability, or quality of service (QoS). To stand out, operators must provide consumers with as much content as possible across a multitude of devices. Although cloud TV seems to be the best option for next generation TV services, operators must address issues including device fragmentation, content security and consistent user experience before the cloud is ready for prime time.

Resolution Independence The power to work in HD and 4K from camera to post. AJA futureproofs your workflow to grow, as you do. Work at HD resolution and switch instantly to 4K at any time, using the same hardware. CIONTM

Science of the Beautiful

CION is the new 4K/UHD and 2K/HD production camera from AJA. Unite production and post by shooting directly to edit-ready Apple ProRes 4444 at up to 4K 30fps, ProRes 422 at up to 4K 60fps, or output AJA Raw at up to 4K 120fps.

www.aja.com

Io 4K

Hi5-4K

Professional 4K and HD I/O

3G-SDI to HDMI Mini-Converter

Io 4K offers a full set of professional video and audio connectivity with support for 4K/UHD devices and High Frame Rate workflows up to 50p/60p, all powered by ThunderboltTM 2.

Monitor your professional 4K workflow on affordable UHD displays. Supporting High p to 60fps, Hi5-4K is a single, Frame Rates up portable device ce that converts MI 4K-SDI to HDMI ull for low-cost, full resolution 4K monitoring e on set or in the studio.

10 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015 Mike Blackman

Interview

Broadcast in ISE’s sights Now marking its 12th edition, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) continues to evolve beyond its professional AV visitor and attendee base. David Davies spoke to ISE managing director Mike Blackman about the show’s growing appeal to different technology communities, including broadcast aunched in 2004, the annual ISE trade

What are the main differences that attendees will

This makes ISE a natural ﬁt for those visitors who

show has gradually evolved to become a

observe between the 2014 and 2015 events?

are seeking, for example, total studio solutions.

‘must-visit’ event for the professional AV and

They will notice the continuing evolution of the

An increasing number of smaller companies

systems integration communities. Its growth in the

on-ﬂoor theatres that we started in 2014. The aim

in this space are offering streaming solutions,

last few years has been phenomenal, with more

with these is to give some real enhanced content

and as narrowcasting becomes more relevant,

than 51,000 attending the show in 2014: a 15 per

to the exhibition. I like to use the analogy of the

it becomes more appropriate for companies

cent increase on the previous year alone.

exhibition resembling a magazine. You might say

offering those technologies to come to us.

Steering the development of the show

that the exhibits are like the advertising, and we

throughout its history has been Integrated Systems

as the organiser need to deliver the editorial.

From 2016, the show will run for four days

Events managing director, Mike Blackman.

So, the objective with the on-ﬂoor theatres is to

rather than the current three. What do you

On the eve of the 2015 event, he spoke to

deliver even more content free of charge.

think will be the impact of this change?

TVBEurope about the evolving visitor base and why ISE is becoming increasingly attractive to broadcast manufacturers and customers. In terms of the attendee mix, what has been the greatest single change witnessed in recent times? When we started ISE, most attendees were channel-oriented. Now, increasingly, we get

There has been a lot of pressure over time to

“An increasing number of smaller (broadcast) companies are offering streaming solutions, and as narrowcasting becomes more and more relevant, it becomes more appropriate for companies that offer those technologies to come to us”

more and more end-customers coming to the

we did not require it. But the fact is that the show has grown dramatically during recent years; for example, on the ﬁnal day last year, we had more people than attended the entire show in 2008. There were really only two options for dealing with the growth of ISE. One was for companies to take larger booths in order to deal with the demand, but although that might be OK for the larger ﬁrms, a lot

show, particularly from the commercial sector. The result is that we work very closely with

extend the show, and for a long time we felt that

of the middle-sized companies were already maxed Last year we had two of these spaces, but for 2015

out in terms of personnel; so taking more space

integrators and manufacturers to actually

we have three: Commercial Solutions, Residential

would not have helped them. Not that adding

speak to their customers or potential

Solutions, and Uniﬁed Communications.

more space would necessarily have been an option

customers, and encourage them to attend

anyway; we are in a sell-out position this year.

the show. One way in which we do this is to

Why do you think we are now seeing increased

Adding an extra day started to look like

operate several hosted buyer programmes

representation from broadcast manufacturers?

an option when the operators of the RAI did

to highlight customers who may not be able

I think it’s really a natural evolution of the show

some juggling around with the schedules. We

to afford to attend the show, and then

in terms of more exhibiting companies offering

approached exhibitors about the possibility and it

sponsor them to come.

complete solutions involving audio and video.

was clear that most of them wanted it.

12 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Workﬂow

Compact kit

capabilities of an OB, but have neither the money nor the space,” explains Trevor Hotz, chief executive ofﬁcer and co-founder of HotCam. Dan Studley, HotCam’s technical director, adds, “We have spent a long time custom designing equipment to streamline the rigging and operation of our ﬂyaways. This design goes

Flyaway kits have usually been reserved for difﬁcult-to-access locations. But, as Philip Stevens discovers, the cost factor is now making such packages even more attractive

from custom racking, that allows compact packing and quick set-up times, to hardware that offers switching and precision control for our vision control.”

raditionally, mounting an outside broadcast

Studley says that IP technology is becoming

involved one truck or more turning up at a location and forming the centre of the

production of a sporting or other event. And while that still happens in most instances, the use of portable kit – often packed in ﬂight cases – is increasing. Not only does this make running an OB in and from a restricted space a practical proposition, it also can meet the budget constraints imposed by today’s broadcasters. “Our Mobile Broadcast System, ‘MBS’ for

more and more essential in the OB world. “This

“The vast improvement in internet connectivity has meant that we can create live OBs for web-streaming that have the same quality as television for a much smaller budget” Nick Badham, Procam

technology is making cable distances an issue of the past as the desire to run systems further and further away from locations grows. Running systems on an IP infrastructure allows it to grow and change very quickly and easily without redesign or affecting other systems.”

Emulating bigger players Another company that has built Portable

short, is HotCam’s solution to those demanding

Production Units (PPUs) is UK-based Procam.

multi-camera shoots where you need the

“We’re experiencing a healthy demand in

TVBEurope 13

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Swiss production company Hit the Roof deployed an eight camera set-up, with a Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio Pro, recording in ProRes to capture the footage from the world archery championships

Workﬂow

the UK OB market,” states Nick Badham, head

combining their regular productions with live

of project management. “This buoyancy

web-streams, enabling them to offer more

has been driven by a desire to emulate OBs

exclusive content to their viewers.”

produced by bigger channels like the BBC and Channel 4 on productions with much smaller

Versatile combinations

budgets. To achieve this in a cost effective

London-based Trickbox TV also designs and

way, we’ve built lightweight PPU ﬂyaway

builds PPUs which are essentially OB trucks

monitoring units using PSE-based equipment,

condensed into a ﬂight case or cases. “We

copperhead ﬁbres and Sony F800 camcorders

usually design bespoke ﬂyaways for clients and

that give the same vision control, audio and

would specify appropriate equipment on a

communication facilities that you would see on

project/job basis,” states managing director,

a big-budget OB.”

Liam Laminman. “The key feature is that we can

Badham says that the company is increasingly

provide broadcast facilities at any location and

getting requests for live web casting, especially

supply exactly what the client wants, rather than

from big corporate brands. “The vast

paying for a full truck of kit that isn’t required.”

improvement in internet connectivity has meant

In his view, the most popular equipment for

that we can create live OBs for web-streaming

ﬂyaways are Panasonic Vision mixers, Blackmagic

that have the same quality as television for a

Design routers and Yamaha Audio mixers. “More

much smaller budget.”

and more, we’re seeing multi-use equipment

A recent success saw Procam live-stream a product launch across a company’s internal channels, incorporating phones-ins and

coming to the market. Vision and sound mixers are essentially also matrices and routers these days.” Like others, Laminman sees the role of IP

interactivity. “Over the next few years, we

as increasingly important. “IP offers many

expect to see well-known television programmes

advantages over traditional broadcast

14 TVBEurope

Workﬂow

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Vodafone’s launch of 4G in London’s Trafalgar Square was recorded by Wilkie TV using its ﬂyaway kit

kits. This includes the Blackmagic Design Smart Videohub router, HyperDeck Studio Pro for capture and Blackmagic SmartView for high quality monitoring in the ﬁeld. “As well as being very compact and affordable, the amount of features and ease of use of products has meant that we can reduce the manpower required to support these tours, whilst maintaining a very credible and solid broadcast quality product,” states Roger. Hit the Roof deployed an eight camera set-up shooting in HD, with a Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio Pro, recording in ProRes to capture archery footage. “The HyperDeck really functions as the backbone of the kit, as the dual SSD slots mean we can record continuously, which is critical for a sport such as archery, where there are lots of competitors shooting in quick succession.” Stuart Ashton, director, Blackmagic Design EMEA, adds, “Our hardware is competitively priced, feature rich and offers support for SD, HD and UltraHD formats, while also being compact enough for use in ﬂyaway kits or racks rooms. The ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K, for example, which is 1 rack unit in height, allows customers to work and master to Ultra HD when used with our HyperDeck Studio Pro and SmartView 4K preview monitors.”

Connectivity considerations Flyaways are not, however, conﬁned to ‘small’ technologies because of lower cost, ﬂexibility

ﬁbre. The more interfaces, options and features

events. Even at high-proﬁle sports and using

and, ultimately, more accessibility. Sony is leading

packed into every unit of space, allows us to

portable cabins, the concept offers distinct

in this ﬁeld and demonstrated an end-to-end 4K

develop even more advanced ﬂy-away kits in a

advantages. Mike Ransome, MD of Presteigne

IP workﬂow at IBC this year.”

smaller and smaller footprint.”

Broadcast Hire, says the idea of its Pods is to

Harper believes that one important development

reduce rig time and offer a lightweight solution.

New markets

has been disk-less recording. “There is no longer a

“Fibre connectivity is an obvious technology

According to Claire Wilkie, managing director

need for a rack of VTRs to capture each camera or

that can help achieve this. For Formula One we

of Wilkie TV, ﬂyaway kits represent a new

play out VTs. This can now all be achieved by a few

deployed a Riedel Mediornet solution which allows

generation of outside broadcasting that’s only

computers running multiple-channel capture cards.”

us to not only transport a large number of signals on ﬁbre, but also to re-route them, convert them and

really cropped up in the last few years. “It opens up an entirely new market for those who could

Shooting on target

not justify a traditional OB – whether due to cost,

Hit The Roof, a Swiss video production

space or time, but who still want a broadcast-

consultancy, has worked alongside the World

technology is beginning to offer solutions

quality multi-camera product. It allows more

Archery Federation for six years. From the outset,

for ﬂyaways.

content to be captured from more events, for

the aim was to produce content that would make

much better value. For instance, sports channels

a great TV event. “We know that not every sport

advantages of remote production, whereby the

could deploy ﬂy-away solutions to the lower/

has the budget of Formula One, so we work with

amount of people and equipment on location

smaller sports leagues to gather additional

sporting bodies to build reliable ﬂyaway kits for

is reduced and replaced by a control room at

content on top of their traditional OB for the

live production that stand up to gruelling touring

a broadcast centre that can switch to control a

major games.”

schedules and produce high quality, engaging

different venue and a different sport. We have

footage,” explains director Cédric Roger.

deployed such systems for Canadian broadcasters

Wilkie’s technical manager, Ben Harper, adds

embed and de-embed various audio signals.” Ransome agrees that IP encoding and

“Gradually, broadcasters are considering the

in the past using ﬁbre connectivity, but IP

“The equipment that ﬁts best into OB ﬂy-away kits

While each ﬂyaway kit is tailored for the

tends to be the miniature, feature-ﬁlled products.

particular sport, Blackmagic Design’s routers,

technology could enable this practice to become

There just isn’t space in the rack for a 1U piece

monitoring and capture solutions play a central

more cost effective and provide more facilities

of kit to simply convert a single channel of SDI to

role in the production workﬂow for all of the

without increasing the required bandwidth.”

The Official Newspaper

THEBVEDAILY BROADCAST & PRODUCTION: FROM CREATION TO CONSUMPTION

• 3,000 copies per day • Digital edition

THEBVEDAILY BROADCAST & PRODUCTION: FROM CREATION TO CONSUMPTION

• Guaranteed editorial coverage for all advertisers

WWW.BVEXPO.COM

Building the TV Anywhere ecosystem The company is also highlighting

acquisition of Red Bee Media, as

According to Ericsson, IBC2014 is

Bee Media.

quality and efficiency of video

the first time the industry sees the increased scope and capabilities

At its booth, Ericsson is demonstrating how it is at the

delivery through its capability to make every network video-centric

how the Mediaroom integration is allowing it to build what it says are

well as see a presentation of its Media Vision 2020. Described as

of Ericsson’s media business as the company builds on its TV and

centre of the convergence of media and telecoms, which is driving

and enable TV service providers, broadcasters and content

new and innovative technologies, which are redefining the TV

an illustration of the future of TV over the next six years, it outlines

broadcast offering with the addition of recently acquired Azuki Systems,

fundamental industry change. Ericsson says that it will show

owners to leverage and deploy inherently flexible and intelligent

viewing experience. Visitors to Ericsson’s stand

the necessary strategies required to achieve success in the

Microsoft Mediaroom and Red

how it is ensuring the highest

unified platforms.

can learn about the company’s

networked society.

Beach head: Ericsson technologies are ‘redeﬁning the TV viewing experience’

Gilbert: “It is so simple to use”

(90,000 circulation)

24th February 2015

The Official Newspaper

EXA MP LE

New for BVE exhibitors and visitors in 2015, TVBEurope and TVTechnology are delighted to announce the launch of the ofﬁcial BVE Daily and dedicated email newsletter.

Buzz arou around social media Buzz is a new software ac accessory

Buzz is designed to make it

playout devices for Pixel Power’s playo design to allow users to scan, designed

easy to select tweets and other

moderate and broadcast social media inte interactions. “To be b able to take what your

comments by using an integration approach and a simple user

of the Big Brother house for

Big Brother After Dark. Added Gilbert: “(Users) can define a graphics template to

interface. Multiple social media feeds are consolidated, and

match the look of their show, and quickly and simply pick

aud audience is saying about you and put it on screen quickly and safely

users can accept, format and publish messages.

the right messages out of the incoming feeds. Most important,

is a huge advantage. Buzz puts this at anyone’s fingertips,” said Pixel

Ahead of its IBC launch, Buzz was already being used by TV

it is so simple to use that it will be hard to put the wrong

Power CEO, James Gilbert.

Guide Network during live coverage

content to air.”

(opinion piece) • Ten sends of BVE Daily newsletter

For further information, contact: UK Sales Ben Ewles Sales Manager +44 (0) 207 354 6000 bewles@nbmedia.com

Richard Carr Sales Executive +44 (0) 207 354 6000 rcarr@nbmedia.com

US Sales Michael J Mitchell +1 (631) 673 0072 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv WWW.BVEXPO.COM

The Global Broadcast, AV and Pro Audio Resource Library

The free and easy way to stay informed Why join NewBay Connect? Stay informed with the latest industry white papers, analysis, web seminars and case studies that affect your business and your career. • Content created by industry leaders and technical specialists • Free and immediate access, sign up and instantly download • Save for reference and presentations • Increase your knowledge base and productivity • Weekly Connect newsletters tailored to your interest • Access online anywhere and on any platform • Range and depth of content continually expanded by the NewBay Connect editorial team

Publisher: Steve Connolly sconnolly@nbmedia.com +44 (0)207 354 6000

Sales: Ben Ewles bewles@nbmedia.com +44 (0)207 354 6000

Campaign Manager: Warren Kelly wkelly@nbmedia.com +44 (0)207 354 6000

TVBEurope 17

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Workﬂow RTS kept the ruin of its former production facility as a memorial after its bombing during the Yugoslav Wars

RTS: A catalyst for change In November 2013, Avid announced its continued expansion into Eastern Europe, with Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), the country’s public broadcaster, signiﬁcantly adding to its investment in Avid’s broadcast solutions. Holly Ashford visited RTS in Belgrade to discover how history has shaped the broadcaster, and how the recent investment will help realise its future plans ormerly known as Belgrade Broadcasting

and taken part in a BBC World Service Trust

Corporation (RTB), the service comprised

training programme intended, according to

both Radio Belgrade and Television

the Corporation, “to realise the potential of RTS

Belgrade (TVB). Radio broadcasts began in 1929,

to act as a catalyst for democratic change

followed by the ﬁrst televised broadcast in 1958.

by developing its professional capacity and

By 1970, Serbia as a whole could receive the

strengthening its public service values.”

RTS signal and in 1991 all public broadcasters

During this time, RTS secured a prime position

began their merger into RTS. The Miloševic era

in the country, with its evening news programmes

of the 1990s saw the break-up of Yugoslavia

attracting an audience of 1.6 million. In the same

and the subsequent Yugoslav Wars. These were

decade, RTS also made its ﬁrst investment in

turbulent times for the broadcaster, and in 1992

Avid technology; an investment it added to in

Nenad Cukalovic, head of TV technology at RTS

November of last year.

a centralised and closely monitored media

of a plan to disrupt and degrade the state-

Cukalovic, explains, “The volume of media

network designed to be a propaganda tool

owned communications network. However,

assets we’re handling has increased fourfold

for Miloševic. In April 1999, NATO intentionally

in the subsequent years the broadcaster has

over the past 12 months, accelerating the need

bombed the central studio of RTS, as part

rebuilt its reputation, improved its programming

for us to streamline our operational efﬁciencies

Belgrade Broadcasting Corporation became part of Serbian Broadcasting Corporation,

RTS’s head of TV technology, Nenad

18 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Workﬂow “We succeeded in getting a ﬂexible system

One of the TV studios producing RTS news formats

so we can keep our workflow as it is,” said Cukalovic. “The system we’ve got is flexible enough to keep our good habits and to manage and improve and change our bad habits.” Avid was keen to finish the project by the new year, which involved completing the installation in parallel with training RTS staff. However, Cukalovic says “the installation went smoothly, we had almost no issues. For the user preparation we had all training conducted and completed on time. Then we had internal repetition of all training for a huge number of users for the next three months.” There are further plans for enhancing workflows at the broadcaster, thanks to the Avid investment: RTS has 23 regional sites across Serbia, which frequently send stories to the Belgrade HQ. “At the moment we are in talks to network those regional sites and for that we will have great possibilities, thanks to Avid technology.”

and rethink how we handle, store and access

Avid iNews at work at RTS control room

our media content.” Cukalovic has worked at RTS since 1997, so has extensive experience and a deep understanding of the workﬂow and processes at the broadcaster. Starting out as an

“The system we’ve got is ﬂexible enough to keep our good habits and to manage and improve and change our bad habits” Nenad Cukalovic, RTS

engineer in the maintenance team, Cukalovic later became head of the department. He then worked as the leading engineer for ITbased production systems, head of system

High def and beyond

engineering and ﬁnally assumed his current

Things have come a long way since RTS’s

position, as executive director of TV technology.

turbulent past, but Cukalovic admits there is

During this time he led the implementation of

still room for improvement. “We are in a period

the NRCS and digital news production systems

of transition from standard def to high def and

at RTS. The broadcaster’s original Grass Valley

beyond,” he says. The broadcaster launched an

systems were replaced over ten years ago with

HD channel in 2009, though Cukalovic admits

Avid infrastructure which included the iNews

there is currently “no separated production for

newsroom computer system, and Interplay PAM ISIS 5000 post production system. “iNews was integrated with the previous Digital

HD”, and since launch “unfortunately there has same way as always, just with new tools,” said Cukalovic. The new Avid workﬂow was designed

not been so much progress since then.” Serbia’s digital switchover is scheduled for this

News Production system from Grass Valley,”

to help RTS handle increased amounts of media

year, in a project that will cost an estimated

Cukalovic explains, and although the post system

and efﬁciently capture and manage content,

€30.7 million, according to a UK Trade and

“is not directly connected to the new system, we

streamlining collaboration across regional sites

Investment statement. Cukalovic comments:

got a lot of experience from using it.” This was

and speed up delivery of content to its TV,

“I hope that the switchover to digital terrestrial

utilised for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008

radio and internet outlets. The investment

transmission will push us to make further steps in

and for the University Games in Belgrade in 2009.

comprised an Avid Interplay Production asset

developing the HD market in Serbia.”

management system, Avid Interplay Central

Among the buildings at RTS’s Belgrade facility

Keeping the good, changing the bad

for remote working, Avid AirSpeed 5000 ingest

is the now-skeletal structure targeted by NATO,

servers, and an Avid Pro Tools HDX mixing and

unchanged since the bombing over a decade ago.

Before the installation, RTS conducted internal

editing system. The new solutions allowed

This remains a ﬁrm reminder of the country’s past, yet

research into “how news people do their job,

RTS to improve its workﬂow, but not make

also presents a stark contrast to Cukalovic’s forward

and about what the tech could do for us,

changes so dramatic as to interrupt already

thinking and the possibilities and developments at

to do the same job. We wanted to work the

solid working practices.

the broadcaster in the future.

20 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Workﬂow

Personalising the news News outlets abound in many areas of the world. Philip Stevens talks to the managing director of one of the latest offerings: Reuters TV hen Paul Julius Reuter developed a

prototype information service in 1849 using carrier pigeons and telegraph

technology, he probably had little idea of the transformations which would take place within the newsgathering industry over the next century and a half. The agency which bears his name was formed in 1851, and today just about every major news outlet in the world subscribes to the Reuters service. Its position is due to its willingness to embrace new techniques and innovative technology in order to gather and distribute news on a global scale. And in keeping with that policy, midJanuary saw the simultaneous launch of Reuters TV in the United Kingdom and the

Isaac Showman: “As an industry, we also recognise the need to respond to shifts in consumption”

United States. So, what makes Reuters TV different from the plethora of other news distribution

levels. To achieve the best for all parties, the

channels?

company has been in conversations with media

The personal touch

agencies and their clients.

“No other service in the world offers a curated, personalised

Breaking with tradition

news show of the length a viewer

Showman believes that there has been an

wants that is simultaneously on-

incredible pace of change within television as a

demand and up-to-date,” reveals

whole, but which hasn’t manifested itself fully within

managing director, Isaac Showman. “We do not operate a traditional television channel, and that means we are not obliged to

the news sector. “TV news has historically been

Reuters TV will create exclusive and personalised news content for delivery to connected devices

follow a legacy network or pay-TV distributor. That

centred on the concepts of a mass linear bulletin and breaking news. As our lives have changed, this format has remained ﬁxed even though we’re

has enabled us to develop a platform speciﬁcally

To begin with, subscribers simply choose the items

less likely to be at home at 9pm and frequently

for the consumer.”

they wish to watch from the menu and over time

hear about breaking news via things like mobile

the system builds a proﬁle about their interests.

notiﬁcations and social networks. Reuters TV is our

provides subscribers (who pay a monthly fee via

Once that proﬁle is created, relevant news stories

response to these shifts in consumption. Within the

iTunes) with personalised news content that has

are offered via the connected devices. “We’ll be

service we’re offering an individually personalised

been created exclusively for the new Reuters TV

covering all categories of news, from politics to

news show that is of the length our viewers choose,

platform. “Our service doesn’t assemble original

pop culture!” states Showman. “We’re a global

as well as unintermediated live feeds of global

content into a package of standard length and a

news service, but viewers in the US and UK will get

news events as they happen.”

set composition,” explains Showman. “Rather, our

national news tailored to their region.”

The advertising-supported digital service

editors produce segments that will be assembled

Subscribers to Reuters TV enjoy, what

via an algorithm which allows each ‘broadcast’ to

Showman describes as, an “uncluttered”

be customised to a subscriber’s location, preferred

experience, with single commercials that play in

length and interests.”

between stories, and generally low advertising

With the new concept in mind, does Showman anticipate the demise of existing 24-hour news channels such as CNN, Sky News or Al Jazeera? “Not at all! Those channels, and others, are all doing remarkable work in the markets they serve

TVBEurope 21

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Workﬂow and are great partners of ours. However, I think it’s

Delivery of all content to the production centres

‘real journalism,’ meaning news content with

fair to say that, as an industry, we also recognise

will be via Internet Protocol (IP) technology.

an authentic voice and original reporting, has

“We use Amazon Cloud Front for data

created an environment in which consumers

the need to respond to shifts in consumption. Reuters TV is our response, and I hope it will

storage and distribution,” conﬁrms Showman.

are willing to pay for premium content that

encourage others to innovate as well. Doing

He concludes, “We believe the scarcity of

can be trusted.

this helps us keep the costs down for all these broadcasters who buy content from us.”

Target audience The new service is being aimed at a group of consumers that Reuters designate as the ‘Realists’. According to Showman, these are afﬂuent, educated and interested in global events and demographically represented in their 30s and 40s. “These are consumers who are connected, perhaps they were born before the internet, but today they live their lives via online devices, book taxis on Uber and reserve restaurants via OpenTable and we hope, watch news via Reuters TV.”

“We’re offering an individually personalised news show that is of the length our viewers choose, as well as unintermediated live feeds of global news events as they happen” Isaac Showman, Reuters He continues, “Although we’re not quite aiming Reuters TV at millennials I would disagree with the view that is held in some quarters that younger consumers aren’t interested in news. Formats may need to change, but just look at the remarkable work that BuzzFeed and Vice are doing with that segment!”

Global facilities Operationally, the main editorial teams are split between New York and London, with dedicated production facilities in those two locations, plus Washington and Hong Kong. Although there is a core editorial, production, technology, sales, marketing and product teams that are dedicated to Reuters TV, most of the reporting will come from the 2,000 plus journalists who work for the agency in over 200 global bureaux. “We are also utilising the dozens of studios that we operate around the world. They can be used for live feeds or studio discussion type programming.” Showman reveals that editing – utilising both Avid and Final Cut Pro – will generally be carried out at the production centres, although onlocation facilities can be used, if necessary.

22 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

in association with

Philip Stevens leads the discussion at TVBEurope’s executive roundtable

Evolution of the workﬂow Philip Stevens reports on an executive TVBEurope roundtable, in association with root6, which looked at the changing media value chain in a post production environment

ondon’s Soho Hotel was the venue for this executive roundtable event, held in early December, which sought to address

the evolution of the media value chain in post production, and how various entities are using current systems in a ﬁle-based environment. Alongside Rupert Watson and Graham McGuinness from root6 and Patrick Nelson and Mark Bainbridge from Avid were representatives from a diverse cross section of the post production sector. They were Paul Clennell, CTO of dock10; Rhys Llewellyn from NBC; Damien Frost of All3Media; David Klafkowski and Adam Peat from The Farm; Taig McNab, from 3sixtymedia; Alistair Jessop, of Vubiquity; Duncan Weston of Splice TV;

Roundtable participants (left to right): Adam Peat, David Klafkowski, Richard Moss, Graham McGuinness, Rupert Watson. Foreground: Rhys Llewellyn better used in order to create opportunities for

Taig McNab “The main points from today looked at the training required for edit staff and freelancers along with the backend media management support side of things, and also how a facility is able to make the leap from investing a signiﬁcant amount of money on this infrastructure and getting a return on that investment.”

easy archiving, re-using and retrieval. In turn, this has led to increased chances for monetisation of the assets. And these opportunities, Watson pointed out, could be both within and without (for example, YouTube, Netﬂix, Amazon, Twitter feeds and so on) the traditional broadcast medium by utilising both production asset and media asset management systems. In short, the idea was to maximise the potential of each asset.

Overcoming barriers to change Rhys Llewellyn mentioned that as of about 12 months ago, NBC Universal had been acquiring and delivering all content on tape, and his challenge was to migrate 36 channels from that traditional set

Richard Moss from Gorilla; and Dominic Bassett been replaced with a much more integrated

up to a digital environment. As is often the case,

approach through platforms such as Avid

there was some resistance to change, but once the

explained how post production workﬂows have

Everywhere. The transition from ﬁlm and tape to

advantages of ﬁle-based working were discovered

traditionally progressed, but which have now

ﬁle-based systems has allowed material to be

(for instance, the ease of locating content)

from Ravensbourne. Rupert Watson opened with a presentation that

TVBEurope 23

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

in association with

personnel readily accepted the new working

Dominic Bassett

practices. In fact, this ready location of content was a recurring theme of the afternoon. David Klafkowski observed that there are changes to skillsets in order to make the system work. Library

“Our priority is to bring our toolset into a more reasonable position so that our students can more actively join companies in this sector with less friction. Conversations like we’re having today have to massively inﬂuence and direct where we are coming from, and I don’t think that has been the case historically. We’re looking to turn the corner on that.”

duties may have become easier, but now media management operations have increased. It was also found that, in some cases, library operations had evolved into media management procedures. In other instances, with MCR operations becoming less complex, staff members in that area have been

was a question that remained unanswered. It

Interplay world because it is recognised that

redeployed into different activities.

seemed to depend both on the client and the

students needed increased familiarity with the

type of production involved.

technology. That, he said, would make them more

Improved efﬁciency

attractive potential employees of the companies

Richard Moss from Gorilla said that with all the

Training talk

sitting around the table at this event. When

advances in workﬂows that have been made

There was a lively discussion about how to educate

questioned about the role of teaching creativity

possible, the goal is now to increase productivity

those not involved directly with post production

over the technology of post production, Bassett

and efﬁciency. He felt that if working time can be

about the merits of systems such as Avid

conﬁrmed that it was essential that students leaving

reduced on a production then, obviously, there is a

Everywhere. Instruction is clearly needed about the

teaching facilities should be of immediate beneﬁt

cost saving. If the production team can go into the

wide-reaching activities for such a ﬁle-based

to employers, and therefore needed a good

edit with all the management functions in place, then

structure. It was agreed that it was down to each

grounding in the technology. Teaching creativity,

it stands the facility in good stead when it comes to

facility house or broadcaster to tailor such training

he emphasised, was very difﬁcult.

bidding for follow-on programmes or a next series.

to the speciﬁc needs of the production in question.

One person who had implemented a successful

Bassett from Ravensbourne revealed that the

training programme was Paul Clennell from dock10.

But whether these solutions are production or post production tools from a cost perspective

training facility was looking at moving into the

He explained that his company’s recently acquired

EDITORIAL PLANNER 2015 2015 will see TVBEurope attend and cover more of the key events on the broadcast media industry calendar. Following the successful redesign of TVBEurope, we have developed a more comprehensive list of features for each issue over the coming year, and will be launching a dedicated section covering the latest developments in OTT, multiscreen, and TV Everywhere: TVBEverywhere. Our Opinion and Analysis and Features sections will deliver the big stories every month; Workflow will continue our bedrock coverage of UHD, 4K, IT/ IP infrastructures, and pre and post production insights; and our Business section will provide a regualr analysis of the marketplace, and all of the key M&A activity. Our Audio for Broadcast coverage will now be present in every issue and major sports/live broadcast events will be reported on throughout the year. For all advertising and sponsorship opportunities, contact the sales team: Europe Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, bewles@nbmedia.com, or Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, rcarr@nbmedia.com, USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072, mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv

Issue Date

March

April

Exhibitions/ Events Coverage

Feature

Audio for Broadcast

• CABSAT focus • NAB Preview

• System integrators forum • NAB product preview

• Loudness control

• BVE 2015 • NAB 2015 show issue

• Beyond HD: 4K and UHD challenges • Virtual sets forum

• UHD audio

• NAB review

Sports/Live broadcast

• TVBE conference review

• Satellite TV focus • Audio for broadcast special • Sound mixers forum

• Sound mixers forum

• 2015 UK election

May

• Angacom focus • TV Connect insights

• OTT multiscreen • Acquisition focus: lighting for TV

• Audio & outside broadcast

• Summer of sport OB focus

June

• Mics/ monitors/ consoles

• Wimbledon 2015

• Channel in a box forum • Broadcast 2020: visions of the future

July • IBC preview

• Broadcast graphics forum • IBC product preview

• IBC show issue

• Quality control forum • IBC show issue: product showcase

August

September

• Audio for broadcast special • IP technology forum

October November December

• TVBAwards

• Acquisition focus: all encompassing • Transcoding forum • Media Asset Management forum • Archiving and storage roundtable

• Broadcast audio feature • Rugby World Cup 2015

24 TVBEurope

in association with

MAM interface is being reconfigured to enable it to become a dock10 portal. He revealed one interesting non-broadcast application being employed by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). On match days there are referees in the dock10 facility watching the incoming football match feeds and scrutinising decisions made by the officials. He reports that with very little training they are able to clip-up the appropriate sections and distribute them to officials

Richard Moss “I was very encouraged by the fact we could have an open conversation, without any preconceptions, from which we could get an honest point of view. It was extremely useful from a technology perspective, but it was also good to get other people’s viewpoints, workﬂows and priorities: from the broadcasters to the post houses to the large production companies on the distribution side. It’s great to have those people around the table.”

around the country for comment.

Remote applications

comments can then be returned to the edit suite

The immediacy of evolved workﬂow systems,

for any required action. In order to make this

which allow for close collaboration between

operation as easy as possible, a certain amount

writers, producers and others in various parts of

of customisation was required of the interface –

the world, was considered of key importance by

in this case, Interplay – but this didn’t prove

all members of the discussion, as was the ability to

to be a problem.

shoot in the ﬁeld in remote locations and then

Another exercise discussed centred on a

upload material to the system back at base.

decision of the ﬁnancial ofﬁcer of a production

Moving across to the question of storage and

company to reduce ﬂoor space at the facility.

retrieval, it was agreed that the ability to have a

This was achieved by allowing promo producers

central ‘box’ where metadata could be created

to work from home, yet still access the system in

or consumed is a distinct advantage. No matter whether a user is logging in from an iPad or

A lighter moment during the day of discussion, left to right: Taig McNab, Paul Clennell, Dominic Bassett

another device, the facility provided by

order to generate rough cuts, write scripts and produce guide voice-overs before going along to the facility. The model has proved very

platforms to search for a speciﬁc piece of

City, Salford, to programme executives in ofﬁces

successful, due to the amount of power that is

content was considered a major plus point.

in Leeds. Here, the executive can watch the

available through the extremely stable system.

In one case study, it was revealed that ITV

programme that has been sent to his laptop and

installed a system to enable better delivery of

then make notes that become part of the

All in one

ﬁnished programmes from edit suites in Media

metadata ﬁle. The reviewed copy with

As far as future developments are concerned, it was suggested that interfaces would need to

Paul Clennell

cope with the increased use of cloud-based editing. Once that was achieved, it was suggested, by at least one participant, that they would see little that would touch systems such as

“It’s interesting to hear how everyone is meeting the challenges that their increasingly savvy clients are demanding of the technology and the functionality. We were able to explore how people are delivering those and how we can come up with creative solutions to meet those challenges as the technology moves on so rapidly.”

Interplay for the control and manipulation of media for the foreseeable future. These systems were seen as close to a one-stop-shop as could be achieved, and a fundamental step in the continued evolution of the workﬂow.

26 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Feature

Canal Plus vies for the cloud Canal Plus is leading the way on the adoption of cloudbased technology in France. As it celebrates its thirtieth birthday, the broadcasting group is more than ever ahead of the game. Catherine Wright reports

Ralph Atlan: “Security is one of the aspects we are currently looking at very closely with a different number of providers”

Emmy award for his part

“As part of our thirtieth birthday celebrations, we

as an English detective

broadcast a new episode of one of our most

working hand in hand with a

popular series, the shortcom Bref, which is no

humourless but pretty French

longer on air but which has a huge fan base on

colleague, a part played by

the internet. We asked our audience to interact

gaul actress Clémence Poesy.

with the content, to select their own characters

The group is busy

and create their own versions on the internet,

celebrating its thirtieth

by pasting together bits of their own favourite

birthday, aware that some

episodes that we made available on a huge

momentous challenges lie

online archive. We then merged parts of the new

ahead. While one of the

episode with the content produced by the fans.

main ones is most certainly

That generated a huge amount of video material

competing with a bunch

that we had to store, stream and integrate. We

of new OTT casters, such

found that Microsoft Azure’s solution was the

as Netﬂix or Amazon, on

right one to use in that particular context and we

its home patch, just as

were pretty satisﬁed with the result. The package

ver since Canal Plus launched its pay-TV

crucial is the move from a traditional broadcast

service in 1984, the broadcaster has been

environment to a completely different IT-led

airing compelling and edgy content, a far

culture. As Canal Plus’ broadcast chief technical

“One of the main advantages of cloud solutions is that they can handle a much bigger volume of data and that they are easily scalable” Ralph Atlan, Canal Plus

cry from the standard fare viewers had come

ofﬁcer Ralph Atlan explains: “Around three years

to expect from the more established terrestrial

ago, we took the strategic decision to shift from

networks. It nurtured a whole generation of

a hardware-based broadcasting system to a

talented newcomers who have since become

software dominated environment. Not only

established ﬁlm directors and actors. Its ﬂagship

because it made sense for budgetary reasons

programme, Les Guignols, a sort of French Spitting

but also, and mainly, because we are now a

Image, is still on air today and remains a terriﬁc

big media group and switching from one to the

crowd pleaser without losing any of its razor sharp

other enables us to gain a huge amount of time.

wit. Over the years, the satcaster has morphed

One of the main advantages of cloud solutions is

managed to absorb a huge peak in trafﬁc

into a giant broadcasting entity by gaul standards

that they can handle a much bigger volume of

and usage, we found it really delivered what

and a serious player on the international stage. In

data and that they are easily scalable.” A new

we wanted on that level,” Atlan describes. He

addition to a wide number of pay-TV channels, it

generation of technological engineer, with strong

admits that data protection is a key requirement

owns a couple of free digital terrestrial channels

IT and software skills has been recruited to deal

because so much of it is conﬁdential, starting

(D8 and D17), and numerous subsidiaries in Europe,

with this major cultural and technical shift.

with subscriber information but especially new programmes that have not been aired yet and

including, on the production and theatrical side, StudioCanal UK. To this day, Canal Plus is virtually

Data protection

the only gaul broadcaster able to sell its drama

Canal Plus ﬁrst started using cloud technology

series to UK television channels: Channel 4 has

where it made sense, for instance when it

dealing with programmes that have already

any form of exclusive content. “We will tend to opt for cloud solutions when

aired The Returned (Les Revenants) to much

unexpectedly needed to store a big volume

been broadcast and which are well-known by the

critical acclaim and audience satisfaction and

of data. And for the time being, solutions have

public. They are of a much less sensitive nature

Sky Atlantic has co-produced and aired The

been put in place where data security is not

than new exclusive content that our subscribers

Tunnel, with Stephen Dillane, who just won an

so much of an issue.

have not seen yet, for instance. Security is one

TVBEurope 27

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature Canal Plus series The Returned was broadcast on Channel 4 to much critical acclaim

there, and paying a huge bill for it all in the end. Another problem is to keep track of what you have on the cloud, because you don’t always know where things are in that type of environment. Some solutions are better at doing that than others.”

Leading the way Unsurprisingly, if you consider its inventive and innovative outlook when it comes to programming, Canal Plus seems to be leading the way on the adoption of cloud technology in France. The other main broadcasters appear more cautious and will hardly admit to using it at all. When contacted by

TVBEurope, France’s largest broadcasting entity, TF1’s only one comment was: “We have started using cloud solutions but in a very limited way.”

of the aspects we are currently looking at very

pay for the number of minutes of

closely with a different number of providers.”

video you need to convert and

Another cloud solution Canal Plus has opted for

also for the resolution you want to

is Amazon’s Elastic Transcoder software package.

achieve. As Amazon puts it: “You

“It is very useful when you need to convert a big

pay based on the length of the

volume of data into a wide number of formats.

output, in minutes, of the media

Say as an example that you would want to air an

you are transcoding. For example,

Bref is no longer on air but has a huge fan base on the internet

episode of Friends on a channel, for instance D8,

if your video’s transcoded output

but the programme is not in the right format: as it

is 30 minutes in duration, you will

is something that happens occasionally but not

pay for 30 minutes of transcoding.

on a too regular basis, you don’t want to use your

Similarly, if you create a 20-minute video clip from

According to Aframe’s CEO, David Peto,

hardware servers for that as they are already used

a 30-minute input ﬁle, you will pay for 20 minutes

contrary to other broadcasters across Europe,

for other crucial jobs. And you certainly don’t

of transcoding. With Amazon Elastic Transcoder,

French outﬁts have shown little interest in his

want to acquire expensive new servers just for that

there are no minimum transcoding volumes,

company’s solutions. “Of course, it could be

sort of occasional use. That’s where the Amazon

monthly commitments, or long term contracts.”

that they are put off by the English language.

software comes in,” he explains.

Sounds great, but as Atlan points out, what seems

As we are a small company, we are not yet

like a cost effective system can fast become an

able to answer questions or queries in French.

Pay as you use

expensive headache, if the broadcaster is not

But according to my marketing people, if you

Like Microsoft’s cloud solution, Amazon’s Elastic

extremely organised. “You need to decide exactly

exclude our core markets that are North

Transcoder, which as a package goes hand in

what you want to store on the cloud, before you

America and the UK, only 3 per cent of all

hand with Amazon’s S3 storage solution and its

buy the system. If you haven’t done that work

trafﬁc comes from France. We have more

Cloudfront content delivery option, is sold on

before acquiring the software, you will ﬁnd yourself

enquiries from Italy, where the language barrier

a ‘pay as you use’ basis. In other words, you

sticking all sorts of things on it that don’t need to be

is the same as in France.”

28 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Feature

Why broadcasters should have their head in the cloud By Steve Plunkett, chief technology ofﬁcer at Red Bee Media

‘Cloud is ready for media processing; it just needs to be used correctly’

ne of the most signiﬁcant technology trends in recent years has been the emergence of ‘cloud computing’,

Can you drive it yourself?

a somewhat ambiguous term that typically

Renting a car is a very different proposition to

means renting computing resources or services

hiring a cab even though the basic needs they

from a third party.

serve are the same. In a cloud delivered service

The promise of the cloud is indeed very

you should typically have the option of driving

compelling. Rather than invest in your own

your needs directly from the platform, should you

small ﬁxed capacity technology estate with all

choose to do so. A good test is whether you can

the environmental and operational overhead

access and interact with a ﬂexible set of APIs and

that entails, simply buy what you need, when

self-serve. A well-deﬁned cloud service should be

you need it, from one of the large global cloud

highly programmable.

providers such as Microsoft or Amazon and piggyback on the multi-billion dollar investments they are making instead.

Does it provide signiﬁcant scaling capabilities? One of the reasons for going to a third party for a

structure and quality, transforming them in some

are doing just that: migrating their IT services

service or infrastructure is that they can provide

way and delivering them to a destination such as

or building new ‘cloud native’ application

better scaling than you could build yourself.

a publishing endpoint, storage location or other

environments on these public platforms. But what

This removes the traditional risks associated with

downstream entity.

about broadcasting? Aren’t we different, with

dimensioning a private ﬁxed capacity estate that

our real-time synchronous video feeds, huge ﬁles,

will almost always be either under-utilised (and

physical assets, such as tapes, disks or lines, and

highly deterministic processing needs and high

therefore wasteful) some of the time, or over-

involved signiﬁcant human effort in doing so.

value content? Yes and no.

utilised (and therefore unable to meet business

As the industry migrates from tapes to ﬁles, the

Before delving into the speciﬁcs of which

demands) during peak usage periods. Rapid up-

potential for much greater levels of machine

broadcast and media services make sense for

and down-scaling support should be considered

driven automation emerges. This is where the

the cloud, it is probably useful to clarify some

essential in a cloud service.

cloud becomes interesting.

A number of enterprises, large and small,

This process has traditionally been tied to

None of the above are useful indicators for

A ﬁle-based media services workﬂow will

different things to different people and because

the quality of such a service of course: price,

typically involve receiving large ﬁles from a

it is a term currently in vogue, it is being slapped

performance, utility, ﬂexibility and security are

variety of sources, often at unpredictable times

on to all sorts of services (new and old) with wild

key additional metrics to be considered, but they

and in uneven volumes. The operations to be

abandon. Here are some useful tests that can be

at least help qualify the use of the term ‘cloud’.

performed on those ﬁles also vary, from customer

terminology and deﬁnitions. The ‘cloud’ can mean

used to assess the ‘cloudiness’ of a service.

Going back to the original question then, what

to customer and ﬁle to ﬁle. This is a work pattern

role does the cloud play in broadcasting? Potentially,

that is particularly suited to a highly scalable,

Can you pay as you go?

a signiﬁcant one. The suitability of the cloud as an

highly ﬂexible, programmable infrastructure: all

One of the key commercial beneﬁts of cloud

operating environment depends upon the nature

characteristics of cloud-based environments.

delivered services is the ability to pay for the

of the broadcast service and its current technology

service based on usage and with little or no

options. Media services, a critical component of

large, they are of high value and they contain

upfront investment. If a service does not at

any broadcast operation, is a workload that is

professional video and audio encoded

least offer a basic pay as you use commercial

increasingly suited to deployment in the cloud.

and packaged in a variety of specialised

structure, then its cloud credentials are somewhat dubious.

Media services include the many tasks involved in receiving media assets, verifying their source,

So far, so good. But these ﬁles are not just

formats. They may also need to be processed at different levels of urgency: some require fast

TVBEurope 29

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature To try to answer this question, it’s necessary to frame it correctly (no pun intended). Broadcast publishing, aka playout, in this context includes all of the components that process the already prepared asset and deliver it to a transmission network for broadcast: adding graphics, logos, mixing audio tracks, inserting subtitles and closed captions, sequencing programme segments and so on. Traditionally, this is the domain of specialised hardware devices interconnected with baseband video over dedicated physical interfaces such as SDI. None of those characteristics lend themselves to the software-centric, virtualised, IP-connected world of the cloud. But there are signiﬁcant changes underway in this part of the broadcast chain. Standards bodies such as the IEEE and SMPTE have developed speciﬁcations that aim to address the needs of professional video transport over Ethernet and IP networks (IEEE 802.1 AVB and SMPTE 2022-6 respectively) and these are beginning to appear in products. The dedicated hardware devices that process video and audio in the playout chain are also evolving towards software implementations that, at least in theory, could run on standard hardware and so potentially run on the hypervisors that underpin the cloud. But just because we might be able to build broadcast publishing systems using virtually hosted applications, interconnected via IP networks, why would we want to? There are many reasons why this is a good idea and a full explanation turnaround while others require the lowest

range of specialised applications and services to

requires more space than this entry allows, so let’s just

available price. A media services cloud must

be integrated into the cloud.

focus on one: software-centric broadcast publishing

address all of these needs and more, as summarised here: Deterministic: media content may be

Variable pricing: media asset processing tasks will have different temporal, qualitative and commercial constraints. Simple universal service levels are

can take advantage of the cloud as a ﬂexible and cost effective operating environment. At least that’s the theory. And in theory, theory

destined for live transmission against a ﬁxed

not going to meet the varying demands of the

and practice are the same, but in practice

schedule. The media cloud must be able to

broadcast industry so the cloud provider should offer

they are not. A key requirement for linear

provide SLAs to ensure that some content

differentiated services with variable pricing.

broadcasting is deterministic behaviour, the

is processed within a very speciﬁc time

Finally, the effort required to integrate with and

certainty that a frame of video will be processed

window. Best effort performance may simply

operate a cloud-based media infrastructure must

in a very short and predictable timeframe along

not be acceptable.

be minimal. Provisioning, integrating and driving

with associated synchronised elements such

traditional media workﬂows has too often been

as the audio stream. The cloud, with its shared

commercial value and the media cloud must

a time consuming and expensive exercise. As we

resource model, emerged like the internet as a

adequately protect against unauthorised

embrace the cloud, we must ensure that we’re not

best effort service. High performance, yes; highly

access and distribution. This requires strong

simply swapping infrastructure providers but building

scalable, yes; highly ﬂexible, absolutely; but strictly

access controls, auditability and strong

modern, intuitive and ﬂexible cloud native application

deterministic, sometimes.

encryption and key management.

architectures and APIs to service our needs.

Secure: media assets are often of high

Professional video support: the functionality required to support broadcast video material

In summary, cloud is ready for media processing; it just needs to be used correctly.

is signiﬁcantly more sophisticated than that

In summary, the components of a broadcast publishing chain are evolving towards a model where they could be deployed in a cloud setting and the public cloud environments are also offering

required for web delivered video. The codecs

Linear publishing and the cloud

more deterministic performance than previously.

and containers are different, and more variable.

The next stage of the traditional broadcasting

Both seem to be on a path of convergence and

The tasks to be performed such as metadata

chain is publishing and more speciﬁcally linear

this is a good thing. The true broadcast cloud seems

validation, ﬂash pattern analysis, standards

publishing. This is where the transmission-ready

to be on the horizon, but its distance is not yet clear.

conversion, loudness measurement/correction,

asset is processed and delivered to the viewer.

Broadcasters, and those that serve them, need to

complex transcoding and so on require a wide

So is the cloud ready to help here?

have their heads in the cloud.

Japan, an image captured in the world’s ﬁrst 4K telecast from the International Space Station

Feature

4K in 2015

The programming stampede begins! Chris Forrester looks at how broadcasters are progressing with testing and producing 4K content, and analyses the 4K prospects for 2015

ot on the heels of January’s CES show

4K on the Sky agenda

in Las Vegas, it is now clear that the

Sky Deutschland is considered to be the most

production community is also getting

aggressive European broadcaster as far as UHD

“The consumer wants quality. We want people to be part of our events, and with the sports that we cover. Some of our events include sports that happen really fast, so the detail is important. 4K is like being there” Bernhard Hafenscher, Red Bull Media House

something of a 4K ‘fever’ as they look to tap into

is concerned. Sky Germany carried out another

strong demand from broadcasters. In truth, the

major 4K football test just before Christmas. Gary

‘broadcasting’ term is more accurately described

Davey, Sky Germany’s EVP of programming, happily

as ‘narrowcasting’ if it is just the likes of Netﬂix and

admits that the broadcaster will be “very active”

Amazon who are now serving this market.

in 4K. “We have not picked a launch date yet, but

TV, and for IMAX screens, so we have always been

we will deﬁnitely be in the 4K business because we

hungry for higher resolution. I am also old enough to

announcements made, not least by the likes of

see it as a natural evolution of delivery for very high

remember when we were talking about the shift to

DirecTV in the US, which launched a dedicated

quality content. We now know enough about it,

HD. I have a sense of déjà-vu.”

4K satellite (DirecTV-14) in December. Phil Goswitz,

and understand the scale of the problems so that

DirecTV’s SVP, space and communications, says:

we see it as a manageable transition.”

But CES saw a number of 4K transmission

“DirecTV will use this new technology to create

Sky Germany, along with Sky Italia, now falls

4K in action Red Bull Media House is not a name one

the most advanced broadcast available; live,

under the direct control of Sky UK and its CEO

immediately thinks of in terms of 4K production,

linear 4K Ultra HD services that at this moment do

Jeremy Darroch is delivering a keynote address

but almost all of their ‘action’ programming

not even exist. 4K Ultra HD technology is a brand

at MIPtv in Cannes on 13 April, and perhaps an

is shot in 4K. Bernhard Hafenscher from Red

new technology and many have doubts and

announcement might emerge.

Bull Media House stresses that they were early

indecision about it, but not at DirecTV.” Those doubts and indecisions are fast evaporating.

Indeed, Sky is already producing 4K content. It

adopters of HDTV and are following the same

is backing Atlantic Productions and a subsidiary

pattern in Ultra-HD. “It is just the next step for us,”

Strategy Analytics’ latest ConsumerMetrics survey,

Colossus Productions. Between the two entities

he explains. “The consumer wants quality. We

conducted during November 2014, said the

they have produced shows such as Conquest of

want people to be part of our events, and with

percentage of US respondents who are aware of

the Skies, Galapagos 3D and a number of other

the sports that we cover. Some of our events

the term ‘Ultra HD’ rose from 39 per cent in January

David Attenborough-fronted programmes in 4K.

include sports that happen really fast, so the

2014 to 57 per cent in November 2014. The holiday

Ruth Sessions, COO at Atlantic, remarks: “From our

detail is important. 4K is like being there.”

promotion season, and CES talk, will only have

viewpoint we are telling stories for multiple platforms

improved those percentages. Other operators

and not just television. The reason we have been

Connection in 4K, and a number of ‘extreme

such as cable giant Comcast’s commitment to

working in 4K for quite a long time is because we

sports’ documentaries covering skiing, mountain-

4K will further boost recognition.

are in a multi-platform world where we will shoot for

bike competitions, and of course the compelling

Red Bull is producing shows such as The Cave

Picture credit: [c] JAXA/NHK

TVBEurope 31

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

32 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Feature on 4K. We suffer the risk of being beaten by the

Germany’s Kropac Media on a 4K shoot in Arizona

new barbarians. Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are threats to us, but the other threat is the kids filming everything in 4K on GoPro cameras. At France Televisions we decided to test a lot of things. We are proud to be the first French broadcaster to test and try many different things in 4K. I want to be clear, that we are on a ‘test and learn’ exercise, and are not producing yet. But we have done a lot of shooting, in the Royal Chapel at Versailles for a beautiful concert which was also done with a new type of audio capture. We also used the Roland Garros tennis tournament last summer, and sent the signals out on satellite, DTT and over IP with new live encoders. We have also worked with LG for the IFA exhibition in Berlin. “At the end of 2014 we will have a push VoD technology under test. We expect our first ‘broadcasts’ to be IP, and then satellite. skydiving events as well as covering cars and

fresh thinking on the famous painting. France

We are not ready just yet to start conventional

competition ﬂying. That 4K output from Red Bull

Televisions is playing a key role in the 4EVER

[terrestrial] broadcasts in 4K.”

includes their Terra Mater Factual Studios, and

Consortium. Eric Scherer, France Televisions’

outstanding programming such as The Mona

director of Future Media, says: “This is the ﬁrst

basketball and a Transmusicales music festival

Lisa Mystery which, thanks to 4K, exposes some

time ever that the TV industry has a double-risk

from Rennes, each of which went well.

Those tests happened and included live

TVBEurope 33

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature “This is the first time ever that the TV industry has a double-risk on 4K. We suffer the risk of being beaten by the new barbarians. Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are threats to us, but the other threat is the kids filming everything in 4K on GoPro cameras” Eric Scherer, France Televisions

Japan’s NexTV consortium will enhance the current 4K test transmissions in March 2015, and Japan’s NHK public broadcaster is promising two or three UHD channels will be on air in 2016, and in time for the Rio Olympics. The BBC is also producing in 4K. Besides its 4K tests at events such as Wimbledon, the BBC’s Natural History Unit is extremely active in 4K. Vanessa Berlowitz, already with Frozen Planet under her belt, is now exec producing One Planet for the NHU in 4K (“and 5K and 6K and I’d love to be shooting in 8K!”) and that this was the only way to future-proof its archive.

4K Channels/Services on air, (or promised for 2015) Korea KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS Korea KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS Korea’s SkyLife DTH Japan’s NexTV Forum Netﬂix Sth Korea’s Pandora Japan’s NTT Plala DirecTV ‘pre-loaded’ DirecTV DTH M-Go (Los Angeles only) WAIKU (Germany and France) Comcast Sky Deutschland Amazon Prime Instant WAIKU (Spain, etc) MTS (Russia) Fransat (France) Japan’s SkyPerfect/JSAT Russia’s TriColor TV India’s Videocon d2h India’s TataSky

Trials May 2013 Demo channel March 2014 Sky-UHD launched 2 June 2014 Tests June 2014 Streaming April 2014 Streaming August 2014 Live 27 October 2014 Live 14 November 2014 “Early 2015” November 2014 1 December 2014 December 2014 Test 20 December 2014 December 2014 January 2015 Tests December 2014 December 2014 March 2015 March 2015 Promised 2015 Promised 2015 Data: Inside Satellite TV

34 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Feature

HDR under the spotlight George Jarrett investigates the key issues surrounding the hot topic of higher dynamic range

and that we can clearly identify the areas where we have technical gaps,” said Hoffmann. “This will be where standards have to be developed to achieve interoperability. For a dynamic range system we must have the certainty of full interoperability so that not

igher dynamic range, or extended

only proprietary systems are implemented in

dynamic range, has become a vexing

the market.”

subject and curve ball for revered

The ambition is an environment where various

institutions like the ITU, DVB, SMPTE and the EBU

manufacturers can place their products. What

for the fundamental reason that consumers are

are the key gaps?

owed much more than the better resolution offered by phase 1 UHDTV displays. To ascertain what the key issues are, we ﬁrst

“This concerns the compression and the metadata, which is delivered throughout the production chain to playout, and is then

sought a post production viewpoint from Steve

understood and integrated correctly by consumer

Owen, marketing director at Quantel. He said: “We

displays,” said Hoffmann. “We still don’t know

welcome HDR: it will make a visible difference to

how the consumer display of the future is going

the consumer viewing experience in the future. For

to interface with HDR, and what the parameters

David Wood, who won the Lifetime Achievement award at last year’s TVBAwards, had anticipated that HDR would be part of UHD DVB Phase 2, but had worrying news

the present, as far as post goes, we can already handle HDR 16-bit images. What’s needed to bring those great pictures to the viewer is a complete distribution and delivery ecosystem based on open standards to which everyone can subscribe.” The people who kicked the ball on from here were David Wood, chair of the DVB commercial UHD group; Hans Hoffmann, EBU T&I head of media fundamentals and production technology; Yvonne Thomas EBU project manager for future

The iffy prospect of boosting HDTV with HDR did

“We still don’t know how the consumer display of the future is going to interface with HDR, and what the parameters used in terms of peak luminance as well as the OETF electronic transfer function will be” Hans Hoffman, EBU

television, UHD and 3D systems: and, Spencer

HDTV, because again the question will be for what type of display,” said Hoffmann. Around an economical and business issue comes the awkward question of what is required in terms of bandwidth to bring a perceptively better image to the home. HDR display or an HDR HDTV display, when you

is the world of high peak luminance, more bits per

Identifying the technical gaps

You cannot say broadcasters should do HDR over

“Whether the consumer is equipped with a 4K

Stephens, CTO at Sony Pictures Entertainment. This sample, and the demise of the gamma curve.

get raised at IBC. “That is a very complex issue.

analyse all these complex questions in terms of: used in terms of peak luminance as well as the

what is feasible; whether it is more than resolution,

OETF electronic transfer function will be.

and what that brings versus transmitting an HDR

“Put precisely, the gaps and unknowns are

signal to the home; it’s highly likely you will ﬁnd that

For the major steps in terms of HDR we have to

metadata interpretation, the capabilities of

in most cases, HDR is giving you more value for the

look to ongoing ITU and DVB meetings. The ITU

interfaces, the electro optical transfer function,

money you need to invest in an increased bitrate

test plan has been a big deal, and necessary

and peak luminance.”

transmission,” said Hoffmann.

recommendations should result very soon. The

Thomas added: “For the peak luminance we

“You also need to recognise that the transmission

SMPTE metadata and eco groups related to 4K

will have to listen to Brussels in terms of power

or distribution of signals to the home is not only

were meeting at the precise time Hans Hoffmann

regulations. The introduction of HDR and HFR will

via linear means: by DTT, satellite or cable. To

and Yvonne Thomas came to talk.

probably happen step by step, like they have

a large extent it will be non-linear, and I could

done with the ﬁrst step of resolution at 4K. They

imagine that OTT providers are going to have an

will not be implemented at once.”

opportunity to provide an enhanced dynamic

“What we would like to see is that the system analysis for the end-to-end chain is continuing

TVBEurope 35

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature range signal in consultation with certain display vendors sooner than broadcasters have it for their general transmission to a variety of receivers. So it is a relatively complex topic,” he added. Hoffmann believes the Digital Europe decision to back 8-bit was a compromise. He said: “They will have had their reasons, but the EBU point of view is clear. The optimal minimum is 10-bit and eventually the market will also decide that the higher bitrate is required otherwise they cannot handle HDR. “The EBU is also interested in better pixels, not only in the number of pixels. The market in the consumer domain is more pixels and it gives them the chance to focus on resolution. The EBU though, together with many friends from the

“We welcome HDR: it will make a visible difference to the consumer viewing experience in the future” Steve Owen, Quantel

studios and private operators, believes that we need better pixels,” he added. “We have the notions of HDR as well as higher frame rates and perhaps even higher peak luminance in the TV displays of the future.” Thomas added: “We always have to consider when we handle the signal and apply the curve to it, whatever curve it may be in the future, that we need to leave some headroom.

36 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Feature

The topic of whether to go with UHD-1 or wait for UHD-2 was discussed at the IBC2014 Conference in a session produced in association with SMPTE “The ITU issued a revision of BT.2020 in June last

“I don’t believe anyone is arguing for an 8-bit spec for HEVC UHD-1” David Wood, DVB commercial UHD group

year (ITU-R BT.2020-1, titled Parameter Values for UHDDTV Systems for Production and International Programme Exchange). There was a heavy discussion around adding new higher frame rates (i.e. 100 Hz and 120/1.001 Hz) and the Rapporteurs group RG-24 on HDR was looking into the various HDR proposals and how to deﬁne the terminology,” she added.

The sound system to use with UHD-1 is another

Will high peak luminance fall foul of the EU?

key issue. “The MPEG-H has made an evaluation

David Wood, chair of the DVB’s commercial

for an Advanced Sound System in the next few

UHDTV group, had anticipated that HDR

months,” said Wood.

would be part of UHD DVB Phase 2, but had worrying news.

and choice and hopes to have a speciﬁcation

Hans Hoffmann believes the Digital Europe decision to back 8-bit was a compromise

“Amidst all the talk about screens with high

“However, colleagues in the DVB project tell me that there may be a number of options with the MPEG-H system, and DVB will still have a

peak luminance, more bits per sample, and the

“The EBU argued that having a 10-bit decoder

job to do to decide which to actually use for

OETF transfer function it still may be,” he said.

alone was sufﬁcient and more efﬁcient, since

broadcasting,” he concluded.

“However, the consumer electronics

it would always also handle 8-bit/s. But there

Summarising the 8-bit situation from

manufacturers (Digital Europe) are worried

are two speciﬁcations now for DVB HEVC

Brussels, Marc Soignet’s ofﬁce stated: “Digital

that proposed EU legislation, currently being

1080: that’s the way it is,” said Wood. “I don’t

Europe’s UHD logo requirements are minimum

discussed to constrain domestic energy usage,

believe anyone is arguing for an 8-bit spec for

requirements to ensure interoperability between

would limit the peak luminance of displays, and

HEVC UHD-1. Production will always use larger

display devices and source devices. 8-bit is

thus limit what could be done in HDR.

bit depths of course, to improve the signal

the baseline to achieve this interoperability.

occupancy of the broadcast signal.”

We are not directly discussing with display or

“One of the options for Phase 2 would be backwards compatibility with Phase 1, so

The key issue for the DVB now is the choice

chip set vendors since most of them are not in

any display bought now would still get a

of HDR system for Phase 2, and there are

our membership. This trade-off is then only a

decent image, even if not as good as the Phase

several proposals.

consensus among our CE manufacturers, which

2 viewer,” he added. “We are currently looking

“We await the results of comparative tests

are best aware of technology roadmaps.”

at what the implications would be: some EBU

planned in the ITU-R (a group led by Andy

members believe that by including backwards

Quested of the BBC),” said Wood. “The MPEG

The big issue is delivery to consumers

compatibility we will load up the cost of Phase 2

group will issue a call for HDR proposals next

Spencer Stephens ﬁrst identiﬁed what all the

for countries that will never

summer. This looks a long time away. If the Blu-ray

technical fuss is about:

use Phase 1.” The insistence by some companies

Disc Association announces what HDR system

on both 8-bit and 10-bit specs was for HEVC 1080

they will use next summer, it is difﬁcult to predict

range doesn’t just mean the picture is brighter. It’s

decoding misinterpretation.

what will happen here.”

about the contrast ratio (increasing the brightness

“It’s important to realise that high dynamic

TVBEurope 37

Febuary 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature of the highlights without elevating the blacks) and

the best experience if they have a device that

“The same problem exists in digital cinema

more accurate colour reproduction at higher

doesn’t understand HDR?”

as with HDR in the consumer market: how

luminance levels because the primaries don’t clip, making bright colours become white. “Delivery to the consumer is certainly the biggest open issue. The master that comes out

The SMPTE work on the metadata pertaining

see is optimal? With digital cinema it is possible

previously) should beneﬁt Cinema 4K as much

to deliver an HDR or standard dynamic

as it would TV 4K.

range DCP depending on the projector, but

of production can be a proprietary format but the ecosystem itself requires interoperability,” he added. “What is needed is a way of carrying metadata that describes the way the content was mastered allowing it to be displayed in the best possible way.” The speed at which it will be deployed is an interesting question. “A closed streaming service with a service-speciﬁc app on the end device is obviously at an advantage for time to market. The app can report to the service the

do you make sure the picture consumers

to HDR and the eco chain (mentioned

it complicates the supply chain. Clearly, this

“A key question is that if you are going to deliver HDR, how do you continue to give the consumer the best experience if they have a device that doesn’t understand HDR?” Spencer Stephens, Sony Pictures Entertainment

is simpliﬁed if there is a standard available,” said Stephens. “For our industry, the majority of content, motion pictures and episodic TV, is shot at 24fps; 48fps and 60fps may be used for some motion pictures, but the choice of frame rates is usually a creative choice,” he added. “Content shot at 60fps looks different from 24fps, and many regard 60fps as less ‘cinematic’. I talked to someone from a

capabilities of the device and the appropriate

European broadcaster about 48fps high

format streamed. Delivery that relies on

frame rate, and he pointed out they call

published standards, like over the air, is

that low frame rate!”

inherently going to take longer to get up and running,” said Stephens. The notion of adding extended dynamic range to existing HD services might attract some channel owners if they can afford it as a holding move while 4K completes its full capabilities. “HDR is obviously independent of resolution. We link HDR to UHD because UHD is largely green ﬁeld and the additional resolution eliminates legacy HD devices,” said Stephens. “However, producing HDR content is a function of how it was shot: on ﬁlm, on the current generation of digital cinema cameras with CMOS sensors, and how the post was done. If the camera RAW is available it is always possible to go back to that and re-master from there. “Transmitting HDR HD becomes a matter of the standards used because it will be received by devices that don’t know what HDR is,” he added. “A key question is that if you are going to deliver HDR, how do you continue to give the consumer

Consumers are owed much more than the better resolution offered by phase 1 UHDTV displays

38 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Interview

Event horizon This issue, we bring you the concluding part of our interview with Alison Willis, portfolio director for i2i Events Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment and broadcasting division, where we learn what delegates can expect from BVE 2015

We constantly hear about the challenges faced

and dovetailing with parts of the telecoms and

by the operators and suppliers in the industry in

IT sectors means we have to extend our reach

this stage of its development, but the evolving

further to satisfy the demands of visitors. At the

marketplace must have a signiďŹ cant impact

same time, industries closer to home, such as

on your business strategy. What are the main

advertising, are increasingly aligning themselves

challenges that you face as a key industry event

with content creation. You only have to look

in terms of preparation for both the conference

at the burgeoning developments in branded

and exhibition sides of the show?

content and advertiser-funded programming,

Every industry event faces challenges. Some

not to mention product placement.

are more speciďŹ c than others but the fact that broadcasting, as we know it, is now embracing

To bring all these parties on board we are working closely with expert partners and

Alison Willis

TVBEurope 39

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Interview respected organisations that can help BVE to

presentation in the 4K Theatre discussing how the

reﬂect the change in the make-up of what we

rise of 4K will inﬂuence the animation space.

used to call TV.

And David Gibbs, director of digital media

BVE news in brief

at Sky Sports, will discuss the role of the second What differences can we expect from

screen in maximising engagement across live

One touch access

the content of this year’s seminars, and

sporting events, looking at the role of apps and

Wohler will be exhibiting the AMP2-E16V monitor at

which ones do you think are likely to grab

whether personalisation is the way forward for

BVE 2015. It enables one-touch access to uniquely

people’s attention?

multi-platform sporting experiences.

robust functionality including simultaneous multiformat

BVE is recognised as a great learning and

monitoring, program selection, instant stereo downmix,

networking event, and this will be reﬂected in the

What else is new for 2015?

loudness monitoring, internal channel mixing including SDI

composition of this year’s show. So, you’ll see more

There are lots of new things this year but the

re-embedding, and audio delays. In addition to providing

panel discussions and chances to talk with peers

ones that stand out for me are: Raindance:

a top-quality audio system, the monitor offers numerous

and learn from masters of their craft. One

Live! Ammunition!, a pitching competition for

ways to view meters, video, and Dolby or SMPTE 2020

example is the new training hub that we are

ﬁlmmakers; the Skills and Networking Zone, which

metadata. Dolby Zoom, Dolby E line position, and CRC

launching. This will sit within the BBC Academy’s

includes masterclasses from the renowned

error monitoring are standard. The monitor supports 32

Skills and Networking Zone.

BBC Academy; and even more cinematic 4K

system conﬁguration presets and can self-conﬁgure based

experience in our 4K Theatre.

on signal inputs. Audio processor card options simplify

4K will be prominent, especially on the acquisition side, but also in terms of problem

conﬁguration for multiple SDI, AES I/O, and analogue I/O

solving. There are parts of the broadcast chain

signals with connections to external surround systems.

that are not quite mature enough for mainstream broadcasting. BVE will be a good place to learn more. Of the other sessions, I think the Raindance Film Festival’s Interactive workshop, ‘Producing your indie ﬁlm-kit’ will be a real hit. As will the panel

“4K will be prominent, especially on the acquisition side, but also in terms of problem solving” Alison Willis, i2i Events Group

Stand: L01

Speaking of communication Attention on the Riedel stand at BVE will be focused on three new products. For starters, the Tango TNG-200 is Riedel’s ﬁrst network-based platform supporting RAVENNA/

session ‘Commissioning Drama: What’s important

AES67 and AVB standards. The unit is equipped with a

to know in 2015?’ There is a drama production

high-resolution, full-colour TFT display and is app-

boom in the UK at the minute so this will be

based to facilitate a myriad of uses. Next, the RSP-2318 Where does BVE sit in relation to the rest of

Smartpanel includes three high-resolution, multi-touch

i2i’s portfolio of events: you cover a variety of

TFT displays, stereo audio, multilingual character set and

‘Asset Management: Crucial steps to take in

sectors and marketplaces, but where would

18 keys in just 1RU. Finally, the STX-200 professional

ensuring your content becomes the asset’ to

you say it is in the hierarchy?

broadcast-grade interface brings any Skype user into

gather a signiﬁcant crowd as storage and asset

i2i organises a large number of market leading

the professional broadcast environment. Licensed

management are big news right now.

events and, as you would expect, each is

by Microsoft, STX-200 is a single-box solution that

given high priority within the business. We pride

delivers contributions from reporters and viewers into

IT in broadcasting: is cloud, big data and open

ourselves on the quality of our exhibitions and

live programming: while avoiding problems such as

source the solution?’, and loudness, ‘How

conferences and our efforts to constantly

consumer PCs running common Skype clients, external

broadcasters should go about implementing

improve and develop BVE mirror that.

scan and HDMI-to-SDI converters, or audio dropouts and

essential viewing. On the technology side I would expect

Sessions on big data, such as ‘Demystifying

loudness recommendation EBU R128 for programmes’, will be popular too. I’m also very excited about the speakers we

In fact, BVE has been given additional focus this year as it is very much a growing show in the i2i

menu pop-ups on the live feed. Stand: F24

portfolio and has huge potential. The 2015 show has

have assembled. Vasha Wallace, senior vice

250-plus exhibitors including 35 brand new ones and

Flexible Array

president of global acquisitions and development

over 90 per cent of the ﬂoorspace has already been

Hi Tech Systems is exhibiting for the ﬁrst time at BVE

at Freemantle Media, the company behind Idols,

sold. We are very pleased with how it has gone but

and will unveil its new generation of production control

The X Factor, Got Talent and other formats, is

we can always do better and will strive to do so.

systems at the show. Array is the latest generation

a really interesting one. She is a big name and

of video server control systems that also integrates Finally, what sort of progress do you think we’ll

routers, character generators and switchers into a highly

see in the marketplace in 2015?

customisable range of software applications and

leading camera/steadicam operators. He has

I think we will see four key trends: more suppliers

hardware panels. It allows a control surface to be

more than 20 years’ experience in feature ﬁlm,

entering the broadcast market from IT and telecoms;

‘built’ to suit a particular workﬂow or operator’s

TV production: including Pirates of the

more brands becoming buyers of broadcast

requirements using modular control panels and a

Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Edge of Tomorrow

equipment; a slow but gradual shift to 4K/UHD with

suite of software applications.

and Anna Karenina.

more UK consumers buying 4K-ready televisions and

should prove to be a big draw. Likewise, Peter Robertson is one of the UK’s

“Array brings multiple control functions that would

broadcasters taking the plunge with services; and

normally be controlled by multiple keyboards and panels

Illumination Mac Guff, the ﬁlm company

more viewing of content (both live and on demand)

into one clear user interface thus saving desk space

responsible for ﬁlms including Despicable Me, The

via the internet on either smart TVs, smart set-top

and improving operator efﬁciency,” said MD Tom Favell.

Lorax and Minions, will be presenting a keynote

boxes or mobile devices. Exciting times.

Stand: G30

Bruno Mahe, head of technology at

you live, eat this stuff breathe and

Over-the-top services are feeding changes in virtually every aspect of television today, from programming and advertising strategies to deployment and the viewer experience. EXHIBITS-ONLY PASS CODE DZ12

When you have a real desire to maximize your business in a digital world, developing new platforms for interactive content, embracing 4K and attracting new subscribers are the only ways to satisfy your hunger. NAB Show® is the place to fuel your desires — from building relationships with players emerging on the scene to seeing all of the technologies enabling OTT services to understanding how to capitalize on the evolving demands of today’s content consumer.

come hungry. leave satisﬁed.

Conferences: April 11–16, 2015 • Exhibits: April 13–16 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada USA

NABShow.com

Now Co-located:

Join Us! #NABShow

TVBEurope 41

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEverywhere

Striking the balance Managing the transition to IP Glenn LeBrun, vice president of product marketing, Imagine Communications, reviews what beneﬁts IP technology brings and how broadcasters can make the transition, taking advantage of those beneﬁts without risking the skills and investments already in place

uch of the latest news regarding

to take the internet’s ‘best effort’ approach

broadcast technology is about IP

to getting a message through – and we have

connectivity and running operations

imposed on it the sort of time constraints and

on common, off-the-shelf computer technology.

broad bandwidth that we need to handle

Yet most broadcasters already have a huge

professional-quality signals, even at critical points

investment in traditional video infrastructure and

like contribution circuits and playout. Why is

need to continue using it throughout its lifespan.

that important? Because it means we can use

Equally important, broadcast engineers and

‘Ultimately, the benefits are all economical. COTS hardware is generally less expensive initially and benefits from Moore’s Law cost reductions. We can work it harder because it is simply a platform on which to run software, not a device with only one purpose which has to stand idle until you want to do that specific thing’

standard, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) IT

operators are extremely skilled and competent

hardware for many of the functions performed

with only one purpose which has to stand idle

in using their traditional platforms. Will changing

in the broadcast network. We will still need

until you want to do that speciﬁc thing. For

the core technology change the way they work?

targeted, speciﬁc software to deliver the unique

example, blade servers can run multiple instances

How will this change impact their productivity

functionality we demand, but much of the

of software applications simultaneously, shifting

and the quality of work? These are really

special-purpose hardware used today will

priorities dynamically and faster than an operator

important questions.

phase out over time.

could even notice the need.

Technology advances have accelerated

Ultimately the beneﬁts are all economical.

We will no longer need expensive rack space,

the prospect of handling all content – real-

COTS hardware is generally less expensive initially

ﬂoor space, power, and cooling for all of these

time streams as well as packaged ﬁles – over

and beneﬁts from Moore’s Law cost reductions.

lightly-used bits of equipment. Once we reach

an IP network. With the considerable support

We can work it harder because it is simply a

the point where we can implement everything in

of the IT industry, we have now found a way

platform on which to run software, not a device

software, we become much more efﬁcient.

42 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

TVBEverywhere At Imagine

hybrid future, the signals

Communications, we talk

in the facility will be

a lot about implementing

routed in two different

‘software-deﬁned

ways: baseband video

networking’ principles

signals through the

into the broadcast

Platinum router, and IP

network. Not only are the

video signals through

processes run in software,

a 10 gigabit Ethernet

but the way that those

switch from an IT switch

processes are interlinked

vendor like Cisco or

is also in software. That

Arista. Operators know

means our overall

that the best way to be

infrastructure becomes

sure that the signal has

extremely ﬂexible and

been routed is to press

responsive to new

a button on a control

business and technical

panel and see it light up.

challenges.

So in the hybrid network, this simple workﬂow

A counter-argument to an all-software broadcast

operation should remain

network is that a lot of

in place, irrespective of

legacy equipment is

whether the routing is

already installed and well

over IP or baseband.

within its working life. In

One of Imagine’s ﬁrst

addition, operators and

product launches

engineers know how

in this ﬁeld was a

to use that equipment,

Software-Deﬁned

and there is a natural

Interface that provides

concern that the new

an orchestration

architecture will require

layer. This is essentially

new workﬂows.

a toolkit to enable hybrid infrastructures

These are important points, and Imagine

– a mix of IP and

Communications is

broadband – to work

very aware of these

seamlessly together, yet

considerations. That is why we are actively promoting a managed transition – a transition at the pace that suits the

‘The next evolution of the broadcast network is simply the succeeding step of this transition, migrating some or all of the baseband signal transport, management, and processing to IP’

still maintain today’s workﬂow processes. The operator should not need to know what is happening behind that

operational needs of

button push. They only

our customers.

need to know that the signal will appear where

Baseband

it is required.How fast

connectivity and

will the hybrid transition

traditional broadcast hardware will be around for a long time, so

Communications has continued to upgrade

take place? The important point is that every single

the transition will take a number of years. This

and update its product lines by commonly

broadcaster and facility is different. Their operations

transition assumes that media companies

integrating baseband and IP functionality,

and requirements are different, and their technical

will implement a hybrid infrastructure. In

thereby allowing customers to make an easy

infrastructures are different, so their transitions will

fact, most broadcast networks are already

transition to IP.

be individually developed to suit their own needs.

various forms today, such as using IP signals in

Hybrid future

broadcasters of all kinds is to ﬁnd a technology

contribution or distribution, as well as in video

As an example, take a typical requirement

partner that understands the positive potential

servers. The next evolution of the broadcast

in a broadcast centre: sending a signal from

of transitioning to IP-centric operations and

network is simply the succeeding step of this

one part of the facility to another. Today, a

who can work with you to develop your own

transition, migrating some or all of the baseband

router control panel will send an instruction to

transition plan, at your own pace, and work in

signal transport, management, and processing

a physical broadcast device, like an Imagine

conjunction with your current capital investments

to IP. To enable this transition, Imagine

Communications Platinum router. However, in the

in baseband technology.

hybrid, integrating IP and baseband signals in

Perhaps the best piece of advice to

44 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com Febuary 2015

TVBEverywhere The ContentWise platform offers Sky Italia complete management of Sky Online managed by Ericsson, is designed using modern looks and ways to present content. “This is where we play a role. ContentWise offers the ability to personalise the user experience in video services for both linear TV and on demand. We do this by applying big data learning techniques to understand the taste and habits of each single user and this allows us to dynamically personalise the user experience and interface.” Sky Online provides subscribers with access to a broad content catalogue, including movies, sports and TV series. The entire offering will be available online to create an enhanced viewer experience accessible from any device. “Creating amazing entertainment experiences always means putting the customer ﬁrst,” says Pier Paolo Tamma, CIO, Sky Italia. “As viewers demand more relevance and convenience in the content they consume, our goal is to make sure they can enjoy moving effortlessly across discovery patterns. Selecting ContentWise’s

A Wise take on personalisation

solution makes this vision a reality.” The ContentWise platform offers Sky Italia complete management of Sky Online through use of its powerful multi-device content publishing tool, which enables content curators to deliver targeted video recommendations. It also offers advanced interactive analytics, providing insights such as recommendations effectiveness and user engagement, giving Sky Italia more visibility and control over the user discovery process. The ContentWise discovery solution enables broadcasters and pay-TV operators to deliver

Melanie Dayasena-Lowe speaks to Paolo Bozzola, CEO of ContentWise, ahead of the announcement about its recent customer project with Sky Italia

“We want to control every single title that ends up in front of the eyeballs of users in a service like Sky Online even including search being personalised” Paolo Bozzola, ContentWise

highly personalised TV recommendations that combine multiple sources of data (e.g. linear TV consumption, VoD, DVR, web, tablets, mobile, social media, etc) and optimise monetisation of their licensed digital assets.

A must have So why has personalisation become so important

n its ﬁrst time working with Sky, ContentWise

nowadays? Bozzola explains: “As far as I know

was chosen by Sky Italia to power its

there is not a single new video service which is

personalised recommendations for Sky Online,

the recently launched online video service.

launched without deep levels of personalisation. natives, typically younger people using the web,

The reason it is a hot topic for us in the market is

and targeted to non-Sky customers such as people

because it is considered to be something you

multi-platform and multi-channel, explains Paolo

that don’t have the pay-TV subscription and for

cannot ‘not’ have. The best of breed [Netﬂix, Hulu]

Bozzola, CEO of ContentWise.

people who are not able to install a satellite dish.”

all rely a lot on personalised selection of content.”

The new service ﬁts in with Sky’s strategy to go

The ContentWise solution enables Sky Italia to

The core delivery platform is the web but it can

He also identiﬁes that personalisation creates

offer subscribers of its Sky Online service an intuitive,

also be deployed on connected TVs, PCs, tablets

real tangible beneﬁts for users. “If it’s done properly,

personalised experience that combines discovery,

and game consoles (PlayStation and Xbox).

personalisation makes the task of selecting content

content recommendations and viewing. Bozzola explains that the service is “targeted to digital

Bozzola says the platform, which has been deployed as part of a systems integration project

actually something pleasant. We don’t believe we should take the pleasure of selecting content away

TVBEurope 45

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEverywhere from users. We don’t preach that we have a smart

“We claim we have the widest coverage of use

algorithm making the right choices for users. Our

cases when it comes to the [user interface] UI

design goal is to provide relevant options.”

design and how to apply personalisation to the UI design in the market.”

Silent proﬁling

Sky Italia put a lot of emphasis in the deployment

Describing how personalisation works, Bozzola

across several devices. “The challenge today is to

says setting up a proﬁle is a prerequisite. “We are

keep the user experience and editorial choices

able to concurrently apply several techniques

aligned across devices,” comments Bozzola.

for people proﬁling. The most relevant is to do it

In addition to its work with Sky Italia, last year

silently. We don’t ask for any explicit action from

ContentWise won several other prestigious

users. When they subscribe to something, a proﬁle

customer projects including working with

is automatically built for them. If it’s on a personal

maxdome, Germany’s VoD service. So what has

device, the single person is automatically identiﬁed.

been fuelling the company’s recent growth?

If it’s on a shared device, by default we build a

Bozzola attributes it to subscription VoD and OTT

shared proﬁle for the household. When people

services. “As companies deploy more and more

consume content, we keep track of the relevant

of these solutions we found our sweet spot.

action and silently build our internal image of the user’s proﬁle or household proﬁle.” For the Sky Italia deployment in particular,

I think we have an edge when it comes to

Paolo Bozzola: “The challenge today is to keep the user experience and editorial choices aligned across devices”

the broadcaster was looking for additional

these types of services.” He adds: “We deﬁne ourselves as a [user experience] UX engine. Our aim is to control the

functionalities for its service. For example,

information can be used to silently build your

overall user experience. We want to control every

ContentWise is able to leverage the silent

proﬁle. Other functions that Sky Italia appreciated

single title that ends up in front of the eyeballs of

information coming from social networks. So if

was that in the user experience design there are

users in a service like Sky Online, even including

you like a TV show or movie on Facebook, this

several places where personalisation adds value.

search being personalised.”

46 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Vision Mixers Forum

At the cutting (and mixing) edge This month’s Forum delves into the world of vision mixers. Philip Stevens moderates the discussions between several industry experts

There was a time when a vision mixer (switcher) would perform little more than cut, mix and wipe. That more leisurely era is now long past, and the equipment is being asked to carry out more and more specialised functions. So, what are the innovations? Does size really matter? And what of future developments? To tackle those topics we have (in alphabetical order) John Carter, senior product manager, Snell; Dr Andrew Cross, president and chief technology ofﬁcer for NewTek; Valentijn Diemel, marketing manager, Datavideo; Greg Huttie, director of performance switchers, Grass Valley; Andy Newham, Ross Video’s business development manager EMEA (switchers and openTruck); and Norbert Paquet, strategic marketing manager for live production, Sony Europe.

Vision mixers have come a long way in the past ten years or so — what do you think has been the greatest innovation? Carter: From a customer perspective, one of the biggest challenges many faced was the move from SD to HD broadcasting and infrastructures. It required a major investment and a complete replacement of virtually every element of the production workﬂow. As the heart of that workﬂow, production switchers were naturally a key consideration. To help the transition to HD at

Andrew Cross, NewTek

Andy Newham, Ross Video

users’ own pace, we developed FormatFusion, which enabled broadcasters and facilities initially

FormatFusion, developed into FormatFusion3,

to replace just the switcher with a new HD capable

has also played a key role in enabling this for

one, while still seamlessly supporting SD sources.

both progressive and interlaced devices. All

This meant that they didn’t have to take the cost

Snell switchers support all these formats (even

hit for the whole production system in one go.

smaller 1 M/E models), frame accurately and with

FormatFusion enabled them to upgrade cameras,

appropriate treatments for each platform.

graphics, servers and so on, as and when budgets,

Cross: Video is arguably the most compelling form

needs and replacement cycles dictated. Over

of communication there has ever been. It’s not just

the last ten years, we have also seen audiences

the advent of the internet and the fact that video

fragmenting, with broadcasters now needing to

screens are now everywhere that makes this true,

support progressive devices for online, mobile and

people are consuming more video content than

tablet alongside traditional broadcast channels.

ever and have become far more aware of what

TVBEurope 47

February 2015 www.tvbeurope.com

Vision Mixers Forum Has the introduction of 4K inﬂuenced your manufacturing criteria for mixers?

makes it look good and what doesn’t. The key has

Newham: For me the greatest innovations would

been allowing producers to create more highly

have to be in the area of integration, where

compelling content quicker, and for less. What

multiple production components are brought

we’ve pioneered is the ability for a single person or

together under the control of the vision mixer

a small team to produce a highly compelling show.

within a single harmonised user interface that

We’ve done that by taking what used to be an

improves efﬁciency and cost. At Ross Video,

Cross: It has always been part of the NewTek

entire TV station and integrated it into a single box

we are continually working to improve the level

DNA to work very closely with customers,

you can take with you.

of integration and the overall user experience

helping ﬁnd new ways to create video and

through our unique DashBoard interface that

inventive ways to allow the equipment to

allows users to quickly build unique, tailored

make that easier and more affordable. When

“The ease of use of vision mixers is the greatest innovation of the last ten years” Valentijn Diemel, Datavideo

custom panels that make multiple, and seemingly complex operations simple and easy to use. Paquet: In the last ten years we’ve seen a sharp rise in capabilities within the switcher market and more powerful signal processing as a result. Sony is renowned for quality and reliability despite

Diemel: The ease of use of vision mixers is the

the increase in processing power: both crucial

greatest innovation of the last ten years. If you look

factors because vision mixers are the beating

at vision mixers from ten years ago, you needed to

heart of live production, and equipment failure

be some kind of rocket scientist to work with them.

is not an option. Format evolutions have been a

If you look at our latest vision mixer, you intuitively

core consideration for switchers, and Sony has

see and feel how it works, even if you have only

supported the transition from SD to HD, and now

basic knowledge of video mixing.

to 4K, as well as 3G.

Greg Huttie, Grass Valley

John Carter, Snell

48 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Vision Mixers Forum with very low delay, and, of course, userfriendly operations. We’ve been supporting 4K live productions since 2013 at events such as the Confederations Cup and Wimbledon Championships, and then most recently the World Cup in Brazil, to name but a few.

The physical size of vision mixers has, generally speaking, become bigger — what have you done to make their operation, especially in a live environment, easier? doing that, however, we try to take a step back and understand the bigger problems of the industry. Fifteen years ago, if we’d gone down a predictable path we would have built a traditional vision mixer: but we didn’t. We innovated and did things differently and, as a result, we’ve helped form the way production is done today. We think TriCaster, 3Play and now TalkShow are direct outcomes of that focus.

Carter: The trend towards bigger panels,

“We’ve been supporting 4K live productions since 2013 at events such as the Confederations Cup and Wimbledon Championships, and then most recently the World Cup in Brazil, to name but a few” Norbert Paquet, Sony

particularly in a live environment is, I think, a result of wanting to be able to cover every eventuality that may arise (the differing needs of different event types) and providing one-button access to more features in live situations. But, of course, ever bigger panels eat up more precious real estate and can become unwieldy in some instances, particularly in a live

We’re excited by 4K and it is no doubt a trend in

situation, so we’ve also looked at this

the industry. But the basic problems that video

from the other end and come up with the

producers are trying to solve (creating more

Maverik conﬁgurable surface. Its modular

affordable content that looks great and to do

technologically and economically. There are

architecture allows complete ﬂexibility in

it faster) are more fundamental than just the

many challenges to be faced with 4K in terms

design and enables the panel to be

resolution of the video itself.

of its application and the up/down conversion

reconﬁgured on a production by production

Huttie: The 4K/UHD switcher capabilities from

with regular HD. Both Carbonite and Acuity

basis. Judging by the success Maverik is already

Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, are a direct spin-off

have been built as compact, high performing

gaining in the market, both live event and

from our development team’s work done for the

solutions that are easily expanded and capable

studio, I think we’ve struck a real chord with

release of the K-Frame video engine and the

of providing the ﬂexibility necessary to make 4K a

the users and facilities.

customer feedback that inspired its processing of

viable solution in today’s market. With processing

Diemel: Well, generally speaking the vision

true 1080p 3G. Over the past four years, we have

engines built using the latest FPGAs, Carbonite

mixers became big, power hungry, computer

supported customer experiments and production

and Acuity both offer signiﬁcant room for

based machines. Our mobile studios though,

of live stereo 3D and now next-generation

growth and enable additional innovation to be

became smaller and lighter, and portable.

4K/UHD productions without any change

integrated as 4K and production development

We developed a line of fully integrated mobile

in hardware or software. By utilising already

evolves for the future.

studios that include an up-to-12 channel vision

understandable and established tools, operators

Paquet: Our current switcher range already

mixer. These compact, but very tough boxes

have provided valuable feedback to hone those

supports 4K production, thanks to the 3G-SDI

weigh in at only 9kg, and include a 17-inch

production requirements. We will continue to

capability and high processing power of the

multiviewer, an eight-channel intercom and a

work in parallel with our customers to meet the

MVS-X Series. These capabilities are, in turn,

vision mixer, all running on a 12v power supply.

needs of the broadcast environment now

supported by our ﬂexible panel architecture

Huttie: The Kayenne with K-Frame is our

and in the future.

which we introduced many years ago. We

largest panel and is a modular control surface

Newham: Ross has been at the forefront of

will continue to enhance this aspect of our

designed from our own experience, and that

vision mixer technology for the past 40 years

offering with our new ICP-X7000 panel which

of the broadcasters and vision mixers. It delivers

and is actively promoting the development of

will be available in early 2015. 4K does require

powerful, creative functionality with an intuitive

4K technology. This has been a key deliverable

additional resources, so we have developed

user interface that greatly simpliﬁes workﬂows.

for the development of both Carbonite and

4K software for maximising the use of switcher

The menu system provides simpliﬁed navigation

Acuity. Both of those products are now proven in

resources and give operators additional freedom

so that no menu view is more than two

live 4K productions internationally. As part of this

to be creative. However, what is always at the

levels deep. Each menu is assisted by

ongoing development however, we must ensure

heart of our design is the robustness, the high

favourites, history and semi-transparent

that 4K is produced in a way that is efﬁcient both

quality processing, including 4K up-conversion

pull-down quick links.

50 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com February 2015

Vision Mixers Forum There is often a lament that vision switchers are designed by engineers who never have to use the equipment in a ‘real’ situation. How do you respond? Carter: Hailed by many as the ﬁnest electric guitar ever built, the Gibson Les Paul was not actually designed by Les Paul, a world-renowned guitar player back in the 50s, but in consultation with him

“As 4K becomes reality, there will be a need to move away from the current ‘quad link’ formats, where four times the resources of HD are used, and progress towards a single and uniﬁed 4K format” Andy Newham, Ross Video

by Gibson Luthiers to meet his playing needs. My point is that if you combine grand engineering skills with great understanding of your users’ needs, you get the best result. Our engineers all have extensive frontline experience supporting and listening to our users’, directors’ and technical managers’ needs at the sharp end of broadcasting. And, of course, freelancers play an important role too, so you need to be catering for their needs, as well. I think the Snell approach delivers the best of all worlds. Cross: What you’re saying is fundamentally true. The answer is not that the engineers creating

‘quad link’ formats, where four times the resources

these products should be video producers, but to

of HD are used, and progress towards a single

make sure the engineers understand the problems producers encounter. The closer you get the

Norbert Paquet, Sony

Valentijn Diemel, Datavideo Sony

and uniﬁed 4K format. We are still some distance away from that, but the supply of that format will surely be driven by the demand of the consumer

engineer to the actual problem, the better off you are. Indeed, getting our engineers to actually sit right

our products can be even more portable or used

at home in their desire for 4K content and 4K live

alongside the people who are using our products to

on batteries instead of being dependant to a

coverage. Whatever new technology we ourselves

help propose and design workﬂows is fundamental

230v socket. We’re also working on making our

come up with, whether that is internal IP routing,

to what we do. The fact that video producers are

products even simpler to use, so that students

4K, 8K or even 12K, we must ensure that it is efﬁcient

not software engineers, and that software engineers

or beginning professional producers can easily

enough to be delivered in a means that is both

are not video producers is a good thing. That allows

work with them. Our products are often used in

desirable and affordable to the viewers at home.

companies like ours to enable the smartest people

schools, places of worship or small events, so it’s

Paquet: Vision mixers will continue to evolve,

who create groundbreaking tools to understand

necessary to make them simple to use.

especially within the IP space. Sony is leading the

how they need to be used. Newham: This is an area where we at Ross think of ourselves as the exception to this general rule! Within the Ross team we have a number of professional vision mixer operators. Even the CEO,

What is your prediction for future developments involving vision mixers?

market with the development of the Network Media Interface which is due to be released at the end of 2015. As far as operations are concerned, we have already introduced our new panels and continue to listen carefully to our customers to enhance their operations. I ﬁrmly believe the biggest changes will

David Ross, has been known to switch live sports shows in his spare time; using, of course, the latest

Huttie: I think that the focus could be a control

be seen in operations. For markets and applications,

mixer technology from Ross Video. Ross Mobile

system that allows the separation of the design of

where non-specialist operators usually work, we’ve

Productions is now in full operation in North

the on-air look and the real-time ability of the mixer,

introduced touchscreen-based operations with

America providing mobile production services

director and producer to tell the story of a live

the Anycast Touch that make it very simple to

from the ground-breaking new openTruck

event without any restrictions in the timing of their

insert logos, titling, graphics and so on. The intuitive

initiative from Ross Video. With so many vision

actions. In technological terms, this will mean even

UI means that you don’t need to worry about

mixer specialists and operators involved in the

more understanding of the phases of production

resources, and can focus on what you want to

design of each new vision mixer, the ‘craft’ of

and the ability to invent the next set of controls and

achieve. The Anycast Touch is an all-in-one switcher

the technology is extremely well represented in-

surfaces to support them.

providing video and audio mixing, live streaming,

house. This is how Ross has been able to produce

Newham: Certainly the advent of IP technology

video recording, and video playback. This solution

vision mixer interfaces that are both intuitive to

cannot be ignored, although the industry does

brings the capabilities of a full live production within

use and ergonomically precise.

not seem ready for that particular quantum leap

reach of a very small team, perhaps even one

Diemel: We’re working on smaller, lighter and

just yet. Furthermore, as 4K becomes reality, there

person, and is something that will see increasing

less power-consuming vision mixers. In this way

will be a need to move away from the current

interest in 2015 and beyond.