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Contents EDITORIAL Executive Editor James McKeown Email: james.mckeown@intentmedia.co.uk Editor Mark Hallinger Tel: 1 301 467 1695 Email: mhallinger@nbmedia.com Tech Editor Craig Norris Contributing Editor James Careless NEWBAY MEDIA LLC CORPORATE President and CEO Steve Palm Chief Financial Officer Paul Mastronardi Controller Jack Liedke Group Circulation Director Denise Robbins Vice President of Web Development Joe Ferrick PUBLISHER Steve Connolly Tel: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 Email: steve.connolly@intentmedia.co.uk ADVERTISING Sales Executive Sharifa Marshall Tel: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 Email: sharifa.marshall@intentmedia.co.uk Sales Manager Ben Ewles Tel: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 Email: ben.ewles@intentmedia.co.uk U.S. Midwest, New England & Canada Vytas Urbonas Email: vurbonas@nbmedia.com U.S. West Pete Sembler Email: psembler@nbmedia.com U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, US Classifieds & Product Showcase Michele Inderrieden Email: minderrieden@nbmedia.com Hong Kong, China, Asia/Pacific Wengong Wang Email: wwg@imaschina.com Italy Raffaella Calabrese Email: rcalabrese@broadcast.it Latin America Susana Saibene Email: susana.saibene@gmail.com PRODUCTION Production Director Davis White Group Head of Design & Production Adam Butler Email: adam.butler@intentmedia.co.uk Editorial Production Manager Dawn Boultwood Email: dawn.boultwood@intentmedia.co.uk Production Executive Jason Dowie Email: Jason.dowie@intentmedia.co.uk TV Technology Europe ISSN 2053-6674 (Print) ISSN 2053-6682 (Online) is published seven times annually by Intent Media. ©2013 by Intent Media. All rights reserved.

Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N18LN, England Free subscriptions are available to professional broadcasting and audio visual equipment users.

Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome for review – send to Mark Hallinger at the feedback address.

New Resources, New 4K Challenge I hope that many of our readers are also scanning, TV Technology International, our weekly e-mail newsletter that draws from the global resources of NewBay Media. Recent headlines include a story on a Disney-backed automatic editing venture for multicam shoots; Nanopixels, if 4K just isn’t enough for you; Larry Thorpe’s take on 4K; a story about some of the first 4K images captured by Blackmagic’s Ursa camera and posted on the web; and Japan’s NICT conducting TV band ‘White Space’ testing in London.

If these headlines sound interesting, go to www.tvtechnology.com, find the EUROPE drop down bar under the INTERNATIONAL pull-down, and then find the newsletter sign up link. Please note, don’t go to the main newsletter sign-up page on the homescreen of www.tvtechnology.com NEWBAY CONNECT NewBay Media – publisher of TV Technology Europe and many other titles – has also just announced the launch of NewBay Connect, a digital resource library for the worldwide broadcast, professional AV, and pro audio sectors.

Free and easy to use, the website provides visitors with a wide range of valuable information and research, including white papers, analyst reports, the latest and most popular briefings, case studies, business advice, tutorials, and web seminars. This easy-to-use resource includes content provided by trade associations and journals, think tanks, manufacturers, service providers, and leading technology firms. See www.newbayconnect.com NO 500K RIDE, 4K RUN? As some of you know, I have been riding my bicycle from the offices of the IBC in London to the halls of the RAI in Amsterdam as part of the IBC2IBC charity ride since 2011 – we did the 275-294 miles in a bit more than a day in 2011, two days in 2012, and a nice relaxed three days in 2013. I’m sad to report that the ride isn’t happening this year. Maybe sponsorship and the human resources need to put on IBC2IBC will be available next year …

This year I do have a new event to report on: The first annual 4K 4Charity Fun Run is being held at 07h30 on Saturday 13 September close to the RAI. See more at www.4K4Charity.com. It’s only 4K – an easy distance.

It’s the 07h30 on the Saturday of IBC I’m worried about!

Mark Hallinger Editor & Associate Publisher mhallinger@nbmedia.com Cover credit: Val Camp/AJA Video Systems

www.tvtechnology.com

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In this issue REGULARS: 3

EDITORIAL

30 BUYERS GUIDE: VISION MIXERS & ROUTERS User reports and product information 40 SHARPSHOOTER: Gary Tepper A chat with the Farnborough, Hampshire, freelance cameraman/director on shooting locally and globally, and the humorous side of international crews 43 LAST LINES: NEWS GRAPHICS Marcello Dellepiane on using technology to make news programs more engaging and interactive

IBC PREVIEW: 4

OVERVIEW Ann-Marie Corvin on IP, multiscreen, 4K & more at IBC

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TECH @ IBC: 4K Hurry Up & Wait Andy Stout on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of 4K

10 TECH @ IBC: Second Screen Seachange?

Second screen shoots, second screen scores, says Andy Stout 14 IBC PRODUCT PREVIEW A look at some of the new kit debuting in Amsterdam

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EXHIBITIONS

IBC2014: Multiscreen, IP & 4K

By Ann-Marie Corvin Now 46-years old, IBC is expected to attract more than 52,000 professionals from 170 countries who will congregate at the RAI centre in Amsterdam for the conference and exhibition.

Delegates will find 14 exhibition halls, themed by creation, management and delivery, where more than 1,400 international suppliers will display products catering for everything from multiscreen to 4K, from AVB to MPEG-DASH. New to IBC this year is the launch of a multiplatform-focused event, IBC Content Everywhere, which will run parallel to the main show. Planned as one in a series of

global events to be hosted in Dubai and Latin America next year, the first Content Everywhere event will be cohosted with IBC in Amsterdam and will focus on devices, apps, digital marketing, social media, content personalisation, big data, cloud services and second screens.

IBC’s CEO Mike Crimp explains some of the objectives of the new show: “The key talking points for this new industry are: ‘What business models are going to work in this environment?’; ‘Who shall we align ourselves with?’ and ‘Can I own an audience?’. We want to bring people together to help find answers to these questions. It’s a significant step in

the continuing digital revolution for media.”

Crimp adds that the new event is a “big step change” in the development of the popular IBC Zone, The Connected World, which enjoyed its final outing at IBC last year.

EXHIBITION & KEY THEMES ‘The End of SDI’ is being hailed by a host of manufacturers this year, with many proclaiming that the technology is already there for broadcasters to build end-to-end transmission, production and distribution chains using IP technologies, extending virtualization out of the data centre and into the field.

Evertz, for example, will be showcasing its 46Tb/s EXE Video/Data Switch Fabric platform at IBC. Evertz says that in 40RU, the EXE can ‘seamlessly switch’ 13,800 video services. It also offers an IPX series with 320Gbps up to 1.2Tbps switch capacity in compact modular form factor.

The Canadian manufacturer says that both EXE and IPX have been carefully designed to handle the demands of live UltraHD 4K and 8K video, and make the switching of video over Ethernet “as reliable and deterministic as a traditional SDI router.”

Cinegy has been proclaiming ‘the end of SDI’ in its ad campaigns for the

AFFORDABLE PRODUCTION TRAILER Gearhouse Broadcast will use IBC to show an updated model of its fully-equipped live production OBLite HD trailer, building on the success of its launch at last year’s show.

Capable of housing a seven- to eight-person production and operation crew, OBLite features eight of the latest Hitachi Z-HD6000 camera channels. The main operational upgrade sees the trailer’s production workflow redesigned using Ross Video’s new openTruck blueprint, ensuring increased efficiency, video quality, and the ability to quickly reconfigure the trailer for different events. Ross Video’s Carbonite vision mixer, NK Series routing system and glue have been implemented from its openGear platform, as well as the compact LAWO V_pro8 1U video processor.

Structural updates to OBLite include a new, lighter chassis, built-in retractable door steps, a load-bearing roof with operator safety harness and anti-slip surface, waterproof mouse holes for cable runs, stabilisation jacks and flush door locking mechanisms. All external units have been encased and a new internal cooling system has been installed, while the illuminated tail board has been redesigned with separated power units. OBLite now includes a new LED lighting array as well as ECE 104 compliant reflective tape and ‘On Air’ lights. Changes to the interior lay-out also allow for two 6-channel HD EVS XT server positions. www.gearhousebroadcast.com

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EXHIBITIONS past year or more, although its latest campaign for IBC is more intent on displaying how 4K and IP, by way of an ordinary gigabit Ethernet, is already a reality, or, as Jan Weigner, MD and co-founder Cinegy, puts it, “an inevitable combination.”

On its booth this year delegates can see live camera signals converted using Cinegy Encode from HDMI or 4x 3G SDI to IP and then transmitted via LAN to Cinegy Live, Cinegy’s 4K purely software-based vision mixer.

The 4K IP signals as well all other IP signals can be monitored using Cinegy’s Multiviewer software-based monitoring product, while its new Cinegy Air playout software can play pre-recorded 4K files or pass through live streams with dynamic channel branding added to it. All this is running inside virtual machines inside Cinegy’s Private Cloud in its small IBC booth server rack.

Says Weigner: “Cinegy proclaims that 4K production completely in software, using IP end-to-end (apart from the camera, for now) is a reality today and the only flexible and

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VIRTUAL COMMS, L-S-B INTEGRATION Trilogy Communications will feature a new, completely redesigned virtual control panel, now available for PCs, laptops, phones and tablets in either wired or wireless configurations. No matter how a user wants their comms to work, Trilogy’s Virtual Panel allows everyone to join the conversation, simply and cost effectively. IBC 2014 will also feature the deep integration of L-S-B’s Virtual Studio Manager with “Gemini,” Trilogy’s distributed matrix intercom, thanks to the recent successful implementation of the Ember+ protocol. Gemini combines the benefits of a large-scale, non-blocking matrix with integrated IP connectivity and a range of IP panels.

Also demonstrated will be “Messenger,” an affordable matrix-based intercom that includes features and functionality typically only found in more expensive systems, bridging the gap between low-end, two-wire party line systems and the cost and complexity of high-end professional systems. www.trilogy.com affordable way to do it. Small, mobile production setups will ultimately be just powerful laptops.”

To cater for such mobile live production applications, Axon – which celebrates its 20th IBC this year – is even releasing a foldable flight pack with Axon’s Synapse infrastructure. This signal processing product line has also been enhanced with an all-singing, all-dancing up/ down/cross converter (GXG400).

This year saw the launch of the ‘new Grass Valley’ as a result of

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Belden’s investment of more than US$1 billion in the broadcast market over the past two years, including the acquisitions, and subsequent merger, of Miranda and Grass Valley.

According to Marco Lopez, president, Grass Valley, the firm will use IBC as the first European platform from which to showcase new solutions that draw from both GV and Miranda’s shared knowledge.

Products include GV’s new input/ output cards for broadcasters looking to make the transition from SDI to IP infrastructures. The cards, designed for the NVISION 8500 hybrid router series, claim to convert and package real-time, uncompressed, baseband video to fit a single IP stream and support frame accurate switching for use in live production environments.

Another company using IBC as the platform to launch its European debut after a high profile acquisition is Imagine, following its transformation from Harris Broadcast earlier this year, and the acquisition of Digital Rapids.

According to Imagine Communications CEO Charlie Vogt, there will be plenty of products on show for broadcasters mindful that they are in the transitional process on a journey to a future defined by IP. Imagine products making their IBC debut include the MultiService SDN – a software-defined networking framework, which aims to simplify the network architecture of media companies operating in hybrid baseband and IP environments. This is achieved, according to Imagine, by enabling the video bit flow to be softwaremapped, creating a fully virtualised network fabric for deploying advanced services.

THE CONFERENCE Over 300 influential industry leaders are set to speak at IBC2014’s conference line-up. Among our choice picks is the IABM’s session on 12 September, ‘What Future for Broadcast technology?’.

This breakfast meet highlights the current state of play for manufacturers: Hardware suppliers are having to seriously consider embracing software and service orientated business models, while large industry leading suppliers are restructuring and finding themselves part of the M&A frenzy in preparation for a new era.

The session then aims to provide objective data and analysis from IABM research, and a panel debate where speakers include Imagine’s Charlie Vogt, Grass Valley’s Marco Lopez and IABM’s director general Peter White.

Another session that taps into many of the themes touched upon in this preview, is ‘The Death of SDI’ (12 September) which explores the promise of complete IP-based production. What will be the drivers and the business cases? Representatives from Sony, Fox, the BBC and SDVI all put across their case.

For a more sideways glance at TV technology, the universe and, well, everything, the broadcaster, rock star and particle physics professor, Brian Cox, is keynoting at the Sunday conference, while Matt Brittin, president of Google Europe, headlines the 12 September conference line-up. Brittin spells out the search engine’s vision for the future: Will the IP giant’s wearable Google Glass technology revolutionalise the way we consume media? There’s only one place to visit this September to find out.

EXHIBITIONS

4K: Hurry Up & Wait Andy Stout on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of 4K

I

BC is always a good bellwether of what keeps the great and the good in the industry up late at night, and one of the interesting factors in looking at the conference programme this year is the relative lack of 4K content. Compared to the stereo 3D hysteria, or even the long, drawn-out campaign that sought to upgrade the industry from SD to HD, 4K in 2014 is making comparatively little fuss.

Partly that’s because it’s considered such a done deal. Advance glimpses of the Exhibitor’s wares on the IBC show floor show the format expanding, almost by osmosis, into every available niche in the production chain. And, at the other end of the equation, there is plenty of optimism abroad that the public rollout will now possibly have occurred in time for the next global sporting circus that will be the Rio Olympics.

Partly that’s because the 4K trials from the World Cup out of Rio’s Maracanã Stadium went so well. With limited cinema distribution added to the mix at a late stage, the joint HBS/ Sony/Globo effort proved that most of the issues surrounding lensing etc. have been consigned to the history books, and that the format is well and truly production ready. But mainly, it’s because major media companies are jockeying for position in the newly converging living room and want the market to be ready and receptive.

4K has long been held to be one of the major unique selling points of the Internet media players who they hope can sell suitably up-rezzed content to a subscriber base hooked up to fat enough pipes to receive it (though finding that outside the world’s cities is proving to be something of a challenge; even in the uber-connected US average bandwidth speeds are only just capable of sustaining a HD stream).

But broadcasters are catching up fast. The BBC, for example, used the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

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to investigate both HEVC-driven IPspecific and hybrid IP/DTT Ultra HD workflows.

The IP network features 100Gbps connectivity in three cities, Glasgow, Salford & London via the state-of-theart Janet network at 100Gbps. Onwards

Canon’S CN7x17 KA S epitomises the 4K niche filling underway connectivity to other sites is pegged at either 40Gbps or 10Gbps, most of which is running over dark fibre optic links (ranging between 1km and 43km). Data is being transmitted via source-specific multicast to bump up efficiency, which sees a receiver only accept packets originating from a specific, requested source.

And while the BBC has stated that it sees IP very much as the future of broadcast, it is also pushing the DTT network to its limit in certain areas to transmit 4K, using the DVBDASH profile to test transfer rates of up to 35Mbps.

Then there is the recent acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland by BSkyB, and its effective creation of a Sky Europe, to consider. All three broadcasters have conducted 4K trials in the past year.

Not only do the economies of scale make investing in 4K kit attractive — and it should be remembered that, in terms of programming budget, the new company’s £4.6 billion makes it Europe’s most powerful commissioning broadcaster — but it gives BSkyB’s Project 2016 set-top box development team a definite steer.

Project 2016 was already set to downplay — some reports even say ditch — satellite connectivity in

September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

BBC R&D engineers set up a UHD camera and capture system for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games favour of IP, as well as punting PVR functionality and a lot more besides into the cloud. Due to hit the market, as the name suggests, in 2016, it was always destined to be powered by an HEVC chipset, the only real unknown now being whether it will feature a hefty onboard drive as well to at least cache the many GBs of data a 4K movie will occupy.

There is though a growing body of opinion — and Sky Deutschland has been firmly in this camp in the past — that this current Phase 1 of UHD is neither the time nor the place for a major launch and that the industry is better off waiting for Phase 2 where the higher resolutions are joined by higher frame rates and higher dynamic range.

And this camp got a major boost when no less a body than the EBU published TR 028, EBU POLICY STATEMENT ON ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION (very much their caps) in mid-July

This went so far as to state that Phase 1 Ultra HD will “be of limited success in broadcasting”, and even that it would be better to add the higher framerate, dynamic range, improved audio etc to HD and “that an enhanced 1080p format be developed for broadcasting.”

Whether that will happen or not is open to question, but this is where you do see 4K peeping out through the gaps at IBC; as part of a debate over whether the timing is indeed right, whether people do indeed want it now; or whether we should be waiting until we can release a far more capable format zzzzzzzz the world.

Japanese broadcaster NHK, for one, isn’t waiting. While the three 4K matches from the World Cup grabbed the headlines, it quietly and efficiently captured and transmitted nine matches in 8K back to Japan. What is the length of 4K’s window of opportunity? Now that is a question that might keep those making decisions about the future of the business awake at night. Q

4K PROCESSING, STORAGE Rohde & Schwarz DVS has been offering systems for 4K processing in cinema post production since 2005. The R&S CLIPSTER mastering station processes 4K data in realtime.

It supports mezzanine formats such as AS-02 and AS-11 and can generate the necessary interoperable master format (IMF) packages up to 4K. R&S CLIPSTER also supports Dolby Atmos.

The R&S SpycerBox Cell is used to store the massive volumes of data in 4K or even 8K production environments. Thanks to the web-based SAN Remo management software, the devices can easily be configured in clusters.

The units feature 36 TB of storage and a maximum data throughput of 3 Gbps per unit in just one height unit. www.rohde-schwarz.com

EXHIBITIONS

Second Screen Seachange?

Second screen shoots, second screen scores, says Andy Stout

O

ne of the standard maxims about modern civilisation is that history tends to be written roughly 30 years after events have occurred. That is considered enough time for dust to have settled, wounds to have healed, axes to be buried, and all the other clichés that are associated with the process. In the broadcast industry, of course, that timeframe is shrunk by orders of magnitude. History tends to get written about six months after the event, just as we’re barrelling straight into the next potential disruptor.

So it’s still too early to say whether the FIFA World Cup definitively moved the goalposts when it comes to the second screen, but all the signs are that it probably did. While the tournament might not have had the ending and home victory that the unwritten Laws of Narrative demanded, the figures associated with everything to do with its online consumption are nothing short of astonishing.

Research firm Ovum estimated that the tournament will be available to a global viewership on 5.9 billion screens, with 57% of them being PCs, tablets or smartphones. Akamai worked with more than 50 broadcasters to stream live and ondemand video for all 64 matches to an array of connected devices across the world, and says that the NetherlandsArgentina World Cup semifinal traffic was the peak, with 6.9Tbps crossing its servers. Meanwhile, Twitter says that 672 million tweets were sent about the tournament, with 35 million alone sent during the already infamous Brazil vs Germany semi-final at a maximum of 580,000 tweets per minute. And FIFA says that its official FIFA app became the biggest sports event app of all time with a record 20 million downloads in just 26 days.

On the slightly less positive but still highly impressive side ViaccessOrca sent 3200 takedown notices to pirate sites during the 32 days via its

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At IBC Kaltura will launch a multiscreen Pay OTT TV service featuring advanced personalisation, monetisation and social functionality.

Eye on Piracy service, and it’s worth pointing out that FIFA rapidly stopped making celebratory announcements about figures after the group stages, suggesting that perhaps the latter part of the tournament didn’t meet up to the early expectations. But even halfway through, data traffic related to the tournament was roughly double that of London 2012. By the time we get to Rio 2016 it is highly likely that everything will have doubled again — at least.

SECOND SCREEN AT IBC So, where will second screen technology be by then? Well, judging by some of the technology on display at this year’s IBC, it will be a richer and more pervasive experience than ever. TV Everywhere is part of that and is, well, everywhere; the phrase cropping up in more manufacturer’s literature than ever before. That starts at the headend where the expectation now is for those units to enable the delivery of an increasingly broad spectrum of interactive services to consumers, folding in traditional broadcast, VoD, SVoD, high-speed Internet, HDTV (and soon Ultra HD), companion screen services and more. Customers, the argument goes, now expect added value from their services especially when it comes to pay-TV, and broadcasters who don’t provide them won’t be providing much of anything in the future.

Sync technology is improving all the time, enabling immersive second

September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

screen experiences to be linked in to increasingly time-shifted viewing habits, not to mention cueing up second screen advertising opportunities. And the social media giants are reaching out to broadcast too, trying to find new ways to integrate social and television into the oft-touted, but not yet fully realised social TV experience.

In fact, there’s a whole new show within a show at IBC dedicated to all of this technology in The IBC Connected World. And arguably matters become even more interesting once you take a detour to the area outside Hall 8 and the Future Zone. There, the likes of the Fraunhofer Institute and a dozen partners have turned their attention to imagining how converged web search and TV content might be experienced in the living room of the 2020s and come up with LinkedTV. Software scans the contents of a show prior to its broadcast via speech analysis and image processing for topic-related content from the web, allowing viewers to, for example, Google details of a painting on the wall behind a presenter.

So, the future is rosy, yes? Well, perhaps, there is the odd potential wrinkle ahead. Back in the days when broadcasters simply broadcasted, they tended to have control — or at least damn good visibility — of their distribution path. But, with the migration towards IP, now they are beholden to a range of companies and regulators far outside their control.

Two things really highlight this.

First, in the stampede towards an IPbased 4K rollout, few people seem to have realised how uncommon the bandwidths that can support even sustained HD streaming are. Google reckons that for an ISP to get one of its YouTube HD Verified ratings, it has to provide >2.5Mbps for 90% of a 30 day period and the number that can actually do that is surprisingly low.

In fact, according to Netflix (and we’ll use their figures here as they cover more countries at the moment) only around half of all US ISPs manage this.

The US average is, in fact, 2.33Mbps.

IBC host The Netherlands comes top of the table with 3.49Mbps, the UK manages 2.75Mbps and Costa Rica languishes at the bottom with 1.18Mbps. It’s not a pretty picture, and one that’s made worse when you realise that Netflix itself says that 15Mbps will be required for 4K. Then, there is the ongoing net neutrality debate to consider. It’s hard to know quite how vexed broadcasting execs must feel about that: one invests millions in providing online services that suddenly have the potential to be priced out of the reach of precisely all the people they are aimed at.

Maybe the history books of the future will be able to provide a cogent analysis of all that is going on at the moment and, in the same way that we can now see much Middle East conflict as being all about jockeying for finite energy resources, net neutrality will be seen as part of a larger conflict over who exactly has access to the world’s living rooms and minds.

Either way, the already impressive numbers regarding the second screen are only going to go one way. Globally, 48% of viewers engage in other digital activity while watching TV — screen stacking is the latest phrase to describe it — with that figure rising to 56% in the US and peaking at 79% in Japan. The battle to ensure that those eyeballs are watching synced in and tied in content at the same time is only just starting. Q

Q&A Vendor View: Chris Shaw, Cobalt Digital

Peer Profile: Liam Laminman, Trickbox TV

Expected tech trends: There will be much display of 4K (not so much 8K), but we are still very much on the starting line. IP routing and general use of IP will also be at the forefront, and file-base products will also be important. Multiscreen technology will be major.

New at IBC: Cobalt Digital will debut the 9970-QS 3G/HD/ SD-SDI/CVBS Quint-Split MultiImage Display Processor that provides an ideal solution for outside broadcast (OB) vehicles and production control rooms. A single processor is capable of autodetecting and displaying up to five independent 3G/HD/SD/Composite inputs and multiple processor cards can be cascaded to provide additional input source capacity.

Cobalt’s reputation for high-quality downconverters grows with the introduction of our Quad 3G-SDI 1080p 50/60Hz (UHDTV) to HD 50/60Hz or SD 50/60Hz. The card makes copies of the downconverted output to 3G/SDI/ HDMI, and features a timecode burn-in window and user defined character insertion. In addition, the new 9950-EMDE Embedder/De-Embedder will debut that provides multiple serial RS232/422 and GPIO to/from ancillary data insertion and extraction. An IP (RJ-45) I/O option is also available.

How many IBCs to date; any IBC trade show tips: I would estimate 25 or 26, maybe more. After so many years including Brighton it all becomes a blur. Good hydration and five hour energy drinks are vital. Oh yes! And that all necessary umbrella.

Describe your facility: We provide full broadcast and production services ranging from Outside Broadcast to Studio. We run Tower Bridge TV Studios – a HD multi-camera facility with wonderful views of Tower Bridge and the city skyline.

Expected tech trends: 4K and IP broadcast (plus a combination of the two) will be my main interest.

Biggest regional technical upgrade: As well as running studios, we also design and build them.

Upgrading our own studio from SD to HD was satisfying but ultimately inevitable as the client demand was so apparent.

To upgrade to 4K would be quite exciting. We’ve laid the ground work by investing in some backend 4K signal processing and routing equipment, plus we’ve purchased a handful of 4K cameras including the Panasonic DMC-GH4 and the Blackmagic URSA.

www.tvtechnology.com

MULTISCREEN & MORE The Comigo Multiscreen TV Platform transforms television viewing into a more personal, engaging, and social experience. The heart of Comigo’s multiscreen TV platform is a cloud-based back-end solution that is fully controlled by the operator. The back-end can be easily integrated into different client-based systems as well as into the operator’s existing systems.

As an optional advantage, Comigo also provides front-end solutions for smartphones, tablets, and SW solutions for Android-based STBs including STB hardware. Utilising Comigo’s technology, pay-TV operators can offer their TV service via a range of secondary devices, including smartphones and tablets. www.comigo.com

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Q&A Peer Profile: Tomaž Lovsin, STN, Slovenia

Vendor View, Jongil Kim, Media Excel Inc.

Briefly describe your facility: STN (Satellite Telecommunications Network) is a provider of solutions for broadcast over satellite. In addition to its cutting-edge facilities, STN is celebrated for its quality of services that include multiple solutions, satellites and platforms.

Expected tech trends: One of the top trends that I look forward to is the evolution of H.265 standard or High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), which is a video compression standard that is a successor to H.264/ MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding). I am particularly interested in the development progress of consumer-grade chips that will be put in the first generation of STBs and their price(s) since I believe that this will be the ultimate driver (or inhibitor) of 4K UHD (3840 pixels by 2160 lines ultrahigh definition television). It will also be “fun” to see where the compression vendors are with both the encoders and their professional IRDs. On the other hand, I am also interested to see how the infrastructure will change in preparation of the upcoming UHD standard. Will the industry remain on the good old and proven SDI interface and there will be no major changes in the infrastructure as such, apart from the new standard of course (3G-SDI replaced by 6G UHD-SDI or 12G UHDSDI)? Or will there be a shift from coax to fibre? Or a mixture between the two which will require hybrid solutions to be implemented?

All in all I am quite confident that IBC2014 will be primarily focused on 4K UHD when it comes to broadcasting. Only the future will tell whether the standard will be picked up by the industry and consumers, and 4K UHD will be the next-gen HDTV; or it will be a doomed attempt to win the consumers’ hearts to invest in yet another TV set, another STB, and another digital optical disc reader that will be capable of playing UHD content. We will see, but one thing is certain: the future is yet again “exciting.”

Biggest tech upgrade: The biggest technical upgrades that we have done at STN recently includes complete system NMS unification. By that I mean that every subsystem – be it receiving farm, compression headend, playout, or RF transmission – is now fully unified under one NMS umbrella.

This has been quite a challenge since the task involves many different components from many different vendors to somehow be put under one big, but easy to use, system that provides advanced end-to-end video signal path and QoE monitoring.

The system monitors thousands of channels and devices, using rich graphical representations of the signal path and intelligent alarms management. This so-called ‘monitor by exception’ allows us to focus on specific areas that require attention and thus enables STN to be proactive in delivering quality service while reducing mean time to repair.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: That would be The Oyster Club located on Olympisch Stadion 35, Amsterdam. What can I say; I have a soft spot when it comes to oysters and/or sushi (or both as in the case of this particular restaurant).

Expected tech trends: IBC has always been at the forefront of new technologies and trends, include HEVC and UHD TV. Fueled by the demand for higher video quality, resolution and transport efficiency, this year you will see HEVC featured in several trials and deployments across the globe, in actual real world applications, which is very exciting. MPEG-DASH and UHD TV further contribute to HEVC adoption and together enable compiling workflows in both unicast/ OTT and broadcast (eMBMS/LTE) mobile video delivery.

You’ll also see hybrid video processing solutions that take advantage of ground, virtualised and cloud based infrastructures that help align service demand with OPEX and enable operators to confidently and seamlessly balance operating challenges and SLAs. This will also improve commercial adoption.

New at IBC: HERO HEVC Live encoder: A production-ready HEVC Live encoder for up to 4K P60/UHD video with the industry’s highest video quality, reliability and compliance. With the smallest rack and power consumption footprints, HERO HEVC continues Media Excel’s leadership in highly-reliable encoding/transcoding solutions to power high-profile UHD services globally.

We’ll also show the HERO Cloud Live/VoD encoder/transcoder: A highly versatile software encoding solution for Live and VoD services on the ground, virtual and cloud infrastructure. Enhanced with a multitude of packet loss-free ingest options, HERO Cloud continues to deliver exceptional value, QoS and agility to operators and content owners such as AT&T, RTL and CNN. Initial thoughts on 4K/8K: Operators are seriously considering UHD/4K based services, more seriously than even a few months ago, especially for high-end event-based content. Reliability and compliance are two key features required for such services and HERO HEVC has demonstrated both at various shoot-outs across the globe. We’ll be sharing more about this at IBC. 8K workflows are starting to enter POC trials mainly driven by the Olympic Games in Japan in 2020.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: The Dutch are world citizens, and their food reflects many influences. The best Italian food I’ve ever had is in Amsterdam, for example. For fabulous food, go slightly off the tourist route and visit Razmataz near the Jordaan district for pan-European Dutch inspired food, in a jovial atmosphere. And, while not gourmet in any sense, eat Bitterballen at any bar. You can’t much more Dutch than this, and you’ll crave these until IBC 2015.

How many IBCs to date; any IBC trade show tips: IBC has been a must see event for too many years to count! Wear the best shoes possible, and in Amsterdam, always carry an umbrella. Maybe two.

WAVEFORM, 4K OmniTek’s latest OTM and OTR waveform analysis and signal generation systems offer everything from an entrylevel SD/HD waveform, vectorscope gamut and video status monitor through to a full specification waveform analyser capable of handling the latest 2K video standards, all on the same platform. This is achieved through licence options providing, for example, support for digital cinema through the addition of XYZ colour space, gamut histograms and a CIE Chart drawing facility.

Also new is the OmniTek Ultra 4K Tool Box, a small box packed with features for the analysis, display, conversion and generation of signals up to 4K/60p. The 4K Tool Box supports all current and anticipated 4K video formats up to 4096 x 2160/60p and has ports supporting a wide variety of connection formats – multi-rate SDI (including dual 6G and quad 3G for 4K/60), HDMI and Display Port – for both video source and display. The Tool Box can either be controlled via the HDMI port or from a web browser. www.omnitek.tv

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Conference Highlight, Thierry Fautier, Harmonic UltraHD (UHDTV) for broadcast television is starting to gain traction around the world through a number of major trials, which started in 2013 and will extend throughout 2014. These included the Sochi Winter Olympics in February and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Meanwhile, efforts are underway within the EBU/DVB to specify the key parameters for broadcast Ultra HD applications, in terms of frame rate, bit depth and colourimetry. In addition, HDMI and MovieLabs are driving a new video specification for VoD movies as well as security and interface requirements to enable endto-end delivery of premium Ultra HD content.

The caveat: Most of the broadcast networks are not ready for UHDTV, however, and are still in the preliminary stages of determining the best way forward. Over-the-top (OTT) delivery is expected to be the first UHDTV service deployed.

My paper will review some of the roadblocks that lay ahead for UHDTV adoption, and will also outline the services that can be enabled in 2014, with a close look at the available technologies, including production, playout, encoding, networking, playback and display.

The session is called Ultra High Definition TV – The Latest Technologies, and is produced in association with ETSI on Sunday, 14 September, 8-10 am.

IBC Product Preview From production to transmission, equipment is changing rapidly to meet the needs of an evolving industry. But with more than 1,000 exhibitors on hand, how do you see who – and what – you need to?

The following section previews some of the hottest products that can be found on the IBC floor. While this only begins to scratch the surface, we urge you to stop by the stands for a demo and more detailed information from the manufacturers.

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PRODUCT PREVIEW

Videssence “Fresnels” – New Look – New Sizes!

The Vidnel family expands with new compact versions and a branding facelift. Fresh new shapes with a sleek silver and black finish herald changes inside and out. These formidable LED Fresnel luminaires, deliver tungsten performance with extremely powerful LED packages that boast amazing color at 96+ CRI. The 50 and 100 watt Vidnels and the Little Vid LV050-F provide the single shadow and focusing characteristics essential to Fresnel fixtures while using a fraction of the power of tungsten units. They deliver a soft directional beam of adjustable light and have flicker-free dimming without color shift. A manual slide bar at the side of the fixture focuses the beam and locks in place. Simple controls at the

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back allow easy programming for DMX control or dimming. Vidnels are provided standard with c-clamp or stand adapter and power cord with powerCON locking connector for power input. The 100 watt units also provide powerCON out-put connectors to allow daisy-chain connection in succession.

New light weight Little Vids with compact 6-1/2” x 6” housings allow easy handling in tight quarters. They are provided with 12’ cord to a remote driver box allowing easy programming for dimming or DMX control. The LV050 Little Vid has a stationary beam and permanent barn doors to shield or focus the light intensity, while the LV050-F allows beam adjustment and has optional accessories. Both deliver a soft directional beam with single shadow performance.

The entire family is designed with passive heat dissipation design that delivers ultra quiet operation.

Patent pending DMX design shuts off power to the driver and LED when dimmed to ZERO to conserve the life of expendable components and

eliminate the need for external relay or power cut off. Units are available in tungsten and daylight.

Come see these amazing luminaires at the Videssence IBC Stand. Q

Contact: IBC Stand #11.B12

Contact: Videssence 10768 Lower Azusa Road El Monte, CA 91731 USA T: +1-626-579-0943 F: +1-626-579-6803 W: www.videssence.tv

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PRODUCT PREVIEW

Versatility, Scalability, Flexibility: Driving the Demand for Hybrid Video Platforms Nikos Kyriopoulos, Director of Product Management Video anywhere, any time, any content. Operators are driven by the need to retain customers and the allure of new revenue. Consumers are now addicted to quality content, when they want it, on any device they carry. Ultimately, both will benefit from this evolution, but operators face short term challenges managing the architecture required to meet the new demands.

Video service providers, which include the traditional providers who have always had access to content, but need to distribute it in new ways, now compete with new entrants, including mobile carriers, ISPs, online and big box retailers and more.

To counter this competitive pressure, operators must stay agile.

Juggling Complex Consumption Patterns Means Multiple Architectures and the Need for Flexibility.

With changes to consumption models come challenges on how to manage, monitor and navigate services across the cloud, ground and virtual architectures. Traditional ground based architecture, operating 24x7, makes good sense for operators with installed infrastructure or in circumstances where content is locally available. Virtual operations, running on a hypervisor or commercial cloud infrastructure, allow the recycling of IT equipment for a variety of services and can be re-purposed fairly quickly, but generally command a substantial OPEX, possibly diminishing the ROI of the service. Cloud based services make the most sense for seasonal or unscheduled peaks of demand, and can be scaled very quickly without a CAPEX hit. While delivering better SLAs, due to implied redundancy, operators are asked to give up some operational control. Current pricing models for cloud transcoding are prohibitively expensive and unpredictable, and owing a “private cloud” cost prohibitive. Additionally, most cloud transcoding services do not offer a reliable way of ingesting live feeds as those are generally much more challenging and demanding compared to VoD ones.

Given the advantages and disadvantages of each workflow, operators have to manage services across the three architectures. Switching from one to another requires reconfiguration of services and options, as typically different products and platforms are involved in each case. Feature parity and seamless monitoring and migration are essential, but rare.

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and virtual environments. We provide both a carrier grade chassis and a cloud based virtual appliance.

With our HMS (HERO Network Management System), operators get full visibility, configuration and control from a central location for all those different workflows. HERO Cloud offers packet loss free ingest with SMPTE 2022/Pro-MPEG FEC as well as HLS and RTMP ingest over HTTP/TCP with native error-correction. Finally, our pricing model empowers operators to take full advantage of the potential of cloud services without imposing additional OPEX headaches.

HERO delivers high-profile services with operators worldwide, including RTL, Orange, NFL, NBA, MTV, Vevo, Korea Telecom, AT&T, Verizon, Level3, QuickPlay, MobiTV and more. Contact us at events@mediaexcel.com to set up an appointment at IBC, on stand 14.D27. Q Nikos Kyriopoulos HOW MEDIA EXCEL ADDRESSES THIS COMPLEXITY Media Excel’s HERO product line helps operators meet evolving video production and consumption patterns. The HERO product line combines an encoding engine for H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, native support for all adaptive technologies (including MPEG-DASH), and a broad ecosystem of DRM, CDN and ad serving integration partnerships.

HERO enables live and video on demand transcoding services from sub-VGA to 4K/UHD, from MPEG-2 to AVC and HEVC, in ground, cloud

Contact: Come visit Media Excel at IBC stand # 14.D27

Contact: 8834 N. Capital of Texas Hwy. Suite 270 Austin, TX 78759 USA T: +1 512 502 0034 W: www.mediaexcel.com

PRODUCT PREVIEW

Harmonic at IBC2014

Harmonic Makes Future of Video a Reality With Cutting-Edge Broadcast and Multiscreen Solutions at IBC2014

At IBC2014, Harmonic will demonstrate a variety of technologies and solutions that are set to transform video production and delivery in the broadcast, cable, and multiscreen environments. From virtualized video infrastructures to Ultra HD encoding and delivery, Harmonic’s solutions enable operators to deploy lower-cost, flexible video architectures and maximize the value of their existing bandwidth with pristine video and new revenue-generating services.

For virtualised video infrastructures, Harmonic will showcase new capabilities for VOS™, a software-based media-processing architecture that unifies the entire media processing chain, for broadcast and multiscreen. By enabling the key functions of video delivery infrastructure —

including ingest, compression, graphics and branding, packaging and delivery — to exist on common hardware platforms, the VOS architecture leverages IT economics to provide content and service providers with the ability to simplify workflows, maximise flexibility, gain operational efficiency, and lower their total cost of ownership (TCO). VOS also gives users the ability to deliver superior SD, HD and Ultra HD video to any device, from big-screen TVs to smartphones, with industry-leading video quality and up to 30 percent greater efficiency than current hardware-based systems. At IBC Harmonic will also show the initial product based on VOS, the Electra™ XVM virtualised media processor, the industry’s first software-based, broadcast-ready media processing platform.

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For contribution and distribution, Harmonic will show an expanded Ellipse® 3000 family of contribution encoders for digital satellite newsgathering (DSNG) and fixed contribution applications. The new Ellipse 3102 and Ellipse 3202 contribution encoders offer a range of advanced capabilities, including 4:2:2 10-bit encoding of 1080p60 content and dual power supplies, bringing increased video quality and reliability to the broadcast contribution market. The Ellipse 3202 is the industry’s first DSNG encoder with an integrated modulator that supports both the new DVB Carrier ID (DVB-CID) standard for reducing interference between satellite signals, and the new DVB-S2X specification for improving performance of DVB-S2 satellite digital broadcasting.

For storage and playout, Harmonic will show new developments to the company’s Spectrum™

media server product line. Highlights include Spectrum MediaCenter™ system now supports 20 channels and up to 32 TB of integrated SAS storage in a compact 2-RU enclosure, and the Spectrum ChannelPort™ integrated channel playout and MediaDeck™ server systems provide improved caption support, monitoring and scheduling capabilities, and integrated management tools.

There will also be a special demonstration of collaborative and 4K editing on the Harmonic MediaGrid shared storage system.

As the industry’s leading provider of pay TV encoders, broadcast playout servers, IPTV headends, and cable edgeQAMs, Harmonic provides broadcasters with the most comprehensive solution for preparing and delivering high-quality video content to a wide range of viewing devices. Q

Contact: Come and visit us on the Harmonic stand # 1.B20

Contact:

Further information about Harmonic and the company’s products is available at www.harmonicinc.com Harmonic Address: 4300 North First Street San Jose, CA 95134 USA

PRODUCT PREVIEW

Cobalt Digital Credits Customers for Inspiration User Input Drives Manufacturer to Launch Record-Breaking Number of Products at IBC 2014

Cobalt Digital is rolling out a record-breaking number of products at this year’s IBC and are thanking their customers for inspiration. The manufacturer of award-winning 3G/HD/SD-SDI conversion gear credits strong relationships with clients and excellent listening skills as the motivation behind much of the Company’s R&D. “At Cobalt, our development and subsequent product launches are frequently derived directly from the challenges our customers encounter in their daily operations,” says Chris Shaw, executive vice president sales & marketing. “We’re thrilled to respond with reasonably priced solutions that target exactly what they need to keep them technically advanced and financially sound.”

QUINT-SPLIT: A LOT TO LOOK AT One of the most requested solutions for OB units and control rooms has been for a multi-function, multi-image single display processor capable of detecting and displaying multiple inputs. Cobalt responded with the new 9970-QS Quint Split for openGear® format designed for sports, live events or entertainment production. This unit provides five SDI inputs (3G/HD/SD), all with frame sync and independent ARC capability. By cascading additional cards the 9970-QS enables multiple PiP muxing on a single monitor. The intuitive control and configuration via Dashboard™ GUI provides ease of operation. Cobalt Digital also offers a standalone unit in the Blue Box Group™ range, the BBG-1070-QS, providing identical capabilities in a single unit.

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DO NOT LET THE NEXT SIGNAL TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE! Because live only happens once there can be no room for error.

In any live event, especially sports, the engineering team never knows what signal format will be received, so they MUST be prepared for every possibility. The Cobalt 9902-UDX Up-Down-Cross Converter/Framesync with auto-changeover and character burn provides a high-density card-based solution offering unprecedented multi-input support, flexibility, ease-of-use and integration. Up to 20 of these openGear cards can be installed in a 20-slot HPF-9000 or OG-3 frame.

AND NOW FOR 4K!!!!

Cobalt’s reputation for high-quality conversion products, whether cross conversion, or up-converters grows with the introduction of the 9902 Quad 3G-SDI 1080p 50/60Hz (UHDTV) to HD 50/60Hz or SD 50/60Hz Down Converter and UDX units. Both of these units are provided in openGear frame format.

The 9902-DC-4K UHDTV high quality down converter makes copies of the down converted output to 3G/SDI/HDMI, and features a Timecode burn-in window and user defined character insertion.

Both the down converter and UDX units are also available as 1/3 rack size BBG units (BBG-1002-

DC-4K and BBG-1002-UDX). Three of these units (or a mixture of) can be installed on a single rack shelf.

AND… Other examples of Cobalt Digital technology include an extensive range of fibre Rx/Tx, MADI Embedder/De-Embedder, Timecode inserter and Burn, MPEG-4 Encoding/Transcoding), Dolby® Transcoding, Loudness Processing, Audio Embed/ De-embed, all necessary Audio and Video Distribution Amplifiers and much more!

Contact: Come and visit us in Hall 10 Stand # 10.B44

Contact:

Cobalt Digital Inc. 2406 E. University Avenue Urbana, IL 61802 W: www.cobaltdigital.com Sales@cobaltdigital.com

PRODUCT PREVIEW

Comrex Comrex LiveShot™ delivers live video and audio over a range of IP networks. In addition to sending live remote video and audio to the station for broadcast, LiveShot features return video, two IFB channels and two way-comms – all in 3lb package about the size of a camera battery.

LiveShot is used by TV stations and networks to deliver high quality, low latency video from anywhere Internet access is available, ideal for ENG. LiveShot leverages the success of Comrex ACCESS audio IP codecs and uses the same technology to smooth out the “bumps” on the public Internet to allow broadcast-quality live video and audio streaming. LiveShot is especially optimised to perform well on challenging IP networks like 3G, 4G and satellite-based links.

LiveShot encodes and decodes video to the H.264 codec standard, which is the state-of-the art codec for high quality video using low network bandwidth. But not

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and LiveShot shows it. In addition to standard AAC audio coding, LiveShot utilises HE-AAC and AAC-ELD audio coding, both reducing network bandwidth and lowering delay.

LiveShot can encode and decode an audio/ video stream with less than 200mS delay. Delay may be higher based on encoding mode and network factors. LiveShot uses an automatic decoder buffer manager to keep delay to an absolute minimum. This technology was perfected over years of experience with the BRIC series of audio codecs. Q all H.264 encoders are alike. Within the standard, several lesser-quality profiles are available to conserve processing power. For optimal video quality, LiveShot encodes with H.264 HIGH profile. Several other options within the H.264 standard, many of which are not implemented by competing products due to complexity, are default in LiveShot. All H.264 options that maximise quality over poor networks and decrease latency are implemented.

Comrex has years of experience encoding live, low latency audio over IP networks for broadcast,

Contact: Come and visit us on the Comrex stand # 3.A48

Contact:

Comrex Corporation 19 Pine Road Devens, MA 01434, USA T: +1 978 784 1776 F:+1 978 784 1717 W: www.comrex.com

Q&A Vendor View, Simen Frostad, Bridge Technologies

Vendor View, Rich Redmond, GatesAir

Expected tech trends: The trends we’re interested in are the H.265/HEVC standard and the accelerating momentum behind OTT implementations, together with the recently finalised DVB-UHDTV Phase 1 standard for TS transport of media. As it reaches a higher plateau of technical maturity, OTT is becoming much better integrated into mainstream operations, and broadcasters want a seamless monitoring experience for both.

New at IBC: We have a great range of announcements at IBC. There’s a superb integration of OTT monitoring into the VB288 Objective QoE Content Extractor with full H.265/HEVC support, new ASI and terrestrial products in our Intelligent Switch series, and L-Band and IF versions of our satellite switch. There will also be a new version of our system software with some important additional features.

Initial thoughts on 4K/8K: Interest is keen. It offers more real value and the prospect of lasting traction in the market, unlike some other recent attempts to create value through slightly gimmicky innovations. There’s wide spread interest also in 4K for OTT services.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: The Wyndham Apollo hotel has a great terrace overlooking a junction of canals, where you can unwind after the show and before the evening action kicks off.

How many IBCs: We’ve been going to IBC every year since the 1980s.

I don’t like to think how many that adds up to.

Any IBC trade show tips: My advice is to have the best possible pair of shoes, preferably bespoke handmade shoes; they make an incredible difference.

Expected Tech Trends: Conversion to digital and HD operations will be front and centre.

For over-the-air transmission specifically, high-efficiency green operations and advanced delivery methods will be major topics. We do expect that our US customers visiting will be interested in talking about the spectrum repack, and we also think that international broadcasters will be watching that closely as they prepare for potential initiatives of a similar nature in the future.

New at IBC: All of what we are showing ties to our central message of over-the-air efficiency, and providing the lowest total cost of ownership for our customers. Rising operational costs, driven by skyrocketing energy bills and carbon taxes, are a global issue impacting broadcasters and network operators. Our transmitters, for example, are built using our PowerSmart 3D high-efficiency designs, which enable reduced costs associated with monthly energy bills, cooling systems, rental space and ongoing maintenance.

We’ll introduce a series of new transport and delivery products for over-the-air TV and radio. On the transport side, optimisation of the transport network is a key piece of the efficiency puzzle, as broadcasters increasingly look to IP networks to reliably move content between many sites, and transitioning from more expensive TDM networks. We’ll introduce Intraplex LiveLook for broadcasters using our IP Link codecs, for the purpose of providing greater visibility into network performance associated with IP audio transport between one or more points. Intelligent networking tools like LiveLook, as well as enhanced standards-based interoperability for contribution and distribution across our IP Link range, will enable broadcasters to establish redundant IP streams, support multiple algorithms and gain greater visibility into network performance.

On the delivery side, we’ll introduce a series of new low-power and gap filler transmitters, and also demonstrate LTE mobile offload using our Maxiva transmitters. The DVB-T2 broadcast standard affords an intriguing opportunity for interoperability of television and LTE networks.

This mobile offload technology allows television and LTE broadcasting over the same spectrum and infrastructure to help solve network capacity challenges. Mobile service providers and broadcasters/Network operators both benefit from lower delivery costs and new revenue opportunities as consumers continue to demand a TV everywhere consumption model.

Initial thoughts on 4K and even 8K: Customers are interested in planning for broadcast of 4K and 8K, and are looking to higher capacity modulations to enable the delivery of these services. To that end they are looking for highly efficient transmission solutions that have low total cost of ownership, with software upgradability to allow for 4/8k transmission on their timetables. That is a key benefit of our Maxiva transmitter platform using the DVB-T2 standard.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: The Old Bell on Rembrandtplein is one of my favourite places to catch-up with old friends from around the world.

NEW KVM, INCLUDING 4K The new ADDERLink Infinity 1002 is a new single link, single head, digital KVM extender which includes an additional fibre module that offers dual network redundancy and performance.

The new Adder CCS-PRO4 is a professional KVM switch for the use and control of multiple systems and screens from a single keyboard and mouse. It is ideal for deployment in post-production and control environments. ADDERLink X-DVI Pro DL is a dual link, point to point, DVI, USB and audio extender. It is a plug and play device including transparent USB and 2560x1600 video performance over 50 metres.

Adder will also show its 4K capabilities with the newly upgraded ADDERLink XD522 DisplayPort extender, as well as the latest firmware upgrade (version 3.3) of the ADDERLink Infinity, which features faster switching, presentation switching, security enhancements and a guaranteed 60 frames per second performance. www.adder.com

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Q&A Vendor View, Ronen Artman, LiveU Expected tech trends: I think that we’ll see continued developments in the cellular uplinking space in terms of both form factor and signal robustness. They are the key requirements – both from broadcasters and online media – and it’s something that we are constantly innovating to achieve; our LU500 is a prime example of that.

The dynamic live and as-live coverage that this technology facilitates was demonstrated again at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, allowing a far more rounded viewer experience that provides a real flavour of events, be they sporting or news.

New at IBC: As mentioned above, it’s the combination of efficient form factor while constantly improving signal robustness that continues to drive innovation in this sector. We can’t say too much at this stage but LiveU has never disappointed at a trade show before and IBC 2014 will be no different!

We also continue to evolve our overall service proposition. We now have such a range of technology, from smartphone apps up to the LU500, combined with our LiveU Central unified management system for easy preview and remote control, that we can provide a solution that’s tailored precisely to a customer’s needs.

Initial thoughts on 4K/8K: We are already seeing that the price for 4K televisions has dipped below US$1,000 dollars, making them affordable to (some) consumers. But having the viewing technology at home isn’t enough. Broadcasters have to be able to send 4K signals through their networks and that technology step is some time away before it’s the norm.

I do believe that 4K – and even 8K – is the future that will eventually become a standard, but the reality is that for most broadcasters it will take longer than projected. LiveU is looking closely at the latest development in this space and will be ready to support the technology and its customers when needed.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: Café De Klos.

Best trade show tip: Make sure you invest in good carpeting in your booth and wear comfortable shoes.

NEW CAMERA, END-TO-END 2K, 4K & HFR WORKFLOW AJA Video Systems will be exhibiting at IBC 2014, highlighting the latest in its line of capture cards, digital recording devices, video routers, frame synchronizers, scalers and converters. New at IBC will be the company’s new 4K/UHD/2K/HD professional camera, CION. AJA’s IBC products will be showcased in end-to-end HD, 2K, 4K and HFR 4K workflow demonstrations applicable to content creators in film, broadcast, streaming and AV markets.

Along with CION, new products showcased at IBC will include LUT-box, the mini-converter enabling monitors to display accurate colour space for precise colour and look management, and the top-of-the-line KONA 4 professional desktop video and audio I/O card supporting SD, HD, 2K, 4K and HFR 4K up to 60p for ultimate workflow flexibility. The FS1-X single rack-mount frame synchronizer designed to match up disparate audio and video formats in broadcast, mobile and post environments, will also be on display with additional new features introduced at IBC, along with demos of AJA’s powerful real-time broadcast scaling technology, delivering pristine HD streams from 4K sources. www.aja.com

Vendor View, James Eddershaw, Shotoku Broadcast Systems Expected tech trends: Multi-platform content, 4K/8K formats will no doubt continue to be high profile discussion points. However, I always find IBC covers such a wide range of market segments and technology disciplines that almost every hall has a “hot topic”, which is actually more relevant to the companies on the show floor.

New at IBC: We’ll be showing some very interesting new developments across our range of robotic camera systems. New and enhanced control systems and for the first time in Europe, our latest rail camera system SmartTrack; ideal for ceiling or floor use.

Thoughts on 4K/8K: The 4K and 8K trends do not specifically impact the robotics systems or camera supports. However, the longstanding trend to high (and ultra-high) definition quality, right through to the consumer, raises the general “production quality” expectation for the viewer – making it more important than ever to provide precise, smooth, on-air camera movements. In addition, resolutions of position tracking data in VR and AR productions need to stay in line with the ever increasing resolutions of the new formats.

Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: This changes every year but the old favourite bars would be the Het Elfde Gebod in Zeedijk, Caf‚ Cuba on Nieuwmarkt, or the more up-market D’Vijff Vlieghen restaurant.

How many IBCs for you, and what’s best trade show tip: Not exactly sure, but I started at the final Brighton IBC, so more than 20 certainly. Tip: Smile!

NEWSROOM, SCRIPTING & HIGHLY LOCALISED BROADCAST At IBC 2014, aQ Broadcast will feature its full range, including Newsroom and Scripting software. QNews is a newsroom computer system that provides script and rundown management as well as newsroom automation. It supports every type of environment from large national broadcasters to small, two-user systems. Also available is QNet, a networked scripting solution that offers unique, multi-user, multicolumn script production tools, including shot locks, cut lines, scene numbering, camera cards, flexible formatting and optional prompting.

Transmission Automation and Media Management software on show will include QTx, which provides station automation based on the same database and client system as QNews. It provides a very cost-effective solution in environments where output consists of both live and pre-recorded content.

QMedia is media management software that will be shown. It provides over-arching media management functionality, including ingest, review, deletion, transfer, proxy handling, including archive and restore handling.

The company also sells hardware, including the aVS Video Server range of modular video servers which scale from an entry-level, two-output unit up to large, flexible and redundant Storage and Port solutions. aVS firmware options will also be on stand. New options are now available for a wide range of features, including marking, sub-clipping, conforming, transcoding, streaming, transferring and delay looping.

Finally, the aPS Production Suite is a complete multi-user solution, an integrated production system that combines many of the discreet components from a typical studio workflow into a single cost-effective system to enable users to create a complete, scripted television production.

The company will also showcase its integrated solution for regional broadcasters, with particular relevance to the new Local TV sector in the UK. www.aq-broadcast.com

iPHONE WIRED PROMPTING CONTROL picoPrompt offers a solution suitable for live breaking news in challenging situations where it may not be practicable to take and rig a full prompting system. Recently used in many difficult situations both in the UK and abroad, picoPrompt, running on any iDevice, offers an Apple MFi certified accessory to provide a wired hand control. No connections need to be set up, the system is plug-in-and-go, giving an instant, reliable, connection using a rotary knob to control the rate of scroll.

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The system eliminates the worry about a Bluetooth or WiFi connection dropping out. Use it linked to Autoscript’s WinPlus News software , WinPlus Remote, using 3G or WiFi over an FTP connection, and scripts and updates can be automatically uploaded to a remote picoPrompt prompting device anywhere in the world. www.allaboutprompting.com www.telepromptingtechniques.com

Q&A Vendor View: Chris Crump, Comrex Corporation Expected tech trends: There will certainly be no shortage of apps for iPhone and Android on the stand of every vendor at the show. There is nothing more “front-and-centre” in our lives (both personal and professional) than the smartphone. There is even a 4K phone on the market now that further makes the point. IP is at the centre of what Comrex does and like many of our fellow vendors, we are working to leverage the widely deployed IP infrastructure throughout the world to help broadcasters create better content. IP, VoIP and IP ENG certainly dominate our product line up and will continue to dominate the landscape of this show.

What’s new: WebRTC is a very interesting technology that we have integrated into our STAC VIP Phone system that we demonstrate for delegates who visit our stand. It provides some very interesting functionality for broadcasters interested in improving the quality of their audio contribution from phone callers be they expert guests or contributors in the field.

Our LiveShot Video IP codec features some significant feature enhancements including the ability to use multiple USB modems with our new LiveShot USB Hub. Favourite bar, pub or restaurant in Amsterdam: My new favourite place to hang is De NachtWacht. It has a very relaxed 70s feel and really good food. There’s a good chance you find me there with some colleagues and customers after the show.

How many IBCs, best trade show tip: I’ve been to several IBCs over the years but I’m not a regular. But the one thing I try to never be without at any tradeshow is a good supply of breath mints. It makes visiting our booth so much more enjoyable for our customers!

QUINT SPLIT MULTI-IMAGE Cobalt Digital will debut the 9970-QS 3G/HD/SD-SDI/CVBS Quint-Split Multi-Image Display Processor. A single processor is capable of auto-detecting and displaying up to five independent 3G/HD/SD/Composite inputs and multiple processor cards can be cascaded to provide additional input source capacity. An Ethernet-based GUI control enables intuitive set-up of video windows and advanced on-screen graphics, and a simultaneous display output over SDI and HDMI supports flexible system design and easy integration. The 9970-QS is ideal for outside broadcast vehicles and production control rooms. www.cobaltdigital.com

FUTURE IT INFRASTRUCTURES ATTO Technology will use IBC to display a broad portfolio of solutions to support the ever-increasing demands of higher resolutions, multiple formats and full integration with a company’s IT infrastructure to create and monetise content.

A live demo at ATTO’s booth will highlight MultiPath Director, a feature found in Celerity HBAs that allows Linux, Mac and Windows workstations and servers and will be shown through an HP Z420 desktop workstation connected to ATTO’s Celerity 16 Gb Fibre Channel 164E & FibreConnect 1612 directly to Dot Hill, Net App and Quantum storage.

A second demo planned for IBC 2014 will showcase ATTO’s ThunderLink FC 2162, a Thunderbolt 2 desktop device that connects Thunderbolt-enabled laptops and workstations to a Fibre Channel SAN. In this demo, an HP ZBook Mobile Workstation running Avid Media Composer 8 will Stream 4K video supplied by RED over a Thunderbolt link to a 4K display. At the same time, it will provide LTFS backup via Thunderbolt ThunderLink SH 1068 to an HP Ultrium SAS tape drive.

ATTO will also introduce its new FibreBridge 7500 Storage Controller.

In addition to bringing 16 Gb Fibre Channel SAN connectivity and hardware-based data acceleration to low-cost SAS SSD and HDD storage, the FibreBridge 7500 enables multisite clustering. www.attotech.com

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

NETWORKED AUDIO CONSOLE FOR MODERN TV PRODUCTION At IBC Wheatstone will showcase its large-format, networked digital audio console. The new Dimension Three TV audio mixing desk combines capabilities such as I/O layering and profiling of channels into any configuration on the surface with unlimited access of sources, from anywhere and in any format from the network.

Unlike traditional broadcast mixing consoles with all sources wired to the board, the new Dimension Three puts mixing, I/O and processing where a modern network puts them: in a separate network unit unrestricted by tight spaces and limited access. With all I/O managed through a separate rack unit, the Dimension Three has no limitations with fixed connection points on the console chassis itself. Any channel can connect to any audio source, using any preferred audio format at any time, whether it’s HD/SDI, AES, MADI, AoIP, Analogue or TDM. www.wheatstone.com

DSNG SUPPORT FOR DVB-S2X, DVB-CID; VIRTUALISED VIDEO INFRASTRUCTURE Harmonic has recently announced that it has expanded the Ellipse 3000 family of contribution encoders for DSNG and fixed contribution applications. The new Ellipse 3102 and Ellipse 3202 contribution encoders – which will be shown at IBC – offer a range of advanced capabilities, including 4:2:2 10-bit encoding of 1080p60 content and dual power supplies, bringing increased video quality and reliability to the broadcast contribution market. The Ellipse 3202 is the industry’s first DSNG encoder with an integrated modulator that supports both the new DVB Carrier ID (DVB-CID) standard for reducing interference between satellite signals, and the new DVB-S2X specification for improving performance of DVB-S2 satellite digital broadcasting.

A virtualised video infrastructure featuring the new Harmonic VOS architecture will also figure on the IBC stand. This extensible platform enables virtualized media processing, such as Harmonic’s new Electra XVM integrated software package, a software-based, fully converged, broadcastready media processing platform. Integrating real-time encoding, highquality branding and graphics, and transport stream playout for broadcast and multiscreen services, Electra XVM offers users function integration, increased operational flexibility, and unlimited scalability. www.harmonicinc.com

ALL-ENCOMPASSING ON-PREMISE & CLOUD VIDEO DELIVERY INFRASTRUCTURE At IBC2014, Thomson Video Networks will unveil its new strategy for an all-encompassing video delivery infrastructure that mixes on-premises and cloud-based resources to support traditional live broadcasts over cable, DTH, and DTTV as well as IPTV and OTT on multiple devices. Designed for traditional as well as new-media broadcasters and pay-TV operators, this compelling new approach leverages Thomson Video Networks compression solutions to provide encoding of high-value content as well as high-density compression of long-tail content.

One IBC highlight will be a demo of an UHD playout system built on the emerging HEVC compression standard. Powered by the ViBE VS7000 HEVC encoder and the Sapphire MPEG stream server, this design has already been successfully deployed by major global satellite operators to provide a rich UHDTV picture at up to 60 FPS and in 10-bit colour. Thomson Video Networks will also display premium HEVC UHD content protection using watermarking technology as mandated by the MovieLabs consortium. www.thomson-networks.com

MARKETPLACE MULTIPLATFORM, IP, CLOUD & 4K Grass Valley says it wants to help broadcasters create, automate and deliver content across multiple platforms to a growing number of connected devices; open up new revenue opportunities and create efficiencies with IP, cloudenabled and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions; and increase the quality of their content with higher frame-rate support and efficient delivery of UHDTV/4K. A number of new solutions will be demonstrated for the first time to the EMEA market including: t 5IF -%9 9USFNF4QFFE -%9 94

camera with the K2 Dyno Replay 4ZTUFN 5IF -%9 94 DBNFSBT XJMM be demonstrated in tandem with the K2 Dyno, which now includes the AnySpeed dynamic playback algorithm for smooth playback at any speed GSPN [FSP UP QFSDFOU BOE BMM TQFFE USBOTJUJPOT GPS 9 9 9 VMUSB slow-motion playout. t /7*4*0/ *1 (BUFXBZ JOQVU PVUQVU DBSET GPS UIF /7*4*0/ hybrid router series are a major step forward for broadcasters as they look to transition their facilities from SDI to IP infrastructures. t (7 453"564 1MBZPVU B DMPVE FOBCMFE 4PGUXBSF BT B 4FSWJDF 4BB4

playout technology that combines the efficiency and flexibility of true cloud computing with the performance and reliability of a solid-state playout server on a single card. www.grassvalley.com

4K SUBTITLING; SCRIPT EXTRACTOR; AUDIO DESCRIPTION; END-TO-END HBBTV Screen’s 1RU platform used CZ UIF 1PMJTUSFBN#-"$, system supports the full range of Polistream interface cards, providing a flexible, broad range of configurations using a minimum number of platforms. The system now uses DVB Bitmaps at sub-pixel level to generate high quality subtitles and the decoder technology is in place for producing them in 4K. Also new from Screen is the WinCAPS Script Extractor for subtitling or dubbing customers who rely on using scripts to increase their productivity. This product extracts ‘useful payload’ such as speaker identification labels, dialogue, timecodes or feet-and-frames, scene boundaries, and onscreen captions and explanations, to assist translation.

For audio/video description, Screen has developed an output driver for Polistream which connects internally in the same way as all other output encoders. This specialist module receives ‘subtitle texts’ and SFOEFST UIFN VTJOH 4"1* UP ESJWF B 5FYU UP 4QFFDI FOHJOF UP QSPEVDF an audio snippet. The company has also developed a module for its MediaMate offline processing framework that allows ‘subtitle text’ files to CF SFOEFSFE UP L)[ TUFSFP 8"7 GJMFT Finally, Screen has developed the HbbTV Toolbox that integrates closely with the Icareus headend platform allowing a host of applications and features to be delivered including high profile advertising and sponsorship features. www.screensystems.tv

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

COMPACT ROUTER WITH MPEG ENCODE/DECODE Ensemble Designs is introducing B OFX NPEFM PG JUT #SJHIU&ZF /95 line of compact routers at IBC. The #SJHIU&ZF /95 JODPSQPSBUFT a high quality, high profile MPEG encoder/decoder to the feature set PG UIF #SJHIU&ZF /95 9 5IF QSPEVDU T ) DPEJOH UFDIOJRVFT HJWF superb performance at low bit rates, says Ensemble. &OTFNCMF SFQT BEEFE UIBU JU XBT OPX QPTTJCMF o XJUI POF 36 EFWJDF – for users to hook up SDI and HDMI devices without worrying about timing issues, convert them to a common SD or HD format simply, intercut or dissolve them seamlessly to a high quality MPEG encoder for realtime streaming, while simultaneously sending them to SDI or HDMI destinations.

5IF #SJHIU&ZF /95 T OFX FODPEJOH GVODUJPOBMJUZ QSPEVDFT simultaneous transport streams including one high-resolution and one low-resolution unicast stream, one multicast stream, and a DVB-ASI stream.

Sources can be seamlessly routed to the encoder that outputs the various TUSFBNT UP BO 3+ &UIFSOFU DPOOFDUPS PO UIF CBDL PG UIF VOJU 5IF %7# "4* formatter produces a DVB-ASI format stream that can be sent to a BNC or 'JCSF QPSU GPS EJTUSJCVUJPO 5IF #SJHIU&ZF /95 BMTP JODMVEFT BO .1&( EFDPEFS (JHBCJU &UIFSOFU DBO CF SFDFJWFE WJB UIF 3+ DPOOFDUPS BT FJUIFS VOJDBTU PS NVMUJDBTU .1&( PS .1&( EFDPEFE UP ( )% 4% 4%* XJUI embedded audio, and can be mixed or intercut with other sources connected to the router. The encoder and decoder can be used simultaneously. www.ensembledesigns.com

FAST CONTENT CREATION, DELIVERY Grass Valley and Volicon have formed a new partnership to offer customers a streamlined repurposing workflow in which high-value content is quickly and easily captured, clipped, and edited for delivery to any platform. $PNCJOJOH 7PMJDPO T $BQUVSF BOE 4IBSF BQQMJDBUJPOT QBSU PG JUT 0CTFSWFS Media Intelligence Platform) and Grass Valley’s Edius video editing software facilitates the potential for collaborative production of content for TV, Web, mobile, and social media platforms.

5IF 7PMJDPO $BQUVSF BQQMJDBUJPO QBJST )% ) FODPEFT XJUI QSPYZ versions so that both local and remote users can collaborate and review live or previously captured content, clip high-value segments, and push them directly into Grass Valley’s Edius video editing software.

The Volicon Capture application facilitates the continuous real-time capture of high-quality HD (up to 720p) content from any source – cable settop boxes, studios, and live camera feeds – at any time and makes it available UP VTFST BDSPTT UIF FOUFSQSJTF 5IF BQQMJDBUJPO QBJST )% ) FODPEFT with proxy versions so that both local and remote users can collaborate and review live or previously captured content, clip high-value segments, and push them directly into Grass Valley’s Edius video editing software. www.volicon.com

SCAN, MODERATE, BROADCAST SOCIAL MEDIA Buzz is a software accessory for Pixel Power’s range of graphics-based playout devices which makes it simple to scan, moderate and broadcast social media interactions. Before tweets and other audience comments can be broadcast they have to be selected to ensure only the most relevant and appropriate make screen. Existing solutions to do this tend to be complex and costly, says Pixel Power.

Buzz transforms this by using an integration approach and a simple user interface that requires little training. Multiple social media feeds are consolidated, and because Buzz is integrated within a Pixel Power graphics device users can accept, format and publish messages with a single click.

Ahead of its formal launch Buzz is already being used by TV Guide Network during live coverage of the Big Brother house for ‘Big Brother After Dark.’ Pixel Power says it has designed Buzz as the ‘clever, not complicated option,’ that gets social media on air using a graphics template to match the look of the show. www.pixelpower.com

USER REPORT

BUYERS GUIDE: VISION, MIXING & ROUTING

Transition Routing Ingvar Hreinsson on how a Blackmagic Universal Videohub router used as part of RUV’s HD transition may become part of longer-term plans

A

s Iceland’s national broadcaster, RUV is an accepted part of the national identity, providing news, live sports and entertainment programming since 1930, through one TV channel and two radio stations. As with all public service broadcasters, our technical teams not only have a responsibility to maintain continuity and excellence in terms of production value, but also to ensure our infrastructure is capable of supporting the latest broadcast standards.

Iceland’s transition to HD has been a long process, encountering many delays and changes in strategy.

Throughout this tumultuous period, RUV has implemented a wide variety of broadcast equipment from Blackmagic Design as we sort to develop a stable and effective workflow for HD content production and transmission.

At the core of our broadcast facilities sits the Blackmagic Design

broadcast via a TX system specially designed for RUV by Snell to communicate with the Universal Videohub as well as via telecoms partners through their IP networks.

It’s been a tough few years, as we’ve had to be flexible enough with our infrastructure to keep in line with the overall transition timeline and strategy. The Blackmagic Design equipment has been integral to our long-term HD planning, which will ensure that our viewers can expect the switch to HD, which we expect to happen later this year, to be virtually invisible to them. workflow and a router that has the capacity to handle a large volume of inputs and outputs for HD production. The great advantage of the Universal Videohub is the lack of manual patching required, which gives us absolute control over our signal management.

Because the transition has been a lengthy process, and we are working with public money, we had to be as

The advantage of the Videohub is the lack of manual patching required, giving us absolute control over our signal management 72x72 Universal Videohub router. We installed the router initially as part of a temporary workflow to enable us to test and benchmark equipment that would be used to deliver a HD transmission alongside our existing SD infrastructure. However, we have been so impressed with the router’s reliability and ease of use, that it now features in our longer term plans.

The Universal Videohub manages signals for all of RUV’s SD & HD productions. For the live studio programs, the router handles studio camera feeds, connected by optical fibre and OpenGear optical fibre converters. It also takes signals from numerous OB vans together with monitoring and editing stations, delay servers and HyperDeck SSD VTRs. As with other Nordic stations, we also broadcast dubbed or subtitled UK and US content. The nature of public service broadcasting meant that our programming is quite varied, so we needed reliable signal distribution at the heart of our

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careful as possible to keep as much existing equipment as we could.

Rather than a huge capital investment up front, we’ve used converters throughout the building, alongside specific purchases, to ensure there is no pressure on our budgets. This is also important for keeping our SD workflow running smoothly, to ensure viewers can still access programming until the SD signal is finally switched off.

Blackmagic Design’s equipment is also in use in the broadcaster’s OB van, which is used to cover a multitude of events, from sports to live performances to VT for news reports. An important piece of kit for the OB team is Blackmagic’s Teranex 2D Processor.

The Teranex is used for a multitude of up, down and cross conversions, as well as frame synchronisation and embedding audio. During the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which caused enormous disruption to air travel, we were really impressed with how the

September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Teranex was able to support uplinks from our crew reporting from the site, so we ensured all OB broadcasts were then equipped with one.

The OB van signals are transmitted to the Universal Videohub, which takes them into the production gallery, where they are inserted into news bulletins or broadcast as live event programming.

Program signals are taken into the Universal Videohub and

Contact: Ingvar Hreinsson is senior engineer of technical operations at RUV.

Contact:

W: www.blackmagicdesign.com

6G-SDI ROUTERS FOR UHDTV At NAB Blackmagic Design announced Smart Videohub, a family of new mixed format routers with new and unique visual user interfaces and 6G-SDI technology allowing SD, HD and Ultra HD routing all on the same router at the same time. These new models replace the previous Micro Videohub and Smart Videohub SD/HD routers, and prices for the new units at the time of the NAB show were US$1,395 for the 12 x 12, and US$1,995 for the 20 x 20.

The new Smart Videohub family of professional SDI video routers are the world’s first Ultra HD mixed format routers to include built in video monitoring and spin knob router control panel. The Smart Videohub family also include the latest 6G-SDI technology so customers can simultaneously connect and route any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD video all on the same router at the same time. Even if a customer had 20 different television formats connected to the router inputs, Smart Videohub would route any of these inputs to any combination of the outputs all simultaneously, says Blackmagic.

Smart Videohub also includes elegant machined metal front panels with full router control as well as built in LCD monitoring. Using the front panel customers can perform direct entry of router crosspoint using buttons, or they can use the spin knob control. The new visual routing combines the spin knob or button entry with large easy to read custom router labels, or the customer can select to display live video from the video inputs onto the LCD. When any input or output is selected, the video is displayed live on the LCD. This allows customers to see their router connections as video on the LCD as they scroll the knob to select routing.

This unique feature means customers can route video simply by looking at the video.

MARKETPLACE LIVE PRODUCTION FROM SD TO UHDTV Blackmagic Design has announced the ATEM Production Studio 4K, a new 2 M/E based Ultra HD live production switcher with 20 6G-SDI inputs, SuperSource layering engine. Priced at US$3,995, it includes 20 independent SD, HD or Ultra HD 4K video inputs with each input featuring a full frame synchronizer. It also includes all the features expected from a professional switcher, including chromakey, transitions, DVE, media pool, downstream keyers, audio mixer, two multi view outputs and 6G-SDI and HDMI 4K video connections.

This new high end model of the ATEM Production Studio family includes all the powerful features of the other models as well as BMD’s SuperSource multi-layer processor. SuperSource provides customers with a completely separate 5 layer switcher with the power of 4 picture-in-picture DVEs and 4 keyers assigned to any ATEM video input. SuperSource allows for multi camera interviews or picture in picture production while leaving all M/Es, keyers and the DVE completely free for other tasks.

The ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K supports 6G-SDI so it can be switched between most SD, HD and Ultra HD video formats instantly. Ultra HD is four times the resolution of regular high definition video for a massive 3840 x 2160 frame size. The new 6G-SDI and HDMI 4K video connections effortlessly handle Ultra HD and customers can connect all cameras using a single cable. There is also a high definition down converted HD-SDI program output for when the switcher is operating in Ultra HD formats, but a regular HD program feed is required. www.blackmagicdesign.com

LARGE PLATFORM SWITCHER Introduced at NAB 2014 and now fully released and shipping, the Acuity production switcher is the latest large production switcher platform from Ross. Ross says that this ‘ ergonomically perfect’ and ‘stunningly beautiful’ multi-definition production system can accommodate all current production formats as well as full 3G 1080P and quad link UHD (4K). It’s also an interconnected communications hub for the entire system, and offers the industry’s largest library of third-party control protocols, says Ross.

All six of Acuity’s new control panels are fully modular and can be custom configured to suit operators’ needs. Every button falls within perfect reach, all functions are directly accessible at the press of a single button, and button spacing has been carefully crafted to ensure accidental button presses are effectively eliminated. The 16:9 touchscreen menu and on-panel menu controls deliver ease of use and operational speed. www.rossvideo.com

SDI TO IP ROUTING TRANSITION

The NVISION IP 8500 Gateway input/output cards for the NVISION 8500 hybrid router series are designed for broadcasters as they look to transition their facilities from SDI to IP infrastructures. The cards convert and packetize realtime, uncompressed, baseband video to fit a single IP stream and support frame accurate switching for use in live production environments.

The IP Gateway gives broadcasters all they need to transport video over 10 GigE networks, and consists of input/output cards that are installed into any NVISION 8500 HYBRID router frame. The input cards accept encapsulated, uncompressed video, such as SMPTE 2022 high bit rate, and decapsulate the video so it’s ready for use by the entire video matrix. The output card takes uncompressed video from the matrix and encapsulates it as SMPTE 2022-6 transport of high bit rate media signals over IP. Once SDI signals are packetized, they can be easily transported over IP in a long list of potential applications, including rack-to-rack, truck-to-truck, between floors of a facility or even between buildings on a campus. All signals support low latency and frame accurate switching for use in live production.

The IP Gateway cards can be added to any NVISION 8500 HYBRID routers, including those already deployed in customer facilities. www.grassvalley.com

VIDEO/DATA SERVICE ROUTING PLATFORM Following the deployment of two EXE’s at ESPN, Evertz will be showcasing the massive 46Tb/s EXE Video/Data Switch Fabric platform at IBC. Featuring up to 46Tb/s of switching capacity and supporting 2304 10GE ports per single chassis the EXE is at the core of Evertz’ 10GE SDVN ---- Software Defined Video Networking solution.

In 40RU, the EXE can seamlessly switch 13,800 video services, eclipsing anything available today. Evertz also offers the IPX series with 320Gbps up to 1.2Tb/s switch capacity in compact modular form factor. The EXE & IPX have been carefully designed to handle the demands of live UltraHD 4K & 8K video, and make the switching of video over Ethernet not only possible but as reliable and deterministic as a traditional SDI router. www.evertz.com

www.tvtechnology.com

September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

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USER REPORT

SKY NZ Largest Router in Southern Hemisphere

By Keith Brewer

S

KY is the leading pay television service in New Zealand, entertaining more than two million Kiwis.

Listed on NZX and the ASX SKY’s principal business activity is the distribution of both local and international programme content to its customer base, predominantly through a digital satellite network. Recently this innovative broadcaster went through a major technology upgrade which saw Magna Systems and Engineering supply and install the largest router of its kind in the southern hemisphere at SKY’s Auckland headquarters.

SKY has been using NVision routers as their main switching solution since their major SBC (Sky Broadcast Centre) rebuild in 2006. They had four NVision router systems (a Network Operations Router, Production Router, Studio Router and Lab/test router) working flat out, but due to the rapid growth of their services, they were unable to expand the routers simply by installing additional cards. Essentially they were full with no room for any additional expansion, so a major router upgrade was required.”

Due to the size and complexity of the router installation, SKY needed a solid router that they could rely on to maintain control of their growing, complex facility plus versatile, operator friendly control panels. The broadcaster knew that the Miranda NVision Routers (now Grass Valley) had proven very reliable over many years.

Although SKY needed initially only to expand their Net Ops router to 876 crosspoints, they also wanted to allow plenty of room for future expansion. Replacing router systems is not an easy undertaking, and thus they needed to futureproof themselves

ROUTER WITH UP/DOWN/CROSS CONVERSION Ensemble Designs will use IBC to demonstrate a new version of its established BrightEye NXT line of compact routers. The BrightEye NXT 430-X adds up/down/ cross conversion to the many features already available in the BrightEye NXT family. The conversion features are also included in the new BrightEye NXT 410-H HDCP enabled compact router that will also be demonstrated at the show.

Now, various formats of HD and SD content can be converted to a common format and routed seamlessly to HDMI and SDI destinations, said Ensemble. SD sources can now be upconverted to high definition as part of the routing process, as well as cross converting from one HD format to another. A user can just select an output format and route whatever SMPTE broadcast resolution source to that destination.

Ensemble said that the ability to convert various sources to a common format during routing is something television professionals have been asking for. Now SD video, or HD material not in the proper production format, can be used effortlessly.

Established BrightEye NXT router family features include direct cuts, dissolves, router salvos, clean and quiet switching of HDMI and SDI sources, audio level and channel assignment on an input by input basis, built in web server for control and set up from virtually anywhere with any web browser enabled device, and full motion LCD display on the front panel for confident what-you-see-is-what-you-get switching. www.ensembledesigns.com

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

as much as possible. The 3G-ready NV8576-Plus, which offered a maximum of 1152 crosspoints, fit the bill perfectly. The added bonus with these routers is that their cores are 3G compliant, so should SKY require this functionality in the future they can enable it by simply upgrading their HD-SDI I/O cards.”

In addition SKY required timecode and machine control switching upgrades. They previously used small individual switchers to take care of these functions, but now wanted to amalgamate these signals into a single router. The broadcaster also needed to significantly expand both their production and studio routers.

Magna Systems’ successful proposal was comprehensive. The router was key, but the level of service and support offered was also critical.

At the centre of the Magna offering was the NV8576-Plus router with its maximum of 1152 crosspoints and easy upgrade pathway to full 3G signal capability. In addition to supplying the router, Magna was able to offer the option of incorporating the old and soon to be replaced Network Operations NV8256-Plus router into SKY’s existing Presentation and Studio routers. This gave the benefit of expanding the routers and maintaining a common control system without the requirement of an additional hardware purchase. Based on our 45 years in the industry Magna was also able to offer

full system integration and project management of the installation and all associated cabling of the new plant – something that was key in SKY’s final decision-making process.”

SKY purchased an NV8576-Plus router populated to 876x876 HD-SDI, an NV5128 populated with 64 RS422, data ports and 32x32 timecode, an NV8144 populated with 72x72 DH-SDI for lab use, two NV967 dual redundant NV9000 control systems, and multiple NV9462 LCD control panels to augment their existing control panels.

The project, one of the largest of its kind, also saw the Magna team assist in the presale, configuration and technical design of the router system. We were also heavily involved in the SI proposal, assembly and management of the install team, and associated installation design and testing. Without question what was critical to the installation’s success was our professional service and support.

Contact: Keith Brewer is Magna Systems and Engineering NZ Sales manager.

Contact:

W: www.grassvalley.com www.magnasys.tv

NEXT-GEN CHROMAKEY With its new Version 3.0 workflow software for Flint and Version 4.0 software for Granite and Mica integrated production switchers, Broadcast Pix is introducing ClearKey, its next generation chromakey upgrade. With its precise, highly adjustable keying, ClearKey handles challenging visuals and creates more realistic shadow and lighting effects. Robust colour correction removes the most stubborn spill from chromakeyed objects, while its key crop function can confine the keying effect to certain areas of the screen. Intuitive controls make it easy to adjust chromakey colour as well as lighting, shadow and spill correction effects.

Other upgrades include new device controls for Blackmagic Design and AJA Ki Pro video recorders, as well as a dual-channel clip server for Granite and Mica (already included with Flint). Plus, Fluent-View, Broadcast Pix’s customizable multi-view, includes a new snap-to-grid feature to make it easier to build new screen layouts.

Flint V3 and Granite/Mica V4 are free upgrades for all respective systems under warranty. www.broadcastpix.com

User Report

New Stadium Workflow

By Mark van Leest

A

jax Amsterdam is historically one of the most successful and well known football clubs in the world.

We have had major successes in the seventies, eighties and nineties with players like Johan Cruijf, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp.

Ajax was the seventh-most successful European club during the 20th century. For the past four years, we have won four consecutive league titles in the Eredivisie Championship.

Ajax plays at the Amsterdam Arena, which opened in 1996.

We have a very large international fan base and we really try to bond with our fans through different media. We want to create meaningful relations with our fans.

One way we do this is by raising the engagement level in the Amsterdam Arena.

An important aspect of fan engagement in the Amsterdam Arena are the two big screens above the visitor seats inside the arena. These screens are typically used just to show the score, but we do much more than that.

It’s a great medium to entertain the audience before and after the match with interactive games, and to show news updates and announcements, turning it into a real live broadcast. During the match the screens are used to show the live score, statistics and reruns.

We decided to work with VidiGo because we were really looking for a new and efficient workflow.

VidiGo’s solution for live stadium broadcasting “Arena Solutions” matched our requirements. It’s very extensive, yet it can be operated by a very small team, making it very efficient.

Like VidiGo, Ajax tends to think beyond boundaries of traditional ways of working. VidiGo’s vision on broadcasting is quite progressive and different to other broadcast suppliers.

Of course we looked at traditional broadcast workflows.

But with other suppliers we would have had to buy different hardware components and get everything connected by a system integrator.

VidiGo delivered a complete workflow for live broadcasting, including an automation system designed for stadium broadcasting.

Our team operates the Arena Solutions application during matches to switch cameras, play graphics and to start video commercials.

We use a lot of graphics. We know that doing this in a traditional way would be quite complicated. In

a fast environment such as a football match you want to be able to playout graphics within a second after something happens on the field.

So we have pre-programmed everything, from commercials to graphics. After a goal our operator selects the player who made the goal, and presses a button to show a photo of the scoring player and graphics with the live score.

The installation of VidiGo Arena Solutions went quite smoothly and after a short training period our team was ready for the first live broadcast.

VidiGo’s solutions have a short learning curve, it’s great to be able to operate a live broadcast system after such a short training period.

We are always looking for new ways to entertain the audience and to create memorable experiences. The next step we’ve taken is the VidiGo Social Media Hub in combination with Snipper, a plug-and-play workflow for social media graphics.

It’s the next step in connecting our fans inside the stadium.

Again we’ve decided to work with VidiGo. Our motto in this case is “Never change a winning team!”

Contact: Mark van Leest is Ajax’s Media Manager.

Contact:

W: www.vidigo.tv

2.5 ME CARBONITE

4K ROUTING

At NAB Ross Video announced that its Carbonite Production Switcher will now support 2.5 ME operation. This new operating mode was in addition to the recently announced MiniME and MultiScreen modes. Now, users of Carbonite 2 ME can run MiniME’s or a traditional .5 ME with a full program/preview bus that has two downstream keyers and a third key for animated media transitions. Also announced were two new 3 ME panels – the 3S and 3X – which brings to nine the number of control surfaces to choose from. Carbonite 2.5 is a free software update for all current two ME systems. Intuitive panel row-swap functions ensure both modes can run on any of the nine Carbonite panels as well as from the DashBoard software control system on any PC or MAC. The 3S panel for Carbonite is a 24-button panel that adds a third ME row for instant control of MiniMEs, MultiScreen and a half ME. This ergonomically designed panel has a raised menu control area for easy reach and viewing. www.rossvideo.com

PESA now offers new Cheetah video routers as dedicated 4K systems or partitioned to support mixed workflows, as well as retrofit kits that provide a plugand-play upgrade solution for current 3G-SDI Cheetah routers. PESA’s 4K I/O card, a direct drop-in replacement for the standard 16-channel HD/3G-SDI card in current Cheetah frames, supports both UHDTV (3840x2160) and DCI (4096x2160) signals.

With PESA’s Quadbox QFX-QUAD4K-RX & QFX-QUAD4K-TX, existing installations can be partially or completely upgraded to 4K in the field. Once the control software is configured for 4K, the router system can run both 4K and 3G-SDI signals in parallel.

Cheetah 4K routers can be configured and controlled via PESA’s intuitive Cattrax network GUI or optional Cattrax Web network server software using PESA’s PERC2000 or PERC3000 system controller hardware. www.pesa.com

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CASE STUDY

Building a 3 Gbps Truck European outside broadcast company CTV has chosen a Platinum IP3 routing solution from Imagine Communications, along with a broad range of signal processing and multiviewer equipment and functionality, to outfit a new 3 Gbps truck.

“Designing a big outside broadcast truck is a huge challenge, because we are under constant pressure to add functionality while staying within the weight and size limits to take the truck on the road,” said Hamish Greig, Technical Director

of CTV. “Because the Platinum router family does so much including frame synchronisation, mux and demux, and multiviewers, it saves considerable space and weight, as well as reduces operational complexity by eliminating the need for external frames and the associated cabling — all of which are real bonuses.

Add to that the ability to integrate IP signal routing to help make it futureproof, and it becomes the only sensible choice for a new truck.”

The Platinum IP3 router processes and switches audio and video signals

and provides multiviewer outputs for monitor wall applications, all in a single frame. The platform also provides many other functions, and in the new CTV truck, it handles critical signal processing functions such as audio multiplexing and de-multiplexing, and MADI-to-AES conversion. The Platinum IP3 also provides all signal synchronisation and distribution, while the large quantity of multiviewers in the production area of the truck is also powered by the router.

By incorporating all this additional functionality inside the routing platform, the truck’s

designers can make the installation much more compact. Weight is reduced because of the significant reduction in inter-device cabling, and fewer spares are needed because of the simple, modular internal design of the Platinum IP3. At the same time, the architecture of the platform inherently provides redundancy of crosspoints and power supplies, helping to ensure very high availability.

Contact:

W: www.imaginecommunications.com

VIDEO MONITORING PATCHBAY Bittree’s new monitoring patchbays feature an innovative design that adds an additional monitor row to the traditional two-row WECO patchbay, without exceeding the 2-RU panel height. These new additions to Bittree’s video patchbay lineup are available as 3 x 24 WECO video as well as 3 x 32 Mini-WECO.

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

Because engineers can now use the third row as a test point, this design has enabled new applications for patching – both in traditional broadcast studios and in industries ranging from aerospace and military to large content distribution centres. These patchbays provide an easy and safe way to check transmission paths without breaking the normal. Optimised for 3 Gbps and SMPTE 292M and 424M compliant, the WECO and Mini-WECO monitoring patchbays are available in several sizes and configurations. www.bittree.com

USER REPORT

Ross Works Every Time ByDerek Philipson

W

hen you buy a new switcher, only for it to fail at its first live event – that was a Tom Jones concert and each of its five subsequent events – you know it’s time to shop for a replacement. In 2013, that was the position Media Imaging found itself in.

We wanted to make sure the next switcher we bought would meet all our requirements, which included highquality, multiview abilities and true HD capabilities that were not PC-based. We researched switchers to find the ones that offered the features we wanted, needed and could afford. We also looked at expandability and flexibility.

We decided to go with a Ross Carbonite 1ME switcher for multiple reasons. But reliability was top of the list.

There are no second chances in this business. Our customers trust us to turn up and deliver, and that

means we need to be able to trust the equipment we’re using.

We also really liked how easy Carbonite would be to upgrade.

The switcher comes with 16 inputs enabled, which is enough for us to cover most events, but has the option of expanding to 24.

We put Carbonite to the test in December, 2013, at the Falls Music and Arts Festival in Marion Bay, Tasmania. It performed flawlessly during the three-day festival.

We used the Carbonite to feed two video screens and recording devices, using almost all outputs. We also used Ross Video’s incredibly flexible DashBoard Control System, which is the best-featured interface I’ve ever seen, to make changes instantly whenever we needed to.

Dashboard delivers so much additional functionality to the switcher that it enables us to add more operators for content management or

NEW & 4K ROUTERS Utah Scientific is using IBC to show the UTAH-400 Series 2 signal processing options, a new family of 4-channel add-on modules for Series 2 I/O cards, offering frame sync inputs, clean-quiet outputs, input audio shuffling, and embedded audio extraction and insertion. It is backwards compatible with all Series 2 frames for retrofit upgrades.

Also new are extensions to the UDS router family. Smaller routers – 10x10 and 20x20 – for standalone utility routing applications are available, as is a software-configurable DA package, a 32x32 digital audio router, and larger routers including a 288x288 frame with redundant crosspoint option.

Upgrades to the UDS-4K router family include extended data rate capabilities for new 4K production standards (12Gbps), and a new UCP-LC3 control panel with Ethernet interface will also be shown. www.utahscientific.com

users to control outputs. By assigning Aux, outputs and content, DashBoard made it easy to manage content and monitor the system; leaving the panel to control main operations.

I’d never owned a Ross Video product before, but the robustness and superiority of their products is evident. They’re built of metal and not plastic, and the T-bar and buttons have a very solid, high-quality feel and positive operation. Ross products give me a feeling of security, right up to the peace of mind of having dual PSU on Carbonite and openGear chassis.

Contact: Derek Philipson is Director of Media Imaging, a Tasmanianbased company that provides video production facilities for live and non-live events, including concerts and music festivals.

Contact:

W: www. rossvideo.com

MULTI-EVENT LIVE PRODUCTION Snell has debuted Kahuna Maverik this year as the latest addition to its wellestablished Kahuna live production range. This modular-based switcher control surface brings all-new capabilities to the table, including complete freedom in panel design and the ability to change panel configurations on a production by production basis. Perfectly suited for every type of TV genre or live event, it provides effortless control of multiple productions as well as control of many other essentials such as servers, graphics devices and camera robotics.

Kahuna Maverik handles multiple productions with ease and offers technical directors a quick, reliable access control interface for all studio and mobile television programming. www.snellgroup.com

SMALL HD/SD SWITCHERS!

ATEM CAMERA CONTROL FROM THE SWITCHER

The HVS-XT100 and the HVS-XT110, now with 3G upgrades, are the newest additions to FOR-A’s Hanabi series of portable video switchers, and boast exceptional cost performance. Both mixers inherit and improve upon the diverse functions and features of the popular HVS-300HS, including mixed HD/SD input, frame synchronizing, resizing engine, 2.5D wipe effects, DVE, chroma keyer, DSK and built-in Web server that lets you change settings from a PC or a tablet. The equipment can be used in all types of locations, including live events, sports, news studios, OB vans, editorial offices and presentation venues, making it the ideal tool for shaping the imaginative ideas of video creators. www.for-a.com

Blackmagic Design has announced the availability of ATEM Switchers Update 6.0 which adds support for controlling cameras from ATEM production switchers via the program feed to the camera. ATEM Switchers Update 6.0 is available free of charge from the Blackmagic Design website.

Until now the ability to control cameras from the live production switcher was only available to extremely high end broadcasters who had the costly infrastructure that allowed this feature. With the new ATEM Camera Control software update, ATEM live production switchers can now control cameras via a new open standard protocol sent to the camera via the return program feed.

ATEM Camera Control is compatible with the new Blackmagic Studio Camera when running software update v1.8.2 or later. The Blackmagic Studio Camera HD and Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K models feature both optical fibre and regular SDI program return feeds to the camera and the commands from the switcher are broadcast to all cameras via this program return feed. www.blackmagic-design.com

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

SHARPSHOOTER

Sponsored by World’s Strongest Man Plane Pull, Malta

When a Pan is Not a Pan Name: Gary Tepper Age: 50 Star sign: Capricorn Home town: Farnborough, Hampshire Occupation: I am a freelance cameraman/director.

Current assignments: Currently it’s the tennis season, mixed with various summer festivals. I just got back from the French Open Tennis at Roland Garros, working for ESPN, Tennis Channel and NBC.

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September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

How many American, Brazilian, Spanish and South African cameramen does it take to build a camera?

Olympics, London 2012

SHARPSHOOTER I then start my favourite part of the year as I’m close to home and can ride my bike to the various events I have on: The Isle of Wight Festival capturing the screen content of the various bands on stage throughout the weekend. On the Monday morning I exchange my festival wellies for hopefully ice-cream and strawberries with the tennis grass court season at Eastbourne, then even closer to home: Wimbledon for two weeks again working for ESPN. Have you been busy? Shooting where?

The year started with three weeks in Myanmar covering the SE Asia games. This was a great trip as it’s the first time I’ve been there.

I was responsible for the coverage at the main athletic stadium including the longest opening and closing ceremony ever. I moved straight on to T in the Park music festival in Scotland, then to the Commonwealth Games and out to the US for more tennis -- so pretty busy, with not many free days. I’m booked until September.

Most of my work is abroad and if you count Isle of Wight Festival and Scotland as abroad that leaves Wimbledon and a few music live music events in this country. Over the course of 26 years in the industry I have been lucky enough to experience shooting in most countries around the world.

In my past when I was touring the major cities of Europe with various bands, where we played again and again, I always said you could drop me off at most larger cities in Europe and I could take you to a good Indian restaurant; which I have to find wherever I go.

www.tvtechnology.com

Roger Federer in Shanghai

“Pan on one. Where are you going One, I was just going to ask you a question? Slow zoom in Sue Ming and hold your shot One. Juan, follow the player.”

So far this year: Myanmar, Qatar, California, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Barcelona -- with Toronto, Cincinnati, and Shanghai to come.

It’s probably easier to say where I haven’t worked!

What types of productions have you mostly shot?

Mostly involved in live sport and live music events with the odd World’s Strongest Man thrown in! Although with only 10 events throughout the year, the Tennis Masters 1000 series seems to take up a large part of the beginning and end of the year. I’m

then also involved in three of the four Grand Slams.

Does the shooting of music videos present unusual challenges?

When shooting music videos, although the production value is more intense, shooting with Arri Alexas normally on one of my jibs is very satisfying. Although a completely different way of working to shooting sport, I enjoy the variety.

What type of sport do you find most satisfying to shoot? Why? I enjoy covering tennis, especially

now with the ultra-mo cameras available. You can see things that the commentators can talk about and explain that would be not seen normally; grip changes, the slide into a shot on clay.

I also enjoy the directing side of the tennis. Having come from a camera background I know what I want but, luckily, the crew I work with are the best at covering this sport and give me what I want.

I’ve worked on the Tennis Masters 1000 series for 13 years, for which Gearhouse has the contract. I’m now one of the camera supervisors on that production dealing with up to 25 cameramen and over 30 cameras on the larger productions. The tennis consists of 10 events worldwide over the course of the year.

September 2014 I TV Technology Europe

41

SHARPSHOOTER

Sponsored by Arms show in Abu Dhabi

Winter Games, Ezurum Turkey

A normal tennis camera crew will consist of UK, French, German, Spanish, Italian, American, Canadian, Chinese and Australians with the directors being English, Portuguese and Australian.

The only problem I faced was understanding the Aussie-accented director. Seriously, all the guys speak really good English with the occasional director directing in Mandarin.

It has caused a few issues over the years: One of the cameramen in China was called Pan, a lady was named Sue Ming, and a Spaniard was called Juan.

“Pan on one. Where are you going One, I was just going to ask you a question? Slow zoom in Sue Ming and hold your shot One. Juan, follow the player.”

See what I mean!

Current equipment you use?

Hitachi 1500 camera supplied by Gearhouse, NAC Hi-Motion system and the JimmyJib.

How long have you been operating a JimmyJib? I own and operate two JimmyJibs. I bought my first Jib in 1997 to do a world tour with Bon Jovi.

What was your first ever shooting job?

I worked for a company back in1987 that had a contract to produce a high end corporate video for ICI Agrochemicals. I was lucky enough to be one of the cameramen on that project, after finishing my degree in film and TV. I would go out and do the pickup shots but, luckily for a 23 year-old, this was shot around the world over two years covering all the seasons.

We shot rice harvesting in Japan, rubber harvesting in Borneo, corn infestations in the Midwest, and sugar beet planting at Yaxley.

Most recent, interesting assignments?

Myanmar stands out for me as an amazing country to work in; from painting the grass green at the athletics stadium where we worked, to eight lane motorways where you can walk across and only have to dodge the occasional bicycle carrying a box of chickens.

How do you enjoy working with crews of other nationalities?

Working around the world with other crews is a fantastic experience, and for myself and the other regulars on the tennis crew has become the norm. It’s great to start the year off working with my American and Canadian friends and then move back to Europe to work with my European friends. And we’re all friends, having worked closely with each other for years now.

What piece of gear do you wish someone might make?

Weightless weights for the JimmyJib! Best thing about your job?

Being lucky enough to visit some wonderful places around the world and working with great people of differing nationalities.

Worst thing about your job?

Being away from the family, living out of a suitcase, no Sunday roasts!

suspended over a cliff face, filming climbers climbing up towards me.

This was fine until I was pulled back up and enquired what the rope was anchored to.

I presumed it was wrapped 20 times around that big boulder with a round turn and half hitch, a sheepshank and a granny knot for safety. But no! I was shown a cam lock thing that puts in a crack in the rock, and expands to secure it to the rock.

I was shown a demonstration with the cam lock thing, and the crack in the rock that had just been holding me and the weight of the kit on the end of the rope. One of the instructors put the cam in the crack, expanded it and tugged on the rope with, “it’s not going anywhere!” And sure enough, the cam split the crack and the rock and the cam came loose with the instructor almost falling backwards. I felt sick. Not impressed!

How much 16:9 do you shoot?

All 16:9. If you haven’t gone out and bought a 16:9 telly yet, then don’t blame me if it’s out of frame.

What country would you most like to shoot in?

I like being at home.

What’s your taste in music?

Stuck in the 80s. Or silence.

Favourite group?

Stranglers.

Favourite food?

Indian.

Dullest assignments?

Puff Daddy.

Hairiest/scariest assignments and why?

Years ago whilst shooting a programme at the climbing school at Mount Snowdon I found myself

Contact details: P: 07 9737 57494 E: gary.tepper@mac.com

Advertising Index COMPANY

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Steve Connolly Sharifa Marshall Ben Ewles Raffaella Calabrese Susana Saibene Wengong Wang Eric Trabb Vytas Urbonas Pete Sembler Michele Inderrieden

T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +44 (0)207 354 6000 T: +39 02 92884940 T: +34 607 314071 T: +86 755 5785161 T: +1 212 378 0400 x532 T: +1 212 378 0400 x533 T: +1 212 378 0400 x324 T: +1 212 378 0400 x523

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LAST LINES

Keeping Eyes on News T

By Marcello Dellepiane o maintain their position in an increasingly competitive broadcast industry, traditional news channels and networks are embracing new and innovative technology to deliver live, dynamic content to their audiences.

There isn’t much of an option, after all: As audiences’ voracious appetite for new content formats increase, traditional broadcasters have to keep content appealing to remain competitive. Smaller newsrooms or studios with fewer resources are no exception. They still have to battle it out with the big players for ratings.

Delivering more dynamic content and ‘community engagement’ drive viewership.

Nowadays, interactive visuals come into play more than ever. Live commentaries or panel discussions are no longer enough for audiences.

With the average person now able to consume tons of information within minutes, and with attention spans becoming shorter than ever, it is necessary for broadcasters to

With NewsTouch journalists can create drawings, markings, zoom in/out, and rotate content as effortlessly as they would on a tablet

www.tvtechnology.com

incorporate interactive images and videos into their reportage.

Gone are the days when it’s just the news anchor reading lines off a teleprompter. Now his or her tablet also takes centre stage, with the camera zooming in on his or her notes, or directly displaying them as an accompanying visual in the background.

Content directly sourced from the web has also become commonplace.

Consumers now look to new media – i.e. blogs and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram – for their daily dose of compelling content from key personalities, political figures, or celebrities. Social media has also become a platform for news audiences/ anchor interaction.

While these are welcome changes that creative broadcasters are adapting to, these have also made streamlining content delivery and programme flow a more complicated endeavour.

To make matters worse, many existing solutions fall short in terms of ease of use, freedom and flexibility – and costs.

Solutions that engage viewers and deliver dynamic control and interactivity in showing content are often difficult to use and master.

They require not just a complicated system but an entire team of technical operators. This, in turn, stifles the creative freedom journalists desire.

Journalists, being front and centre of their news programmes, do not want to risk the embarrassment of not being able to use complicated presentation solutions. They thus often let the technical crew take control of presentation systems instead, at the expense of journalistic control and flexibility.

Cost is another factor that makes looking for viable interactive presentation solutions a pain for broadcasters. Often the high cost of presentation solutions cannot easily be justified, even more so for small- to medium-sized broadcast operations. Yet networks expect to maximise returns, despite failing to recognise that traditional linear broadcasting is not necessarily on an upswing – and that missed opportunities exist in content consumption in newer formats.

With limited resources, news networks have to find a great balance between cost and the effectiveness of technological solutions that aim to help make their programmes more engaging and interactive.

One such solution is MediaPower’s NewsTouch, a standalone appliance dedicated to the live production of press clippings, web content, and recorded and live media files in the studio. It provides an intuitive and very easy-to-use touchscreen interface especially designed for journalists. NewsTouch allows them to display press reviews from PDFs, videos, web pages, social network posts or other content from the Internet, in just a few clicks.

With simple but powerful drawing and display tools, journalists can create drawings, markings, zoom in/out, and rotate content, just as effortlessly as they would on smartphones or tablets. What is done on the touchscreen instantly

Marcello Dellepiane shows up on TV, or on a studio background display.

This ease-of-use provides a tremendous amount of flexibility and control for news anchors and journalists running their programmes.

It allows them to merge different types of content, and provide interactive presentations to their viewers.

Take, for example, French news channel LCI. With the decision to adopt and embrace news from the web along with the acquisition of NewsTouch, LCI has launched new programmes like “The Eye of the Web”. It is a news programme that presents the latest tweets, and other information circulating on the web and social networks.

NewsTouch allows LCI journalists to have more direct control of their programmes without having to rely on huge technical crews. It also permits more spontaneity, and better audience engagement.

Delivering news has come a long way. Moreover, whether in the form of traditional broadcast or cable news programmes, or through newer media such as Internet, news remains important.

Traditional news networks stand to remain competitive by keeping their audience better engaged to their news reports, whether through adopting new media, using better visual tools, or both.

The good news: As technology matures, cost-effective and easy to use solutions are now more available, for the benefit of journalists and the viewers they must engage.

Contact: Marcello Dellepiane is CEO of MediaPower

Contact:

W: www.media-power.it

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