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REGULARS 02 EDITOR’S WELCOME

DATES & DEADLINES

FEATURES 03

NEWS APAC Inroads for DVB-T2, Singapore Cross-platform Ad Marketplace, QVC Japan Goes All-IP UHD with Imagine & Harmonic, CCTV Dials-In Clear-com, Deadline Extension for HK's Fantastic TV, NAGRA Powers OTT in Taiwan, People on the Move

32 POST-PRODUCTION Bluefish444 Proves Ideal for Video Workflow, Tokyo Sound Production Builds New Editing Rooms with Blackmagic, Avid –Set the Controls for the Heart of the Cloud.

10 BROADCASTASIA2018 PREVIEW

ACQUISITION Zake Productions Stands

with Flowtech Tripods, ACS Award for Ground/Drone Gimbal Changeover Solution, Solid Video Excels at ASEAN Summit with Sony, In the Frame at NAB2018.

36 AUDIO AURATUS and NEXUS for

BNC Malaysia, DPA Boosts Presence in Singapore and Thailand, NZ’s WhitebaitMedia on the Road with Calrec, Full Stream Ahead: Managing Connections Between AoIP Devices.

20 SPORTSCASTING Fox Sports/IBM Team

Up for FIFA World Cup, NEP Broadcast Takes Centre-Stage at Gold Commonwealth Games, Creative Technology Asia Pacific Boosts Rentals with Riedel, BIGO Launches Cube TV for Livestreaming eSports,

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

Embracing Innovation & Technology By Phil Sandberg ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), VIRTUAL REALITY (VR), new Internet streaming techniques and better pixels (HDR, WCG, HFR, etc.) are changing the ways content producers connect with consumers.

important issue for their organisation and 77% say it’s important for the industry. About 45% of respondents indicated that their organisation is not investing financial or human resources in immersive media. Respondents were fairly evenly split between “Yes,” “No,” and “I Don’t Know” when asked about the likelihood of increased investment in the coming year. Nearly 75% of respondents view immersive media as emerging, more than 15% see it as nascent, and about 10% see it as mature or very mature.

Tackling these developments, SMPTE recently released the results of its 2018 Innovation and Technology in Media Entertainment Survey. The SMPTE survey drew more than 200 responses from engineers, managers, directors, and C-suite executives whose organisations operate in the postproduction, production, research and development, distribution, preproduction, and consumption industries. Nearly a third of respondents’ companies have 20 or fewer employees, and 60 percent have 500 or fewer employees. Almost 80 percent of these companies do business in North America, 50 percent in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region (EMEA), 43 percent in Asia-Pacific, and 36 percent in Latin America.

PROFESSIONAL MEDIA OVER MANAGED IP NETWORKS

AI/ML is considered emerging by 70% of respondents and nascent by 27%; fewer than 4% of respondents view it as being mature or very mature.

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A complete summary of the survey results is available from SMPTE as a white paper, available at smpte.org/2018survey. Thanks for reading

IMMERSIVE MEDIA

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While almost 20% of respondents do not know about plans for future investment, 56% expect that their organisation will increase its investment in the coming year. When asked about the maturity of different aspects of the better pixels project, respondents rated 4K the most mature element, followed in the rankings by ultra-high de¬finition (UHD), high dynamic range (HDR), wide colour gamut (WGC), and high frame rate (HFR). 02:00

Although nearly 70% of respondents say they are not personally involved in AI/ML, 60% say it is an important issue for their organisation, and 80% say it’s a vital issue for the M&E tech industry. Not all respondents were aware of investment in AI/ML, but - in two questions asking about each - nearly 50% indicated that their organisation is not dedicating either fi¬nancial or human resources into AI/ML. That said, 40% of respondents anticipated increased investment in the coming year.

When asked about their involvement in the SMPTE-backed Better Pixels Project, 62% answered in the affirmative. Nearly 80% see this as an important issue for their organisation, and almost 90% believe it’s essential for the industry. About 60% of respondents indicated that their organisations are investing ¬financial and human resources in better pixels project initiatives. 01:00

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It also highlighted the importance of engaging with technologists in emerging areas of innovation to build new business relationships while developing technical standards and workflow conventions that ensure the industry is able to absorb new technologies into its operations in the most effective manner possible.

BETTER PIXELS PROJECT

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The survey confirmed that the industry is making new investments in people, processes, and technologies that will further transform the way content is created, distributed, and consumed between now and the end of the decade.

More than 60% of respondents are personally involved with professional media over managed IP networks; 80% see it as an important issue for their organisation; and more than 90% view it as an essential issue for the future of the M&E tech industry. Investment of ¬financial and human resources is at about 65%, and more than 60% expect to see increased investment over the coming year. Nearly 60% of respondents view professional media over managed IP networks as being emerging; 40% see it as being mature.

Phil Sandberg – Editor/Publisher

More than 61% say they are not personally involved with immerse media (including Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities), but 54% do say it’s an

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APAC Inroads for DVB-T2 WHILE MUCH OF THE SPOTLIGHT HAS BEEN ON OTT and streaming services of late, RF broadcast transmission continues to evolve with trials and deployments of DVB-T2 taking place throughout the region. ENENSYS has provided its T2Gateway and DTTCaster products for a DVB-T2 trial conducted by Broadcast Australia and Free TV Australia in Sydney. The trial is assessing the performance of DVB-T2 technologies in the Australian environment, utilising both VHF and UHF transmission with single frequency network (SFN) operation. Australia was one of the first countries to adopt the original DVB-T standard and was the prime driver in high definition services being incorporated into the specifications. DVB-T2 is being considered to replace the current DVB-T standard used for Australian terrestrial television delivery. When combined with new video compression technologies (HEVC) and High Dynamic Range (HDR), DVB-T2 enables broadcasters to delivery significant improvements in picture quality at lower bitrates. Following testing at Broadcast Australia’s lab, the on-air trial uses an ENENSYS T2Gateway to feed a DVB-T2 VHF ‘parent’ transmitter covering the Sydney area from the Gore Hill transmitter. The VHF signal is received off-air for re-broadcast at two low-power UHF ‘child’ transmission sites at Kings Cross and North Head using ENENSYS’ DTTCaster professional receivers. The DTTCasters receive the off-air VHF signal from the ‘parent’ transmitter and regenerate the T2-MI stream to enable the ‘child’ transmitters to re-broadcast in SFN and multiple physical layer pipes. Meanwhile, Junger Audio recently expanded the digital television experience for Malaysian viewers after Anugerah Juara Lagu, one of the country’s most popular shows, was broadcast live in Dolby 5.1 surround sound for the first time in its long history. Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) is an annual music competition that has been running on Malaysia’s TV3 channel since 1986. This year’s final took place at the Bukit Jalil stadium in Kuala Lumpur and was broadcast by TV3 via the MYTV digital TV platform, which is set to handle all of Malaysia’s freeview transmissions once the country moves over to digital broadcasting.

The plan to switch to digital broadcasting is tentatively scheduled for later this year. Junger Audio’s distributor JAA Systems worked closely with TV3’s parent company Media Prima Berhad to ensure that the right dynamic processing units were selected for the trial. David Chan, head of JAA Systems, says, “During the contribution stage, we deployed a Junger Audio C8000 frame with a C8492B SDI interface, a Dolby E encoding card and Junger Audio’s proprietary Level Magic technology, which was used to control loudness and ensure that audiences received the highest possible audio quality.” All of the programme material was sent to TV3’s MCR via a DSNG link and the 5.1+2 audio produced at the event was sent though in the Dolby E format. Once at the MCR, TV3’s own C8000 frame was used to decode the Dolby E signal into a multichannel audio stream, which was passed through the MCR for further processing. Prior to transmission, the multichannel audio was encoded to Dolby Digital Plus using a Junger Audio D*AP 8 TAP (Television Audio Processor). It was then sent to MYTV for myFreeview transmission and viewers were able to experience native 5.1 surround sound produced locally on supported IDTVs and DVB-T2 decoders. Junger Audio’s D*AP8 TAP units were also used in TV3’s MCR to upmix 5.1 content so that viewers without multichannel audio could experience continuous surround sound in HDTV. Visit www.enensys.com and www.jungeraudio.com

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NEWS + PEOPLE

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NEWS + PEOPLE Cross-platform Ad Marketplace Launches in Singapore SINGAPORE MEDIA EXCHANGE (SMX), a digital alliance between Singapore’s premium publishers Mediacorp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), has launched under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Hari Shankar. According to comScore, Mediacorp and SPH are among the top five digital properties with the highest traffic in Singapore, collectively reaching three in four digital consumers every month. The SMX coalition brings together some of the best-known, market-leading digital brands such as the Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia and Today Online. Through a single SMX programmatic platform, advertisers can access audiences at scale, and within brand-safe and trusted environments. Beyond Mediacorp and SPH, SMX will be extending the co-operative to other like-minded premium publishers. There is already keen interest being seen from other publishers who are seeking alternative means to monetise their traffic. AppNexus and Lotame have been selected as key technology partners after a six-month review. AppNexus will power the advertising exchange across all digital channels (desktop, mobile) and formats (display, video, native), while Lotame will underpin its data capabilities, including unifying audience data

across its coalition partners. The technology partnership with AppNexus and Lotame closely follows the model behind Kiwi Premium Advertising Exchange, a similar publisher co-operative in New Zealand. As part of its long-term product roadmap, SMX will continue to explore strategic collaborations and invest in new programmatic features to meet evolving advertiser needs. For example, SMX has a multi-screening capability that now enables advertisers to synchronise their programmatic buys realtime with TV event triggers. The ad sync feature leverages the strengths of Mediacorp’s TV reach to drive online-offline integrated marketing synergies. In addition, SMX will be one of the first strategic partners of the Advertising ID Consortium when it launches in the Asia-Pacific region. The Consortium, founded by AppNexus, Index Exchange, and LiveRamp, is focused on driving adoption of a unified and open identity solution that vastly improves identity resolution so that buyers and sellers of programmatic advertising can deliver more relevant campaigns. Visit www.smx.sg

QVC Japan Goes All-IP UHD with Imagine, Harmonic HOME SHOPPING GIANT, QVC, has been upgrading its Japanese teleshopping studio production room to ST 2110-compliant UHD, making it among the first large-scale such facilities in APAC. Imagine Communications has been providing the critical processing, monitoring and management technology. The new facility, which supports uncompressed HD and UHD signals based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standards, has enabled QVC to adopt a software-based infrastructure that uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment. Imagine Communications worked closely with Diversified, a U.S.-based media integration solution supplier with oversight of the multivendor installation, to deliver the state-of-the-art solution. At the heart of the deployment is Imagine’s Selenio Network Processor (SNP). Both an SDI-to-IP gateway and an all-IP signal processing platform, the SNP provides a full spectrum of capabilities, including HD-UHD upand-down conversion and colour space adjustments, as well as managing the High Dynamic Range (HDR) adaptations and conversions required for integrating UHD and HD signals. The SNP also provides synchronisation and timing functions. For signal monitoring, QVC selected Imagine’s EPIC MV, a UHD-ready multiviewer that simultaneously supports SDI and IP infrastructures, enabling media companies to adopt a single monitoring solution for hybrid operations. Powered by Zenium, the company’s microservices-based software architecture, EPIC MV is capable of scaling to meet the monitoring requirements of the largest and most complex installations. EPIC MV offers

native support for the monitoring of ST 2110 traffic. Imagine’s Magellan SDN Orchestrator control system was selected to oversee routing management at the shopping channel. The multivendor nature of the deployment required a single control system capable of managing the IP signalling domain and integrating third-party devices into an IP-based routing system. The software-based control system simultaneously supports hybrid and all-IP routing environments, enabling QVC to manage the installation with no operational disruption. Meanwhile, QVC Japan has deployed a UHD playout solution from Harmonic for its live and file-based production workflows as part of the upgrade. A software-based solution, Harmonic’s Spectrum X advanced media server handles a wide range of ingest, playout and distribution operations. The system, which features 14 ingest channels and 45 playout channels, supports all of QVC Japan’s requirements for production, rehearsals, playout and replay, enabling all UHD workflows from end to end, including support for HDR pass-through. QVC’s Japanese UHD channel is scheduled to go live nationwide on the 1st of December, 2018. Japanese TV households will be fully UHD by 2025, according to Masayuki Suga, deputy director, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com and www.harmonicinc.com

CCTV Dials-In Clear-com for IP-based Comms Network

NEWS + PEOPLE

China Central Television (CCTV) has upgraded its Clear-Com digital intercom system and replaced third-party legacy systems to create potentially the largest IP-based communications system in the broadcast world, enabling the broadcaster to rely less on traditional copper cable-based architecture while expanding the reach and capabilities of its current wired and wireless systems. The upgrade brings together 15 Eclipse HX Omega frames, 20 Eclipse HX PiCo frames, more than 200 V-Series intercom panels and 10 sets of FreeSpeak II wireless beltpack systems into a network with four existing Eclipse frames, 146 V-Series panels and 25 FreeSpeak II beltpacks. The resulting hybrid solution of IP, wireless, and traditional components is one of the largest in the world.

“TV production increasingly requires precise coordination between many groups of people in a variety of locations,” explained Mr. Xue Zhixing, Deputy Chief of Broadcast Center General Control Department for CCTV. “The addition of LQ Series interfaces to our system a few years ago gave us the ability to link remote and overseas intercom and audio systems over LAN, WAN or IP networks, but it was time to increase our communications reach yet again.” The implementation of Clear-Com’s IVC-32 card for the Eclipse digital matrix

system, Agent-IC licenses, and free smart devices apps now allows CCTV to communicate more conveniently and effectively with crews, whether in the studio or at any location where internet connectivity is available. The new system also connects to the new China Global Television Network (CGTN) and various overseas locations. The upgraded system has been used successfully for coverage of the 90th anniversary parade of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Zhurihe Training Base in Inner Mongolia, and the broadcast of the 2017 BRICS National Summit in Xiamen – an international relations conference attended by the heads of the five-member states: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The new Clear-Com equipment was also used by CCTV for what is considered the most important television program for Chinese people worldwide – the ‘CCTV New Year’s Gala’ (also known as the CCTV Spring Festival Gala) on the eve of the Chinese New Year, January 27. The broadcast has a yearly viewership of 700 million viewers. Visit www.clearcom.com

20 cameras streaming into master control

The power to do more Two sports legends discuss a huge play

3M fans on the edge of their seats

5 slow motion editors finding the best shot

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NEWS + PEOPLE StarHub Appoints Peter Kaliaropoulos as CEO SINGAPORE TELCO/ISP/PAY TV OPERATOR, StarHub, has announced the appointment of Peter Kaliaropoulos as Chief Executive Officer of the Group. Kaliaropoulos brings 35 years of experience in the global ICT sector working with senior executive teams to drive growth. Peter will join StarHub from Zain Saudi Arabia, a USD$2 billion per annum turnover company, where as CEO, he led the company to its first ever net profit after ten years of operations. His previous experience includes leadership roles as CEO, MD and COO with a number of wireless and fully integrated companies including BT, Telstra, Optus, Clear, Batelco, and Ooredoo in Kuwait. Peter was also a key member of the StarHub senior executive team which launched the company’s operations in the Singapore market. Peter has led a significant number of acquisitions and contributed as a Board Director to a number of telecommunications companies and ICT start-ups in Australia, USA, Singapore, India and the Middle East. In selecting its new CEO, StarHub said key criteria included strong leadership beyond conventional frameworks, understanding of the new market dynamics

around intense competition, and one with diverse experience in the telco industry to better lead the team to deal with the rapid changes in a highly competitive environment. Terry Clontz, Chairman of StarHub Ltd, said, “This appointment is the result of an extensive and rigorous global executive search. As a telco veteran with a proven track record of achievements across a wide range of markets, and broad industry knowledge, the Board is confident that Peter is well qualified to lead StarHub in pursuing new opportunities and managing the challenges that operators face today. My fellow Directors and I are delighted to welcome Peter to the StarHub Group and look forward to working closely with him.” Peter holds a Master of Business Administration, Marketing and Strategy from Macquarie University, Australia, and a Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical Engineering from the University of NSW, Australia. Visit www.starhub.com

PHABRIX Teams with Amit Daftary to Manage Sales Ops PHABRIX HAS ANNOUNCED it has teamed-up with Amit Daftary to manage the company’s sales operations in South East Asia as Director of Sales – South East Asia. Daftary will assume responsibility for the management of PHABRIX’s Distributor network and growing business across the region. PHABRIX’s Sales and Operations Director, Martin Mulligan, said, “We’re looking forward to working closely with Amit to expand our presence in South East Asia. Amit’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge are valuable assets in driving further growth and success.” Commenting on his appointment, Daftary said, “With such exceptional growth over the past three years and plans for greater expansion this year,

I’m joining PHABRIX at a very exciting time. I’m looking forward to working closely with the company’s distributor network in the region to maximise awareness of our world-leading test and measurement instruments.” Daftary has over 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry, and prior to joining PHABRIX, held senior sales positions at Snell Advanced Media, managing its Middle East and South Asia operations. He earlier served as Sales Director at Harmonic and Business Head at Avid Technology. Daftary has also held positions with Hewlett Packard and system integrators including Shaf Broadcast and Tata Elxsi, and with reseller’s like Aditya Infotech. He will be based in Mumbai and report to Martin Mulligan. Visit https://phabrix.com

Roger Tong Named Exec Director and CEO of AsiaSat ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Holdings Limited has announced that Mr Andrew Jordan has resigned as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, and will serve as Senior Advisor of AsiaSat until the 31st of October, 2018. Dr Roger Tong has been appointed by the Board to succeed Mr Jordan as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from the 16th of April, 2018. Prior to the appointment, Dr Tong served as Vice President, Engineering and Operations and Chief Technical Officer of AsiaSat, and has led various satellite and teleport programmes since joining AsiaSat in March 2008. Dr Tong has over 33 years’ experience in the satellite and telecommunications industry and has worked in Canada, Mainland China and Hong Kong. AsiaSat’s Chairman, Gregory Zeluck, said, “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Jordan for his service. We look forward to his continued contribution as Senior Advisor to the Company.” “I would also like to welcome Dr Tong, an industry veteran with extensive knowledge, experience and network of contacts across the satellite communications, broadcast and telecom industries who has served the Company for more than 10 years to join the board. We are confident that he has the strategic vision, capability and experience to continue to build AsiaSat’s leadership in this rapidly changing environment and to steer the company to its next phase of growth,” Mr Zeluck added.

NEWS + PEOPLE

AsiaSat has also announced the promotion of two senior executives to lead the company’s two key technical teams.

Fred Ho, Director of Technical Operations, has been promoted to Vice President, Technical Operations. Fred has over 25 years’ experience in the satellite communications industry. In his new role, Fred will lead the technical operations team with responsibility for overseeing the operations of the company’s satellite fleet and earth stations, teleport and customer network services. Fred Vong, Director of Engineering, has also been promoted to Vice President, Engineering. Mr Vong has over 20 years of satellite and telecommunications service experience. In his expanded role, Vong will lead the engineering team in supporting customer activities, from network design to implementation, developing spacecraft programs, managing spectrum resources of the company and working with other departments to assess and crystallise opportunity from new technologies. Of the new promotions, AsiaSat’s CEO, Dr Roger Tong said, “I am very pleased to announce these promotions and welcome Fred Ho and Fred Vong to join the AsiaSat management team. Their promotions to Vice President are testament to their commitment to AsiaSat’s growth. I am delighted they have grown with the company to take on these crucial roles.” Visit www.asiasat.com

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Village Island to Distribute SED Decimator

ON THE MOVE

VILLAGE ISLAND CO., LTD, with Head-quarters in Tokyo, has announce its official distributorship of SED Decimator products from Canadian firm, SED System, a developer of satellite communications technology. “Village Island has a long history of delivering Satellite and Broadcast equipment, solutions and systems through North-East and South-East Asia. Following our experience of integrating and supplying SED Decimator products, it was natural for us to become official SED Decimator distributor and offer our full support to our wide reach of customers. SED Decimator products complete rightly our overall Broadcast and Telco monitoring offer, as cost-effective and high-performance RF Spectrum Analysers,” says Michael Van Dorpe, President of Village Island. The countries addressed by Village Island are Japan, Indonesia, India, The Philippines, Malaysia Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei and Singapore. The products involved are the 4/8 Port Decimator D3, Portable Decimator D3, and Decimator D3 Card Visit www.village-island.com

BEA ALONSO-MARTINEZ has started a new position as Director of Global Product Marketing at Ooyala where she was previously Business Development Director, Media Logistics, APJ. WILLIAM TAY has taken on the role of Analyst/Implementer at MEDIAGENIX. William was previously Regional Operations Manager with SGL MR ADIYAMAAN S is now Director, Technical, at Dynamic Media Solutions Pte Ltd in Singapore. Prior to the move, he was Senior Manager-Technical Operations with the Prasad Group in Chennai, India. JOHN MCINTOSH, who currently serves as Vice Dean, School of Creative Arts, at ShanghaiTech University, has taken on the Honorary position of President of the Xi'an Film, Science and Technology School. He is charged with supporting and revitalising the educational mission within the lengendary Xi'an Film Studio. RAKESH SOLOMON has commenced a new position as Communications - Consultant OTT Practice at Wipro Limited where he was formerly Global Head, Alliances – Communications. RAHUL DHAKA has joined the Surbhi group as a Senior Manager. He was formerly a Key Account Manager at Falcon Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Turner Appoints New Country Manager Philippines TURNER ASIA PACIFIC HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Jia Salindong-Du as Country Manager, Philippines. Ms Salindong-Du is tasked with scaling Turner’s Kids and Entertainment business in the Philippines, which includes developing local content opportunities, creating greater consumer experiences and expanding the brands’ fanbase. She will also support ad-sales, and operate in tandem with the consumer products and licensing team for Cartoon Network.

In addition, she will be responsible for the channel distribution of Turner brands locally, including CNN International, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Warner TV. Vishal Dembla, General Manager of Turner’s business in Southeast Asia, said: “Jia has worked in a number of brand management and business development roles, and she will be an excellent leader for our highly-ambitious team in Manila. The Philippines is one of our most important markets in Southeast Asia and, with Jia now in place, we are confident of continued growth there.” Visit www.turner.com

Cobalt Digital Signs Elevate Broadcast for SE Asia COBALT DIGITAL HAS SELECTED Elevate Broadcast as its master distributor for Southeast Asia, a move that allows Cobalt to expand its presence in the growing Southeast Asia market through a company with deep market penetration and knowledge of regional and local customers and technology. Elevate Broadcast has been a Cobalt dealer in the region since 2016, handling Singapore and Myanmar previously. The distributor agreement covers 10 Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Elevate Broadcast and Cobalt Digital are evaluating other areas within Asia where the regional centre could help provide a

better overall experience for customers. Initially, distribution will be for the countries in ASEAN nations, but support or knowledge-sharing will be extended to other countries. As distributor, Elevate Broadcast will appoint local dealers in designated markets while also providing first-line service and support functions. The company will serve as a central base within Asia that will ultimately aid Cobalt in providing servicing and support facilities for all its Asian customers, including those in China and Australia. Visit www.cobaltdigital.com

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NEWS + PEOPLE NAGRA Powers OTT in Taiwan

Deadline Extension for Fantastic TV English Channel THE HONG KONG COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY (CA) has approved a short extension of the deadline for Fantastic Television Limited (Fantastic TV) to launch its English Channel and to comply with the milestone with regard to the provision of its Chinese and English Channels in its performance bond by two months until the 30th of July 2018. Fantastic TV was granted a domestic free television programme service licence by the Chief Executive in Council on the 31st of May 2016 to provide a two-channel free TV service in Hong Kong. The Licence provides that within 24 months from the commencement date, Fantastic TV shall broadcast one 24hour Chinese Channel and one 24-hour English Channel. Fantastic TV launched its 24-hour Chinese Channel on 14 May 2017 and was required to launch its 24-hour English Channel by the 30th of May, 2018. In late April 2018, Fantastic TV applied to the CA for extension of the deadline for launching its English Channel citing changes of key personnel. While preparation work had been in full swing, the broadcaster said it had genuine difficulties in meeting the deadline.

NAGRA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED it is providing a new OTT platform for Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC), one of the leading multi-system cable operators in Taiwan. Powered by NAGRA’s OpenTV Suite, TBC’s new OTT service – TBC GO – will give consumers “on-the-go” access to live TV on open devices and to more advanced features such as VOD. TBC GO was scheduled to be commercially available to TBC subscribers in June 2018. “NAGRA has been a key partner since 2015 in helping us roll out our newly digitised platform and enable new services like our OTT platform,” said Jimmy Chen, Chief Executive Officer, TBC. “Their tightly integrated solutions provide fast time-to-market and their team is committed to our success. We look forward to introducing it to all of our subscribers in the next few months.”

In approving the application, the CA has made it clear to Fantastic TV that no further request for extension of the deadline would be entertained and that the CA will vigorously enforce the licence conditions on the milestone with regard to the roll-out of the English Channel.

The OpenTV Suite is a set of tightly integrated and optimised TV components – OpenTV Experience, OpenTV Platform, OpenTV OS and OpenTV Player – designed to facilitate and simplify access to digital media content on multiple viewing devices and deliver clear operational advantages of deployment speed, performance, service innovation, scalability and monetisation.

Visit www.coms-auth.hk

Visit https://dtv.nagra.com

Brightcove Powers OTT in India, Vietnam and Mongolia BRIGHTCOVE IS NOW POWERING SonyLIV, the premium OTT streaming service by Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) which boasts a potential audience of 30 million. Launched in 2013, SonyLIV was the first OTT streaming service in India and remains one of the top OTT video app as measured by its 57.2 million app downloads to date. Monetised with a combination of advertising, subscription payments, and pay per view offerings, SonyLIV offers an array of movies, TV shows, sports, music, and original content. The Brightcove video platform underpins the on-demand video experience on SonyLIV across web, mobile, and connected TV screens. SonyLIV’s Uday Sodhi, said, “The launch of low cost, high speed mobile internet service in 2016 saw online video consumption surge up to five times in India, transforming the OTT landscape. For SonyLIV, the cornerstone of our strategy has always been to seamlessly deliver the best video streaming experience to our audience, and Brightcove is one of the key technology pillars in this strategy. Brightcove has not only provided a robust and highly scalable video platform to manage our OTT services, but also has brought deep video industry expertise to help us evolve our offering in a highly competitive Indian market.” Meanwhile, Vietnam Television Corporation (VTC) recently launched VTC NOW, a new OTT streaming service utilising the Brightcove video platform. VTC NOW is a subscription-based service, offering VOD and Live content and is designed to cater to local and global Vietnamese diaspora audiences. “When we first started to plan the launch of our OTT service, replicating the linear broadcast experience online was a top priority. With our large

content library, particularly in news, live streaming was a critical feature consideration for the OTT service,” said Nguyen Kim Trung, General Director of VTC. “Brightcove offered us a robust and scalable OTT architecture, as well as peace of mind with their strong track record in powering OTT experiences for some of the top global media companies and particularly large media companies in Asia. Brightcove also offers support for 360-degree video, an important feature as we aim to deliver advanced video experiences to our audience.” Brightcove also recently announced that Mongol TV has launched ORI TV, a new OTT streaming service utilising Brightcove OTT Flow, powered by Accedo. ORI TV is the first and only Mongolian language OTT service delivering on-demand and live TV content to viewers worldwide. ORI TV was developed by Mongol TV with an ambition to provide a one-stop destination for its viewers to stream local TV content including live events, sports, entertainment, festivals and local versions of US franchise shows such as The Voice Mongolia, Mongolia’s Got Talent and Shark Tank Mongolia. The service is available via subscription, on the web, iOS, and Android. “Brightcove’s OTT Flow came equipped with all of the features we were looking for: ease of use and setup, optimised for any device, stunning user interface, affordable price point, and a strong Asia-based support team,” said Bat-Erdene Gankhuyag, CEO of Mongol TV. ORI TV monetises its SVOD content using subscriber management technology from Cleeng, which OTT Flow utilises as its subscriber management functionality. Visit www.brightcove.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

Streamline your broadcast workflow

IHSE GmbH - Headquarters Maybachstrasse 11 88094 Oberteuringen  Germany

See the whole range of Draco tera KVM systems at Stand 6F3-01

IHSE GmbH Asia Pacific Pte Ltd 158 Kallang Way  #07-13A Singapore 349245

IHSE USA LLC 1 Corporate Drive Cranbury, NJ 08512  USA

ihse.com  info@ihse.com

ZOO Digital Appoints Asia Head of Ops and Business Development ZOO DIGITAL HAS APPOINTED a new Head of Operations and Business Development, Asia to lead localisation and distribution services in the region. Norie Negishi will join ZOO to help grow capacity in Asia after the company expanded its cloud dubbing services. Norie joins ZOO with a 17-year track record with the Walt Disney Company in Asia Pacific including studio sales distribution, marketing, publicity and working as Executive Director of Operations for Disney Character Voices International. The appointment builds on the expansion of ZOO Digital’s two-year-long partnership with Kantana Group in Thailand and Vietnam. The localisation service provider has built on its partnership with one of Thailand’s oldest and largest film studios to help grow its cloud dubbing service. The Thailand-based production company has been trained in ZOO’s cutting-edge software and is currently using ZOOdubs to work on in-territory dubbing projects. Kantana is helping ZOO to build capacity, increase the local dubbing talent pool and identify suitable in-territory traditional and alternative recording environments. Norie Negishi will join Team ZOO at BroadcastAsia 2018 (Stand 6K3-02) June 26 – 28 to demonstrate the company’s cloud dubbing service Visit www.zoodigital.com

Primeworks Malaysia Partners with The RightsXchange MALAYSIA’S PRIMEWORKS STUDIOS (PWS), has entered a partnership with The RightsXchange Limited (TRX), a global online deal-making tool that enables TV rights buyers and sellers from around the world to connect and complete licensing deals entirely online. In its bid to push Asian stories to the world, PWS hopes that this partnership will allow them to reach more international buyers. The deal sees close to 300 hours of Asian content available to TV rights buyers globally including drama series, feature films as well as one of Malaysia’s top animated series, Ejen Ali. “This partnership with TRX will enable PWS to showcase our content to buyers that we usually do not have access to. We strongly believe in the stories that are being churned out from our region which is why we are tireless in our efforts to drive the content to international platforms and audiences,” said Ahmad Izham Omar, CEO of Primeworks Studios. Visit www.trx.tv and www.primeworks.com.my

Ooyala Powers Media for Korean Content Platform

Korea Content Platform, a joint-venture between three major Korean broadcasters, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation) and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), offers exciting K-Drama KOCOWA (Korean Content Wave) content, to fans around the world. After launching their SVOD (Subscription-Video-On-Demand) service in 2017, they quickly realised that they had complex business rules requiring manual processes in their operations, and that resulted in errors and missing of deadlines to distribute content. With a high volume of metadata and assets coming from different partners, it was difficult to get visibility into their content workflow. KCP

needed a solution to orchestrate their workflows better, automate processes and have a single source of truth for their operations. With the Ooyala Flex Media Platform deployed on cloud, KCP can now collect assets, information and different types of metadata from their partners, and automate workflows to process and manage them for publishing. Business rules behind the processes can also be configured and changed easily within the platform. With robust reporting features available on the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, KCP staff can monitor their media operations effectively and generate reports on how their content business is performing. “One of our key requirements is the support for the media workflows for B2B and the workflows for B2C together with multiple language environments,” said Mr. Park KunHee, CEO of KCP. “The Ooyala Flex Media Platform has solid and open APIs that allow us to build our own user interface and develop the workflow integrations against KCP’s complicated business scenarios to other systems.” Visit www.ooyala.com

NEWS + PEOPLE

OOYALA HAS ANNOUNCED that Korea Content Platform (KCP), an American entertainment company offering K-Drama content, is utilising the Ooyala Flex Media Platform as the unified platform to manage content and metadata from their partners, and automate the processing and publishing of content according to their business rules. This allows KCP to have a single source of truth for their media operations, eliminate errors from manual processes, and increase the overall efficiency of their business.

Broadcast Asia 2018, 23-26 June, Suntec, Singapore

PREVIEW

www.broadcast-asia.com

BroadcastAsia – Capturing the Future of Media A crucible of connections. That’s what Singapore will become from 26-28 June 2018 with the staging of BroadcastAsia, CommunicAsia and NXTAsia, all under the mega technology event umbrella of ConnecTechAsia. FORMING THE BROADCASTMEDIA TRACK at Singapore’s Suntec centre, BroadcastAsia will shine a spotlight on the future of broadcasting, exploring how we have consumed news and entertainment over the past decade, and the challenges and opportunities this creates for traditional broadcasters and OTT players. BroadcastAsia will highlight technologies that are reshaping the value chain, such as the latest innovations in UHD/HDR, IP Broadcasting, Live Production, Content Media Security, OTT and Alternative Content Platforms. Meanwhile, at Marina Bay Sands, CommunicAsia, Asia’s most established international industry event for the telecommunications sector, will focus on Network Infrastructure/FTTx, satellite communications and telecom software and services – the latest technologies to help companies and

governments in Asia prepare for the coming of 5G and maintain a competitive edge in the communications and digital world. Also at MBS, NXTAsia will see industry professionals will catch the newest innovations and thought-leadership in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Cyber Security, IoT, Robotics, Cloud and Data among others. NXTAsia will host promising start-ups, and the Singapore-leg of renowned start-up competition SeedStars, at tech showcase Disrupt+. Visit www.broadcast-asia.com www.communicasia.com www.nxtasiaexpo. com and www.connectechasia.com

eSports Sparkle at Suntec Centre WEONE, A BLOCKCHAIN-BASED esports tournament and gaming platform, together with esports organiser Cresmos, will host its first live esports tournament — Southeast Asian League (SEAL) in Singapore from 26-28 June 2018, and the tournament will take place at BroadcastAsia2018! The popularity of eSports has exploded in recent years, and Southeast Asia is the industry’s fastest-growing region with more than 9.5 million enthusiasts, a number that is expected to double by 2019. eSports is also set to become a competitive sport at the 2022 Asian Games, bringing even greater potential and collaboration to the industry.

“Asia is earmarked for exponential growth for the esports industry and we are very pleased to partner with WeOne and Cresmos to bring the first Asian version of the SEAL to Singapore. Nothing beats the thrill of being at a sporting event up close, and we are confident that the tournament will elevate both event and attendee experiences at BroadcastAsia to a whole new level,” said Calvin Koh, Assistant Project Director for BroadcastAsia, UBM. The tournament will also offer scheduled guided tours with organisers for a behind the scenes look at the production of an eSports tournament and the cutting-edge blockchain technology that is at the heart of the game.

Staged at BroadcastAsia’s Esports Arena Studio, the first SEAL series

Visit www.broadcast-asia.com

ONCE AGAIN, BROADCASTASIA is playing host to guided tours where show visitors are given VIP access to technology experts. Experienced tour guides will lead visitors to the exhibition stands of selected exhibitors across a variety of media disciplines. Each exhibitor will provide an exclusive 10-minute demonstration of their latest innovations/products pertaining to the technology theme of each tour. The guided tours are exclusively for visitors and are free-of-charge. Tour 1: HDR / UHD Workflow

BROADCAST ASIA

With an all-access view of the games, attendees can get up close and interact with players, staff and commentators and the live-streamed tournament; players like Hearthstone Global Games 2018 Singapore anchor, Samuel ‘Sequinox’ Chan, and Asian Games 2018 Singapore representative, Gerald ‘Khaius’ Chew, will be there as well. Organisers are anticipating an estimated 100 participants from the region at the games.

“It is a perfect choice to launch SEAL in Singapore, our home country. We are passionate in building a vibrant and vivacious esports community and our vision of One Gaming World,” said WeOne CEO Leo Kwek.

Tours de Force!

tournament will see three days of card-slinging action as competitive Hearthstone players battle it out for cash prizes worth SGD$2,500.

Find out more about the dynamics between HDR and UHD and see how it will affect your workflow. Join the tour as exhibitors provide more insights on the solutions pertaining to HDR / UHD workflow. Time

Participating exhibitors include: Canon, Dalet, Elevate Broadcast, Harmonic and Skyline Communications

of IP and how at the same time you can leverage on existing infrastructure investment and workflows.

Tour 2: TV Everywhere (OTT)

Participating exhibitors for Session 1 (26 June) include: Enensys, Leader, Stagetec, TSL Products, and VSN.

If you have implemented OTT services, improve your services to find out more on how you can provide personalised and customisable services to consumers by looking into data analytics. If you have yet to embark on this or are looking into it now, find out more in this dedicated tour. Participating exhibitors include: Amino, Brightcove, xxstream, Ooyala and Vimond Tour 3: IP Broadcasting (Video + Audio – Two Sessions) Are you looking at moving to IP based system? Join the tour and find out more on harnessing the advantages 26 June

Participating exhibitors for Session 2 (28 June) include: Blonde Robot, Calrec, Riedel, testtree, and Qvestmedia. Tour 4: Live Production / Sportscasting Sportscasting has been becoming increasingly popular over the years and this will culminate in the rise of its priority and importance in live production. Join this tour and learn the different solutions / products that enhance your production quality. Discover the different dynamics in live production and improve your reach. 27 June

Participating exhibitors include: Blackmagic Design, EVS, LiveU, MRMC, Phabrix, Seagate, and Smart Mobile Labs. Tour 5: Video Analytics Understanding consumers’ behaviour, improvement of quality broadcasting and content are important goals for every media company. To strive to be the consumer’s top choice, explore more on how you can improve on your offerings by looking at video analytics to better suit their needs and demands. Participating exhibitors include: Avid Technology, Metaliquid, NeuLion, Telestream, and Tata ELXSI. www.broadcast-asia.com/theexhibition/activities/technology-tours 28 June

11.00am – 12.30pm

HDR/UHD Workflow

TV Everywhere (OTT)

Video Analytics

1.30pm – 3.00pm

IP Broadcasting 1 (Video + Audio)

Live Production + Sportscasting

IP Broadcasting 2 (Video + Audio)

BROADCAST ASIA

IABM: Showing the Way Forward VENDOR ASSOCIATION IABM has organised a range of events and services to enable members to do better business at BroadcastAsia 2018. IABM activities around BroadcastAsia include: • Tomorrow’s media toolbox, today - Tuesday 26 June - IABM has organised what will be an invaluable knowledge session to prepare BroadcastAsia attendees for what’s coming next in our fast-changing industry. Under the title ‘Tomorrow’s media toolbox - today’, the session kicks off at 2pm in the IABM Theatre (6Q3-04) in the Innovation Hub. An expert list of speakers will be covering topics from microservices, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence to Real-time IP, Object-based storage, VR and OTT advertising, giving visitors the knowledge and tools to help them dovetail tomorrow’s media necessities into their current projects and workflows. • Industry update - Wednesday 27 June - Room 326, registration 8.30-9.00am, presentations 9.00 to 10.30am. IABM will present the latest research findings and conclusions from both the vendor and end-user sides of the industry and take a look at where the industry is heading next - with a focus on the rapidly evolving APAC market. An insightful panel discussion will follow, featuring experienced Asia business leaders with a focus on AI and telcos. Preregistration is required.

• IABM Technical Breakfast: AI - is it for real or just marketing hoopla for smart data crunching? - Thursday 28 June - This IABM member-only event, which starts at 9.00am in Meeting Room 326 (registration 8.30am), has an expert panel looking at the reality of AI in broadcasting and media today - is it for real or just marketing hoopla for smart data crunching? We have seen tangible results of how big data analysis increasingly drives content choice and delivery - but is this just hyped up as AI and actually just smart data crunching? Does AI have further practical applications within media and entertainment? The APAC region is extremely culturally varied; can applied AI work across regions and countries? • IABM member lounge - open throughout the show. All IABM members have free use of the IABM member lounge at booth 6C3-04. With ample seating and Wi-Fi available it is a great location to conduct meetings or follow up on leads away from the hubbub of vendors’ booths. “BroadcastAsia is a strategic partner of IABM for good reason - it’s the premier show in the region and a great place to check out what’s happening in our industry now, and what’s coming next,” said Peter Bruce, IABM Director, APAC. “As well as all the formal events we are running during BroadcastAsia, the IABM team will be on hand throughout the show to support members’ activities and provide advice and introductions to facilitate better business.” Visit www.theiabm.org

Innovation Abounds at BroadcastAsia2018 From 26 – 28 June 2018, Visitors to Suntec Singapore, Level 6, can drop by BroadcastAsia’s Innovation Hub for an interactive session with exhibitors who will be presenting on the latest innovative technologies that are disrupting the broadcasting and multi-media industry. PRESENTING COMPANIES INCLUDE: Open Broadcast Systems, Caton Technology, Skyline Communications, Digigram Asia, Empress Media Asset Management, Avid, Zoo Digital, Harmonic, Planetcast Media Services, KKStream, Soliton Systems, Kino-mo, Winimy, Spectee, Bbright, Flanders Scientific, Postium/VSYS, Promise Technology, Brainstorm, Birddog, Total Solution Marketing, RTS (Robert Bosch), and Aver Information. Topics will include: • 2018 – The Year of IP Video for Contribution and in the Studio • Game Changing Technology for Video Transmission and Files Transfer • Broadcast Media Workflows in Today’s Virtualized and Cloudified Infrastructures • AES 67 Standard in Radio Broadcasting • Leveraging your Content

Presenting companies include: Neulion, Inview, Brightcove, Accedo, Tata Elxsi, Bitmovin, Tivo, Kaltura, Vimmi Communications, Vas Creative, Rohde and Schwarz, Verimatrix, Meta Liquid, Amagi, Babbobox, Interra Systems, Dotscreen, UIZA, and Streamroot. Topics include: • Does Your OTT Service Have Too Many Moving Parts? • Monetising OTT • The Future of TV – How OTT Redefines TV and Opens New Revenue Channels for Advertisers and Broadcasters

• How the Cloud is Transforming Dubbing in the Global Entertainment Industry

• Realtime Entitlement Synchronisation for Multiscreen Devices

• Generating a Greater ROI with Cloud • Next Generation Transcoding Technology • How to Achieve End-to-end H.265 Mobile Live Streaming • The New Generation of Advertising Visual Solutions • When Speaking is cooler than Touch! • Reach out to the next big story as it breaks: Verified, license-cleared UGC curation powered by AI • Full Ultra HD HEVC Workflow from Live Event Contribution to Final Consumer Delivery

BROADCAST ASIA

Menawhile, on Suntec Singapore, Level 4, during the three days of BroadcastAsia, TVeXchange will give attendees insights from leading players on non-linear broadcasting solutions and alternative content platforms.

• Using Cloud Deployment & Artificial Intelligence for Next Generation Workflows

• Migration to Cloud-based Solutions

TVeXchange

• Scalable Real-time QoE Monitoring • AI/ML Primer for Broadcast Video Workflows • How AI will Change the Way Consumers View and Search for Content • Cloud TV Transformation – How Top Players are Tackling the Challenges of OTT TV • The End of Video OTT as We Know It – 8 Key Criterias for Choosing your Video OTT Platform • Cybersecurity Solutions for Media Companies • Rethinking Rights Management for IoT

• HDR, Wide Color Gamut and UHD / 4K Monitoring Past, Present and Future

• AI Video Analysis Applications in the Media and Broadcast Industry

• Making the Jump with Postium 4K HDR Technology

• Real World Impact of Machine-learning in Broadcast

• Open Storage Platform for Rich Media Solutions

• The Age of AI – Video Search, Personalized Content and Video Big Data

• InfinitySet and Hyper-realism, One Step Closer to Reality

• QoE for OTT Services

• Revolutionising Live Productions with IP Video • Ground-breaking GrandMA3 & Automation Technology from Kinesys • ODIN – Superpowers for Next Generation Intercoms • AVer Video Conference Solution + Broadcasting / Classroom Recording and Broadcasting Solution

• The Best Possible User Experience for a Set-top Box • Maximize Scalability for Live Streaming in APAC • Peer-Accelerated Video Delivery Visit www.broadcast-asia.com/the-exhibition/activities

Cobalt Digital Multiviewers and More 9904-UDX-4K-12G UHD 12G/3G/HD/SD-SDI Up/Down/Cross-Converter AT BROADCASTASIA2018, Cobalt with demonstrate the 9904-UDX-4K-12G UHD 12G/3G/HD/SD-SDI up/down/cross-converter. The 9904-UDX-4K is Cobalt’s latest generation of advanced image and audio processors for the openGear platform. The base card provides quad 3G-SDI and 12G-SDI I/O with SDI muxing and demuxing and up/down/cross-conversion. Options include RGB colour correction and SDR-to-HDR up-mapping via Technicolor’s HDR Intelligent Tone Management (ITM) processing. 9971-MV18-4K Multiviewer Also on display will be Cobalt’s new 9971-MV18-4K series of openGear multiviewers. These multiviewers support the latest signal types with a high-density modular design that can be expanded as required. The MV18 is equipped with 18 4K 12G-SDI auto-detect inputs, which can be scaled as needed across a full 3840 x 2160 UHD raster output. OG-PC Computer Card The Cobalt Digital OG-PC is an x86 computer on an openGear card. The OG-PC takes advantage of the redundant power and cooling features of the openGear frame. Meanwhile, its modular form factor saves on rack space by replacing 1RU PCs. 9902-UDX-DSP-CI Channel Integrator Cobalt’s 9902-UDX-DSP-CI Channel Integrator, a 3G/HD/SD-SDI/CVBS up/ down/cross-converter, provides the signal-conversion and processing tool set required to conform input analogue and digital audio and video signals and their associated metadata to meet content- and channel-delivery requirements. Enhanced video processing includes up/down/cross-conversion with noise

reduction and detail enhancement. Standards conversion between 50Hz and 59.94/60Hzbased video standards makes the 9902-UDX-DSP-CI suitable for rentals and international signal aggregators and distributors in the OTA, cable, DBS, and OTT markets. Channel Integrator audio features include analogue and AES audio embedding and de-embedding with multiple mixers and per-channel delay. Optional Linear Acoustic upmixing, Dolby decoding and encoding (E, AC-3, E-AC-3), and Dolby Real-Time Loudness Levelling (RTLL) make the Channel Integrator a single point of control for audioprocessing jobs. FAST-Stream OTT Cobalt will also be exhibiting a system that combines frame-accurate SCTE 104 trigger (FAST) insertion with enhanced HLS SCTE 35 streaming on a single platform. Built for the openGear terminal gear platform, the FASTStream system is a solution for providing baseband SDI signals and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) streams with frame-accurate boundary points, complete with the SCTE 35 metadata contained in the associated manifest file. Applications range from URL address insertion for targeted ad replacement to embedded DRM for distributing protected content. The FAST-STREAM OTT system interfaces with automation and uses timestamps to insert metadata frameaccurately into baseband SDI before encoding the stream in H.264. Visit www.cobaltdigital.com

Imagine Communications Sets Advanced Technologies AT BROADCASTASIA2018, Imagine Communications will showcase technologies designed to help media companies successfully navigate an industry in transition. To underline its depth of support to the Asia-Pacific market, Imagine will present its demonstrations in collaboration with two local partner companies: Broadcast Engineering Services. (Level 6, booth 6F3-04) and Broadcast Technology. (Level 4, booth 4T1-01).

IP connectivity is now accepted as the future of television, as it opens up the potential for agility via software-defined architectures running on standard platforms. At BroadcastAsia, Imagine will demonstrate its Selenio Network Processor (SNP) – a next-gen, FPGA-based 1RU solution which functions as both an SDI-to-IP gateway and an all-IP signal processing platform. Working

Grass Valley Debuts Combined Portfolio AT BROADCASTASIA2018, Grass Valley (booth 4R2-01), will showcase how its solutions and newly combined portfolio is enabling broadcasters, news organisations, rights holders and media service providers to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing media landscape.

in conjunction with the Magellan SDN Orchestrator software control system, the SNP demonstration will illustrate a real-world installation which switches between HD, Ultra HD and uncompressed real-time SMPTE 2110 streams. Imagine will also demonstrate its software-based EPIC MV multiviewer, which provides a single canvas for mixed signal types. Scalable to thousands of PIPS and hundreds of displays, EPIC MV offers a high-quality, low-TCO monitoring solution for today’s hybrid environments and a seamless transition path to an IP future. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

to platforms on tighter budgets, infrastructures and workflows need to be agile and flexible. Grass Valley will show its iTX Flex solution – a true-cloud automated playout platform. The cloud architecture of iTX Flex provides faster service launches, more agile business models and a lower total cost of ownership.

Attendees will see how through Belden’s acquisition of SAM, Grass Valley’s portfolio is driving innovations that allow customers to deliver compelling content experiences anytime, anywhere. On show will be key applications areas including IP infrastructure, cloud and virtualised playout, and advanced workflow solutions.

The booth will also feature Grass Valley’s production switchers, which provide the flexibility to work with a variety of content formats, including 4K. Visitors will see business-transforming switcher solutions that suit a range of requirements, from the industry’s largest IP I/O footprint production switcher, GV K-Frame X, to the Kahuna 6400 for format versatility and the compact GV Korona K-Frame V-series for flexible 12G-SDI connectivity.

With media organisations under greater pressure to deliver quality content,

Visit www.grassvalley.com

BROADCAST ASIA

Ultra HD, including 4K and HDR, has the potential to attract significant audiences, particularly around live events. During BroadcastAsia2018, Imagine will demonstrate an Ultra HD playout and master control chain utilising Versio Platform microservices-based integrated playout software, advanced graphics, content management and automation tools – showcasing ingest from SDI, as well as from multiple SMPTE ST 2110 IP streams. This solution provides highly automated and integrated multichannel playout functionality, including internally upconverted HDto-UHD output, while performing dynamic graphics with DVE, as well as advanced audio track routing.

Dalet Galaxy five Brings AI, Social Media and Hybrid Workflows DALET HAS ANNOUNCED IT WILL SHOWCASE its Dalet Galaxy five media asset management and workflow orchestration platform for the first time at the BroadcastAsia2018 show (stand 4R4-06). Dalet Galaxy five delivers three key enhancements. The first enables broadcasters and media organisations to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) across the workflow. The second leverages hybrid infrastructures with on-premises and cloud deployments, while the third puts social media at the core of operations. Artificial Intelligence Framework Powered by Dalet Media Cortex, the Dalet Galaxy five AI framework connects, orchestrates and finetunes purpose-driven combinations of AI models, enabling media organisations to build intelligent workflows that assist users with recommendations, facilitate collaboration with smart matching, and use predictive analytics for better provisioning and automated decision-making. Dalet Content Discovery, the first application to leverage this new AI framework, uses data generated by cognitive services, combined with existing metadata, to build smart content recommendations for editorial and creative teams. Social Media Framework The Dalet Social Media framework enables newsrooms to treat social media as an integrated part of their overall news operation. Journalists can harvest, analyse, produce and deliver fastpaced news on social media platforms alongside traditional outlets. The story-centric workflow offers familiar indicators such as number of views, likes, shares, as well as audience comments and threads. Visual engagement data lets journalists know how their posts are performing with their audience and discover new angles audiences are expecting. Hybrid Workflows and Operations Dalet Galaxy five introduces new integrations with AWS infrastructure services, enabling hybrid scalable architectures that help minimise content

handling costs and introduce more mobility in the user experience while enhancing the security of content. Enhanced Workflow Orchestration The new version of the Dalet Workflow Engine included offers enhanced task management, high availability and new API services that simplify the integration with thirdparty systems. Recently added capabilities include top-down view of group tasks and shared task lists as well as task time tracking and data aggregation for reporting and analysis. Component-Based Workflows Power Multiplatform Productions Dalet Galaxy five disintermediates the media supply chain, allowing users to produce, manage and distribute content at the component level, a much more efficient and flexible way to facilitate complex and mass content volume workflows such as multiplatform news production and international programs preparation, localisation and versioning. The model is adapted to new families of standards such as the Interoperable Mastering Format or IMF. Dalet Galaxy five features a set of tools within Dalet Webspace to manage component-based IMF workflows from acquisition to production, versioning, packaging and distribution. Enhanced Collaboration Beyond media management, Dalet Galaxy five is a full communication and collaboration platform for

connected teams. New collaboration enhancements include Media Bins that provide media sharing flexibility, Dalet On-the-Go brings programs management tools to your phone and tablet, and the updated Dalet Chat capabilities allow users to work by thread and embed assets. Comprehensive Editing Experience Dalet Galaxy five offers a more comprehensive and collaborative editing experience to fit any workflow and editor’s needs. Dalet Webspace features a story-boarder for cut editing anywhere, the Dalet OneCut built-in desktop editor gets richer with more editing tracks, new transitions and effects, the Dalet Xtend integration with Adobe Premiere Pro CC expands to support Adobe Projects as well as the Dalet CG-on-the-Timeline model. Visit www.dalet.com

PHABRIX Highlights SMPTE 2110 Support and 12G-SDI STRESS Toolset PHABRIX HAS ANNOUNCED it will showcase SMPTE ST2110 support on its flagship Qx Series and renowned hand-held, the Sx TAG, on booth 6K3-12 at BroadcastAsia2018. PHABRIX will also demonstrate its rack-mounted Rx series for up to four-channel signal generation, analysis and monitoring and its portable SxE 3G/HD/SD generation, analysis and monitoring solution with advanced physical layer analysis.

BROADCAST ASIA

Qx Series – IP/12G-SDI, 4K/UHD and HDR Generation, Analysis and Monitoring

PHABRIX’s Qx Series offers hybrid IP/SDI test and measurement tools required for the transition to the next generation of video formats. The Qx IP now offers SMPTE 2110 with PTP and 2022-6 support. The new 12G-SDI STRESS option will be making its debut, providing an advanced toolset for SDI interface stress testing. Together with the Qx Series’ fast, automated 12G-SDI physical layer

analysis with RTE (Real-Time Eye) technology, provides a solution to SMPTE compliance verification. Adding to its PQ HDR toolset, the Qx Series offers support for Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and S-log3, enhancing the visualisation and analysis of 4K/UHD and HD content. The series’ new remote interface will also be demonstrated, employing VNC technology to deliver 16 simultaneous scalable instrument windows backed by a new preset mechanism. Sx TAG – Portable Generator/Analyser for Hybrid IP/SDI Now offering support for the latest SMPTE 2110 and SMPTE 2022-6 decapsulation/ encapsulation, PHABRIX’s Sx TAG is a handheld test and measurement instrument. Designed for rapid fault-finding and compliance testing in IP, 3G/HD/SD-SDI, optical SDI and analogue broadcast workflows, the Sx TAG’s

toolset also includes multi-format waveform and vectorscope monitors. With an inbuilt 16:9 screen and speakers, users can perform video and audio generation and analysis in remote locations. Rx Series: Rack-mounted Signal Generation, Analysis and Monitoring Suitable for broadcast QC in the studio, MCR or live production truck, PHABRIX’s rackmounted Rx Series delivers 2K/3G/HD/SD signal generation, analysis and monitoring for faster compliance testing and fault diagnosis. Its userdefined instrument layout can present up to 16 instruments simultaneously, ranging from full screen to 1/16 screen. The Rx’s diagnostics tools include RTE (Real-Time Eye) and jitter physical layer analysis instruments, plus closed caption, loudness and Dolby monitoring. PHABRIX will be present on stand 6K3-12 and Ideal Systems’ stand 6F4-04. Visit https://phabrix.com

Advancements in IBM Aspera’s Streaming for Video AT BROADCASTASIA2018 (STAND 4P2-01), IBM Aspera will showcase major advancements to its Streaming for Video Solution. Building on the success of its FASPStream protocol, Aspera continues to disrupt the status quo with new capabilities. This latest evolution enables live and near-live video streaming at the highest quality with no added latency over commodity internet with low-touch deployment and centralised administration using existing infrastructure. Aspera Streaming for Video, powered by FASPStream enables centralised, real-time production of high bit-rate programming,

eliminating the need to co-locate costly production staff. It also supports in-line transcoding, packaging and delivery to accelerate live video delivery and facilitates open file workflows for real-time editing and production. By lowering the production costs for all kinds of events, especially tier two and three events, broadcasters can create and deliver new content targeting new audiences. At BroadcastAsia2018, IBM Aspera will showcase its latest streaming enhancements, including Stream Manager, which automatically discovers Aspera FASPStream-enabled devices on a network, making deployment, configuration and management amazingly simple. It reduces the cost

and effort of traditional setup at the steam origin (e.g. remote venues) while increasing visibility and control at the point of production (e.g. broadcast centre). It also provides a new, easy-to-use interface that enables administrators to control remote devices, create and manage multiple streams, as well as view device and stream status. Other enhancements include multiple multicast streams that can now concurrently transfer to the same multicast IP address or multicast port, and full support for IBM Aspera Proxy to enable secure streaming transport over public Internet in firewallcontrolled environments. Visit https://asperasoft.com

PlayBox Technology Celebrates 18k Channel Deliveries PLAYBOX TECHNOLOGY WILL CELEBRATE

quality compressed video and audio. Designed

in 15 second increments. Maximum delay

its 18,000th product delivery at

for broadcasters operating across multiple

duration depends on input bit-rate and storage

BroadcastAsia2018. Exhibiting on stand

time zones, it integrates fully with the PlayBox

4J3-01, PlayBox will be represented by CEO

capacity.

Neo product family and offers a wide range of

Desmon Goh, Sales Manager Iulian Ionescu, and colleagues from the company’s Asia Pacific offices. Latest addition to the Neo product range is Neo TS Time Delay, a 1U IP-based delay server providing fully transparent delay of IP transport streams such as DVB/ATSC MPEG broadcast-

timing options which can be assigned to a single administrator or specified operators. Neo TS Time Delay can be configured with multiple input channels plus multiple delayed outputs. Each input also has a zero-delay output. Operating parameters are easily adjusted via an integral web-based user interface, including channel-specific time delay

The IP KVM People

Additional features include programme information display of MPEG-compliant transport streams plus automatic error logging. Like all elements of the PlayBox Technology Neo product series, Neo TS Time Delay can be configured for single-unit operation or twinned for use in main and backup modes. Visit https://playboxtechnology.com

Zero U • Flexible • Scalable

Find out more at www.adder.com

BROADCAST ASIA

Pavlin Rahnev, Asia Pacific General Manager

ACQUISITION

ACQUISITION Zake Productions Singapore

www.content-technology.com/acquisition

Stands with Flowtech Tripods

SINGAPORE-BASED VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY, Zake Productions, has chosen flowtech carbon-fiber tripod technology from Sachtler and Vinten to capture 4K footage in all types of weather and in rugged locations around the world. Zake Productions uses a flowtech 75 tripod, equipped with a Sachtler Ace XL camera head. “At Zake Productions, we’re always looking for better and more innovative ways to tell a story and give our clients the highest-quality results — but we need the right tools for the job. When we heard about the flowtech tripod, we knew we had to have one in our operation,” said Zavier Ow, co-founder and producer, Zake Productions. “No other brand of tripod comes close to flowtech’s sleek, lightweight, and extremely easy-to-deploy design.” The flowtech is an all-new tripod system that features fast-to-deploy legs, unique quick-release brakes, and easily adjustable levers for almost-instant setup in any type of remote production environment. These features mean all three legs can be deployed simultaneously and adjusted automatically to the ground’s surface, eliminating the need for operators to bend over and manually adjust multiple brakes on each leg. To date, Zake Productions has used flowtech on a wide range of productions, including corporate shoots, commercials, and feature-length documentaries. Typical Zake projects use a two-person crew; therefore, speed and ease of setup are absolutely essential. One especially valuable flowtech feature is its ability to adjust instantly to heights as low as 26 centimetres (10 inches) and as high as 153 centimetres (60 inches) without the detachable spreader, and up to 157 centimetres (62 inches) high with the spreader. Zavier added, “The flowtech hinge-lock mechanism, with only one easy-toreach latch per leg, is a huge improvement over conventional tripods. You never have to move your hand away from the latch to raise or lower the tripod, and a simple lever makes attaching and detaching the feet super easy. Plus, flowtech’s extremely light weight is another huge benefit, since we move around a lot during a typical production. Instead of having to rent a tripod in a destination country, this tripod is light enough to fly with us to just about any location.”

Keefe Chan, Zake Productions co-owner, added, “We came to fully appreciate flowtech recently when we were required by a partner producer to use another type of tripod. We were not happy trying to deploy the legs, which were flopping all over the place. The spreader was finicky, and the knobs were hard to adjust. We’re sure we could have deployed the flowtech in one third of the time it took to set up the other tripod.” Keefe added, “In only two years, we’ve been able to build a world-class client list that includes IBM, HP, Facebook, LinkedIn, Warner Music, and other name brands. With tools like flowtech bringing greater ease, efficiency, and flexibility to the job, we’re able to achieve our clients’ vision in the most creative manner possible.” Visit www.flowtech-tripod.com

ACS Tech Award Goes to Ground/Drone Gimbal Changeover Solution THE RECENT 47TH AUSTRALIAN CINEMATOGRAPHERS SOCIETY (ACS) National Awards for Cinematography saw Ignite Digi’s Chris Fox and Tom Waugh take out the coveted Bob Miller – ACS Technical & Innovation Achievement Award for 2018.

ACQUISITION

Sponsored by Miller Camera Support Equipment, the award recognised Fox and Waugh’s design and development of a unique solution for operators that require quick changeover between ground and drone gimbals as well as traditional tripod or handheld rigs. Ignite Digi manufactures these unique components that allow operators to change modes in under one minute, a process that had traditionally taken between 5-10 minutes per change, which is vital time saved on any production.

According to Chris Fox, “Ignite Digi started as a small Tasmanian company that has made great strides since coming onto the scene in 2014. By combining our unique skill sets in cinematography and aeronautical engineering, we are able to provide the industry with a solution that helps to capture the shots needed, regardless of mode, and also help productions save time.” Ignite Digi originally started as a drone operator, building its own systems to meet the need for flying high-end cinema cameras. As the need grew for stable moving shots at the ground level, Fox and Waugh developed a set of

vehicle mounts for on-ground work that went alongside the drone shots. Its latest product offerings take this one step further by providing specialty mounts that allow for faster mode changes for multiple rigs, from aerial and ground gimbals, to traditional tripod or handheld set-ups. Also at this year’s Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) National Awards, sponsored by Fujinon Fujifilm, Simon Duggan ACS (Hacksaw Ridge) took out the coveted Milli award for Australian Cinematographer of the Year. Duggan, was unable to collect the award in person due to overseas shooting commitments, had already received critical international acclaim for the Mel Gibson-directed Hacksaw Ridge and was truly humbled as he accepted the award by recorded video saying, “I’m very honoured to receive this year’s Milli award for Hacksaw Ridge. As we know it’s always a collaboration between a great director, cast and crew to achieve such an amazing result. I’ve always enjoyed the local and international films I’ve shot here in Australia and I’ve managed to have the very best Australian crews behind me over the years. I would like to thank the society and President Ron Johanson OAM ACS along with all the committee members and all the sponsors who have made tonight and so many other ACS events possible.” Visit www.cinematographer.org.au, www.millertripods.com and www. ignitedigi.com.au

ACQUISITION

Ikegami Exhibit Latest Cameras, Monitors and Transmission Equipment Ikegami will exhibit its newest technology and systems on the Ikegami APAC stand 4R4-01 at BroadcastAsia 2018. Ikegami HDK-99 Full Digital 3-CMOS Full-HD HDR Camera Debuted at the April 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas, the HDK-99 succeeds Ikegami’s popular HDK-95C as the elite offering in the Unicam HD series. A docking-style camera for portable and studio applications, it employs three 2.6 megapixel high-performance CMOS image sensors delivering high picture quality in HDR at Full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. HLG mode maintains the high contrast required for HDR and conforms to the ITU-R BT.2100 international standard. Signal-to-noise ratio is >62 dB and sensitivity is a high F11 (59.94 Hz). The sensors natively support 1080i /59.94, 1080i/50, 720p/59.94, 720p/50, 1080p/29.97, 1080p/25 and 1080p/23.98. Also supported are 1080p/59.94, 1080p/50, 1080i/119.88, and 1080i/100 3G HDTV formats. Integral to the HDK-99 is the Ikegami AXII processor which allows fast and precise colour matching for live multi-camera applications. A Lens Aberration Correction function minimises resolution loss and coloured edging caused mainly by optical chromatic aberration. Quick EZ Focus Assist provides distinct enhancement to the viewfinder signal, enabling the camera operator to make critical focus adjustments. Area size, area colour, edge colour and display time on the viewfinder are all adjustable from the camera menu. HQLM-3125X 4K HDR Broadcast Production Monitor Ikegami’s HQLM-3125X HDR broadcast production monitor employs a 4,096×2,160 pixel 10-bit resolution LED-backlit LCD panel with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Fully compliant with BT.2020 wide colour gamut, the HQLM3125X incorporates single-channel 3G-SDI × 5, 3G/HD-SDI and HDMI inputs as standard features. Square-division and two-sample interleave sources can be connected to the monitor via 3G-SDI × 4. A dual-channel 12G-SDI input is also available for other 4K equipment. Viewing angle for critical image evaluation is a wide 178 degrees (horizontal/vertical). In addition to its picture monitoring role, the HQLM-3125X can operate as a waveform monitor and vectorscope. It can also display vertical-interval timecode, eight channel SDI-embedded audio level and closed-caption subtitles. Ikegami HDK-73 3-CMOS Full-HD HDR Camera The Ikegami HDK-73 is a dockable multi-role high-definition camera designed for SDR and HDR broadcast production. It is available as complete system including CCU, connecting fibre, viewfinder and remote control. Image capture is to -inch 2.6 megapixel CMOS sensors, each capable of capturing Full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution images with a dynamic range of 600% in normal mode and an extremely wide 1200 percent in HLG mode, high sensitivity (F13 at 50Hz) and high signal-to-noise ratio. The sensors natively support 1080i/59.94 and

1080i/50, as well as 720p/59.94 and 720p/50 scan formats. Major features include full digital signal processing, advanced digital detail correction with independent horizontal and vertical correction of red, green and blue signals, and optional anti-moiré filtering. Hybrid log gamma processing is operator-selectable for HDR picture origination, enabling high-contrast scenes to be televised with full picture detail across the entire brightness range from highlights, mid-range to shaded areas. The HDK-73’s dockable structure allows studio configuration with fibre base stations as well as self-contained operation with a camera adapter for wireless or onsite recording applications. A fibre adapter can be attached directly to the camera head without need for external cables. External devices such as wireless transmission or a solid-state recorder can be attached for standalone operation, making the camera suitable for live sports, news gathering or field production. Also on the Ikegami APAC stand at BroadcastAsia 2018: • Ikegami UHK-430 3-CMOS UHD camera and aggressively priced HC-HD300 docking-style studio/field camera. • Ikegami HQLM-3120W 31-inch 4K master reference monitor, HLM-2460WR multi-format 24-inch video monitor, HLM-1760WR space-saving 17-inch video monitor and HLM-960WR multi-format 9-inch video monitor. • Ikegami PF-531A ultra-low latency HD/SD digital microwave link and iHTR optical multiplex fibre transmission link. Visit https://sg.ikegami.co.jp

Solid Video Excels at ASEAN Summit with Sony

Established in 1984, Solid Video began its journey as a small department handling broadcast equipment sales and rentals. Through the years it has transformed itself into a leader in providing project management and turnkey broadcast solutions to a range of clients. It also supported various agencies of the Philippines government to set up important regional events including the ASEAN Summit in 2006 and the APEC Summit in 2015. For the 31st ASEAN Summit, Solid Video made World Trade Center a hub for local and international journalists covering the summit’s events. The IMC included 100 broadcast booths, 60 media rooms, a master control room, a

2,000-seat main briefing room, three large LED walls, and booking centres for interviews and live video feeds. Solid Video pulled out all stops to equip the IMC with a suite of advanced Sony equipment ranging from HD system cameras, remote studio cameras, XDCAM camcorders, multi-format switchers, mobile recorders, and 3LCD projectors. “It’s no secret that many of the world’s best news organisations use Sony products and technology,” said Nestor Baloro, Head of Marketing and Engineering at Solid Video Corporation. “By equipping the IMC with Sony, many of the TV stations simply relied on our feeds provided directly to their booths. There was no need for them to deploy additional production crew.” Visit http://pro.sony-asia.com

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ACQUISITION

TWO WEEKS WAS ALL SOLID VIDEO had to transform 9,000m². at the World Trade Center in Manila, Philippines into an International Media Centre (IMC) for the 31st ASEAN Summit. The 6-day event which was held in November 2017 featured over 20 world leaders.

ACQUISITION

In the Frame at NAB2018 SEPTEMBER 2018 MARKS 10 YEARS since the release of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the beginning of a process of disruption in the professional video camera market which continues to this day. Canon’s first EOS SLR camera to feature video recording was also the first to redefine footprint, capability and price for a market which has seen both old and new players come and go, feature sets expand, and pricing and margins shrink. This year’s NAB proved that the market is still in flux. Back in the news (literally), JVC announced the GY-HC900 “CONNECTED CAM” broadcast camcorder, which features three 2/3-inch CMOS image sensors for full HD imagery, as well as enhanced connectivity for a complete news-over-IP workflow solution in the field.

Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty and the new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

When paired directly with the optional ProHD Dockable Bridge or via Wi-Fi with any ProHD Bridge unit, the new GY-HC900 allows on-air talent to conduct a two-way interview with return video while streaming live to air without any external boxes or backpacks. It is JVC’s first camera featuring a new communications engine that optimises both image processing and IP performance. The engine enables simultaneous recording, low latency streaming, and simultaneous decoding for return video and IFB. Latency can be as low as 500ms for both outgoing and incoming video. The GY-HC900’s complete IP workflow includes streaming performance up to 20 Mbps and built-in Wi-Fi (2.4Ghz/5GHz) with dual external antennas. The camera also features Zixi error correction with automatic repeat request (ARQ) and SMPTE 2022 forward error correction for reliable transmission. Beyond ENG, the GY-HC900 is an ideal choice for high-end EFP and studio fiber applications. It works with the FS-900 camera module, which attaches seamlessly to the camera via a 68-pin interface, and feeds 3G-SDI signals, control, audio, sync, and intercom to a base station via fiber. Equipped with an industry standard B4 lens mount and four-position optical filter, the GY-HC900 delivers excellent sensitivity (F12 at 60Hz, F13 at 50Hz in extended mode) and high 62dB signal-to-noise ratio (in standard mode). The advanced 2/3-inch CMOS sensors, each with 1920x1080 pixels, combine with an F1.4 prism to produce full HD images. The camera also offers an HDR mode for creative flexibility, as well as up to 120fps 1080p slow-motion recording. The GY-HC900 supports native recording of both MPEG-2 at up to 35 Mbps, which is widely used by broadcasters, and H.264 (.MOV), which provides production quality 10 bit, 1080/60p 4:2:2 footage. Plus, the camcorder records in Sports Exchange Standard formats, so sports organisations can produce HD video with rich metadata that specifically addresses the workflow needs of sports production and video coaching applications.

ACQUISITION

With dual memory card slots for SDHC/SDXC media, the GY-HC900 offers redundant, relay, and backup recording modes. It also records proxy resolution video clips for off-line editing or online posts. The camera includes a 3.26-inch OLED color viewfinder, as well as a 3.5-inch LCD panel for menu navigation.

An integrated 3G-SDI pool feed input allows the GY-HC900 operator to capture video and stream it live simultaneously. Camera functions can also be controlled via web browser or the JVC RM-LP100 remote camera control. The camera also boasts an IPX2 water resistant rating for operation in challenging conditions. Other features include a genlock input, time code in/out, dual 3G-SDI outputs and an HDMI output, three XLR audio inputs, Ethernet and USB ports, wireless audio module slot, and an additional slot for future expansion. Visit http://pro.jvc.com

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN ANNOUNCED the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, a handheld digital film camera with full 4/3 HDR sensor, dual native ISO with a maximum ISO of up to 25,600 for low light performance as well as 13 stops of dynamic range. It also eliminates expensive external recorders, as it features a unique new USB-C Expansion Port, which allows customers to record using the internal SD/UHS-II and CFast recorders or directly to the same external disks they will use for editing and colour correction. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K features a full size 4/3 HDR sensor with native 4096 x 2160 resolution and 13 stops of dynamic range. The full size of the 4/3 sensor is designed to perfectly match MFT lenses so the crop factor is greatly reduced, giving customers a wider field of view. The camera features an MFT lens mount, 5-inch touchscreen monitor, 10-bit ProRes and 12-bit RAW recording, 3D LUTs, four built-in microphones, mini XLR audio input with phantom power, Bluetooth wireless camera control, and HDMI on-set monitoring output. Designed using a carbon fibre polycarbonate composite, the body of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is extremely strong and light. The handheld design features a multi function grip which has logically placed buttons and dials that allow super fast access to essential shooting functions such as recording start/stop, still photos, ISO, shutter, aperture, white balance, power and more. Fourth generation Blackmagic Design colour science lets customers shoot HDR images in film, video and new extended video modes. The new extended mode combines the latitude of digital film with an optimised video file. Images can be recorded onto standard SD cards, faster UHS-II cards or CFast 2.0 cards in either ProRes or RAW formats. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K can record 4K images at up to 60 frames per second and windowed HD at up to 120 frames per second. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K uses the same MFT (Micro Four Thirds) lens mount as the original Pocket Cinema Camera so customers can use the investment in lenses they already own. The MFT mount is extremely flexible and allows for different lens adapters so customers can also use PL, C, EF and other types of lenses from manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Leica and even Panavision. It also uses the same Blackmagic OS as URSA Mini so customers can use simple tap and swipe gestures to adjust settings, add metadata and view recording status. On screen overlays make it easy to see recording parameters, status, histogram, focus and peaking indicators, and playback controls. In addition, 3D LUTs can be applied for both monitoring and recording. For audio, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K features multiple built in microphones with an extremely low noise floor, a mini XLR input with 48 volts of phantom power to connect professional lapel and boom mics, and a 3.5mm stereo audio jack for connecting different types of video camera microphones. The camera also supports remote camera control via Bluetooth, and includes a full licence for DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, colour, visual effects and audio post production. Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

ACQUISITION

IP WORKFLOWS Helping broadcasters and content producers navigate the industry’s latest disruptive transition, a number of manufacturers showcased solutions to assist the move from baseband video infrastructures to IP-based workflows. HITACHI KOKUSAI SHOWCASED its implementation of the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards across its range of broadcast cameras. Support for SMPTE ST 2110 – which provides standards for Professional Media over Managed IP Networks – is planned for all current-model HITACHI HDTV broadcast cameras when paired with new IP-enabled models in the CU-HD1300 family of camera control units. HITACHI HDTV camera systems will initially comply with the published ST 2110-10 (System Timing and Definitions), ST 2110-20 (Uncompressed Active Video), ST 2110-30 (PCM Digital Audio) and ST 2110-21 (Traffic Shaping Takao Tsuji, CEO, JVC Kenwood, with the new Connected Camera at NAB2018. and Delivery Timing for Video) standards, as well as the ST 2110-40 specification concerning HDR and 120fps performance and RAW capabilities, featuring an all-new look metadata such as captions, dynamic range and more. Hitachi Kokusai’s IP with a refined picture tone to capture natural highlights, subtle, alluring and well implementation will also comply with the ST 2059-2 PTP (Precision Time rendered facial tones and a softer tonal look emphasising portrayal of a person. Protocol in Professional Broadcast Applications) and the AMWA NMOS IS-04 (Discovery and Registration) specification. The company also introduced the flagship PXW-Z280 professional handheld Camera output will be delivered over multicast IP as one channel of uncompressed video with two embedded digital audio channels. For HITACHI cameras equipped with High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities, all HDR functionality is available with IP-based transport, continuing Hitachi Kokusai’s leadership in supporting the ITU R.BT.2100 HDR format.

camcorder. Boasting three 1/2-type Exmor R CMOS sensors, the PXW-Z280 delivers high sensitivity of F12 (59.94p), long zoom ratio and deep depth of field, suitable for news gathering. In addition, the 3-chip sensors and 4K 4:2:2 10-bit add vivid imagery and delicate colour gradation. Enhanced network features, versatile formats and interfaces enable direct-to-air workflows.

Beyond the initial SMPTE ST 2110 implementation, Hitachi Kokusai is also working on advanced network management, control, switching, redundancy and content protection schemes for IP-based production infrastructures. These technologies will be rolled out in the company’s next-generation 4K and 8K cameras, slated for use by several Japanese broadcasters at an “upcoming international sporting event”.

Sony also introduced the PXW-Z190, a 4K compact camcorder with enhanced usability to achieve various video expressions. The camcorder’s newly developed three 1/3-type Exmor R CMOS image sensors capture RGB light independently and deliver 4K 50p/60p imagery with high resolution and a wide range of gradation. 4:2:2 10-bit ensures vivid and rich colour content in High Definition. Equipped with Advanced Face Detection AF functions (Face Priority AF and the newly added Face Only AF), the camcorder ensures that specific object automatically remain in pin-sharp focus.

The new CU-HD1300F-S1 combines SMPTE fibre transport and multi-format HDTV support with intercom, teleprompter return, and additional signal connectivity in a space-efficient 2RU unit. The CU-HD1300F-S1 can output natively-acquired 1080p video as 4K/UHD over single-link 12Gbps SDI or quadlink 3G-SDI connectivity. The 4K output functionality of the CU-HD1300F-S1 is compatible with all fibreequipped, 1080p HITACHI Z-series and SK-series cameras, and supports High Dynamic Range when used with HDR-enabled camera models including the award-winning Z-HD5500 and the SK-HD1300. The new CCU can also be used with interlaced HITACHI camera models for HDTV output. A second, new CCU, the dual-cable CU-HD1300FT-S1 fibre/triax model, offers similar 4K output capabilities when used with fibre-connected cameras. The CUHD1300FT-S1 offers all of the capabilities of its fibre-only sibling, plus Hitachi Kokusai’s fourth generation digital triax system for long-distance triax transport of HDTV signals. Visit www.hitachi-kokusai.co.jp SONY INTRODUCED A NEW CCU – HDCU-3100. Meeting the growing industry demand for IP, the 1.5U size of the compact fibre CCU brings IP capabilities to Sony’s system cameras, ranging from the flagship 4K HDC-4300 with BPU-4000 series, including the new BPU-4500A, through to the HDC-2000 series and HSC fibre system cameras. Combined with a new HKCU-SFP30 option board, the HDCU-3100 is able to support SMPTE ST 2110 professional media over a managed IP Network suite of standards. The essential functionalities required for live production including tally, intercom and return video can all be provided through IP. Support for NMOS IS-04/05 is in the future scope. Sony also expanded its large format sensor category with the newly introduced FS5 II. Building on the FS5 with default shooting capabilities, the FS5 II adds 4K

Visit https://pro.sony.com.au PANASONIC, MEANWHILE, announced a new UHD/HD Studio Camera which is planned for launch mid-2018. The AK-UC4000 studio cam will boast: • Newly developed 4.4K sensor with B4 2/3-type lens mount • 4K 12G-SDI standard • Variable HDR • Media Over IP output Panasonic also boosted its line-up of remote cameras with the launch of a firmware upgrade so that its entire line-up supports NDI|HX, alongside the introduction of a new PTZ camera, the AW-HE38. Integration with the Network Device Interface (NDI), enhanced with a new highefficiency mode, allows users to connect Panasonic professional PTZ cameras directly to an NDI network. All existing Panasonic PTZ cameras (AW-HE40, AW-HE130 and AW-UE70) can be upgraded to support NDI|HX, thanks to a software license sold by NewTek. The PTZ cameras are supported by the AV-HLC100 Live Production Center that combines a 1 ME switcher, remote camera controller (up to eight cameras), graphics overlays, streaming/recording and audio mixer functions to enable easy live streaming with one-person operation. The HLC100 supports a wide range of both NTSC and PAL video formats, including 3G-SDI video in1080/59.94p and 1080/50p, and enables crossconversation on inputs. Eight total inputs are available with the choice of SDI or HDMI for input 1, SDI for inputs 2-4, and NDI for input 5-8. Alternatively, one can utilise NDI for up to all eight inputs so that a system can be configured to match the production environment. There are two SDI outputs, with associated NDI outputs; Output 1 is the program output. Output 2 can be assigned to program, preview or to an AUX bus. The AUX bus is useful as an independent secondary output for clean recording or alternate feed. Visit www.panasonic.com.au

ACQUISITION

Hitachi Kokusai also showcased the CU-HD1300F-S1 HDTV camera control unit with 4K, 12G-SDI output, transforms 1080p to Ultra HD with support for High Dynamic Range (HDR). The company also announced an optional firmware upgrade for its SK-UHD4000 4K Ultra HD camera system to enhance simultaneous HDR and Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) acquisition. New optional 12Gbps SDI output capabilities for the accompanying CU-HD4000 CCU have also been added to its existing quad-link SDI interface.

SPORTSCASTING Sport coverage worldwide

www.content-technology.com/sportscasting

Fox Sports/IBM Team Up for FIFA World Cup

SPORTSCASTING

WHILE PLAYERS WILL BE ripping up the pitch in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, US-based FOX Sports and IBM have launched an historical AI collaboration across multiple FOX Sports properties and programming - the first of its kind for the broadcaster.

With 64 matches played over 32 days by 32 competing teams, the World Cup is one of the most highly anticipated global sporting events. The 2014 World Cup attracted 3.2 billion viewers on television and an estimated 280 million online viewers. Overall, 98,087 hours of video footage was broadcast to billions of fans. That requires a huge amount of processing power to streamline production workflows. Beginning with the 2018 FIFA World Cup, FOX Sports is tapping IBM Watson Media’s specialised AI video technology and IBM iX’s proven expertise in designing user experiences to streamline production workflows to quickly classify, edit and access match highlights in near real-time. The advancements to production and distribution will enable FOX Sports to curate engaging video clips and match highlights so that sports enthusiasts back home don’t miss a single play, penalty kick, or goal. The collaboration kicks off with the launch of The Highlight Machine. This interactive experience, designed and developed by IBM iX, one of the world’s largest digital agencies and global business design partners, empowers fans to browse FIFA’s archive of past matches and effortlessly create custom highlights from both the historic footage and content from the 2018 tournament. Fans can customize highlights by year, team, player, match, and play type within seconds and share their favourite FIFA moments with the world. Soccer fans will be able to view and filter highlights by team, player, timeframe and type of gameplay like penalty kicks and goals. To extend the post-match conversation on social media,

viewers can save, favourite and share highlight reels as well as catch up on games by speed-watching critical, automatically generated clips. “We are delighted to be working with IBM, a leader in the technology space, to help enhance fan experiences and engagement,” said Sarah Tourville, SVP of Sports Brand Activations, FOX Sports. “Our collaboration affords us an opportunity to utilize their technology across multiple properties, helping to drive engagement for our tentpole events in non-traditional ways.” Visit ibm.com/watson/media/

Creative Technology Asia Pacific Boosts Rentals with Riedel TO ENSURE THAT ITS HIGH-END communications solutions are at the forefront of current technology, Creative Technology Asia Pacific (CT APAC) has added Riedel Communications’ Bolero wireless intercom system to its rental stock. Known for its innovative application of the latest technology alongside the very best technical and operational personnel, CT APAC tested and identified the Bolero system as a critical addition to its comms solution offering. “Creative Technology is a premier supplier of audiovisual gear to the entertainment, sports, and corporate sectors,” said Rajveer Singh, Riedel Communications General Manager, Southeast Asia. “That the company has selected our Bolero wireless intercom is a matter of great pride for us — and yet another indicator that Bolero is becoming the first choice for customers in several parts of Asia.” “We worked with Bolero on a large-scale arena event just a couple of months back, so the system’s flexibility and clarity are still very fresh in our minds — and they’re great reasons to make Bolero part of our rental stock,”

[L-R] Jason Ng System Consultant at Riedel Singapore, Marcus Lim General Manager, CT Singapore, Rajveer Singh General Manager Riedel Southeast Asia and Minghee Juay Project Manager at CT Singapore.

said Marcus Lim, General Manager, CT Singapore. “Communications is the backbone on which all other disciplines rely. It should be the least of our worries at event venues, and Bolero gives us valuable peace of mind and assurance in that challenging environment.” Bolero is an expandable, full-roaming, DECTbased intercom system in the license-free 1.9 gigahertz frequency range. Fully integrated into Riedel’s Artist digital matrix intercom platform, Bolero offers a rich set of features and connectivity that can be applied three ways: as an exceptional wireless beltpack, as a wireless keypanel, and as a walkie-talkie radio. Running over a standards-based AES67 IP network along with Artist frames, Bolero provides a fully integrated pointto-point intercom ecosystem with seamless roaming capabilities. Visit www.riedel.net

BIGO Launches Cube TV for Livestreaming eSports

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SINGAPORE-BASED BIGO, which owns BIGO LIVE livestreaming app, has launched Cube TV, a service that aims to satisfy gamers’ needs for mobile gaming livestreaming. Launched in Jakarta, the app will be rolling out in S.E.A and then globally.

The app also boasts Blue Ray technology allowing users to watch livestreams and videos in Blue Ray. It will roll out 8M Blue Ray and 20M full HD subsequently for videos and livestreaming. The new service will focus on mobile gaming livestreaming, eSports arena and a game shopping mall to meet the needs and demands of gamers. Mr. Caya Yan, Operational Director of gaming platform Mobile Legends, said “Mobile Legends will partner with Cube TV to roll out its esports activities and promotion in Indonesia and more to come.”

James Wang, Vice- President, BIGO, said “Bigo Live had $300 million of revenue in 2017 and is already profitable, Cube TV is our latest product in line of further expansion and meeting our users’ need. Providing content that users are willing to pay for is the most sustainable business model of live-streaming. We are looking at growing this new business. It has over 2 million monthly active users before its official launch in S.E.A, Middle East, South America and Russia.” BIGO says it will continue its research and development efforts in AI technology based in Singapore which will bring more benefits to users across all applications – BIGO LIVE, Cube TV, LIKE (a short video app) and Hello Yo (a free service voice-chat room app). Visit www.bigo.tv

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IBC Takes Broadcast Centre-Stage at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 by Terry Kee Broadcast coverage of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, the biggest sporting event held in Australia this decade, is a significant international event that does not come around often and a grand tour of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) was thoroughly merited to highlight how it was all put together. NEP Host Broadcast, GC2018 Host Broadcaster held the responsibility for the design, development and building of the IBC and based its temporary home for the duration of the Games at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach. NEP Host Broadcast’s other major responsibility was to provide HD multi-camera coverage of all the sporting events including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for delivery to broadcast rights-holders (RHBs) based on-site at the IBC and around the world. These notably included Australia’s Seven Network, BBC, Astro Arena Malaysia and TVNZ. Setting up a project to broadcast a major sporting event like the Commonwealth Games takes a huge amount of human resources and with the participation of 1450 technical broadcast personnel at the IBC and venues as well as 220 student trainees from Queensland universities and colleges, GC2018 was no different. With approximately 1340 hours of live television coverage, 17 sporting venues, 18 sport disciplines and a new record of seven para-sport events, more than 140km of cable including coax, fibre and Cat6 was laid to cover the whole event. At the core of the Commonwealth Games broadcast activity, the IBC directed the flow of video and audio traffic to and from sporting venues not only in the Gold Coast area, but across Queensland where sporting events were held in Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns. Temporary areas and rooms for the IBC had to be constructed within the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre space and additional power and air conditioning installed where needed. “All the walls of the temporary structure, electrical wiring, cable trays and chilled water plumbing went in. The base building’s air conditioning is used but where there are enclosed spaces with ceilings, additional air conditioning had to be installed,” said Jeff Coleman, Head of Engineering and Technical Operations at NEP Host Broadcast. NEP’s design for the IBC also ensured that structural components and hardware used at GC2018 could be recycled for future projects. “Most of the wall panels are built to be easily dismantled and are completely re-usable and will be used after the Games in other exhibitions. “Most of the copper cable will also be recycled and the fibre will be pulled out so there is no waste.” Interfacing of the IBC to telco circuits took place in the Telco Equipment Room (TER) and Telco Integration Room (TIR).

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“TER is located in a room in the basement of the building where all the network fibre terminates and the handover of all the telco circuits coming in from the venues are processed in TIR. The circuits come upstairs to TIR which are then converted back into HD SDI for HB to access,” said Jeff Coleman.

The nerve centre of the IBC was the Broadcast Equipment Room (BER) where all the communication equipment and servers were housed in a re-locatable metal storage container. The concept of using a storage container for the BER was developed by NEP’s team of engineers and it was brought to life and fully implemented for GC2018. “Due to the compressed build timeline needed the team came to the conclusion that we build it all in one big container. It’s the heart of the whole system as everything relies on the BER,” said Terry Manley, Chief Engineer at NEP Host Broadcast and head of the IBC engineering project.

First in, last out. NEP’s containerised Broadcast Equipment Room (BER) for GC2018.

With approximately 1340 hours of live television coverage, 17 sporting venues, 18 sport disciplines and a new record of seven para-sport events, more than 140km of cable including coax, fibre and Cat6 was laid to cover the whole event.

“The container was modified by a company that converts shipping containers and we designed it as a proper data centre with cold aisle containment and a raised floor,” said Mark Ahern, Head of Broadcast Infrastructure at NEP Host Broadcast. “It was designed over a ten month period, built over six months in Sydney and we commissioned it before sending it to the Gold Coast.” As can be expected at a major event like GC2018 with multi-sport disciplines and a host of different venues, connectivity to the BER could not be underestimated. “There are around 700 cables servicing the BER with an additional couple of hundred cables running on the corporate switch. We ran, labelled and terminated those cables in less than two weeks,” said Jeff Coleman.

All incoming feeds were fed to the interface patching in the BER and outgoing feeds were delivered to the RHBs that have booked the service. The router, vision mixers, ingest servers, playout servers, communications matrixes and network switches were all mounted in 18 equipment racks located in the BER. For incoming circuits, multi-lateral feeds were frame-synced using video processors. “They also provide de-multiplexing of the audio for distribution to Commentary Switching Control (CSC) as well as provide idents, main and protect switching,” added Jeff Coleman. For outgoing circuits, distribution to the RHBs and Host Broadcaster were delivered using DVDA distribution amplifiers. As far as mains power is concerned, dual generators were installed at the back of the Exhibition side of the complex and there were uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) for redundancy in case of mains power failure.

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providing production quality assessment of their sporting venues based on the incoming multi-lateral feeds. “The producers look at the pictures that come in and do their quality control checks on the production which is meticulously planned on how it should look and sound,” said Mark Ahern. Every workstation in PQC had a touch screen allowing any contributing channel to be monitored along with talkback to each venue. Four Beauty cameras installed on the Gold Coast were also monitored and controlled in PQC. Beauty camera H.264 compressed video was relayed to the IBC on bi-directional circuits allowing control data to be sent from PQC for controlling camera functions remotely. “All Beauty cameras are carried either on Optus fibre, a bonded PSTN or microwave solution as H.264 video. All circuits are bidirectional to allow return control data for paint control as well as data for windscreen wiper and washer water,” said Jeff Coleman. Gold Coast locations of Beauty camera installations included:

It comes as no surprise that video monitoring screens were in virtually every corner of the IBC. Monitoring video was provided using 32x2 and 16x2 display cards that were connected to thirty 32-inch screens and twenty 55-inch screens installed around the technical areas of the IBC. There were another twenty 55-inch screens connected to the host 40-channel (H.264) CATV system for general monitoring. In Multi-Channel Services (MCS), NEP Host Broadcast provided six channels of curated video material produced by the Host Broadcaster as high quality television channels and available for RHBs to access and put to air. “Rights-holders have input on what appears on an MCS channel – for example, requesting to see second field of play where they have a specific interest in the result or a player,” explained Jeff Coleman. In addition to the six curated TV channels, there was the Commonwealth Games Channel (CGC) that RHBs could also book and then put straight to air. The Commonwealth Games Channel consisted of ‘ready to go to air’ live sport and video program material pre-produced by the Host Broadcaster. The MCS on-air control, video channels could be selected, switched and put live to air at the touch of a virtual button on a touch screen integrated to a video and audio matrix. In addition, video from the playout servers and beauty cameras were also available in MCS. NEP specified functions for the touch screen, making it user-friendly for the operators to operate. “Touch screens are also used in the Commentary Switching Control (CSC) and Contribution Distribution Transmission (CDT) where there are bigger video monitors and everything including the metering can all be seen at once,” explains Andrew Angeli, Head of Commentary Systems at NEP Host Broadcast. “In the Commentary Switching Centre we can monitor any four-wire circuit or commentary circuit and route it from point A to point B using big virtual buttons on the operators touch screen, instead of using a computer mouse click on a monitor screen with several thousand routes which can be so user-unfriendly.” NEP also embraced Audio over IP (AoIP) technology for commentary distribution at the Games using Dante. The adoption of AoIP technology also meant that a new approach for commentary service was taken for these Games. “We have embraced a new model this time around where the commentary is fully IP at the venues using WLAN Dante network,” said Jeff Coleman. “All commentary will come back to the IBC but is also embedded on the multilateral feeds so the host commentary is there for everyone to hear. At the IBC commentary on the network can be monitored, routed and adjusted at any time. “We provide full on-site support to the rights-holders but there is no longer a need for a Commentary Control Room (CCR) on site anymore like in previous Games.” Monitoring of the entire IBC video network took place in Contribution Distribution Transmission (CDT). “Everything that comes in and out that can be monitored is seen in this room. The entire network is available for us to see and switch with complete redundancy for every venue incoming to the IBC,” said Jeff Coleman. Four workstations were located in Production Quality Control (PQC) where coordinating producers along with game time producers were stationed

• Cavill Ave at Surfers Paradise featuring the iconic shot of the ‘Surfers Paradise’ sign on the beach. • Oskars Restaurant at Burleigh Heads looking back up the coast. • Gold Coast University looking east over the Games village. • Roof of the Meriton Hotel at Southport looking across the Sundale Bridge towards Surfers Paradise. The camera at the Meriton also had the ability to pan north looking across the Broadwater to the Optus Aquatic Centre. Outside the IBC, other exciting goals were being scored in the deployment of new technology at GC2018. For the very first time at a Commonwealth Games a four-point overhead wired camera system was used at the aquatic events. The four-point camera systems were deployed at Carrara Stadium and the Optus Aquatic Centre where a camera suspended by four cables is steered and guided around the stadium remotely allowing the viewer to get close to the action. A Beechcraft 200 aircraft was also flown from Europe to be used for the first time in Australia as a high altitude receive/transmit platform. The plane was equipped with Tracking Antennas to enable nine uplinks planned for marathon race day along with a removable two meter mast equipped with a Tracking Antenna for downlink transmission. “The plane sat at an altitude of approximately 24,000 feet and flew a figure eight above competition venues for road race, time trials and the marathon. On the day of the marathon, we used five motorcycles, two lead vehicles and two helicopters to cover the three races, all transmitting to the aircraft and down to the receive point,” said Jeff Coleman. In addition, a huge array of resources and equipment was deployed at GC2018 including: • Twenty-five outside broadcast vehicles and control rooms. • 325 High Definition cameras. • Multiple sport-specific specialty cameras. • Six editing suites for highlights and colour package editing at the IBC with ingest, edit and playout serviced by a 60TB SAN. • 140 2TB drives for archive at the IBC. NEP’s long and successful association with the Commonwealth Games goes back a long time as Andrew Quinn, Director of Major Events at NEP Host Broadcast explained, “This is NEP’s fourth involvement with the Commonwealth Games and we’ve serviced the Commonwealth rights-holders for over 16 years now, so we know the requirements of the rights-holders and we make sure we are delivering the outcomes they require. “We are servicing them in the same way they would expect to be serviced if they were doing a single day of outside broadcast with us. The same delivery value applies and delivering on behalf of our customers is the same approach we take in doing a host broadcast project like the Commonwealth Games. This attitude does not change which I think is welcomed. “Rights-holders feel comfortable knowing that NEP is involved and knowing that whatever they need, we will deliver for them. They know who we are and there is a lot of trust between us which is a big bonus. “We’ve grown up with the Commonwealth Games, seen it grow and it’s a relevant event in the four year cycle of major events and I wish it all the luck in the future as well.” Visit www.nepgroup.com.au

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GC2018 IBC Contribution Distribution Transmission (CDT).

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Camera Corps to Launch SIMPLY SMPTE MAX CAMERA CORPS HAS CHOSEN the recently held NAB Show in Las Vegas as the launch platform for SIMPLY SMPTE MAX, a powerful addition to its rental range of television production solutions. “Developed by our in house engineering team, SIMPLY SMPTE MAX is designed for use in 4K-UHD or multi-camera HD broadcast coverage of live events,” detailed Camera Corps’ Barry Parker. “It’s a compact remote fibre signal transportation system with five 3G feeds to support 4K and superslow-motion applications operated and powered over long distances. “SIMPLY SMPTE MAX delivers the security and reliability demanded for high-profile sports events where space is at a premium and a neat efficient fibre solution is required. It has already been used with outstanding success at one of the largest events in the winter 2018 sports calendar and now forms part of the Camera Corps rental fleet.” Each system comprises two units, base and remote. Both are compact and highly robust, allowing very

fast installation, configuration and tear-down. They connect via a single SMPTE 311M hybrid cable capable of carrying multichannel video and audio from one or more cameras back to a production control room. The same cable can be used to deliver AC mains power (240V at up to 480W) from base to remote. Two XLR4 sockets, delivering up to a combined total of 50W at 12V, are also available at the remote end. SIMPLY SMPTE MAX additionally accepts a remote-to-base 3G video feed such as the HD monitor display output from a 4K-UHD camera, typically used to carry camera-settings information. Base-to-remote video is also provided for genlock. Eight bi-directional data channels, 2x RS232 signals, 2x RS422/485, 2x audio and 2x GPI are all fully supported. Two ethernet networking ports (10/100/1,000 Base-T) are also provided plus a base-toremote analogue audio channel for camera control data. Visit www.cameracorps.co.uk

Vizrt Unveils Viz Libero AR DURING THIS YEAR’S NAB SHOW, Vizrt debuted Viz Libero AR, a broadcast studio tool that combines the analysis power of Viz Libero with augmented reality (AR) graphics. The solution, according to Vizrt, creates a new way for sports presenters to tell the story of the action on the field while engaging sports fans. Remo Ziegler, Vice President for Product Management Sports, Vizrt, said, “Viz Libero AR brings the pitch into the studio, giving the fans the experience of analysing the most important plays with the experts. The transition between Viz Libero AR and Viz Libero analysis clips allows the viewers to sit in the first row at all times, be it in the studio or on the pitch.” Viz Libero combines 3D replays and virtual graphics from any sports to provide deeper, multi-angle analysis of moments within the game. The solution is equipped with a photorealistic 3D view, which is based on the original game footage enriched with analysis graphics that are placed as AR elements in front of the sports presenter in the studio. “Vizrt’s focus is to expand broadcasters’ sports storytelling capabilities with tools that inform and engage audiences,” Ziegler added. “Viz Libero AR adds a new ‘wow’ effect that viewers will remember from the FIFA World Cup or any other sports event beyond. Viz Libero AR brings the pitch into the studio, giving

the fans the experience of analysing the most important plays with the experts. The transition between Viz Libero AR and Viz Libero analysis clips allows the viewers to sit in the first row at all times, be it in the studio or on the pitch.” Visit www.vizrt.com

Adder Technology Unveils Zero U KVM Transmitter ADDER TECHNOLOGY RECENTLY unveiled its Zero U, IP-based ADDERLink INFINITY 100T (ALIF100T) to the US market at NAB 2018. Developed in response to customer demand, as the world’s smallest high performance KVM transmitter, the ALIF100T is suitable for broadcast applications where there’s pressure for rack space and cutting costs in premium, in demand estates.

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The ALIF100T USB powered KVM transmitter forms part of the ADDERLink Infinity solution. It can be easily retrofitted into any existing infrastructure without the need for re-cabling, moving computers or changing racking – reducing the overall cost of migrating from analogue to digital. It can be plugged straight into the back of any computer like a dongle and can hang from the back of the source. It also enables broadcasters to grow systems over time without needing to accommodate further rack space.

The benefits also translate directly to OB trucks, as the dongle’s form factor is ideal for mobile trucks which have even less space than larger data centres. The ALIF100T also allows broadcasters to link its OB units together to create a streamlined workspace from just one source. “One of the most common issues our broadcaster customers face when looking to migrate to digital is the size of transmitters and lack of

space”, commented John Halksworth, Senior Product Manager, Adder Technology. “Consequently, this new product will be especially attractive to those looking to upgrade or update their current KVM systems with the ADDERLink Infinity range, but are hindered by the space issues or the cost of redesigning their current infrastructure. “Retrofitting high performance KVM into environments designed around legacy, outdated equipment is challenging and expensive, sometimes requiring a complete redesign including recabling. However, with the new transmitter, businesses can easily and cost effectively take advantage of the ADDERLink Infinity solution without this costly step,” added Halksworth. In addition, the ALIF100T uses only 2W, which means less heat generated and less cooling required, therefore bringing down costs substantially. The device can also be powered directly from USB, meaning there is no need for power distribution units – saving further costs and negating the need for additional space. The new ADDERLink transmitter adds to the company’s existing product range, and works with the ADDERLink INFINITY Manager (A.I.M.) and ADDERLink INFINITY receivers. Visit www.adder.com

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NEWS OPERATIONS www.content-technology.com/newsoperations

Host Broadcaster Mediacorp Negotiates its Way Through Trump-Kim Summit IT WASN’T JUST THE NEGOTIATING TABLE which hosted big personalities and international diplomacy during the DPRK-USA Singapore Summit on 12 June, 2018. As host broadcaster, Singapore’s Mediacorp provided broadcast services to support global media in covering the historic event. Mediacorp operated the Broadcast Centre within the International Media Centre, housed within Singapore’s Formula 1 building, which hosted over 2500 local and foreign journalists covering the event. The Broadcast Centre provided a complete range of broadcast services and facilities. These included the live feed distribution and monitoring system, indoor and outdoor live presentation services and media booth space with editing facilities. Over 250 Mediacorp staff were on the ground comprising engineering, production services and news personnel, working round the clock to ensure that the quality of broadcast services and facilities was world class.

teams in Channel 8, Vasantham, Suria, digital platforms and radio stations (958FM and 938NOW) provided timely coverage. Over 300 journalists including reporters and editors from Mediacorp’s newsroom in Singapore and its overseas bureaus delivered round-the-clock coverage.

Beyond providing broadcasting services, as Singapore’s media company with the widest range of media platforms, its news platforms, led by Channel NewsAsia, provided comprehensive coverage in four languages for audiences in Singapore and the region.

Mediacorp CEO Tham Loke Kheng said, “We are honoured to be part of the Singapore effort to bring this historic event to the world. Given the short lead time, we have galvanized our people and resources to pull out all stops to host the global media and provide the best possible facilities and services to journalists covering the Summit. It is part of our DNA and the “can-do” spirit of Singapore.”

Mediacorp’s regional news channel, Channel NewsAsia, and its vernacular news

Visit www.channelnewsasia.com and www.todayonline.com

Reuters Opens Bureau in Shenzhen INTERNATIONAL MULTIMEDIA NEWS PROVIDER, Reuters has opened a new bureau in Shenzhen, China. Reuters says the new bureau reflects its ongoing commitment to reporting on China thoroughly and the company’s moves to bolster business and company’s coverage in China and globally. The establishment of the Shenzhen bureau also recognises the pivotal role of the Pearl River Delta region, and China more broadly, in the global technology industry. The Shenzhen bureau will be headed by Reuters new South China Correspondent, Sue-Lin Wong. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Sue-Lin joined Reuters in 2014 and has been based in Beijing since late 2015, covering economics and general news. “This opening of the new Shenzhen bureau is a mark of Reuters commitment to deepen our coverage of companies in Asia, especially in China, where the government is pushing a strategy of developing as a technology superpower in emerging fields, ranging from artificial intelligence to next-generation semiconductors,” said Kevin Krolicki, Regional Editor Asia at Reuters.

Media Prima TV News Chief Resigns MALAYSIA’S MEDIA PRIMA BERHAD has announced that Datuk Seri Mohd Ashraf Abdullah has ended his tenure as Group Managing Editor of News and Current Affairs, Media Prima Television Networks (“MPTN”), effective 20 May 2018. Datuk Seri Ashraf had earlier informed the Board and Management of Media Prima of his intention to step down from his current post. He started his career in journalism with the New Straits Times as a cadet reporter in 1987. In his 17-year career with the NST, he served the company in various capacities including London Correspondent, Specialist Writer (Politics), Assistant News Editor and News Editor. He left the daily in 2004 to join Golden Hope Plantations Berhad as the General Manager of Group Corporate Affairs. In 2009, he joined TV3 as Group Editor and was later promoted to Group Managing Editor, News and Current Affairs, Television Networks (TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9).

“We also look forward to providing Reuters readers with a more deeply reported view of South China, as part of our commitment to providing comprehensive, objective reporting on China.”

Datuk Manja Ismail, Deputy Group Managing Editor, News and Current Affairs, MPTN will assume the duties of the Group Managing Editor, News and Current Affairs, MPTN.

Visit www.thomsonreuters.com

Visit www.mediaprima.com.my

Sky Uses Cloud to ID Guests at Royal Wedding

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THE RECENT BRITISH ROYAL WEDDING saw the UK’s Sky News use pioneering cloud-based machine learning and media services to name guests as they entered the chapel, and enrich the video content with facts about the attendees.

Accessible in the Sky News app or via skynews.com, the ‘Royal Wedding: Who’s Who Live’ functionality used machine learning to enhance the user experience of the live-streamed news event. The additional information associated with the live video went beyond subtitles to provide relevant facts about the guests. To enable this experience and deliver at scale, Sky News collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and two AWS technology partners, GrayMeta and UI Centric. As guests made their way into St. George’s

Chapel, Windsor, AWS captured live video and sent it to cloud-based AWS Elemental Media Services for multiscreen viewing optimisation. An on-demand video asset, including catch-up functionality, was also generated. In parallel, Sky combined the GrayMeta data analysis platform with the Amazon Rekognition video and image analysis service for real-time identification of guests and tagging with related information. Finally, Sky News used the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network to unify the content for rapid distribution to viewers. UI Centric designed and developed the front-end application and video player to enhance the experience and user interface accessed by Sky News viewers. Video content from the application was also made available on-demand after the event. Visit www.graymeta.com and www.elemental.com

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New Video Transport and Connectivity Solutions from Dejero DEJERO WILL BE EXHIBITING at BroadcastAsia2018 with Ideal Systems (Booth 6F4-04), Dejero will feature its latest blended connectivity solutions for crews working in the field, including new encoding/ decoding equipment with HEVC video compression technology in support of live and file-based broadcast and media workflows. Dejero’s mobile connectivity solution, called GateWay, facilitates collaboration and integrated workflows as if the field crews and home base crews were working in the same central location. Field crews can access newsroom and media asset management (MAM) systems, communicate with colleagues with VoIP, and review return video, and more. The Dejero GateWay router blends cellular connections from multiple cellular providers to create a reliable, highbandwidth virtual network. Dejero algorithms intelligently manage the fluctuating bandwidth of individual cellular connections and automatically adjust the throughput in real time to provide the reliability that broadcasters depend on, when and where they need it. Dejero’s cloud management system enables broadcasters to remotely manage their fleet of routers in the field, and manage data usage and operational costs.

Efficiently transporting high quality video from the field is critical to today’s broadcasters and HEVC is the video compression standard that the industry is shifting towards. Dejero’s newly updated Core 5.0 software adds HEVC support to Dejero EnGo, a highly versatile mobile transmitter that encodes high-quality video and reliably transmits over multiple IP streams to deliver exceptional quality at low latency. Combining Dejero’s industry-leading auto-transport and adaptive bitrate encoding technology with the newest compression standard, it optimises picture quality when there’s limited bandwidth available. In the broadcast facility, the new Dejero WayPoint receiver is used to decode and reconstruct the incoming streams and output to SDI or MPEG-TS over IP playout workflows. Using auto-detect technology for complete backward compatibility, WayPoint detects whether the incoming transmission is using AVC or HEVC compression and decodes accordingly. Built on a 1U form factor with four outputs to minimise required rack space, and with dual-redundant power supplies and RAID storage for broadcast-grade reliability, WayPoint seamlessly integrates into existing broadcast infrastructures. Visit www.dejero.com

LiveU – from Global Roaming to Social Media AT THIS YEAR’S BROADCAST ASIA (Stand 6J4-01), LiveU will showcase its enhanced LU600 4K HEVC portable transmission product suite, including: • 4K SDI offerings – LiveU’s professional HEVC 4K-SDI card presents an additional 4K product offering within the LU600 suite, offering the ultimate video performance in live streaming for live sports and events, as well as global newsgathering. The LU600 4K-SDI solution facilitates professional 4Kp50/60 streaming for top-quality production, supporting VR and 360 applications. • Built-in global roaming capabilities – The LU600 solution now offers a fully integrated hybrid roaming solution for hassle-free local and global operation. With the new dual-SIM modem configured with roaming SIMs, every LU600 can be a local and global unit without needing to replace or obtain local SIMs in over 100 countries worldwide. • Video return – this product enhancement enables field crews to see what’s currently on-air and receive teleprompt information during live sessions. For the first time in Asia, LiveU will show LiveU Matrix, its next generation platform for live contribution over IP, enabling broadcasters to view, manage

and distribute live content quickly and efficiently. The dynamic cloud platform makes it simple to curate content through one interface. Users can easily search, filter, preview, and distribute live feeds to one station, multiple stations, or thousands of end points within their entire affiliate network. LiveU will also be demonstrating Solo, LiveU’s high-quality, plug-and-play live streaming device for online media. LiveU’s Thai partner Smart Broadcast will present a portable live production set up using Solo together with LiveU’s newly enhanced Solo Studio Cloud Graphics suite. The suite provides customers with the ability to send a stream and insert innovative graphics in real-time in the cloud. The new Solo app will also be on show. Designed as a simple way to get started with live content, the Solo app combines cellular and Wi-Fi connections for more reliable streaming than smartphones. Solo allows users to live stream seamlessly directly to Facebook Live, Twitter, YouTube Live and other popular social media and online video providers. Solo is simple to manage and control remotely via a web interface or smart device. Visit www.liveu.tv

HEVC in the Field from AVIWEST

During BroadcastAsia2018, AVIWEST will unveil its new PRO3 Series, which implements an H.265/HEVC hardware encoder in the most compact design enclosure available, enabling video professionals to provide seamless high-quality news and event coverage. Supporting the HEVC video standard, with up to 12 network links (eight cellular modems, Wi-Fi, ethernet), a high-efficiency custom antenna array, and AVIWEST SafeStreams technology, the PRO3 Series allows broadcasters to deliver better video quality while consuming less data. AVIWEST will also show its new AIR Series uplink system. With integrated hardware encoders, the series enables HD and SD encoding and exceptional video quality. Featuring up to six network links (four cellular modems, one internal Wi-Fi, and one ethernet), a three-hour internal battery, and AVIWEST’s SafeStreams technology, the AIR series allows broadcasters to stream live videos and store and forward recorded content even during unpredictable and unmanaged network conditions.

AVIWEST’s HE4000, meanwhile, is a 4K UHD HEVC live encoder is aimed at real-time delivery of UHD and HD content over unmanaged IP networks. The compact, half 1RU encoder combines 10-bit and 4:2:2 HEVC encoding with the latest generation of SafeStreams technology for delivery of live video content over IP at low latencies and bit-rates. The HE4000 encoder will be showcased with the QUAD CellLink, an external 3G/4G-LTE cellular transmission solution that embeds four last-generation 3G/4G-LTE cellular modems with their SIM cards. Lastly, AVIWEST has enhanced its MOJOPRO Series, its mobile journalism solution, which is available on mobile devices (iOS and Android) and MacBook Pro. It allows video professionals to stream live videos, edit video files, and forward recorded content from any location over bonded 3G/4G and Wi-Fi connections in seconds. The MOJOPRO app for iOS gives broadcasters a competitive edge by enabling them to stream video content in a matter of seconds. The smartphone app features an optimised interface, advanced camera settings (e.g., focus, exposure, white balance, etc.), dynamic resolution, and video quality improvements. Easy-to-use video and audio editing features allow remote journalists to create video stories in minutes. Visit www.aviwest.com

NEWS OPERATIONS

BROADCASTASIA2018 will see AVIWEST demonstrate the latest enhancements to its live video contribution and distribution systems. AVIWEST’s video contribution platform enables broadcasters to capture and deliver live 4K, HD, or SD video over multiple unmanaged IP networks, including bonded 4G/3G cellular, Wi-Fi, ethernet, and satellite links.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM DPP Highlights Business Benefits of IMF adoption THE INTEROPERABLE MASTERING FORMAT (IMF) is a file-based mastering framework designed to support multiple high-quality content versions of a finished work destined for distribution channels worldwide.

The guide provides an introduction to IMF, explains how IMF works, outlines the problems IMF solves and the benefits it brings, and looks at the path to implementation of the new IMF for Broadcast and Online specification.

To further the cause of IMF, the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) , the media industry’s international business network, has announced the release of a new guide: The Business Benefits of IMF. The guide helps influencers and decision makers from content supply companies to understand the financial and operational benefits of adopting the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) – both in the form of the current Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) standard, designed for premium content, and the new IMF for Broadcast and Online specification that is currently being developed by SMPTE and the DPP.

The Business Benefits of IMF is available as a PDF booklet, and also as a presentation deck with handout notes to support the DPP’s broadcaster, supplier and distributor Members in the adoption of IMF for Broadcast & Online.

“The global market for quality content has brought enormous opportunity for media companies, by creating demand for different versions of master material. But that also brings great cost and complexity,” says DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison. “That’s the problem that IMF solves: it enables faster, cheaper and higher quality versioning. It brings huge financial and operational benefits.”

IMF-related standards work also underway includes:

IMF for Broadcast and Online makes it possible to automate the content supply chain, eliminate the unnecessary creation of multiple versions, enable workflow efficiencies, and reduce QC and archive storage requirements, while maintaining the quality of the original asset. The result is significant cost and time savings. The Business Benefits of IMF is produced in partnership with DPP Member EditShare and its new QScan Automated Quality Control family of products.

Following the upcoming publication of the new IMF for Broadcast & Online specification by SMPTE, the DPP will launch a compliance testing programme for IMF for Broadcast & Online tools. This will provide buyers and sellers with the confidence that DPP tested tools and IMF packages will be interoperable and can be exchanged internationally. • A project to extend the use of the Academy Color Encoding Specification (ACES, ST 2065-1) as an application format in the Interoperable Mastering Format. • IMF Output Profile Lists - Projects are underway to revise IMF Common Image Definitions and Macros, and create new standard Dynamic Metadata for Colour Volume Transform for IMF Applications. There is also a project to amend IMF Common Image Pixel Colour Schemes (published Q4 2017). • IMF Audio Essence Projects - Projects are underway on IMF Audio Content and Element Kind Definition and an IMF Immersive Audio Bitstream Level 0 Plug-In. Visit www.smpte.org and www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk

Tata, Primestream Partner on Cloud MAM TATA COMMUNICATIONS, A LEADING digital infrastructure provider, and Primestream, have joined forces to launch an enterprise-grade Media Asset Management (MAM) solution in the cloud. The new platform enables broadcasters, content owners and enterprises to capture, produce, manage and deliver media content on a global scale. The solution enhances the efficiency of video production, file sharing, editing and publishing workflows, and makes collaboration between global teams more seamless. This is because it combines a cloud-based version of Primestream’s Xchange MAM solution, with Tata Communications’ cloud storage platform and high – performance Video Connect network. The service also features advanced file acceleration and an expandable object storage solution – ideal for disaster recovery or content archiving - all for a predictable monthly fee. “Organisations across the world are experiencing rapidly expanding requirements to share content and metadata between sites at various stages of production,” said Claudio Lisman, President and CEO of Primestream. “The joint offering of Tata Communications and Primestream enables a centralised

system that delivers new, efficient metadata-driven workflows to customers across the world. Working closely with Tata Communications is part of our commitment of building the most accessible, powerful and easy to use Dynamic Media Management platform in the cloud.” “Sports, entertainment and news organisations are under pressure to bring their global audiences more and more content, live, 24/7, across different digital platforms, and in new formats such as UHD and live 360-degrees,” said Brian Morris, Vice President and General Manager, Media & Entertainment, Tata Communications. “In this high-pressure environment, it’s no longer viable for production teams to work in silos, with files scattered around on different hard drives across geographies. Our joint offering with Primestream unifies and simplifies Media Asset Management from capture to distribution, helping to meet audiences’ insatiable appetite for new video content, and more powerful viewing experiences.” Visit www.tatacommunications.com and www.primestream.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

MPEG Tackles Network-based Media Processing

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTIMEDIA have brought significant innovation and disruption to the way multimedia content is created and consumed. With the emergence of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) applications, users can interact with and navigate within the consumed content along multiple degrees of freedom. At its 122nd meeting, standards body MPEG has issued a Call for Proposals (CfP) on Network-based Media Processing (MPEG-I part 8). This CfP addresses advanced media processing technologies (e.g., network stitching for VR service, super resolution for enhanced visual quality, transcoding, viewport extraction for 360° video) within the network environment that allows service providers and end users to describe media processing operations that are to be performed by the network.

To achieve this objective, MPEG is working on a NBMP standard that will allow end user devices to offload certain kinds of processing to the network. NBMP describes the composition of network-based media processing services out of a set of network-based media processing functions and makes these network-based media processing services accessible through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Responses to the NBMP CfP will be evaluated on the weekend prior to and decisions made at the 123rd MPEG meeting in July 2018 (Ljubljana, SIovenia). Visit https://mpeg.chiariglione.org

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Shifting Video Content Consumption Habits Creating Challenges for Producers By Ooyala MASSIVE SHIFTS IN VIDEO CONTENT consumption patterns around the world are causing both challenges and opportunities for producers. While demand for content is skyrocketing, changes are needed in the way it is produced, managed and distributed. Amid this disruptive environment one thing still holds true: content is king. The video producer, broadcaster, publisher or studio with the best content will attract the largest audiences and have the best chance at long-term success. Indeed, with the fragmentation of the video landscape across linear and digital platforms that has occurred during the past few years, video content has become an even more critical differentiator. It is now accessed on multiple screens, in multiple locations, all the time. To attract audiences when they have so many options, providers have found they must have their best content available at all times. With the right content in the right place, audiences will deem a service or site one of the select few worthy of their time and money. They will subscribe or commit to it and stay there. Investing in content If there are any doubts about the importance of high-quality video content, it’s worth considering the amounts of money being invested in the sector. Streaming giant Netflix now spends $US8 billion on original and acquired content each year. At the same time, HBO spends $2 billion, and Facebook and Apple both spend around $1 billion a year. The fact that so much money is being invested in original content creation and licensing shows just how much of a factor content is in audience satisfaction and market success. In reality, however, most content providers don’t have multi-billion-dollar budgets to produce or acquire the level of content needed now to attract and keep audiences. They need to be more strategic with their content and what they do with it to make the most of their video investments and stay in the game. With this unprecedented tidal wave of content and content expenditures in the marketplace, two critical trends have emerged to allow providers of all sizes to compete: • Horizontal platforms, that help companies integrate the data that exists throughout their content supply chain to create better, more targeted content; and • Data-driven automated workflows, that help companies get more content to market faster and more cost-effectively. Data-driven platforms and workflows enable content providers everywhere to achieve scale and efficiencies cost-effectively, and level the content playing field against larger rivals. Content providers can run their operations strategically, drive digital transformation, and remain in the game. In this dynamic content environment, these capabilities are vital to survival. How the Ooyala Flex Media Platform can help To assist video content creators, meet these new and evolving challenges, Ooyala has developed the Flex Media Platform. This platform simplifies, streamlines and connects the entire content supply chain, helping teams to plan and manage, curate and archive, orchestrate and automate, distribute and publish, and analyse and monetise their content.

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

The Ooyala Flex Media Platform can support companies whether they work in one area or across all of these, and can be completely customised to meet specific needs. Companies can build their best solution with applications from Ooyala or certified third-parties, or create and host their own apps with the builtin API infrastructure.

With an integrated content supply chain ecosystem in place, companies can harness the metadata that runs throughout any or all of these operations to create and deliver the robust and targeted content that they require. They can also gain improved efficiencies through automation so more can be done within existing content footprints and budgets. This holds true for all network-connected systems and associated processes however they’re configured. With the Flex Media Platform, content providers can achieve a single view across content systems so they can optimise workflows to speed up operations, cut costs and lower risks. They are also able to share metadata to integrate disconnected systems, processes and teams. As well as content production, companies are also able to harness analytics to create more targeted content and deepen business insights while also building a better platform user experience to maximise time and resources.

The four key areas in which the Ooyala Flex Media Platform can deliver value for content providers are: 1. Workflow: The automated workflows of the platform make it easy to connect systems that were previously isolated, regardless of how monolithic, legacy or distributed they might be. One area where this is becoming increasingly critical is with live and video-on-demand workflows, where providers may have a separate workflow for VOD from the one they have for live and linear broadcast. 2. Metadata: Once the superhighway of workflows is in place, the Ooyala Flex Media Platform makes it effortless to integrate those applications and have them share metadata. As a result, tasks that used to be manually-driven (such as working with budget spreadsheets, or re-entering metadata manually when moving between processes) can be automated resulting in time, cost and error reduction. 3. Analytics: With a single platform to administer, automate and monitor a connected supply chain, companies also gain a complete understanding of an asset at every stage of the content life cycle, with a single source of truth along the way. Multi-dimensional analysis of viewing and engagement brings companies up-to-the-minute data across entire libraries or single videos. 4. Platform user experience: The Ooyala Flex Media Platform also simplifies the user experience for teams and individuals who work with the content supply chain. For example, someone who works with Avid’s Interplay Production and the Ooyala Flex Media Platform doesn’t have to spend time going between two separate systems. A platform for the future The Ooyala Flex Media Platform helps companies everywhere make their content supply chain faster, smarter, more flexible, and more profitable. It has the means to harness metadata to automate workflows, simply and efficiently integrate multiple systems, teams and processes, and help companies build their ideal solutions their own way. By providing a flexible, expandable and robust production environment, the Ooyala Flex Media Platform puts content providers in the best position to win in the highly competitive video revolution. Visit www.ooyala.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Object Matrix IMF Workflow Support OBJECT MATRIX HAS ANNOUNCED support for Interoperable Master Format (IMF) workflows within its media focused private and hybrid cloud platform built on Digital Content Governance and object storage, MatrixStore. When IMF components are archived in MatrixStore, the metadata can be viewed and searched on items such as the control panel files. MatrixStore is a media focused private cloud offering that keeps archived content secure, whilst enabling easy and instant access and discoverability of the entire archive.

Enabling IMF support within MatrixStore means the user can more easily control their IMF projects even once archived. The IMF packages can be easily searched within the archive, as well as restored whenever required. Jonathan Morgan, CEO Object Matrix, commented, “As broadcasters face increasing pressure to distribute to multiple platforms and formats, IMF is becoming critical for making that process simple and efficient. Therefore, ensuring support for IMF is increasingly important for future archiving and restoration.” Visit http://object-matrix.com

Imagine and StorageDNA Bring Ease of Access to LTO IMAGINE PRODUCTS AND STORAGEDNA recently announced a partnership resulting in a new product. The companies have collaborated on an integrated solution that enables random access to files on an LTO tape, essentially turning it into a hard drive with dnaLTFS – an LTFS adaptation that was never available before. The results are time savings and easier access to assets. The joint solution is called myLTOdna. It is an integration between Imagine Products’ myLTO tape-authoring application and StorageDNA’s HyperTape high performance direct access tape solution powered by dnaLTFS. The result is a user interface with which to administrate HyperTape operating modes manually, or automatically from creative applications such as Imagine Products’ PrimeTranscoder. “StorageDNA has been dedicated to M+E markets since 2004, and we strive to provide customers with workflow-enhancing solutions that make LTO tape a more usable storage medium. We chose to work with Imagine Products on our HyperTape user interface because the company is known for highly intuitive interfaces and well respected for LTO/LTFS archiving and workflows,” said Tridib Chakravarty, CEO and President of StorageDNA. “By joining forces with Imagine Products and integrating our capabilities, we are providing media professionals with the simplest and fastest LTO workflows available today.” myLTOdna is the Mac-based front-end for HyperTape. It allows users to switch modes of operation and direct HyperTape to train, write, and read to and from LTO tape. With myLTOdna, users can now access files directly on tape without having to restore them for sequential operations such as transcoding, ingest, or QC. Instead, they can drag and drop files to or from tape at the desktop level at

speeds exceeding 300 megabytes per second. These benefits save hundreds of hours in time and resources. “When StorageDNA contacted us about a partnership, we jumped at the chance to work with another company as highly regarded for its advances in LTO/LTFS workflows. Together, we’ve created a solution unlike any other – a way to access files from an LTO tape like you would a hard drive,” said Michelle Maddox, Marketing Director at Imagine Products. “In doing so, we’re passing our decades of combined knowledge and expertise directly to users. This kind of LTO solution has never been available before.” myLTOdna benefits any segment of the media and entertainment industry where increasing amounts of content regularly exceed spinning-disk storage capacities. It is especially useful for field/camera file offloads, postproduction facilities receiving field/camera files, facilities wanting to manage online storage capacity levels, and those looking to keep files long term. Those who use myLTOdna with PrimeTranscoder can still archive to LTO tape with standard LTFS (myLTO) and use all the functions of PrimeTranscoder: transcoding files to useable formats, stitching together clips, burning in timecode, performing colour correction, and adding watermarks. myLTOdna and PrimeTranscoder are available from the Imagine Products and StorageDNA websites, while LTO drive licenses for HyperTape powered by dnaLTFS are available through StorageDNA’s reseller channel. Also, through StorageDNA’s website, the company will sell a bundle that pairs myLTOdna, HyperTape powered by dnaLTFS, and PrimeTranscoder with an LTO drive. Visit www.imagineproducts.com and www.storagedna.com

OOYALA HAS COLLABORATED with Avid to integrate the new Flex Media Platform into Avid MediaCentral. The new Flex Media Platform now provides comprehensive, fully integrated media logistics functionality. With this new integration, Ooyala and Avid now offer a best-of-breed solution to get content to consumers seamlessly, rapidly and in a manner that is truly streamlined to maximise ROI. “Media companies are managing growing inventories of high quality content, and require a solution that eliminates the complexity of the process whilst increasing operational efficiencies,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “Being an Avid Alliance Partner means customers won’t have to uproot their existing tools and systems in order to have the most comprehensive solution possible. They can now leverage the advanced Media Logistics capabilities of the Flex Media Platform seamlessly within their existing Avid infrastructure.” Managing video assets is a common challenge for many media companies that handle large amounts of content yet lack efficient metadata

capabilities. Ooyala, a provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetising video, solves this challenge with the Flex Media Platform. It is an open and extensible video production, delivery, and content-supply-chain-optimisation platform that streamlines the process of managing, curating, orchestrating, publishing, measuring and monetising video content. Among other features, the platform can automate the assignment and management of metadata across complex, fast-growing inventories of video assets. The integration empowers customers with advanced metadata modelling using metadata aggregated from a variety of sources. Assets can be transferred from cloudbased storage into existing Avid production environments. “By integrating the metadata capabilities of the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, we’re powering a best-of-breed solution that provides a ‘single source of truth’ and better overall orchestration of the process,” said Ed Caracappa, Sr. Director Global Alliances at Avid. Visit www.ooyala.com

MEDIA IN THE CLOUD, STORAGE & MAM

Ooyala / Avid Collaborative MAM

POST PRODUCTION www.content-technology.com/postproduction

Bluefish444 Proves Ideal for Video Workflow COLLABORATION IS OFTEN the nursemaid of innovation and this has certainly been the case with pan-Asian integrator Ideal Systems and Australianheadquartered manufacturer of 4K SDI, ASI, Video Over IP & HDMI I/O cards, Bluefish444. Ideal first came across Bluefish444 as a result of deploying MediaProxy systems in various projects across Asia. Ideal have installed MediaProxy primarily for logging off-air video and audio signal monitoring for regulators requiring advertisement verification. MediaProxy has since evolved to incorporate extra toolsets, including IP and data monitoring, analysis and multi-viewer supporting multiple third-party integrations. Bluefish444 have a direct OEM agreement with MediaProxy to supply its Epoch video cards as high-quality baseband SDI inputs to MediaProxy servers. Ideal have deployed more than 250 logging channels based on MediaProxy with Bluefish444 hardware throughout Asia. It wasn’t long before Ideal identified applications for Bluefish444 technology in the realm of non-linear editing. When Apple announced the end of support for Final Cut Pro 7, Ideal decided to move its clients to a more robust and flexible cross-platform NLE environment, such as Adobe Premiere Pro. Ideal found that Bluefish444 Adobe support is cross-platform supporting either Apple Macs or Windows workstations for SDI/HDMI NLE workflows. This flexibility enabled Ideal to repurpose many of its customer’s existing Apple Mac Pros, switching them from Final Cut Pro 7 to Adobe Premiere Pro. The move to creating HD content brought about the need for uncompressed external monitoring from within the NLE. Ideal introduced Dell workstations running Windows OS to the market, integrated with NVIDIA Graphics cards, Adobe Premiere Pro and Bluefish444 Epoch | Neutron video cards for simultaneous SDI & HDMI monitoring outputs. According to Updesh Singh, Director of Technology at Ideal Systems, “Our first deployment was done around 2014/2015. The Epoch | Neutron cards provided a higher quality over the other card options and allowed the use of any bit-depth and resolution for source content. They were easy to install and setup. The entire turnkey solution provided a very stable editor that has worked seamlessly and without much fuss since, almost never requiring any support after deployment. The only support calls to Bluefish444 were for some Windows patching or software updates.” Standard in most professional video workflows throughout Southeast Asia is the need to convert between video and audio formats. Ideal Systems, having had positive experiences with Bluefish444 Epoch video cards, decided to evaluate the Bluefish444 Synapse mini converter range. Synapse mini converters are designed for live broadcast environments, offering dual redundant input/output for SDI and HDMI in case of a failure of the primary source or outputs. Ideal evaluated the Synapse HDMI120 for off-air signal monitoring, with HDMI being fed from set top boxes (decoders). Ideal confirmed that all audio channels from the decoder were passed through the SDI as embedded audio. The HDMI120 dual SDI outputs allowed Ideal to reduce the number of devices in the workflow, and in turn save on cost and complexity.

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The first SDI output from the HDMI120 was fed directly to a multi-viewer to display the video, and the second SDI output was fed to an audio embedder that embedded different audio tracks and languages from a second or third decoder depending on the number of audio language tracks that were available for that specific channel. Ideal specified up to 3 x HDMI120 per set top box, allowing the operations team to monitor hundreds of channels in 3 different audio languages without having to view or navigate the decoder menu directly.

Ideal specified the Synapse SDI110, converting from SDI to HDMI, to feed multiple large screen monitors for NOC, Master Control and Production Control rooms. The SDI110 offers dual redundant inputs, critical for 24/7 monitoring in case of primary source failure, and an SDI loop preview used to feed an engineering maintenance room for secondary monitoring. “We have deployed mostly the HDMI120 and the SDI110. Synapse mini converters offer the same quality and stability as the Bluefish444 video cards with some unique functionality that otherwise would require the use of multiple

Updesh Singh, Director of Technology at Ideal Systems.

converters or other gear,” says Updesh Singh. “Synapse has helped to provide a much-needed reduction in complexity for ease of operations. A large SEA broadcaster has utilised hundreds of Bluefish444 converters due to some of its unique professional features as well as its reliability for 24/7 critical operation.” Bluefish444 offers IngeSTore software as a free download, compatible with all Epoch video cards. The software is used to capture up to four SDI video sources simultaneously and is used in multi-cam and ISO recording, archive from tape and near live production via edit-while-record. Ideal identified clients who wanted to ingest multiple feeds for edit while record that did not require the extra functionality or cost of more complex and expensive server solutions. Specifically, Ideal wanted a workflow solution to ingest multiple feeds directly to a storage subsystem such as NAS or SAN to make available the growing files for edit within a few seconds of ingest. “We intend to connect a NAS system to IngeSTore and some dedicated edit machines running Adobe Premiere Pro to access and edit the content within a few seconds of ingest,” says Singh. “The IngeSTore user interface is quite intuitive with features that are easy to find and use. IngeSTore offers real time ingest and encode of all the broadcast grade codecs which is another plus. It provides the flexibility to create fast phased news, sports and entertainment. We believe IngeSTore will eventually grow to support IP ingest allowing for the flexibility of remote editing on a network from SDI and IP sources.” Over the past few years, Ideal has been focused on building both knowledge and integration technologies for the future broadcast studio and media industry. This includes Ultra High Definition (UHD), High Dynamic Range (HDR), Video Over IP, and Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR). Designed to cover these applications is Bluefish444 KRONOS, the next generation Bluefish444 PCIe video, audio and data capture and playout card. One of the benefits Ideal can see with the Bluefish444 KRONOS card is the ability for one solution to meet so many varied workflows, with SDI, HDMI and Video Over IP standards such as SMPTE 2022 and 2110. Singh comments, “We are evaluating Video Over IP technologies, particularly with the incorporation of graphics in IP transports. The KRONOS range will fit well to transport IP standards such as SMPTE 2022 and 2110, and support for high frame-rates of 60fps and above with HDR. For some clients who want to use existing infrastructure with 4K/UHD, we could use this either with quad link 3G SDI or 12G SDI interfaces.” The near future will see Ideal Systems also use Bluefish444 cards with other platforms such as Drastic Technologies’ VideoQC and 4K Scope applications, and Ideal’s own Streamstar Systems’ software production tool, used the Ideal Live production division. “Over the years,” says Updesh Singh, “we have found Bluefish444 to be a very attentive manufacturer, and we have forged a great partnership with them. They have always listened to our comments and opinions, and this has allowed both companies to grow and develop coherently.” Visit www.bluefish444.com and www.idealsys.com

POST PRODUCTION

Tokyo Sound Production Builds New Editing Rooms with Blackmagic FOUNDED IN 1963, TOKYO SOUND PRODUCTION (TSP) has seven studios and offices located in the Japanese capital. It specialises in shooting, video editing, audio engineering and music productions, as well as the production of TV programs and video material. TSP recently created a new floor at its Tokyo-based EX studio which includes two linear editing rooms, two non-linear editing rooms, an audio post room and a machine room.

Videohub 40×40 and combine titles and backgrounds on the ATEM Television Studio HD. This way it is faster and easier to show the result to our clients,” said Tomoyuki Muroi, Chief of the Editing Department.

To help support editing, grading and audio post production, Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Studio and DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel were installed in the non-linear editing rooms.

“Smart Videohub 40×40 can be controlled by PC but adding Videohub Smart Control turned out to be a great choice, because you don’t need to start a PC and you can route signals quickly and intuitively. It is an essential part of the entire system. I also like the feature to assign SDI A and SDI B on one button, making it possible to route dual-link signals easily.”

“The main reason we decided to install DaVinci Resolve Studio is that it now supports Fairlight and you can finish editing, grading and audio post production in one package,” said Shuhei Koike, technical manager of the editing department. “Previously we had many issues of version compatibility between editing software and audio software. We have two systems of DaVinci Resolve Studio, one on Mac and the other on Windows, so that you can always use the best OS in any given situations.”

For the linear machine rooms, Blackmagic’s Universal Videohub 72 has been installed to provide routing, along with a MultiView 16 for SDI video feed management. Typically, when SDI sources get switched for the main linear editing switchers, sources get switched in the same way on MultiView 16 simultaneously and automatically, using the SDI A/B routing feature on Videohub Smart Control. The signals for the line editing switchers are clean, while the signals for MultiView 16 have timecode burnt in.

For its new machine room, Tokyo Sound Production has installed Blackmagic’s Universal Videohub 72 and Smart Videohub 40×40 to route signals in the other rooms.

“We had the experience of using Universal Videohub 72 for four years on another floor and decided to install another one since we were aware of how it is simple to use. It is easy to organise devices on PC and, even when you add another VTR, you can put labels and reorganise the system without stress. We also installed HyperDeck Studio so that clients can bring home data, without rendering out clips on NLE software. It is very convenient to output a signal from a NLE system and record the signal with one button. We find it advantageous that it supports not only ProRes but also DNx codecs,” concluded Tomoyuki Muroi.

“We have two non-linear editing rooms and a Smart Videohub 40×40 in the machine room that routes signals for these rooms, and use them for our title production work. In non-linear editing, putting in titles can be a time-consuming process because you need to export files so clients can see the result and if some corrections are to be made the process would need to resume again. To make the process simpler, we are using Smart Videohub 40×40 and ATEM Television Studio HD. We route signals on Smart

Visit www.blackmagicdesign.com

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POST PRODUCTION

Avid – Set the Controls for the Heart of the Cloud Recently in Australia, Paul Thompson, Avid’s Director of Strategic Solutions sat down with Phil Sandberg to talk MediaCentral and the Cloud. C+T: Your visit comes on the heels of NAB. For those unable to attend, what were the Avid highlights? “We made quite a few announcements at NAB. The biggest one is around MediaCentral and our next generation of that, which we’re calling MediaCentral Cloud UX. And with that, we’re kind of moving into the next development of our platform strategy. So, a few years ago we had kind of a bunch of products that didn’t really work well together. They were all kind of built on an individual basis. We took that and took those products, took the best bits and moved them into a platform which we called MediaCentral. And MediaCentral is kind of positioned as almost like an operating system for the media enterprise. And, that has been deploying around the world very successfully. The next step of MediaCentral is to move it from being an on-premise and something that is deployable in a private data centre but really to move it to the public cloud as well. “There’s a couple of underlying principles that we’re trying to follow. One is commercial, so making sure that from a customer perspective they have the choice of deploying on a capex basis or deploying on an opex basis. Second is really technical, so from a deployment perspective they can deploy as much on prem, in the traditional way, as the business wants and needs, but also be able to deploy in a cloud basis as much or as little as the business needs. “We actually see a majority of our customers wanting to adopt a hybrid strategy, so use our existing infrastructure on site maybe to kind of depreciate that and to get the 24x7 use from that, but then to go to the cloud for a couple of reasons. The first reason being to use services that are only available in the cloud, like artificial intelligence and things like that. Collaboration becomes a lot easier when you’re in the cloud. “So, one of the things we launched at NAB was what we call Shared Library, which is really another name for collaboration between all those different production silos that exist in organisations. So, be they geographic ones or teams within one facility, wouldn’t it be nice to have the capability that whatever production group or whatever they’re producing, anyone in the enterprise can see what’s being produced and can grab it, re-use it, use it to enrich their story or their production, and then easily share that finished product as well. That manifests itself by having lots of content sitting within MediaCentral’s on premise in those individual sites, but then pushing to a global or a central or a shared library in the cloud so people can access that shared library from anywhere and they can pull the assets they need across the business as they need it. So that’s the first thing. “The second aspect of going to the cloud is to use it to drive more efficiency within the existing business. So being able to remove the duplication, so if multiple sites are doing the same type of thing, they can move that workflow perhaps to the cloud and reduce their actual onsite costs as well.” You describe it as an operating system, but it’s also like an ecosystem?

POST PRODUCTION

“Right. The operating system aspect is from a user perspective, in the same ways we’ve all got a phone with an operating system on it, we’ve all got different applications that we use to do whatever it was we were actually doing in that hour of the day. You could think of MediaCentral UX as a browser-based user experience, but within that user experience, that browser, you can basically have whatever applications that you need to do what you need to do at that moment in time. Perhaps you’re editing or perhaps you’re logging or perhaps you’re publishing to social media. The users, if you go around the enterprise, will all have the same kind of look and feel, but you’ll see kind of different applications running in their screen, depending on what particular thing they’re doing at that particular moment of the day.

“In terms of ecosystem, what we want to make sure is that the platform is used in an open a way as possible, so every customer has a variety of different suppliers and systems and technologies and some legacy, some new, whatever. One of the things we’re sharing with MediaCentral is those Avid apps to edit, to browse and to do various things, but there’s also a number of apps that are from our partners, our third-party partners. And there’s apps ranging – kind of everything, right across the workflow from Ingest to management of social news feeds right through to ingesting sports statistics right through to the publish aspect of publishing out to the social networks and to other platforms. It’s a fundamental premise of MediaCentral to make it open, and we see multiple ecosystems. “An ecosystem like news, as an example, we’ve done a lot of work just understanding what, for instance, the news ecosystem looks like today

compared to five years ago. One of the things especially in news is around the story-centric approach, rather than driving towards the 6 O’Clock news. It’s about watching that story emerge. So, maybe the story breaks on Twitter. Is that a real story? Okay, well let’s use the social research tools to understand if it is real or if it’s fake news. As that story develops, first get that breaking story out as quickly, as efficiently as possible to whatever the consumer base is that the customer is servicing. Is it just social? Is it video? Is it TV? Is it web? Is it everything? Print even. Then use the MediaCentral tools to actually work with that story during the day. How is that story evolving? Does it need some archive material added into it? If so, let’s use the search tools to actually find that archive. Maybe not in my physical facility but maybe in my sister or brother’s facility across the geo. How can I as a journalist find that content more easily? “That’s kind of where we start thinking about Cognitive Services and artificial intelligence and if we sent a news crew out to shoot some material on site, wouldn’t it be kind of nice if that materials came into the MediaCentral platform, if it was automatically enriched with metadata where all the things that were spoken about were all of a sudden available as metadata, so you can kind of search on that? Wouldn’t it be nice if all the people appearing in that piece of video were automatically tagged and recognised? So, using the power of the cloud, the power of AI to make it easier to make the story better and richer and more engaging. The cloud component of MediaCentral is in partnership with Microsoft. Is that the same for the AI? “We’re using Azure Cognitive Services. If we take a video clip today, we pass it up to the cloud, the AI services run on it and we grab the metadata back and the metadata is handled as a strata within the MediaCentral platform. Then the user can just go and, using a very simple search bar, they can search on the face, type, text, whatever, even what appears as a name badge, the AI system will pick that up and transcribe that. “We launched a product bundle called Avid AI, which is a combination of Microsoft’s Azure’s AI, their Cognitive Services, but also our own Illuminate technology, which is very much about phonetic searching, so rather than having to get the spelling correct of something you can basically type in roughly what it sounds like and the phonetic search capability will actually be able to pull back the most positive likelihood of the pieces of media that match that criteria, so it’s tremendously powerful. Another aspect of that technology is a QA tool which we’re calling Illuminate, which is all about caption QA, being able to use that to check the quality of the captions and subtitles and their alignment with the actual spoken word and the actual quality of the captions compared to the actual video itself.” There were some new announcements around editing as well? “So, we launched our Avid On Demand portfolio, which has several aspects to it; Shared Library, we talked about earlier, bringing together the multiple geographic sites with a central library, having that available on demand or as a burst capacity. The second is Editorial Management On Demand, so making almost like remote production available on an on-demand basis. Those will launch later in 2018. It’s very exciting because I think it really moves forward the whole kind of thinking of how production will changed powered by the cloud. It’s becoming more possible, more commercially attractive to be able to shoot a bunch of material on camera in the field and either upload proxy or upload full res depending on your connectivity into the cloud and what is in the cloud. Then, with Editorial Management, be able to edit it in the cloud and then, depending on where you’re distributing it to. If you’re going social today you could basically keep it in the cloud and publish straight to those cloud-centric platforms, or you could push it back on prem and do some further craft work with it or take it to broadcast or whatever. So, it’s going to be an interesting 2018 I think.” Visit www.ambertech.com.au and www.avid.com

POST PRODUCTION

AJA Introduces KONA HDMI and KONA 1 AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS has unveiled two new KONA cards, and announced Desktop Software v14.2. KONA HDMI is a PCIe card for multi-channel HD and single-channel 4K HDMI capture for live production, streaming, gaming, VR and post production, while KONA 1 is a PCIe card for single-channel HD/SD 3G-SDI capture/playback. Desktop Software v14.2 adds support for KONA 1 and KONA HDMI, plus new improvements for AJA KONA, Io and T-TAP products.

1 supports 3G-SDI capture, monitoring and/or playback with software applications from AJA, Adobe, Avid, Apple, Telestream and more. KONA 1 enables simultaneous monitoring during capture (pass-through) and includes full size SDI ports supporting 3G-SDI formats, embedded

KONA HDMI

16-channel SDI audio I/O, genlock with reference/LTC input and RS-422.

An HDMI video capture solution, KONA HDMI supports a range of workflows, including live streaming, events, production, broadcast, editorial, VFX, vlogging, video game capture/streaming and more. KONA HDMI is highly flexible, designed for four simultaneous channels of HD capture with streaming and switching applications including Telestream Wirecast and vMix. Additionally, KONA HDMI offers capture of one channel of UltraHD up to 60p over HDMI 2.0 using AJA Control Room software for file compatibility with most NLE and effects packages. It is also compatible with other popular third-party solutions for live streaming, projection mapping and VR workflows. Developers can take advantage of the platform to build multi-channel HDMI ingest systems and leverage VL42 compatibility on Linux. Features include: four full size HDMI ports, the ability to easily switch between one channel of UltraHD, or four channels of 2K/HD, and embedded HDMI audio in, up to eight embedded channels per input.

Desktop Software v14.2

KONA 1 Designed for broadcast, post production and ProAV, as well as OEM developers, KONA 1 is a cost efficient single-channel 3G-SDI 2K/HD 60p I/O PCIe card. KONA 1 offers serial control and reference/LTC, and features standard application plug-ins, along with AJA SDK support. KONA

Desktop Software v14.2 introduces support for KONA HDMI and KONA 1, in addition to a new SMPTE ST2110 IP video mode for KONA IP with support for AJA Control Room, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, and Avid Media Composer. The free software update also brings 10GigE support for 2K/HD video and audio over IP (uncompressed SMPTE 2022-6/7) to the new Thunderbolt 3-equipped Io IP and Avid DNxIP, as well as additional enhancements to other KONA, Io and T-TAP products, including HDR capture with Io 4K Plus. Io 4K Plus and DNxIV users also benefit from a new feature allowing all eight analogue audio channels to be configured for either output, input or a four-in/four-out mode for 7.1 ingest/monitoring, or I/O for stereo plus VO and discrete tracks. KONA HDMI will be available June 2018 for $895 US MSRP, and KONA 1 will be available May 2018 for $595 US MSRP, with both available for pre-order now. Desktop Software v14.2 is available as a free download from AJA’s support page. Visit www.aja.com

Cost-Effective Tedial IMF Markup Tool • Make dynamic editorial adjustments to picture, audio, or subtitles natively within the Evolution ecosystem. • Quickly and accurately update IMPs late in the digital supply chain. • Provide a web-based, proxy media-centric workflow not limited by specialised editorial systems. • Swiftly modify IMPs for the unique delivery of the on-the-fly requirements of OTT providers. • Provide an interface for localised editorial preparation, including:

Integrated within Tedial’s GUI and workflows, the IMF Markup Tool supports the award-winning Evolution Version Factory, providing a near-line editorlike interface with industry-standard controls.

Cuts-only editorial, addition of language audio tracks, add markers

This feature-set allows users to:

(i.e. blurs, repos, etc.).

• Rapidly spot-check and quality control Interoperable Master Packages (IMPs).

for automatic insertion of localised elements, identify and mark components requiring further downstream localisation processing Visit www.tedial.com

AUGUST 7-9, Darling Island, Pyrmont.

POST PRODUCTION

TEDIAL CONTINUES ITS IMF MAM development by expanding its platform to include the new IMF Markup Tool, an editor that addresses up to 30% of the versioning requirements typically needed for distribution. The IMF Markup Tool is suitable for audio/subtitle track alignment, the creation of new versions by simple-cut editing on low resolution proxies, and it can mark IMF packages to prepare them for automated insertion/localisation of credits, rolls, insertion of black slugs and colour bars. Designed for fast validation and repair of IMF packages, this tool functions independently of third-party systems

AUDIO Digital soundwaves

www.content-technology.com/audio

DPA Boosts Presence in Singapore and Thailand DPA MICROPHONES HAS APPOINTED Acoustic and Lighting Systems to handle the distribution of its product range in Singapore and Thailand. In a move to allow it to get even closer to its customer base in the live, PA and MI markets, DPA has also appointed Arcadia Tech as a direct dealer in Singapore. Headquartered in Malaysia and with offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, Acoustic and Lighting Systems is one of the prominent Audio Visual and Lighting companies in South East Asia. Established in 1993 as a live sound company, A&L has expanded to encompass broadcast, and more recently the corporate AV sector, where it sees potential for growth.

New Zealand’s WhitebaitMedia on the Road with Calrec AFTER 36 YEARS IN A STUDIO, the producers of New Zealand’s long-running kids show ‘What Now’ decided to go on the road so the programme could reach out directly to more children around the country, and bring more dynamism to the format. WhitebaitMedia is using Calrec’s Brio36 compact audio console to do so. The show airs live at 8am each Sunday during non-advertising time in New Zealand on TVNZ 2. It’s also part of Television New Zealand’s South Pacific Service that sees the show broadcast to a number of Pacific Islands. The two hours consist of “Fun, mess, games, mess, skits and more mess,” according to Tim Murdoch, Technical Manager at WhitebaitMedia. Murdoch added, “We’ve been producing What Now for 14 years in Christchurch, starting in TVNZ’s studio and moving into our own studios in 2009. When we decided to take the show on the road, we needed to build an OB truck and find equipment that would fit inside a small space without compromising on quality.” WhitebaitMedia is a full-service production house, based in Christchurch, and it chose Calrec’s Brio36 compact audio console for its new 26- foot mobile production unit. This is Whitebait’s first purchase of a Brio and first Calrec purchase. The installation was managed by Australia-based Synchrotech Systems. Murdoch continued, “Due to its size, our current audio console was deemed too big, and it was starting to show its age. To replace it I began the search for a new audio console. Like most people looking for a lower budget compact audio console, I looked at options from the live PA market. However these lacked the power and flexibility What Now requires, where no two shows are the same and the script is more of a guideline. The Brio was the logical choice because it was the only one with the power and flexibility of a larger broadcast console, but at the budget and size of smaller consoles normally fitted in small-tomedium OB trucks.”

AUDIO

Murdoch added, “We were immediately taken with Brio’s features. It has excellent built-in loudness meters and its detailed metering means we don’t need to purchase meters. It also has an impressive number of faders, so our operators have access to everything – really useful for a show that doesn’t follow a script. The Brio also allows each of our operators to set up their own user file, as well as show template files, and this is a real bonus when using multiple freelance operators.”

Mr Eugene Yeo, the Singapore-based General Manager of A&L, believes DPA has great potential in the region because its high quality product range covers so many market sectors. “We strive to work with brands that can add value to our own brand portfolio, but also to the general pro audio community,” he said. “As a company with a strong heritage and unique technology, DPA has definitely created a distinctive brand identity in the market. Furthermore, it also offers discreet solutions to a wide range of end users whose demand for high quality microphone products is growing all the time. “The support of DPA’s Hong Kong office, together with our own expertise and understanding of local culture, will enable us to take the DPA brand for a new height in our areas,” he said. “A&L actively participates in local pro audio events and exhibitions such as Broadcast Asia, where we will definitely showcase DPA. We have also invested in demo kits so that we can showcase directly to clients at their preferred venues.” Commenting on the appointment of his company as a DPA dealer, Arcadia Tech’s managing director, Ron Koh, said, “DPA has always been a standard to look up to when purchasing microphones and with today’s requirement for content, quality audio products such as DPA are always going to be in demand from independent content creators who are always looking to get their hands on the latest professional tools and upgrades.” Visit www.dpamicrophones.com

AURATUS and NEXUS for BNC Malaysia STAGETEC ASIA HAS COMPLETED a project for the TV station Bernama News Channel (BNC). Two AURATUS platinum and a NEXUS network with two Base Devices were installed at the BNC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. BNC broadcasts local and international news about politics, business, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, 24 hours a day, and is part of the national Malaysian news agency, Bernama. The Stage Tec equipment is installed in two new production studios for live news broadcasts and shows. The two AURATUS platinums each have 24 faders. The consoles are compact and suited to predefined workflows in radio and TV productions. The AURATUS consoles are integrated into the NEXUS network and can access a range of analogue and digital formats, including MADI, SDI, Danteover-IP, A/D converters and AES67.

Anthony Harrison, International Sales Manager, Calrec said, “We’ve achieved considerable success over the years in the Antipodes. We’re delighted that WhitebaitMedia is taking advantage of the capabilities of our Brio36 console for its OB truck.”

“AURATUS platinum best met the Bernama News Channel’s requirements. The console is optimised for fast and intuitive operation. All relevant channel functions needed in broadcast productions are within easy reach. AURATUS platinum is ideal for smaller and simpler TV and radio applications,” explained Advon Tan, Managing Director of Stagetec Asia.

Visit www.calrec.com

Visit www.stagetec.com

AUDIO Booth 4J4-01

THIS IS STATE-OF-THE-ART WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

BOLERO

WIRELESS

INTERCOM

www.riedel.net

AUDIO

· As a standalone solution or integrated in digital matrix intercom systems · Up to 100 Beltpacks, 100 Antennas · 12 Partylines and unlimited point-to-point connections · Advanced DECT with seamless handover · Simple registration via OTA (Over The Air) and NFC (Near Field Communication) · Integrated web server for easy setup · Daisy chain or redundant ring antenna network · Redundant antenna power · Up to 300m CAT5 cable between Antennas · External 4-Wire and GPIO Interface box

AUDIO

Jünger Audio Launches New Audio Processing Platform JÜNGER AUDIO RECENTLY LAUNCHED an audio processing platform that gives broadcasters the flexibility to choose exactly the right audio processing products for their facilities and projects.

count, or even be allowed to shift licenses between devices. Users who buy a software license are free to decide how many audio programs they want to process and type of processing to be installed.

Unlike previous Jünger Audio processors, the AIXpressor hardware unit is unique because it is not just a single product. Instead it acts as a base for software-defined products that are created using Jünger’s new Flexible Audio Infrastructure flexAI.

During NAB 2018, the AIXpressor was released to the public as the basis for products utilising the flexAI software infrastructure. The 19-inch 1RU device is based on x86 processors and equipped with a range of built-in interfaces, including redundant audio-over-IP with compatibility to AES67 and SMPTE ST2110, USB host and client interfaces, as well as MADI, AES/ EBU and analogue I/Os. The unit also has four slots for optional interfaces, all of which are compatible with Junger Audio’s existing D*AP series of audio processors.

This means that simply buying additional software licenses, broadcasters and post production facilities can customise this audio processing system to suit their demand for processing capabilities and channel count. The necessary hardware, however, scales by the actual demand in processing power. For Jünger, flexAI is nothing less but a revolution as it enables software development on the go, without making compromises due to hardware limitations. The system is equipped to cascade additional AIXpressors or servers whenever more processing power or media interfaces become necessary. All software products created using flexAI will be licensed flexibly, which means users can incorporate additional functionality, increase channel

In conjunction with the new AIXpressor hardware, Jünger Audio has also developed a new optical connection called tieLight that can transmit up to 1152 audio channels in each direction. TieLight, which has very low delay and compensated latency, is utilised for cascading multiple devices and for setting up larger systems that require several processors. It is an inherent part of the AIXpressor and will be available as a PCIexpress card to be used in Jünger Audio’s upcoming line of servers. Visit www.jungeraudio.com

Sound Devices Announces VR Partnership with Sennheiser SOUND DEVICES HAS ANNOUNCED a collaboration with Sennheiser to offer the full spatial audio experience for virtual reality (VR) video within Sennheiser’s AMBEO for VR partnership program. With the Sound Devices MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T portable recorders and Sennheiser’s AMBEO VR Mic, VR professionals can record and monitor premium 360° spatial audio for VR video. As an exclusive new feature to the VR partnership program, the MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T will be the first portable recorders to offer onboard AMBEO to binaural decoding. This allows VR creators to assess and make creative decisions about spatial audio content at time of capture, without needing a post-production workstation. “Sound Devices recorders have been used for Ambisonics field recording for many years, so it was a natural progression for us to bring our MixPre recorders into the new world of VR 360 recording,” said Matt Anderson, CEO of Sound Devices. “We are happy to partner with Sennheiser to provide a high-quality VR recording and monitoring option for our MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T customers.” “Sennheiser is excited to have Sound Devices come on board the partnership program,” commented Véronique Larcher, AMBEO Immersive Audio Co-director at Sennheiser. “Offering VR content creators the unique and exciting possibility to directly monitor their spatial recordings exemplifies the spirit of the program:

making immersive audio workflows as simple and straightforward as possible for users.” Sound Devices will be releasing a free firmware update for the MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T – anticipated spring 2018 – that offers: Record AMBEO VR mic in Ambisonics A-format or B-format with support for any mic orientation (Up, Down, Endfire) Stereo or Binaural headphone monitoring of AMBEO VR mic. Support for both AmbiX and FuMa B-format standards. The MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T are lightweight, high-resolution audio recorders with integrated USB audio streaming that offer world-class sound quality combined with extreme durability. Visit /www.sounddevices.com

World’s First Broadcast-Grade Ambisonic Mic Under $1k RØDE MICROPHONES HAS ANNOUNCED its first broadcastgrade, 360° surround-sound capture microphone and flagship product of a new brand in the RØDE family.

AUDIO

The first product for the SoundField By RØDE family is a marriage of SoundField’s ambisonic recording technology, and RØDE’s commitment to audio excellence accessible by all creators. Completely designed and made in Australia at RØDE’s Sydney campus, the NT-SF1 is a triumph of innovation and manufacturing quality. Featuring four of RØDE’s all-new ½-inch TF45C capsules in tetrahedral array, the NT-SF1 produces natural, transparent four channel A-format recordings which can be transformed and manipulated in B-Format, courtesy of the soon-to-bereleased SoundField by RØDE plugin.

“When The Freedman Group acquired SoundField in late2016, the aim was to continue producing the premier 360-degree audio capture loved by the professionals who bring us cinema sound and 7.1 broadcast,” said Freedman

Group CEO, Damien Wilson. “And we are. But, as is the RØDE way, we have brought our manufacturing and design expertise to bear on this new family of microphones. The SoundField By RØDE NT-SF1 is for creators for who the ultra-high-end SoundField products are out of reach, and delivers results unmatched by all but the most expensive ambisonic microphones.” Head of RØDE’s New Product Development and former Director of New Product at SoundField for 16 years, Pieter Schillebeeckx, said this is the most exciting development in the technology in decades. “Delivering this kind of professional-use technology at a sub-USD$1000 price point is a world first in the ambisonic world. It gives budding VR creators, immersive filmmakers and videogame world builders an accessible and high-quality way to dive into 360-degree-with-height audio capture.” Visit www.rode.com

AUDIO

Full Stream Ahead: Managing Connections Between AoIP Devices By Pete Walker, Product Manager, Calrec

However, with discovery not defined under AES67, it’s not always easy to get a device to receive another manufacturer’s AES67 stream. Many manufacturers have adopted the style of discovery used by Ravenna, mDNS/Bonjour, but others have taken a different route, notably Audinatebased AES67 streams advertise using SAP (the same as Dante). A tool is available to connect - “Ravenna2Sap” - but this is a little clunky. Even with a common discovery protocol, to date, forming connections between AES67 devices involves engineers moving between web applications served by each device to configure their audio transmitters, and registering them to receive streams from other devices, often copying and pasting stream data between applications. Whilst AES67 defines a common parameter set, the exact options available and even the terminology used varies between manufacturers. This is all a somewhat disjointed approach that requires a level of technical competence and IT networking knowhow that we need to move beyond.

AUDIO NETWORKING HAS BROUGHT GREAT BENEFITS to production workflows by significantly reducing cabling and set-up times, providing flexible routing that can be managed en-masse at the touch of a button, and breaking the hardties between control rooms and studios. Some of these technologies, like Calrec’s Hydra2, offer very simple plug and play setup, but they require their own private network and specific switching hardware. Users want an open, shared network infrastructure, allowing them to freely connect devices to handy local switches that can pass all forms of media and data. AES67 has been the talk of the town for several years now, and its ratification was a major milestone, consolidating numerous audio over IP networking technologies to their common denominators, allowing them to interoperate and connect with each other, and to pass over COTS switches. ST-2110 further confirms AES67 at the heart of broadcast as a part of elemental streaming, rather than having audio embedded Elegant access, Calrec’s Connect app. into video (and being less In the broadcast world, NMOS is hotly anticipated, readily accessible). aiming to standardise and enhance discovery and This is a significant step forward, but what many connection management, covering video as well don’t realise is that all AES67 defines is a common as audio in a uniform way. The first stage of its transport layer; there’s no discovery or control rollout, IS-04, is device discovery, along with some mechanisms baked in to AES67. That might sound basic connection management. NMOS allows a bit pedantic because AES3 is about transport, and for IP media connections across a network to has been a fundamentally important standard for be managed from a central server, reducing the many years, but that’s a point-to-point connection reliance on individual web-applications served from - you plug in a BNC and it passes audio. In an IP each device. We are starting to see IS-04 support world, users can access lots of audio, video and in devices, and connection tools are becoming data from many devices, anywhere on the network, available, but few yet in active deployment. over a single connection. Stepping back, traditionally, an audio operator’s job is to ensure that the right mix gets to wherever it needs to go to; in broadcast it’s as much about routing as it is about mixing, and it’s the operator’s responsibility to make sure that everybody is receiving the correct audio. The mindset in the IP world is a little different; it’s more about a peer-topeer relationship, and connecting devices directly, without the need for the traditional I/O box and the multitude of formats they need to provide today. IP

For IP to truly replace current SDI, MADI and AES3, etc., connectivity, routing needs to be dynamically switchable, without needing IT engineers to support day-to-day production demands. We need to move towards plug and play, and a simple user interface that can manage connections and device settings in a consistent way across a whole network. Calrec’s “Connect” application aims to do just that, by identifying media streams and devices on the

network regardless of their registration/discovery protocol, whether it’s NMOS, mDNS, AES70, SAP or more specific Rest APIs. Connect is able to present all of the devices on the network in a visual, familiar and user-friendly way that allows them to be easily inter-connected without getting bogged down in networking detail. Connect does provide elegant access to in-depth configuration, but it extracts the necessary information in a simplistic way to provide fast workflows for day to day management by production staff. Redundancy is provided by allowing multiple servers to sit on a network, all synchronising their data. Each server can be accessed by multiple users, each with varying privilege levels. Devices can be given friendly labels and can be grouped by type or physical location. Access by each user can be limited on a stream by stream, device by device and group by group basis. Users can search by stream, device or group name and can maintain their own favourites list. Stream connections across the network are visualised, and can quickly and easily be changed, saved and recalled en-masse. Devices can be locked, and even currently offline devices can be managed. In addition to making, breaking and changing stream connections, Connect allows for configuration of streams across devices and provides network diagnostics such as bandwidth utilisation and dropped packets, along with warnings. Connect can even be used to create GPIO style logic connections between devices, and provides control for things like mic pre-amp gain and power. Out of the box, when you buy one of our new native AoIP products – our new radio system Type R being a prime example – it has a Connect server running on its processing core. Any PC or tablet that can connect to the AoIP network can access the Connect server via a webbrowser. Sensible factory default configuration means users can straight away see streams in and out of the mixer and its I/O boxes, and can simply connect them as needed, whilst user account management protects against unauthorised access. Information about devices is maintained even when they are offline, so users can make and change connections that will be applied when they come back online. Connect aims to provide a simple-yet-powerful tool for managing IP-based connectivity and providing familiar broadcast workflows across a wide range of devices, agnostic of manufacturer and specific protocol support. Calrec will be exhibiting at Broadcast Asia 2018 on Booth 6C3-01. Visit https://calrec.com

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is about making a given media stream available to the world and allowing other people register their interest in that output and vice versa.

RADIO The original broadcast media

www.content-technology.com/radio

City Plus FM Kuching: Stagetec Completes Third Station for Cense Media FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH of two radio stations in Selangor, 96.3 Kupi-Kupi FM in Sabah and CityPlus FM 106.0, Malaysia’s Cense Media Sdn Bhd has passed another milestone with the launch of its third radio station “CityPlus FM 92.5 Kuching“ in Sarawak.

Stagetec Asia installed and commissioned DHD Audio 52 series audio mixers and Nexus Base Device Digital Radio Routers for all the studios included of Backup and Main On-Air Studio. The whole integration also includes equipment and solutions from AVT- Telephone Hybrid, ADAM – Active Monitoring Speaker, Sonifex, YellowTec and Zenon Media Radio Logger - AirCheck.

City Plus FM is Chinese business radio station targeting Chinese-speaking PMEBs (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Businessmen) and SMEs in Malaysia.

“A key part of City Plus FM project was the MCR room installation, where the first acquisition of Tieline Audio IP Codec was installed. This action is to serve the purpose of receiving radio feeds from City Plus FM KL and to continue City Plus FM Kuching operation which broadcast daily from 6AM to 8 AM and 6PM to 8PM.” recalled Stagetec Asia Senior Project Manager Mr Yap Wei Keong and Project Engineer Mr Yuzwan.

Stagetec Asia Sdn Bhd worked with Cense Media Sdn Bhd in building the new radio station from scratch. A strong understanding and relationship which was built over the years between Stagetec Asia and Cense Media led to smooth sailing for the project completion. “The Management decided to engage Stagetec Asia services continuously as we are confident that they are able to provide an excellent level of services through their dedicated marketing and technical teams,” said Madam Rita Sim, CEO of Cense Media Sdn Bhd. “On top of that we are satisfied and impressed with the reliability of all equipment supplied by Stagetec Asia. An effortless radio system workflow would enhance operational efficiency greatly, definitely yield a favourable outcome for the company in the long run. We would like to thank Stagetec Asia team for delivering all three projects on time to our expectation with good pricing and great services.”

Stagetec Asia Managing Director, Mr Advon Tan remarked, “We extend our sincere congratulations to Cense Media on their accomplishment in launching their third radio station City Plus FM Kuching! Our gratitude to Cense Media’s absolute trust and confidence for our team in executing the project from A to Z. We are proud to be Cense Media’s all times preferred advisor and supplier and allow us to add value in developing their radio station business and we eagerly to work on more radio stations for Cense Media in any future location.“ Visit www.stagetecasia.com platform of digital radio. We’re excited that countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are looking to DAB+. MCMC, the Malaysian Regulator, is interested in a more in-depth technical briefing, and Indonesia is looking at organising a seminar to further inform decision makers on the benefits of going digital. “Radio’s future is to focus on the strengths of the industry – the live and local nature of radio – and to incorporate radio into all new devices that come to the market. We’re excited about the opportunities to work with Google, Amazon, Sonos, and Apple Music on voice-activated devices in homes. In terms of audio, radio’s expertise at providing live, localised and popular content 24/7 should prove invaluable as part of these new ondemand devices.” Other sessions include: Look into the future trends and behaviours of listeners Grant Cameron, Chief Executive Officer, Grant Broadcasters Media;

BroadcastAsia Looks into Present and Future of Radio RADIO IS HERE TO STAY DESPITE COMPETITION. While new technologies have actually helped radio to develop further and deliver its products over multiple platforms, innovation in content is the key to the future of radio. All these issues and more will be explored as part of the “Radio’s New Wave” conference stream during BroadcastAsia 2018 on 27 June 2018, Wednesday, from 9.30am – 4.00pm at Suntec Singapore, Level 6.

RADIO

Chairing the stream will be Commercial Radio Australia CEO and VicePresident of WorldDAB, Joan Warner who will deliver the opening address, “Road Map of Radio Broadcasting”.

According to Ms Warner, “Broadcasters in the Asia Pacific have recognised that they need to move to the greener, more spectrum efficient broadcast

Curating the Future of Music Streaming: Playlist Discovery and Generation Looking Beyond Radio: How Can Radio Station Benefit from Evolving Platforms? Cathy O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer, Nova Entertainment. Retargeting Radio and Measuring Gen Z and Millennials Aaron Pinto, Network Content Manager, Astro Radio DAB+ Developments in APAC Joan Warner, CEO, Commercial Radio Australia Technology of Radio Broadcasting Nick Piggott, Project Director, Radio DNS Big Data: Audience and Data Insights Dr. Morten Boyer, Chief Executive Officer – Asia, GfK Visit www.broadcast-asia.com

RADIO

Reporting from the Field with the Touch of a Button COMREX WILL RELEASE FIELDTAP, a new phone application for remote broadcasting, in Q3 of 2018. FieldTap uses SIP to make it possible for users to transmit audio with the touch of a button. Aimed toward reporters and street team contributors for short drop-ins, FieldTap features a very simple user interface. With a one-button control screen, users of any technical ability can connect from the field to the station by simply pressing a single button. FieldTap is a simple SIP client that uses Voice over IP (VoIP) to make it possible for field users to send wideband audio from their cellphones over cellular and Wi-Fi networks. FieldTap is compatible with all Comrex IP audio codecs. FieldTap can also be used in conjunction with EarShot IFB, a new VoIP IFB system from Comrex

that replaces POTS lines and auto couplers. EarShot IFB is perfect for live ENG applications – it provides four audio feeds, and can support up to 10 wideband calls (or 30 regular calls). With FieldTap, EarShot IFB callers can receive highquality audio, instead of standard cellphone audio. FieldTap is now available for Android as well as iOS. FieldTap uses the Opus audio encoder to deliver studio quality audio right from a cell phone with very low delay. FieldTap is a free application. To download FieldTap, search for it on Google Play, App Store, or visit the Comrex website. Visit www.comrex.com

UK Regulator Extends Trial of Small-Scale DAB IN 2015, UK REGULATOR OFCOM licensed and co-ordinated a trial with a new approach to DAB radio broadcasting which it called small-scale DAB. Ten trial licences were awarded to parties in different areas of the UK who wanted to operate a small-scale DAB multiplex. The trial multiplexes covered a relatively small geographical area compared to local and national DAB multiplexes. The small-scale DAB trials keep costs low by making use of relatively inexpensive transmission equipment and the freely available ‘open-source’ software. Ofcom has proposed to further extend the licences of the ten trial smallscale DAB multiplexes. The regulator says the trials “… have proved to be successful. There are currently around 150 community and small commercial radio services broadcasting digitally on the ten trial multiplexes. By further extending the trials, these radio services will continue to be

available to listeners. Ofcom will also be able to continue gathering useful information from the trials, to help inform the development of a framework to enable small-scale DAB multiplexes and services to be licensed throughout the UK under a new licensing regime, on a non-trial basis.” While the current trial small-scale DAB multiplex licences will eventually be replaced by competitively awarded licences under a new licensing framework, Ofcom proposes to extend the trial licences until 31 March 2020, but with the option to terminate the licences at an earlier date in the event that a non-trial licence in the same area has been awarded and the service is ready to launch. During this period, no new trial licences will be awarded. Visit www.ofcom.org.uk

TeleDelta Delivers ‘RADIO2IP’ AUSTRALIAN BASED TECHNOLOGY and engineering company, TeleDelta, recently announced the updated release of the RADIO2IP platform RADIO2IP is for FM / AM / DAB+ radio multichannel Internet and network distribution, compliance and radio streaming applications. Following strong interest and sales success of the established RADIO2IP platform to several overseas and local operators the latest update of the Australian made RADIO2IP platform includes several new feature upgrades incorporating additional streaming and IP distribution protocols including HLS and RTMP, support for DAB+ radio and increased input capacity – with the ability to ingest up to 64x radio services per chassis. AVW Broadcast Pty Ltd is the Australian and international sales hub for

TeleDelta products. According to AVW Sales Manager Stefan Hunt, “AVW / TeleDelta have been seeing growing interest in the RADIO2IP solution through-out Europe and South America, largely for applications that require operators and regulatory departments to monitoring large volumes of FM, AM or DAB+ radio services in a compact scalable solution. “A recent installation involved over 40x RADIO2IP systems being deployed for FM and AM radio service capture across a large geographical area and is used to monitor and capture content.” Visit http://teledelta.com and www.avw.com.au

Broadcast equipment you can rely on

info@comrex.com | 1-978-784-1776 | www.comrex.com

RADIO

Audio-Over-IP Studio-to-Transmitter Link IP AUDIO AND CONTROL DEVELOPER BARIX has released the final shipping version of Redundix, its cost-effective solution that automatically corrects glitches and failures on IP STL connections. Redundix adds resilience to IP-based transport by either time-delaying two streams on the same network, and/or sending a redundant stream over a separate path. On the receiving side, Redundix repairs lost packets in the stream caused by transport network imperfections using the time or path redundant streams. The result is better audio quality because lost packets

are repaired, and audible imperfections are significantly reduced. The latest Redundix design features two Ethernet interfaces and can be connected to almost every network topography. This is due to the fact that it can be used as a standalone device connected to a switch, or as a bridging device when no switch is available. This versatility and interoperability with any existing industry codec makes Redundix a cost-effective and easy to implement solution for radio broadcasters and studio administrators. Visit www.barix.com

ENCO Controls the Radio Station from Anywhere ENCO HAS UNVEILED the second generation of WebDAD, the company’s cloud-based solution that now allows broadcasters to take full, native control of the radio station from any networked location. Part of ENCO’s enCloud family, WebDAD provides users with a fully virtualised platform to remotely access and control their studio-based ENCO DAD radio automation systems. WebDAD’s second-generation user interface has been fully redesigned and optimised through an HTML5 architecture. The open, flexible nature of HTML5 programming ensures that broadcasters are no longer limited to specific web browsers, enabling complete native-level control from any workstation or mobile device. “The benefits of web-based control of radio automation have long been understood and requested by broadcasters, but until WebDAD the interfaces have been limited to the simplest playback tasks,” said Ken Frommert, President, ENCO. “WebDAD changed this by introducing the ability to manage and drive on-air presentation, playlist manipulation, voice tracking, and other critical production tasks across the end-to-end workflow. With our HTML5-based re-design, WebDAD becomes the most powerful and comprehensive browser-based interface yet, giving broadcasters and production teams a direct line to DAD and complete control of the one-air interface over IP via any standard web browser.”

Orban Processing Platform for openGear ORBAN HAS STEPPED AWAY from its traditional single-product approach with the introduction of an openGear-based audio processing platform designed to give broadcasters the ability to choose a precise, customtailored mix of audio processing solutions for their facilities. The proven openGear-based platform brings together hardware and software-defined audio and video solutions not just from Orban but from the vast array of openGear partners. The 2RU Orban openGear rack frame has dual redundant power supplies and a 1Gbit ethernet port. It can be equipped with a comprehensive range of available audio interfaces, including redundant audio-over-IP with full compatibility to AES67 and SMPTE ST2110, USB host and client interfaces as well as MADI, AES/EBU and analog I/O, video interfaces include 4K and 3G HD/SDI video mux and demux with Dolby AC-3 and Dolby E processing.

WebDAD introduces new operational efficiencies for full-time station personnel, and also allows part-time, contract, and remote staff to access the playout system from a laptop, tablet, smartphone or other connected device. Radio stations and networks can quickly establish a decentralised workforce, and allow talent to be heard in several markets with the ability to voice track from anywhere. This moves broadcasters further in the direction of a fully virtualised broadcast and production environment, since the board operator no longer needs to be physically at the radio station to control and playout a live radio show.

All current Orban OPTIMOD AM, FM and internet streaming audio processing algorithms are planned for the new Orban openGear platform. Available Orban DTV audio processing solutions include loudness monitoring and control for stereo and multichannel surround content up to NGA 11.1, surround headphone monitoring, and stereo to surround upmixing including up-rendering to AC-4 surround in 11.1 using Orban’s new DSX iSurround 3D algorithm. The patented DSX iSurround 3D algorithm up-renders stereo audio to 5.1, 7.1 and 11.1 immersive 3D surround for gaming, film, live sports and television productions. By combining several technologies including frequency- and time-domain energy distribution with the latest psychoacoustic models, the DSX iSurround 3D algorithm provides artefact-free, stable surround stems with complete downmix compatibility.

Visit www.enco.com

Visit www.orban.com

AES67 Interoperability for Audio-Over-IP Signal Transport

RADIO

GATESAIR, THE DEVELOPER OF wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV broadcasters, says it has made significant strides in interoperable audio networking with the introduction of the Intraplex IP Link 200A, the company’s first AES67-compliant Audio over IP codec. The IP Link 200A allows broadcasters to seamlessly interconnect studios and remote locations, including transmitter sites, using the AES67 standard and any of today’s encoding algorithms across wide-area IP networks.

The IP Link 200A is a hybrid model that interconnects AES67 and Analog/AES3 signals simultaneously, and enables conversion between the two formats. With dedicated channels for both, users still operating in Analog or AES3 mode have a futureproof path to an industry-adopted Audio over IP standard. Additionally,

those operating in mixed mode can seamlessly convert between the AES67 and Analog/AES3 as desired. In any scenario, the IP Link 200A simplifies the cabling and removes limitations on location of the codec. As with other IP Link codecs, the IP Link 200A integrates GatesAir’s Dynamic Stream Splicing software, which mitigates IP packet loss and eliminates off-air time through multiple redundant streams. Dynamic Stream Splicing borrows data from these redundant streams, which can live on the same network or separate paths. GatesAir’s integration of a firewall and advanced packet filtering capabilities strengthen network security, protecting against outside intrusions to ensure rock-solid, on-air signal protection. Visit www.gatesair.com

CONTENT DELIVERY Terrestrial, Mobile, Broadband

www.content-technology.com/delivery

Remote Controllers: The NEP Andrews Production Hubs By Phil Sandberg

Game-changer, brave new world, paradigm shift – all could describe NEP Australia’s IP-enabled Sydney- and Melbournebased centralised remote production centres which serve as hubs for the most advanced remote media production operation in Australia, if not the world. AS THEY ARRIVE AT THE COAL-FACE of cutting edge of media production, staff and clients pass a wall display honouring the late Keith Andrews, the man after whom the Sydney and Melbourne Andrews production hubs were named. Mr Andrews passed away suddenly in April 2017. He held the positions of CEO of NEP Australia, followed by President and Chief Operating Officer of the global NEP Group. Text accompanying his portrait in the Hub describes Keith as having “… had a passion for people and those that could deliver innovation. None more so than the innovation contained within these walls.” The 12 months following the 2017 NABShow saw that innovation move into high gear. At showtime, the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards for Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks was in final draft, but just one month later, May 22nd, NEP Australia had a 2110 test environment running in conjunction with Sony and a small number of manufacturers. It was the only interoperability test outside of a standards body test site.

One of four Sydney Andrews Hub Production Control Rooms.

According to NEP Australia’s Director of Technical Services, Marc Segar, “I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say there are lots of manufacturers that this time last year didn’t have 2110, didn’t have IP boards, didn’t have an IP roadmap. “I’d like to think that this project has helped bring some of that forward, that some of the manufacturers started to bring forward 2110 development to be able to get this project going.” Also key to kick-starting the project was Australian telecommunications company Telstra, which provided the continent-wide connectivity required for the project (see story page 44), and long-time client and partner Fox Sports Australia. THE HUB The Sydney Andrews Hub is divided into two “hemispheres”, each equipped with two control rooms and associated support rooms. This allows NEP to keep different (and potentially competitive) productions separate while they use the facility at the same time. Staff use programmable swipe cards to access authorised areas.

Marc Segar describes the NOC as “… a fusion between broadcast and network operations. We have no video cable in here. “There’s two traditional broadcast monitoring positions, one on the left and one on the far right, the front bench, and in the middle is our network monitoring, For most projects, we’ve got two or three engineers in here, we always have a network engineer. “There’s two master controller-type positions, one network position in the middle, so one guy here and one guy in Melbourne, of course; both monitoring the same network because we are now connected to Melbourne. “Again, we’re a network more than we are a broadcaster. What that’s done is introduced new roles. We have broadcast network engineers now on staff which we didn’t have before. “I should also mention that the two studios, there are two TV studios, broadcast studios, here. They’re also connected to the hub as if they were venues. So, we no longer need to pull trucks up out the front like we used to, all that sort of stuff; we basically use the control rooms that are in here.” Also on the NOC backbench are remote control positions for audio and audio comms. “That’s no longer in-field,” says Marc Segar. “That’s now here because we remote control all the comms, and we remote control all the audio from here. We

Lawo MC96-equipped Audio Suite.

basically have complete remote control of the truck no matter where it is. “This comes down to the zero latency for the talent on-site. That’s why we do that. They’re very perceptible to a few milliseconds. If they have real-time audio, there’s no reason to complain.” CONTROL ROOMS If an outside broadcast truck could loosen its belt, not only would it breathe easier, its interior would look a lot like an Andrews Hub control room. “We’re trying to make clients feel really comfortable,” says Segar. “We’re trying to give them as much flexibility, and the flexibility they don’t have in a fixed truck, by coming in here. “All four rooms are identical. The only difference is the colour schemes in the room, everything else is the same. Benches are the same, positions are the same, monitors are the same, monitor wall is the same. It doesn’t matter which room you’re in: if you’re a client, you get exactly the same facility. The only thing you need to book is how many EVS channels you’re using, everything else is identical to each other.” Part of the Hub control room flexibility is a moveable vision mixer panel and moveable monitor wall – the whole monitor wall. “If you have a director/switcher, one person that’s also mixing the show, they can Continues p44 >>

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Signals from the control rooms pass through the Network Operation Centre (NOC) which only NEP staff can access. The NOC also features LCD glass windows which can be set to obscure content from unauthorised view.

CONTENT DELIVERY >> from p43

move the vision mixer panel, and of course can move the monitor wall. By doing that, you always have that really core sweet spot and so you can always see your programme preview.

needed an IP anyone-anywhere concept, a virtualised concept that says that you can sit anywhere on the network, and we wanted to have multiple sites and multiple trucks to connect over an IP network. So, we didn’t want to go back to SDI and then have latency from upconversion.

“What we’ve done recently is decided to make [control room 2] an A-League room, and [control room 1] the NRL room - for now. So, they don’t even change configuration of vision switchers or anything. The room stays an A-League room - for now. It doesn’t have to, we can recall it under VSM, we can recall it in the switcher configuration if we want to.”

“The timeframe was very aggressive, and Fox Sports had a very aggressive timeframe. Telstra also, because at the end of the day we’ve built this in six months and so did Telstra.” Telstra’s Distributed Production Network (DPN), connecting sports venues across the country, enters the Andrews Hub CAR via a 320Gig connection. There are also connections to NEP’s dark fibre network and Optus, allowing access to other venues outside the DPN.

To support its IP-based production, NEP Australia acquired 48 Sony HDC-4300 high frame rate cameras, along with four The NEP Sydney Andrews Hub Network Operations Centre. sets of XVS-6000 and six sets of XVS-8000 switchers, but one notable absence from the Andrews Hub control rooms is that of camera When it comes to connectivity within the Hub, everything is handled through the control. CAR’s fibre patch. “People ask me quite often, what are we doing with CCU, where are the CCU “Anything that leaves this room to anywhere else in the building goes on our fibre guys?” says Marc Segar. “At the moment, they’re in the truck because those patch. We don’t patch video signals around, we patch bandwidth. What ports do guys are technical guys for us. They rig all the point-of-view cameras, they do you need from the core switches and where, we do that here. The production the commentary box, and if we didn’t have them on-site those things wouldn’t get done. But, in the future, we don’t know whether we’re still going to be doing galleries are patched here. This also extends to the two studios, and the NRL that - we don’t know where the commentators are going to be, we have no idea bunker. whether we’re going to put full-time point of view cameras in and we never have A key component of the Andrews Hub CAR, and a platform that didn’t exist when to go and rig them again, which could happen. the Hubs were being planned, is LAWO’s V matrix. Comprising software-defined “So, we’ve created a room that’s a central CCU room, camera shading room. It has two positions: one’s a 16-camera position which mimics what we do in the truck, and one that’s eight cameras which normally mimics what we do when we do a studio show here. So, eventually we could do an OB and a studio show, or two studio shows, or some hybrid of all those things in this space.” AUDIO Each production room is complemented by a separate audio room. These identical rooms are each built around a Lawo MC96 console. Flexible design philosophy allows for equipment to be moved to suit operators/projects. “Monitoring in here is all off the same core that everywhere else has, of course, we don’t care what they monitor, and in terms of audio it’s all 5.1 cables,” says Marc Segar. “We have created a sound field in here for surround. It’s not completely correct for Dolby, because when you’re just doing a 5.1 show for sport, it’s not as critical. There are floor plates everywhere in each room, and there are speaker stands and you can put them exactly where you need them for a proper sound field. “We’ve got audio suppression all over the ceiling and over the back. A lot of work that’s happened in this space is to make sure it’s acoustically correct. We have also options for surround sound.” In addition to the NOC, four control and audio rooms, the Andrews Sydney Hub features a number of “multi-function rooms”, including two small studio spaces. “The reason we’ve built these is we don’t centralise commentary at the moment,” says Segar. “That’s all done on-site. But, there’s no reason why commentators can’t be anywhere in the hub. We don’t really care where they are. We’ve built two rooms that are slightly bigger, they’re 30m2, they’ve got a lighting grid and power and DMX, etc., up the top. If we do some augmented reality, a small set, extension, you could make this space look like an arena.” The other multi-function rooms – two seven-person and two four-person rooms – can be allocated to CCU, overflow EVS, graphics, or other functions as needed.

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CENTRAL APPARATUS ROOM

Like any central apparatus room in any traditional broadcast facility, the CAR at the Andrews Hub hosts racks of devices, whirring fans and air conditioning. What it doesn’t have, unlike its previous-generation counterparts is kilometres of video cabling. Aside from a tiny SDI layer for multi-view and waveform monitoring, and a video layer for emergencies, the CAR is totally IP. All hardware is connected by fibre, accessible via IP from anywhere in the Hub. Not only has the use of IP infrastructure meant no video cabling, it has also taken months off the timeline for construction of the facility. In its entirety, the Hub took around six months to build. Segar estimates traditional video wiring would have taken six- to eight-months alone. “I think if we built this site in SDI, we couldn’t have done it.,” he says. ““So, we

virtual modules, the platform handles all IP routing, processing and multi-viewer functionality. In addition, Lawo’s Virtual Studio Manager (VSM) and ‘The WALL’ multi-viewer control provide orchestration and control as well as a common user interface for all operators.

“It’s basically a blade,” says Marc Segar. “It’s software defined, it can be anything. It’s not pre-defined, and it’s completely virtual. It’s not really a one-thing device, a virtual product can do anything. “The great thing is when you swap a card, it learns what it was before and it comes up in the same mode. So, if you get a failure, you no longer have to carry a hundred different things." Also coming to the IP-enabled party was manufacturer Ross Video with its Newt family of point-of-use IP signal converters which were developed in conjunction with NEP to drive video monitoring. The Newt converters work in a wide range of environments such as Ross DashBoard, NMOS IS-04/IS-05, and EmBER+/RAVENNA. There is also a published JSON API for custom integrations. NOT THE END OF THE ROAD With the move to remote production reducing the number of personnel needing to travel around the country, does this spell the end for NEP’s fleet of outside broadcast vehicles? “We won’t change the quantity of trucks because we’ll still have the same problem in terms of places to go to,” says Segar. “We’re not going to suddenly say out of 15 trucks we’re going to have 10; that’s just not going to work. We have upgraded seven big trucks with an IP layer. They’re basically IP trucks almost now. It’s more likely we’ll go down the path of either putting more hybrid kits together, or building more IP trucks, and then taking the old technology trucks offline. In the future, we have space for a fifth control room here, we have space for a fourth control room in Melbourne, and if we’re doing that, then we need more trucks. So, it’s more likely we’ll build more IP trucks and we’ll get the old trucks out. “I know everyone’s looking at us at the moment sort of to see if this works, but the truth is, we’ve done 40-odd projects out of here now, and they’ve all been flawless. There’s no real boundaries. It’s about getting your head around that it’s all virtualised. You just tell me what you want, and we can do it. “We’ve broken the myth that the EVS operator has to be sitting next to the other EVS operator. Now, we’re not doing that right now, but the end state is we’ve decentralised to the point where we just use the people where they live and we don’t fly people, and that means if there’s two people in Adelaide, two people in Melbourne, two people in Sydney, and if they’re all working as part of the same EVS team, then that’s what it’s going to be. No reason we can’t do it today, once we educate people that that’s going to work.”

CONTENT DELIVERY

The Enabler – Telstra’s Distributed Production Network THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH NEP Australia’s remote production workflow sits is the Telstra Distributed Production Network (DPN). The DPN is an IP network, which has been custom built for the media industry and customers to produce live broadcasts at a distance from the actual event by sending multiple raw camera feeds, audio and equipment control signals over the network back to centralised production hubs. Upon full roll-out, the DPN will connect 29 sporting stadiums across regional and metro Australia to NEP’s remote production hubs located in Sydney and Melbourne. With the DPN, Telstra aims to support more than 520 live tier one sporting events each year.

The trial as conducted over four days between NEP’s centralised, IP (internet protocol) and multi-format production facility at the Sydney Andrews Hub and Telstra’s Los Angeles datacentre – over 7500 miles (12,000+ km) apart – using ultralow-latency compression technology and Telstra’s DPN. 30 HD camera feeds in LA were linked via diverse and hitless 10 gigabyteper-second circuits on the Telstra DPN, which has recently been extended to Los Angeles, with the production taking place in Sydney, overcoming what until now was considered an insurmountable distance. The tests confirm that the Andrews Hub control rooms in Sydney can efficiently produce broadcast events held in Los Angeles and, arguably, beyond. According to Carl Petch, Principal Solutions Architect, Telstra Broadcast Services, “When we were in discussions around what the DPN would look like, we envisaged this as a domestic and international occasional use network, and with the power of IP, that was really possible. With some of the tests that NEP has done in and around international, it certainly allows that vision of anywhere, any time, to happen, and the network is the enabler for that.” Domestically, the Telstra Distributed Production Network is a 10Gig linked switching network where Telstra programs and switches 10Gig links from a venue to a hub. Metropolitan sites feature 50G or 5 x 10G of a physically diverse A and B nature, and regional sites are 1 x 10G on a physically diverse A and B network. The DPN is bookable using the ScheduALL Connector Cloud (API). “ANZ Stadium, for example,” says Petch, “is a metropolitan venue with a 50Gig A path and a 50Gig B path. Output from the venue can be delivered to either the Sydney hub or the Melbourne hub and both those hubs have capacities 170Gig and 170Gig on the B path. That allows them to do a huge amount of concurrency. “Essentially, what we do is we manage the booking and activation of those 10G pipes from the venue all the way to the hub and that allows us to assure and deliver the SLAs that were very high on this network.” In the unlikely event of a network failure, a radio solution would come into play where, within the NEP truck, a 6Mbit HEVC stream would be created, and sent from a microwave link at the venue to the nearest cellular tower, providing an Internet connection away from the Stadium to deliver programming back to NEP’s client Fox Sports where they can receive it and put to air. “With the BYO nature of the network,” says Petch, “NEP can come up to a venue, plug in and then we can activate the network for them at whatever time they book it, because it is an occasional user network, and then the hub at the other end can see the vision and start to build their production as you would normally when you’ve got a traditional OB. “I don’t think anyone’s really seen the capacities in this scale before. It’s a very large bandwidth network and it’s occasional use, so NEP can be using it one day and another customer can be using it the next day, and I think that’s one of the things that we can drive costs and how we could drive return on investment from our perspective and also allow other people to use the network. “

Carl Petch, Principal Solutions Architect, Telstra Broadcast Services

ON THE EDGE A key component of Telstra’s Distributed Production Network is edge switching technology from Aperi. “We needed to have a new intelligent edge to allow us to take in anything,” says Carl Petch. “Actually, it could be SDI, it could be IP, but we needed to be able to switch that down these 10Gig pipes and we needed to manage it in an intelligent way. “We chose an Edge device from Aperi. This gives us low latency, low jitter and low packet loss. We combined this with the network and the geographically "NEP can come up to separate A/B planes that allows for this hitless switching, so we can plug in a venue, plug in and out of the NEP truck, they have an A to then we can activate D path, they plug into the OCIT which is the optical interface at the venue in the network for them an A and a B nature, we then activate at whatever time and we pass through that traffic all the way through to the Sydney hub or the they book it, because Melbourne hub, and then they take it is an occasional that traffic out and they can do that in a hitless nature. user network, and “The Aperi is the chassis that sits at then the hub at the edge. The device can consist of the other end can switching planes, the control plane and the data plane, and anything can see the vision and hand off any type of traffic and we start to build their understand that and we can then program that through the network. production as you Each micro server that plugs into the would normally device has a 10Gig optical connection and this allows us to be plugged into when you’ve got a our universal interface, which is an traditional OB" optical interface not a traditional coaxial interface. The OCIT allows us to interconnect and to basically transport the services from a truck into the OCIT and into the Aperi. “One of the things that the Aperi box gives us, which is not live in the network at the moment, is Telstra Broadcast Services can start to look at certain flows in the network. We can program the network to bring in certain flows from a venue, so we can do self-assurance on a customer’s behalf. “So, one of the things that power the network is the configuration and there was a lot of work done with NEP on how we would figure the network and how we would drive it. Fundamentally, it is a straightforward networking element we use and it’s VLAN. We can have different trucks pull up to different venues to allow us to program the network and their product, and because we know which truck goes to which site, we book the right VLAN, everything just works.” Visit https://www.telstra.com.au/business-enterprise/solutions/ professional-media/telstra-broadcast-services

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As well as domestic coverage, the DPN has been designed with international connectivity in mind. Late April saw NEP Australia and Telstra Broadcast Services achieve a milestone in broadcast television with the world’s first remote production trial across the Pacific.

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iflix and Bitmovin Form HD Stream Team BITMOVIN, THE DEVELOPER OF ONLINE VIDEO TECHNOLOGY, has announced that iflix, the OTT entertainment service for emerging markets, will use Bitmovin encoding to enable the delivery of TV shows, movies and sport in high definition video over low bandwidth mobile networks across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Bitmovin has been a first mover in almost every significant development in online video, from building and deploying the world’s first commercial adaptive streaming (MPEGDASH/HLS) HTML5 Player, to being the first to achieve 100x real-time encoding speeds in the cloud. Its encoding portfolio includes Per-Title Encoding, Multi-Codec Streaming, Per-Scene Adaptation and the newly launched AI-enabled Encoding. Bitmovin customers collectively deliver several billion videos to consumers every day. Utilising Bitmovin’s encoding tools via Bitmovin’s containerised software running inside its own infrastructure, iflix can run a heavily optimized H.264 based encoding workflow, delivering higher video quality and reach for its 7.5 million active subscribers, including those in low bandwidth areas. Unlike other cloud encoding services which only offer monolithic APIs that cannot run on customer-provided servers, Bitmovin’s container-based architecture allows customers to deploy modern virtualised encoding servers across a variety of environments from full cloud, to fully onpremise, to any hybrid combination in between. According to Bitmovin CEO, Stefan Lederer, iflix “… used open source before and built it themselves, but what they use now is our video encoding APIs, so that’s a software layer that can be run by us, for example, it can be employed in an off-prem datacentre as well as with different cloud operators like Azure, like Google, like Amazon. So, what they did is they deployed our on-prem cloud product and they use a couple of interesting features of ours. What we do for them is we look David Godfrey, VP and GM of Bitmovin Asia-Pacific. at every asset and we see a what is the complexity of this asset and with this complexity estimation, we can adjust the and you can also leverage the benefits of bit-rate level to the particular content. So, for example, for a perfect cartoon the Cloud, like for example in AWS you have you need different bit-rate level for a cartoon because it’s not as complex. the spot markets, spot instances. So those So, you probably encode too much of a quality that makes actually no visual instances are about 80% cheaper than the difference and that’s the reason why we go lower here from the bit-rate level, and for complex content you want to go higher and so you can get more bits traditional computational instances that you for the 1080P representation. have, but they are just short term available. “That really is important for them because in Southeast Asia bandwidth conditions are different, users have different data caps on the cellular plans for example, and that’s basically allowing them to better assess every single asset and optimise the configuration for that and then save use of bandwidth where possible and also save the company’s costs in the end. So, just being a little bit smart on the encoding side and really figuring out what’s the best encoding level.” According to Lederer, the Bitmovin encoding platform estimates which bit-rate configuration will best suit which resolution of media asset. For example, a 2.5 megabit, 1080P resolution asset may be of a lower quality than 720P 3 megabit asset even though 720P is not as efficient as 1080P. The result is simply how one encoder might work at different resolution levels.

CONTENT DELIVERY

“Every resolution has a sweet spot in terms of bit rate,” he says, “and this sweet spot changes from the complexity perspective. We do that for every single asset, find the optimal configuration and with that really squeeze out the last efficiency of the H.264, H.265 and it’s applicable to any encoding actually.

“Iflix are a great customer, a great engineering culture, it’s a good fit for us as well because the product is an API product so you can integrate that into the workflows and into the system that they built. It’s pretty much the same thing as Netflix is doing. We have microservices-based, API-based infrastructure and that’s how we are operating and it’s different from a lot of the traditional vendors that have a piece of software that runs on a dedicated part and a dedicated configuration or you might have an encoder being completely a API base where it is okay, deploy anywhere on commodity hardware, we don’t need special TPUs or something like that, we’re completely CPU based and if you want, you can google on Amazon, on Air Shop for example, as well as on prem

“So, for video, we have distributed encoder, this distributes the encoding shop, also the participation in small chunks and encodes that on instances like 2-4 second chunks and what we can do now with spot instances, we can do distribute all those chunks and do the small encoding operations and can really efficiently use spot instances for video encoding and we reduce the infrastructure cost for video compression in AWS, for the same thing and in Google, it’s called pre-emptive instances there, significantly for the customer. In the end, the customer gets a higher quality at lower infrastructure costs.”

Utilising Bitmovin’s encoding tools via Bitmovin’s containerised software running inside its own infrastructure, iflix can run a heavily optimized H.264 based encoding workflow, delivering higher video quality and reach for its 7.5 million active subscribers, including those in low bandwidth areas.

The partnership with iflix follows Bitmovin’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of its an office in Hong Kong and the hiring of David Godfrey as Vice President and General Manager of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. “Delivering a premium video experience is a massive differentiator for iflix. There’s no reason why bandwidth restrictions should hold back innovation in consumer experience,” said David Godfrey. “iflix already has a wildly popular service and can now offer even better video experiences to existing and potential subscribers on every device and every browser.” Visit https://bitmovin.com

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Imagine Comms Restructures Around Ad-Tech and Playout IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS IS SUBDIVIDING AGAIN with the business organising around two verticals – AdTech and Playout and Networking. CEO Tom Cotney will oversee both business and the ownership structure of the company will remain unchanged. The move formalises the evolution of the company’s operations. Previous CTO Steve Reynolds will head up playout and networking solutions, while industry veteran Sarah Foss will take on the role of SVP and GM ad tech. The new ad tech business will include traditional advertising products such as the Landmark platform, as well as Imagine’s OTT offering including non-linear ad insertion.

The multi-source capabilities of xG Scorecard make it possible to blend data from traditional sales and traffic systems, operational databases, ratings, clickstream and even social networks to build a holistic view of audiences with real-time insights. By bringing together data that is normally stored in silos, xG Scorecard offers a powerful and highly visual way of evaluating and finetuning the performance of your business. The new analytics engine enables media professionals to quickly pull together comprehensive reports that can be customised for executives or other decision makers in a matter of minutes, rather than hours. Reports can also be easily exported to pdf. According to Imagine Communications CEO, Tom Cotney, the company restructure will evolve throughout 2018, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. “At a Corporate level,” he says, “we're going to share finance and marketing, but in Asia-Pacific, one of things that we’re finding is that we’ve got more demand than we have resources in the region to serve adequately, so we’re having to address that from a sales perspective. You can't share that resource

Imagine Communications CEO Tom Cotney.

a bit on the implementation side, it’s just not possible. In fact, that’s one of the reasons we’re doing the split is that we can come by and focus on the part of the business that’s driving the top and then the play out and networking side of the business is really trying to economise. “We’re making some investments in the APAC region because we’ve got some great clients there and there’s a little more forward thinking of pooling resources in the market among various providers where I think they realise that their secret sauce is not how well they run a broadcast network, it’s what the content is, the value of the inventory for the advertisers and that’s a trend that looks like what you saw in the IT world several years ago. So, we’re very interested in that region. I want to ‘un-Americanise’ it a little bit so we think there’s some good opportunity there.” Emphasising continuity, Cotney adds that Joe Khodeir will remain at the helm as VP Sales Asia Pacific. “Yes, absolutely. Until we mature this model a little bit, he’s a great example of a resource we’re going to have to share. But, Joe’s one of our most experienced players, so we’re fortunate to have him in a region that’s doing so well.” Visit www.imaginecommunications.com

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This year’s NAB show saw Imagine Communications introduce xG Scorecard, an analytics and business intelligence tool designed specifically for the media industry. xG Scorecard provides media professionals with a comprehensive, holistic and highly visualised view of performance and audience data, empowering them to make smarter advertising sales and programming decisions.

ASIA ASIA +ANZ +ANZ

C+T AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FEATURES + DEADLINES 2018 ISSUE

PUBLICATION DATE

EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES

July-Aug

Editorial Submissions: 02-07-18 Ad Bookings: 09-07-18 Ad Artwork: 16-07-18

3rd Week July

Sept-Oct

Editorial Submissions: 13-08-18 Ad Bookings: 20-08-18 Ad Artwork: 27-08-18

Nov-Dec

Editorial Submissions: 17-10-18 Ad Bookings: 23-10-18 Ad Artwork: 01-11-18

PRODUCT ROUND-UP

SHOW COVERAGE

+4 K Acquisition & Delivery Solutions + I P-based Production +C ontent Security

+ : ABE2018 – August 7-9, Sydney

1st Week September

+E NG/Newsroom Systems +C ompression, Encoding, Transcoding Solutions +R adio Technology

+P review: IBC Amsterdam (Sept 13-19) +P review: National Radio Conference (13-14 October, Melbourne

2nd Week November

+C hannel-in-a-Box Solutions +C able & Satellite Delivery + Production, Post & Locations round-up

+P review: Screen Forever Conference

C+T ASIA FEATURES + DEADLINES 2018 PUBLICATION DATE

ISSUE

EDITORIAL + AD DEADLINES

Aug-Sept

Editorial Submissions: 24-07-18 Ad Bookings: 31-07-18 Ad Artwork: 14-08-18

Oct-Nov

Editorial Submissions: 01-10-18 Ad Bookings: 08-10-18 Ad Artwork: 15-10-18

PRODUCT ROUND-UP

SHOW COVERAGE

3rd Week August

+ Loudness Solutions + Cloud Solutions + Content Security + Compression, Encoding, Transcoding Solutions

+ Preview: BIRTV (Beijing, China) + Preview: IBC Amsterdam (Sept 13-19)

3rd Week October

+C able & Satellite Delivery +D igital Asset Management Solutions +O TT/IPTV/HbbTV Solutions

+ Preview: CASBAA (Cable& Satellite Broadcasting Assoc of Asia) + Preview: Broadcast Indonesia

PHIL SANDBERG

ADAM BUICK

LUCY SALMON

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER

CO-FOUNDER

He has also produced the ABE2016, Sportscasting (2014-2016), and 3D-Day (2011) industry conferences.

Adam’s previous role as Manager of the SMPTE Australia Exhibition, along with strong family ties in Australia and SE Asia, has given him a unique perspective on the broadcast and content creation sector throughout the region.

Co-founder and Production co-ordinator Lucy Salmon has worked with Broadcastpapers.com since its inception. She also holds a PhD in the field of sports medicine.

Contact Phil via +61(0)414 671 811 or papers@broadcastpapers.com

You can contact Adam on +61(0)413 007 144 or adam@broadcastpapers.com

You can reach her via +61(0)412 479 662 or production@broadcastpapers.com

Phil Sandberg has spent 28 years reporting on technology issues across the Asia-Pacific. His credits include launching Content+Technology, Broadcastpapers.com, the SMPTE Australia Exhibition, Directory, and Cinema Technology Asia-Pacific.

ADVERTISER INDEX Adder ……………………………………..………..……….…… 15

Combitel……………………………………………………………25

Magna Systems & Engineering……………………… IFC

AWS Elemental………………………………………..………..…21

Comrex……………………………………………………………… 41

Mediaproxy …………………………………………………… 29

Bitmovin ……………………………………..………..……….……1

EMC …………………………………………………………………… 5

Riedel ……………………………………………………………… 37

BroadcastAsia2018…………………..………..……….……IBC

GatesAir………………………………………………………9

SilverTrak Digital…………………………………………………33

BroadcastIndonesia2018…………..………..……….……47

Ideal Systems………………………………..………..……….……3

Super Loop………………………………………………………OBC

Broadcast Solutions……………………..………..……….……7

IHSE…………..………..……….………………..………..……….……8

VizRT …………………………………………………………… OFC

AUGUST 7-9, Darling Island, Pyrmont.

www.Broadcast-Asia.com

26 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 28 June 2018 Level 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6, Suntec Singapore

CAPTURE THE FUTURE

BROADCAST ASIA

Imagine a future where game-changing possibilities for broadcasting are limitless. A world where innovative technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality are impacting the way you view content. Embark on a journey of discovery at BroadcastAsia2018! Discover the latest innovations that are reshaping how content is created, managed, delivered and consumed, engage in networking opportunities and exchange valuable insights from industry experts. Featured Techzones:

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Our newest network for broadcast For when a high capacity, low latency, secure network is your priority. superloop.com

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