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TVBEurope 27 Beyond HD:Future Directions An executive view


Professional about the market trends they have chosen to follow, and why. Talk of a 4K tsunami — 4096x2160 from baseband to file-based working, and the evolution of workflows across the broadcasting chain


Richard Scott: “The media markets delayed investments in capital


rebuilds, but now they are saying they cannot wait any longer”


manufacturers are guilty. “This year we are going to strive to introduce products when they are ready to go, and not load up a bunch of vapourware around trade shows. This gives you a great show, but a difficult life afterwards,” says Rashby. Was AJA guilty of this last


year? “Yeah. We had the Ki Pro Quad announcement with Canon, and because they were introducing the C500 and were our major development partner we were stretched. Engineering always is a little harder than you think,” he adds. There will be no more loading


up trade shows, but beyond 4K what trend does Rashby study? “H.265 is definitely something to keep an eyeball on. It is real and coming, but what sorts of tools are people going to need around that? Away from 4K to the home, there are emerging markets that are just transitioning to HD, and they are very important to us,” says Rashby. Hearing of Sony’s plans to bring 4K into the HD realm to encourage broadcasters, Rashby observes: “That is a lot of our messaging around Ki Pro Quad. Even if you do not need 4K now, you might as well ask for it. We give you the ability to


deliver in different codecs and different resolutions, things that already fit existing workflows. “The line we have to walk


is matching the feature sets people want with what they are willing to pay. That is a delicate balancing act,” he adds. “We used to try and think three-to-five years ahead in terms of technology trends, but it is moving so fast now we have to stay nimble and open minded so we can change our plans as needed. “The transition to file-based and the new workflows felt very fast, and I think there are still plenty of tools to come that we can provide to help people out, and we are cooking on some stuff that will be very nice,” he continues. “There are a lot of things that need to be filled in with certain workflows, and I think 4K is going to come on a lot faster than people realise. It is the same resolution as in the cinema theatre, and it is a tsunami coming at us.”


Richard Scott, senior vice president, global sales and services, Harris Broadcast Communications For Richard Scott and Harris the key yellow brick road to follow is managing the


transition from baseband to file-based working and all the things that go with it, particularly the infrastructure. “There are obvious trends that


we are not involved with, but we are intimately involved in several at different levels of maturity,” he says. “I would put 4K fairly low down the list in terms of things you are going to see from us in the immediate term. We are taking input from customers about the potential timing of the introduction of 4K, but we think it needs a softly, softly approach because a lot of the 4K activity is driven by the high-end production space. “We will wait and see how


that comes downstream into broadcast production, storage, playout and transmission, and distribution environments — where we play strongly.” So file-based workflows is


the key zone. “That is an area that we have been strong in a number of segments over recent years. Content management, automation and even the integration of traffic systems are the areas we have been working hard at integrating, and creating a portfolio of software solutions,” says Scott. “Wherever possible we offer a one-stop shop because for most


customers the idea of integrating different software solutions from different vendors is pretty scary territory.” Harris has made huge


progress with its content management system (Invenio). “That has been developed to have a single and common UI across content management and automation. In an environment of ingest, cataloguing, editing and automation, small companies need to be able to move staff between functions, so the UIs must be very familiar,” says Scott. At NAB expect Harris to


add search tools in its content management systems. And there is something else to note. “Content management, automation and traffic systems are totally file format agnostic, so they would be applicable to any 4K environment,” says Scott. Pertaining to his nominated


trend, the Selenio convergence platform caught market attention with its ability to produce a transition between the file-based and baseband domains. The other Harris ace for NAB is the IP3 router, which adds data and IP domain data to the traditional functions of video and audio routing. After


Karl Schubert: “Standards


created by collaboration are vital and important”


baseband and IP, what is the hottest trend Harris is pursuing? “Our other key trend is Channel in a Box. We are world leaders in automation, strong players in server technology, and graphics is an environment where we we are strong players. We have been able to combine all of those from our own stable and have not had to look for any expertise from outside,” says Scott. “We offer a fast channel launch and low cost channel integrated solution that can plug into an existing environment. “Rather than talk about the


diminution of staff or staff hours, it allows people to launch a channel very quickly, with minimal capital outlay, and maybe even experiment,” he adds.


Harris is not in the live


production switcher business or in cameras, but live programming is very much a part of its infrastructure play (no trouble coping with non- predictive live events). It is in transmitter technology and the changes here are huge — platform-based technology with tuneable digital exciters. Scott turned to the economic


divisions of the market. “The leading edge developed markets of Europe, the US and Japan


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