36 l May 2013
www.psneurope.com
broadcastfeature
Analogue still crashing the
The ever more critical world of intercom and communications is being dominated by digital issues: IP, AVB, OCA and networking in general. But, wonders Kevin Hilton, is this the only show in town?
LOOK AT just about any technology area today and the feeling is new digital technologies are sweeping away everything that went before. This seems to be the case with intercom, where digital IP and Ethernet-based distribution are seen as the way ahead for communications in broadcasting, live sound, theatre and general venue installation. But, as has happened so often in technological history, the old techniques are not supplanted completely but carry on almost in the background, continuing to be used because they still have something to offer that their supposed successors do not.
Old established intercom technologies – such as two- and four-wire party line systems – are still with us but the overwhelming focus now is on new means of carrying multiple signals to cover large areas, linking many staff over a sophisticated network. Both NAB and Prolight + Sound highlighted this shift, showing that broadcast and the general live/installed audio markets are heading in similar directions. At NAB RTS announced its first products for the OMNEO media networking system. Based on standard IP Ethernet and compatible with the emerging open AVB (audio-video bridging) standard, OMNEO can be built into networks supporting from two to 10,000
linked devices, carrying synchronised multichannel sound operated using shared controllers. Media transport is provided by the Audinate Dante IP system, with OCA (Open Control Architecture) for control and monitoring. RTS showed OMNEO interface cards for the ADAM matrix, allowing the intercom system to be used over “any standard IP-based network”. The company says OMNEO goes beyond AVB as it stands by combining OCA with both AVB and IP transports. Nico Lewis, senior sales manager for RTS Intercoms, comments that while other architectures can be used for jobs that call for support of “the entire range of professional applications, from the smallest to the largest”, offering full, reliable signal transport and remote control, only OMNEO has an integrated approach. “We believe OMNEO is unique in offering a strategic, future-proof media networking solution that retains the ease of use that people have come to expect from Ethernet networks,”
digital intercom party
and pro-audio world,” comments Christian Diehl, product manager for intercom at Riedel. “The first network switch hardware will be printing AVnu certification logos on their products in the next months and the AVnu Alliance [which promotes and certificates AVB] expects to see enough pro-audio products between the members to form an entire signal chain certified by the end of 2013.” By using MediorNet and
Each year United’s OB trucks ensure the broadcast of nearly 240 games in Holland’s highest football league using RTS intercoms
he says. “Other existing systems are based on Ethernet layer 2 and are confined to single sub-nets. OMNEO is fully layer 3 TCP/IP-compliant and can span multiple sub-nets across wide areas. This reduces costs of materials and installation.” But, Lewis says, the level of demand and choice of
technology continues to depend on the user’s needs: “In live broadcast, the traditional RTS intercom is very popular because it is rock solid for critical communication. In these kinds of environment it is unacceptable that systems have audio delay and go down.”
Clear-Com’s Tempest 2400 Family
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS Riedel is a long-term proponent of communications networking, mainly through its MediorNet system. At NAB it introduced the CPX-AVB expansion card for the Artist 1100 range of control panels to give full connectivity with AVB systems. Riedel also launched AVB Manager, claimed to be the world’s first AVB controller software, offering network management and system-wide control of all AVB devices. “We believe AVB will establish as a standard in the broadcast
different interfaces Riedel has made it possible to carry intercom with the main audio and, in some broadcast situations, commentary feeds. This is still not universally accepted, due to the critical nature of each component, but Lewis says integration is “an important trend” in intercom: “The amount of possible integration is pivotal to the ergonomics of an intercom system. Standard AVB mechanisms like bandwidth reservation provide the necessary mechanisms to be able to reliably share the same infrastructure with other devices of a broadcast production and even the standard office IT networks, if so desired.” Eric de Bruyn, managing
director at ASL Intercom, sees further integration as a “good idea” but warns there should be a “separate intercom network” for security reasons. In terms of networking and transport formats, de Bruyn says Dante, AVB and Ravenna are the main contenders but that which will become the
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