IBE Feature | News Analysis
PESA demonstrated its latest Cheetah 4K 16x16 fibre optic routing switcher at the show, providing data transport up to 600m over multi-mode cable and Utah Scientific Announced a 4K Routing Switcher, UTAH- 100/UDS 4k.
On the graphics front, Vizrt demonstrated how its Viz Engine realtime compositor of graphics and video handles 4K resolution rendering and IP media streaming. In Post Production, Quantel’s Pablo Rio high- end colour and finishing system showed support for the AJA Corvid Ultra video card, facilitating workflows at 4K 60fps and beyond. This is the first time that Quantel has offered interoperability with any third party video card and the folks at AJA were also excited by this news. AJA Video Systems made a number of 4k announcements themselves, including the new Ki Pro Quad solid-state portable video recorder and the Hi5-4K miniconverter.
4k was even present in forensic watermarketing, with Civolution confirming its support for 4k Ultra HD content distribution through its NexGuard product, based on the company’s experience in 4k video watermarking in digital cinema. 2013 will be the year 4k comes into its own, once SMPTE standards are in place, bringing rumours that it may also help resurrect 3D ditch the glasses and resurrect. All will be revealed in the coming months.
NAB’s cloud ascent
The worldwide cloud business is headed towards the $100 billion mark by 2015, according to Bob Evans of Oracle, quoting the McKinsey Quarterly report that illustrates how cloud has become a fully- fledged enterprise strategy. In the IT world where customers are still getting to grips with how and in what context exactly cloud services should be deployed, Ovum sees a growing connection between cloud, mobility and data, with cost being the top driver for investment in the cloud.
So as part of the inevitable IT/broadcast crossover, it was just a matter of time before the influence was felt in the broadcast industry, with a flurry of public, private and hybrid-based solutions a key trend at this year’s NAB.
Engaging audiences regardless of the network or device they are using was a big topic for broadcasters at NAB, but the diversity of the delivery ecosystem means that the challenges of managing video and delivering it are increasing by
the day. Cloud is increasingly seen as a very good way to simplify workflows and reduce costs within broadcast and a number of announcements were made during the show illustrating how cloud is driving R&D in the industry.
One of the big cloud announcements was Haivision’s Video Cloud, an online end-to- end media platform which aims to create simpler live and on-demand video workflows in various environments, including the corporate sphere. The live encoder, site builder web templates, the video CMS and the CDN partner integration are all hosted on Haivision’s cloud; the transcoding software can be deployed on customers location if they choose.
Digital Nirvana also launched a new cloud-based solution for the recording and monitoring of live streams. Called AnyStream IQ, it provides broadcasters, content creators, aggregators and distributors with recording, logging, monitoring and ‘proof of airing’ capabilities for live and recorded streamed broadcasts. Digital Nirvana pitch the benefits of cloud as “turning monitoring into an operating expense as opposed to a capital expense”, as the cost of monitoring is spread over a year through subscription-based pricing.
Deluxe launched a cloud-based playout platform called MediaCloud to provide cloud-based playout, media asset management and delivery. Telestream also announced it was extending its Vantage file-based video transcoding and workflow automation software to the cloud with Vantage cloud, which allows users to react quickly to new formats, regulatory requirements and fluctuating workflow needs. Telestream partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for this initial deployment.
Early cloud days for broadcast
It looks like it’s still very early cloud days for the broadcast industry however, as security and reliability are paramount especially when it comes to live broadcasting. “People aren’t just going to throw everything into the cloud, most customers are dealing with live operations so it’s a bit premature compared to say, a bunch of playout stuff on-demand,” said Stan Moote, VP of business development at Harris Broadcast, discussing the prominence of the cloud trend at NAB.
Shane Warden, General Manager, IMG Mediahouse
“Cloud is a big question, everybody is worried about losing content control. It’s important to understand every process within the cloud environment.”
The main uses of cloud in broadcast currently seem to be storage, archive, video on demand, with transcoding and file-sharing coming in next, according to preliminary research data presented by Joe Zaller of Devoncroft just before the show.
At a recent panel hosted by Avid at the 2013 BVE show in London, the cloud inspired concerns around security and the cost and reliability of bandwidth. The main advantage of cloud for broadcast was primarily the ability to break geographical and environmental constraints, with distinct advantages still emerging in the post production process where the cloud can cut project times by days or weeks.
“It’s a distant resource of computer and storage power presented in a white fluffy cloak,” said Shane Warden, general manager of IMG Mediahouse, during the panel. “But to my mind it’s been around for many years.”
Indeed ten years ago, companies like IBM had already pictured a world where technical resources would be available “on demand”, through a cable or pipe like electricity or water. This may soon become a reality for parts of the broadcast workflow.
ibeconnects.com | May/June 2013
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