FEATURE: AV IN BROADCAST
when before it would have been several," he says. Feltech also specifies BMD
products, which feature in the AV theatre the company installed for industrial vehicle manufacturer JCB (see case study, below). Bounds says Feltech is now seeing “slightly more” AV work than broadcast, which, 12 to 15 years ago, would have been the dominant sector for the company. He adds that users on both sides of the market divide are able to “do a lot” for “significantly” less money due to systems produced by the likes of NewTek and BMD.
DIFFERENCES REMAIN There are still major differences in the operational needs of AV and broadcast in both video and audio. Keith Watson, marketing director for mixers at Harman UK covering the Studer and Soundcraft brands, says the TV requirement for handling more than 1,500 channels of audio over optical fibre MADI with embedding and de- embedding is not found in the presentation and installation markets. So, he says, the newly launched Infinity DSP engine and Vista X console,
Roland’s VR-3EX is the latest ‘all in one’ product of the VR Series
‘We’ve started development
with AV in mind’ Stuart Ashton, Blackmagic Design
would not necessarily be a choice for AV but there is still a need for fully featured desks.
“In the US houses of worship
market a church service might typically feature an orchestra, choir and a rock band, as well as the pastor on a radio mic,” explains Watson. “They need a console to handle all that and for the big congregations of 10,000-plus the Vista 8 and 9 are being used. Smaller churches of 2,000-4,000 people go for the Soundcraft Vi series desk, while those with congregations of 200-
400 need something both small and simple because the technical side is more likely to be run by volunteers." IT-based infrastructures, particularly those using IP as a carrier, have not only caused products to move between AV and broadcasting but, in some cases, led manufacturers known for one discipline to expand into another. Digital console specialist Lawo has
been heavily involved with audio over IP (AoIP) through the Ravenna protocol, developed by its associate company ALC NetworX. More recently it has also produced video matrix and processing/ encoding units based on the IP Layer 3 standard. Lawo's director of
SOUND AND VISION FOR THE JCB THEATRE, STAFFORDSHIRE
Many companies have a visitor centre to provide the public and trade with background on their history and products. Very few have a fully equipped 250-seat theatre that is used for dealer conferences, product launches, press events and presentations to visitors taking the factory tour. One that does is JC Bamford
Excavators, better known as JCB. The Staffordshire, UK- based company’s bright yellow diggers, forklift trucks and utility vehicles are familiar sights on roads and farms around the world but few know
32 March 2014
the family story behind the firm. Founded in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford, JCB is now run by his son Anthony, Lord Bamford.
This story is told in the
theatre, which was recently upgraded with the installation of a new audiovisual system. JCB’s AV team worked with systems integrator Feltech; its sales director, Nevil Bounds, says a priority was to ensure that whatever was installed could work with JCB’s existing post-production workflow. An HD-SDI infrastructure was decided on, based around a
Blackmagic Design Broadcast Videohub. Bounds says this enabled the upgrade to take place “without having a serious impact on the budget”. He adds: “The configuration and set-up was extremely straightforward, allowing our engineering team a great deal of flexibility when performing the off-site rack builds and on-site commissioning.” Productions shot in the
theatre can be sent to post production for editing and repackaging and then made available, all over a 10Gb fibre link.
marketing, Andreas Hilmer, observes that the “spill-over” of broadcast into AV is widely seen now, with 4K and DSLR cameras. “In the past the technology used in the installation market was on a different level in terms of resolution and not to broadcast standards,” he says. “But now the quality is more equal. IP for audio and video is not just used in broadcast but for all markets, including theatre and installation.” Hilmer comments that IP and other IT-based technologies that were perhaps seen first in broadcasting are proving invaluable in the AV market. “Take cruise ships,” he says. “At one time the cabling infrastructure would be installed and could never be touched again without great effort. But with IP and other technologies it is comparatively easy to upgrade a ship’s theatre.” A sign of just how far the
convergence has come was seen at last month’s ISE, where ALC NetworX made its first ever appearance. The company behind a major rival to Ravenna, Audinate, came from the live sector as opposed to broadcasting. Chief executive Lee Ellison says Audinate's Dante IP- based media transport system has its roots in the performance sector, which has exacting standards for technology. “We wanted something
that would solve challenging problems and decided that if it could meet the strict requirements of live AV and concert systems then it could be used in other areas as well,” he explains. “So the system architecture was designed to be so scalable that it could be used in any market.” While Dante has been established in live sound and installations, it is now moving into broadcast with
companies such as Solid State Logic and Stagetec licensing the technology, alongside the likes of Harman, Yamaha, Shure, BSS, Cadac and Nexo. A significant new licensee is Calrec Audio, which supplies digital consoles for both TV studio and outside broadcast truck work. Ellison says Audinate has seen the convergence of AV into broadcasting over the last six to 12 months, particularly with the growth of file-based operations in TV centres and post-production facilities: “There is the need for IT infrastructures now because it has flexible benefits for end users implementing technologies like 4K, with cost savings to be had by carrying everything – audio, video, telephony – on IT/IP connections.” The twain may never fully meet but, at least on a technological level, broadcasters and AV professionals are a lot closer than they’ve been before. And they’ll probably continue getting closer.
www.audinate.com www.blackmagicdesign.com www.feltech.co.uk www.lawo.com www.rolandsystemsgroup.co.uk www.soundcraft.com www.studer.ch
www.installation-international.com
STUDY CASE
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