18 TVBEurope Workflow
in a corresponding way. The ability to assign production staff in different locations – or a central studio – is one cost-saving benefit of live IP production. Another is the capacity to produce more content, which the BBC has long desired to do but is constrained by the cost of additional satellite uplink space. These are well-worked arguments and it remains to be seen if the economics of scale of migration to IP are borne out. More intriguing are the long-term ideas the BBC has for what it terms this ‘future IP-based broadcast system’. Its R&D teams are exploring what it means if a programme could be broken down into its constituent parts. When all of the programme information is sourced as data, it can be processed independently, viewed as separate or linked sets of assets and assembled to create new forms of media.
In practice, the BBC theorises, this might mean tuning content in the background according to the viewing context (display, social feeds, environment) or it could allow greater personalisation or even new forms of storytelling.
Standards challenges
SMPTE is working on standards to replace or extend SDI up to UHD, however there are a number of issues. Firstly, the time it is taking to develop those standards, when the industry requirement is for a workable solution sooner rather than later. Secondly, a single copper cable has been used in terms of HD-SDI, but when it comes to the higher bandwidth associated with UHD, there is a big question mark over whether or not the copper cable lengths will be satisfactory for infrastructure- type operations. As an alternative, the use of fibre is being explored but it remains to
For the IP revolution to take place though, a number of things have to align. The products for replacing SDI, only just coming to market at IBC2014, will have to mature and come down in price. They will have to be as simple as plugging a BNC into the back of a camera. Systems have
be seen how successful fibre will be as a replacement for cable. “One alternative is a more network based approach,” says John Ive. “We are already seeing 10Gb and 40Gb networks and even faster ones are being progressed. It’s a race to see which potential solution will come up first. Clearly, if we go down the network route it means a much more radical change in infrastructure and design, so this is an option for the longer term. In the meantime, a derivative of SDI seems to be the only viable alternative for an interim solution.”
to be self-configuring and easy to use. Rival standards have to be unified or disappear. That is where the developments will be taking place in the near future: understanding exactly what broadcasters need from the technology and making sure it is delivered simply.
www.tvbeurope.com September 2014
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