TECHNOLOGY SURVEY BROADCASTERS HIGH PRIORITY
Moving from SD to HD remains the number one technology challenge for broadcasters, in-house facilities and service providers, with multiplatform delivery for VoD high up the agenda. Ann-Marie Corvin reports
Q SO FAR, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR COMPANY’S APPROACH TO STEREOSCOPIC 3D CONTENT AND/ OR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT?
Respondents for whom HD still dominates the agenda
45% 39% 34%
■ We are leading the way in 3D ■ We are providing associated services for 3D ■ We are investing in 3D infrastructure to support future services
■ We are planning to make a move into 3D shortly ■ We are waiting to see what happens with 3D ■ We are not going to get involved in 3D ■ Other
strange that it’s a topic that still dominates the agenda for 45% of our broadcaster and service provider respondents. But as most broadcasters are still transmitting in SD, facilities in this area are still rebuilding their infrastructure to cope with full HD networks, as well as connected TVs and 3D. And it’s not only the next generation of TV sets and transmission standards for which this sector has to reconfi gure its networks – there’s a plethora of newer platforms to con- sider too, including tablets, mobile phones and other connected devices. Multiplatform delivery for VoD remains a key
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area for broadcasters in our survey, with 20% citing it as a main technology conversation, up slightly from 18% in last year’s survey. Related issues such as online video (20%) and multiplatform content (18%) also fi gure highly. According to Discovery Networks Inter- national chief operating offi cer John Honey- cutt, what all these requirements create inside
12 | Broadcast TECH | July/August 2012
iven that HD is practically the de facto industry standard, it might seem
‘For heavy production, we still hold assets within our own infrastructure
rather than the cloud’ John Honeycutt, Discovery
a broadcaster’s infrastructure is “the need for an amazing amount of fl exibility, to take and process these assets effi ciently, as well as the supporting data that goes with it, and prepar- ing that for distribution. That all sounds simple, but it’s a very diffi cult thing to do.”
Increasing complexity Encompass Digital Media has extended its London branch over the past year to process HD feeds and manage the increased com- plexity and requirements involved in playout on HD platforms. Again, technology that offers fl exibility is key, according to the com- pany’s UK managing director Ian Whitfi eld.
He says Encompass has taken a modular approach this time around and standardised its build according to the needs of its clients. This approach also applies to software,
where Encompass is working with a number of fi le delivery services to ensure that content is received for playout securely and in ade- quate time. “As we are working in a software- based, multiplatform world, we have come to an arrangement with vendors that we will take a fully confi gured package and pay for what we use,” he says. Choosing transcoder engines with enough horsepower to cope with the serious volume of fi le creation necessary for multiplatform delivery and the software that enables users to automate as much of the process as pos- sible are also key in the world of playout. Encompass, for example, has spent the best
part of a year successfully developing in- house software that will enable the company to identify and differentiate clients’ foreign- languages tracks. “We used to go outside to agencies, but automating the process means
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