TRENDS /// The March of Channel-in-a-Box /// By David Austerberry


he origins of broadcast automation can be traced back to the controllers used for the cart


machines that played ads to air. These commanded the robot to load tape cassettes into VTRs for frame accurate playout. Tape has long since been replaced by video servers, and the requirements for an automation system have changed. An automation controller is


essentially a computer CPU, memory and a hard drive. The video server is a CPU, hard drives and video I/O cards, housed in a 19-inch rack with a branded front panel. Combine the two and you have a "channel in a box" (CiaB). The term is used somewhat


loosely by vendors. Most CiaB products are really integrated


although such a system needs a video I/O card if it is using SDI interconnections and is meant to lock to house reference and time code. Scott Rose, Miranda’s


director of product management, believes that CiaB "has come of age and gained mainstream acceptance." Customer business models have changed, bringing down complexity, he said. Many vendors use GPU


acceleration, but as James Gilbert of Pixel Power points out, GPUs are designed for progressive and not interlaced graphics. In response, Pixel Power has developed their own graphics engine based on a DSP designed for television signals; rather than the generic video where the GPU excels.


PixelPower’s ChannelMaster at SBS


playout is based on discrete components will be for complex live channels." Tom Gittins of Pebble Beach


pointed out that not all CiaB systems are the same. "Few broadcasters are now looking for


data centre. For his part, Dan Turow of


Evertz sees "Ten GbE becoming ubiquitous, with a quick move to 100 GbE, leap-frogging 40 GbE,” he said. “This will free broadcasters from the hurdles and challenges of HD-SDI systems." Freed from the constraints


of SDI, service providers can move playout to the cloud. Cinegy has already supplied IP- only systems. “Cinegy can run 16 SD channels on a single server,” said Cinergy MD and co- founder Jan Weigner. It can also run in the cloud, as demonstrated by the LeapCloud playout service from Deluxe, which is powered by Cinegy. “For an operator running a large number of channels, virtualization environments are the way forward,” Weigner said. Scott Rose of Miranda also


Harmonic’s Spectrum ChannelPort branded channel playout module speeds the cost-effective deployment of new SD and HD television channels by integrating branding and master control switching with clip playback on Harmonic’s media server platform.


playout devices, needing several other "boxes" to run the playout operations, including ingest servers, shared storage, (MAM) and so on. CiaB systems replace some or all of the video servers, master control switchers, downstream keyers, graphics clip playout devices and more that make up a broadcast system. There are several different


design approaches to CiaB, but all of the systems run on what is essentially a commodity IT server or servers. Some vendors opt for a third-party video card in the server for decoding, video I/O, mixing and scaling. Others use commodity GPUs in the server. The third approach is entirely software-based;


PlayBox Technology system in operation at STN Slovenia


DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS The performance requirements for a CiaB vary greatly. At a minimum, a channel may comprise back-to-back clips with a logo keyed over the output. At the more complex end, a prime network may need to mix two or three prerecorded clips, and switch between live inputs from the newsroom and incoming feeds. It will need to key 3D animated graphics rendered in real time from data feeds, and it will need to support subtitling and closed captions. The former can very easily


be handled by CiaB. The latter can be challenging. Mark Errington, CEO of OASYS, observed that "the only place where


a single channel,” he said. “Multichannel systems will need shared storage, media asset management and a common ingest system." Gittins advised that CiaB


systems have limitations, and broadcasters should proceed with caution. "They suit clip- based channels, but graphics can be limited,” he said. “As channels look to differentiate from the competition, they can enhance their branding with sophisticated graphics." Worth noting: Many


broadcasters have existing graphics and subtitling workflows that they want to leave in place, and not replace with the integrated approach that can be required by a CiaB.


THE END OF SDI?


One of the factors that keeps CiaB confined to video equipment, and prevents migration to a wholly IT environment, is conventional SDI interconnections. But now many video systems are moving towards IP and Ethernet, so the way is open for the move of master control to the


////////////////14 TV Technology Europe I February-March 2014


sees change coming: "More conventional video hardware is being removed from the workflow, and software running on commodity platforms, or even on managed services running in the cloud, has become the way forward."


MANY VENDORS … There seems to be no end to the number of channels being launched, and this is reflected in the number of vendors chasing the business. Observers reported more than 100 vendors with CiaB solutions at IBC 2013. Will all these CiaB vendors


survive? Views vary on this, and other CiaB topics. Evertz’s Dan Turow sees


"further consolidation in the market to be inevitable, with too many vendors in the current market. The future lies more and more with metadata exchange between the platform to give (an) end-to-end solution." Evertz has moved away from


the traditional master control user interface to the VUE touchscreen. The operator can control all manner of equipment from context sensitive screens, including "widgets" for switcher control. This integrated playout


delivers lower CAPEX and OPEX. "Asset management is key,” observed Turow. "Linear playout is easy, but with integrated MAM


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