#IBC2023


73 OPINION


MAKING THE TRANSITION


Fabio Varolo, Sales Manager, FOR-A Italy


As an industry, we have all been talking about software-oriented architectures and IP connectivity for many years now. We are all well aware of the positive benefi ts it brings, and the new skills we need to develop to implement it.


What we talk about less is how we get


there from here. We have been working with SDI for many decades. As a standard it is still evolving: we now routinely deliver Ultra HD over 12G-SDI, for example. More to the point, unless you are in the exciting position of building a genuine greenfi eld site, you will have a lot of legacy SDI equipment. Good commercial management, and good environmental practice, means you cannot just throw all that out and start again from scratch. There has to be a transition.


That point was addressed to users of media technology, but it applies to those who design and build it, too. Vendors have invested huge amounts of skill in developing proven product


ranges, and it is not reasonable to throw out all that knowledge, either. At FOR-A, we are known for our high-quality, high-performance hardware products. We have to make the transition to software-centric designs, virtualisation and the cloud, and IP connectivity. But, just like broadcasters and media enterprises, we have to move steadily and step-wise too.


“It makes sense to invest in what you need today, protecting the investments of the past and staying agile for the challenges in the future”


In many cases these transitions should match each other. The heart of any studio is the production switcher; the core of any media facility is the router. To initiate the transition, it makes sense to introduce modules which plug into existing devices, to incorporate the new functionality.


So it becomes easy to add SMPTE ST2110 I/O to an existing device, simply by plugging in a board. But software-centric design means you can do much more than like-for-like replacement. NDI I/O means you can add functionality such as camera control directly into the switcher. The same applies to audio signals. During


the production, you simply want to select and balance channels: it should not matter whether they are discrete audio, embedded in SDI, ST2110, MADI or Dante. Media over IP is not a fi xed concept. It continues to evolve. There are important roles for uncompressed streams like ST2110; mild compression with added intelligent features like NDI; and transport protocols like SRT and RIST. There may be more proposals to come.


It makes sense to invest in what you need


today, protecting the investments of the past and staying agile for the challenges in the future.


FLEXIBLE BOX OVER BOX OB TRUCK HITS THE ROAD


Aret Video and Audio Engineering BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON


EMG’s new trucks, Nova 106 and 107, have been designed by Aret as extra- large OB trailers for EMG’s IP broadcast modular system. Based on the innovative ‘Box over Box’ concept of allowing the expansion to extend 2.05m, the design boasts fl exible working areas with a fully separated and isolated audio room.


Both units allow


the integration and management of the IP modular system unit boxes from the outside area to the internal designated spaces. The design helps


handling, positioning and exchange of technical and production facilities, providing users with a wide range of options to customise their setup. The internal operational


Nova 107 was designed by Aret as an extra-large OB trailer


areas of Nova 106 and 107 are divided into four blocks, including the isolated sound mixing room. 0.A07


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