Mobile TV is alive! - TVBEurope

Inside: NAB Preview, Tapeless TV Production, Technology Training 

TVBEUROPE 

Europe’s television technology business magazine www.tvbeurope.com MARCH 2011 £5.00/€8.00/$10.00 

UTV Live: Paul Clark, presenter of flagship show UTV Live Tonight 

UTV to archive 

with intelligence 

The Workflow 

By Philip Stevens 

UTV — formerly Ulster Television 

— has provided UK 

channel three programmes to 

Northern Ireland since 1959. 

From its beginnings as one of the 

smallest stations on the ITV network, 

the organisation behind 

the channel has developed into a 

major player in the media market. 

Alongside the television 

operation, the group is involved 

with a number of radio stations 

in the UK and Ireland and new 

media businesses. 

In October 2010 UTV HD, a 

simulcast of the SD transmissions 

was launched on Virgin 

Media — a service that will be 

extended to Sky and Freeview 

over the coming months. Despite 

its relatively small size, UTV has 

developed a number of systems 

to help production throughput. 

One of its most recent moves has 

involved the acquisition of an 

intelligent archiving solution. 

The purchase was organised by 

Dublin-based technology provider 

Tyrell CCT, and consists of 

Marquis’ Parking archive and 

retrieval software and a three 

node MatrixStore cluster from 

Object Matrix. 

“This is an integral part of our 

move to a tapeless environment,” 

states Sean Ferrin, UTV’s head of 

Resources. “Two years ago UTV 

moved to a complete Avid newsroom 

system. Six months later we 

changed our acquisition format 

from tape to Panasonic P2 — and 

this made our newsroom completely 

tapeless.” 

According to Ferrin, this not 

only produced significant benefits, 

but also some interesting 

challenges. “Initially, we continued 

to archive to tape, however 

Continued on page 14 

Mobile TV has experienced a quiet 

and rather confusing couple of 

years — but at this year’s Mobile 

World Congress show held in 

Barcelona last month, TVBEurope 

got a real feel for where this 

exciting technology is going next. 

Heather McLean reports 

Overall, the main change within 

the world of mobile TV felt at 

Mobile World Congress was a 

move from the idea that scheduled 

TV on broadcast technology will 

take the technology forward, to a 

stronger business case for personalised 

services on unicast or integrated 

mobile broadcast (IMB). 

In fact, TVBEurope struggled 

to find anyone with anything good 

to say about the now-former champions 

of mobile TV, namely broadcast 

technologies DVB-H and 

mobile DTV, and scheduled TV. 

Also in the past year, the mobile 

TV industry has watched the death 

of broadcast standard FLO TV 

unfold; last year, we wrote that 

FLO TV had made inroads in the 

US, with coverage of over 110 

major populations in the sprawling 

country following on from the US 

digital switchover in July 2009. 

From the show last year, Vikki 

Mealer, senior director of product 

management at FLO TV, was quoted 

saying: “The digital TV transition in 

June [2009] was like a chequered 

flag to us. We now have the coverage, 

the network and the direct to 

consumer business model.” 

However, in December 2010, 

Qualcomm announced it was to 

sell its FLO TV spectrum to 

AT&T for $1.925 billion. The sale 

INTRODUCING 

See Selenio at the NAB Show, Booth #N2502, or at www.harrisbroadcastlive.com. 

Mobile TV is alive! 

TVBEurope360 

The game is changing: Tablets, smartphones, MobiTV and IMB are 

now to the fore in the world of mobile TV as FLO TV and DVB-H fade 

of channels 55 and 56 — unpaired 

spectrum in the lower 700MHz frequency 

band — will see Qualcomm 

turning off its FLO TV business 

and network from March 2011. 

The move marks the end of an era 

as FLO TV finally draws to a 

close; the service was one of the 

few examples of a commercial 


NAB Sneak Preview 

Over the next two issues we'll do 

our best to let you know what's 

hot and what's new at April's NAB 

extravaganza. Part Two of our NAB 

Product Preview will follow next 

issue. NAB Section starts page 23. 

— Fergal Ringrose

Matrox helps Ant & Dec 

reduce production cost 

By Melanie Dayasena-Lowe 

Matrox’s Convert DVI was chosen 

to assist in the live workflow 

on Gallowgate’s entertainment 

show Ant & Dec’s Push the Button 

which returned to peak-time 

ITV1 on 12 February. 

Gallowgate’s line producer 

Marcus McKinlay said, “We 

are using Skype to webcast from 

the homes of four families to 

Fountain Studios in Wembley. 

Each Skype feed then uses 

a Matrox Convert DVI to 

provide live SDI video for 

transmission… The combination 

To The Editor 

Flying 

Monsters 

Sir, 

I came across your February 

issue article on Flying Monsters 

and was pleased to notice the 

interest raised by this 3D documentary. 

To be honest, I was a 

little less pleased to see that the 

project is described as the ‘the 

first 3D documentary intended 

for general cinema release’ — 

because you may have heard 

about the project Sea Rex, currently 

playing in La Geode in 

Paris? Sea Rex is also a 3D documentary 

for movie theatres 

and may actually be the first 

one in that area. 

Mikros Image has completed 

a number of CG creatures 

for Sea Rex with director 

Pascal Vuong, and if you need 

any further information, we’ll 

be glad to provide some details 

of our work. 

Yours etc, 

Carine Quignon 

Chargée de communication 

Mikros Image 

www.mikrosimage.eu 

Matrox Convert DVI provides live SDI video for transmission 


FOR-A has supplied two FRC-8000 

multi-format frame rate converters 

to Galaxy Light and Power. The 

new converters, already deployed to 

provide conversion of live TV coverage 

of international sporting events, 

complement Galaxy’s fleet of 

FRC-7000 frame rate converters. 

The FRC-8000 converters feature 

a range of options including 

Psf/P progressive format handling 

and the 16-channel audio cards that 

can handle up to two channels of 

Dolby E. These are the first units to 

be supplied with the new innovative 

touchscreen control panel. 

Andy Grant, chief executive, 

Galaxy Light and Power, said, “We 

now have the largest hire stock of 

broadcast level HD standards 

converters worldwide. Performance 

is our primary concern and these 

FOR-A converters are unsurpassed 

for frame-rate conversion 

quality. The FRC-8000 adds even 

more for performance with handling 

for SD and up/down/cross 

of Skype and Matrox technologies 

has dramatically reduced 

our production costs and in 

turn has enabled greater creative 

freedom.” 

The Convert DVI scan converts 

from any DVI source to 

SD/HD-SDI with support for 

external bi-level or tri-level sync. 

It also allows you to output a 

Region of Interest and scale the 

source as well as operate in 

‘standalone’ mode. 

A PC laptop equipped with 

16:9 webcams was placed in 

the homes of the contestants 

and using their broadband 

connection a Skype call was 

made to workstations based at 

Fountain Studios Ant & Dec’s 

Push the Button demonstrates 

how a combination of freely 

available software and lowcost 

hardware can help push 

the boundaries. 

www.matrox.com 

Galaxy grabs FOR-A converters 

SoundField 5.1 audio 

for Super Sport in SA 


South African Pay-TV channel 

Super Sport has installed another 

SoundField DSF-2/DSF-3 

surround-capable digital microphone 

system in its latest HD 

outside broadcast vehicle, constructed 

by Sony Broadcast 

Professional in the UK. The latest 

installation totals six DSF-2 

systems in use in sister pay-TV 

channel MNET’s OB vehicles. 

The microVB is a breakthrough in both 

form-factor and functionality for real-time 

analysis of customer home network performance. 

This unobtrusive device provides deep packet 

inspection and end-to-end visibility in 

broadcast quality media delivery over 

any IP based infrastructure. 

m 

Super Sport broadcasts a mix of 

sporting events similar to those covered 

by BSKyB in Europe — rugby, 

cricket, soccer, boxing, and tennis’ 

Davis Cup. When the South African 

channel moved to HD transmissions 

with audio in 5.1 in the mid-2000s, 

they considered the HD workflow 

BSkyB had adopted. SoundField 

systems including the DSF-2 mic and 

the DSF-3 digital surround processor 

are now the broadcast standard for 

TVBEU RO PE NEWS & ANALYSIS 

The FRC-8000 frame rate converter 

has a touchscreen control panel 

conversion as well as HD. Also, 

customers really like the new intuitive 

touchscreen user interface as 

it gives them easy access to the 

operational parameters.” 

www.for-a.com 

5.1 OB transmissions at Sky, and 

MNET/Super Sport has pioneered 

the same technology. 

“The DSF-2s and our DSF-3s 

have done some great work on HD 

rugby, cricket and boxing coverage 

here in South Africa,” commented 

MNET/Super Sport audio supervisor 

Mark Boyle. “Once we had a few 

SoundField systems up and running, 

the managers of MNET insisted on 

coming in to have a listen to the 

system. They trusted our technical 

judgement, but wanted to hear what 

was possible from a 5.1 mic setup. 

All it took was a quick listen and 

they were convinced. We raised the 

fader on the DSF-3, they listened for 

a while, and were blown away.” 

www.soundfield.com 

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE 

FAMILY OF MEDIA MONITORING, 

MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS 

PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD 

www.bridgetech.tv 

CONTENTS 

News & Analysis 

Conference Preview 

Save the dates for 

TVBEurope’s first two 

conferences of the year: 

3D Masters on 15 June 

and The IT Broadcast 

Workflow on 5 July 

The Workflow 

Tapeless debate 

David Fox talks to camera 

owners on their 

experiences with 

tapeless media 

production 

Sky files through 

Will Strauss speaks to 

Sky’s Director of 

Operations John 

Lennon on the 

broadcaster’s move 

from a tape to filebased 

workflow 

NAB Sneak Preview 

Whether or not you’re 

going to NAB Las 

Vegas this year, 

TVBEurope gives you 

a sneak preview of 

what you can expect 

from the show floor 

The Business Case 

Solving the skills crisis 

Dick Hobbs talks to the 

IABM’s Roger Crumpton 

to find out how the 

industry vendor 

body aims to get 

technology training 

back on the agenda 


BVE Wrap Up 

David Fox covers the new 

products on show at the 

Earls Court exhibition 

Channel in a Box 

Picking up from last 

month’s debate, Russell 

Grute asks whether 

there has been too much 

emphasis on the ‘box’ 

rather than ‘channel’ 

part of the discussion 


HPA forecast 

‘Snowflake’ workflows 

were a topic of 

discussion at the 

Hollywood Post Alliance 

Tech Retreat, writes 

Carolyn Giardina 

The Workflow 

Global broadcast 

with iTX 

Philip Stevens finds out 

how one large playout 

centre acquired new 

equipment to meet 

increasing demand 

www.tvbeurope.com MARCH 2011 3 

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NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

Two connected TV 

studios for Playout247 

Broadcast playout company 

Playout247 has announced the 

completion of two flagship 

connected TV studios. These 

provide state-of-the-art 

equipment and live playout 

facilities to satellite and internet 

television — from one single 

managed service. Tanya Vidmar, 

sales director at Playout247, 

commented, “These facilities 

provide everything needed to 

future proof a TV channel as 

the market and manufacturers 

move more rapidly into the 

consumption of TV through 

connected devices; from TVs and 

games consoles, to phones and 

set top boxes.” The facilities have 

been created for broadcasters 

looking to consolidate their 

playout needs while making the 

step into ‘over the top’ internet 

distribution. “Demand for this 

powerful service combination is 

growing and we anticipate space 

in these studios will be highly 

sought after,” said Vidmar. 

“Despite the general economic 

situation, TV viewing is up and the 

revenue opportunities from 

combining both traditional 

satellite and now internet delivery 

are very attractive.” 

www.playout247.com 

IDX supports Live 

IDX Technology has announced 

an exclusive EMEA distribution 

agreement with Canadian 

manufacturer Dejero Labs. 

Under the agreement, 

IDX will provide distribution and 

sales support functions for 

Dejero Live Platform, including 

the new wireless ENG 

transmission system that uses 

multiple 4G and 3G cellular 

networks to transmit live 

broadcast quality video. The 

Dejero Live Platform allows 

broadcast professionals and 

news crews to connect their 

camera to the Dejero 

transmitter, a compact portable 

peli-case and broadcast live 

within a matter of seconds. 

www.idxtek.com 

RouteCase 

Compact, portable AV mixer 

People on the move 

Lucas Wilson, 3ality Digital 


3ality Digital has recruited Lucas 

Wilson as director of business 

development, based in LA. Over 

the last 15 years, Wilson has 

worked with Intergraph, Avid, 

Quantel and Assimilate. 

Broadcast Networks has 

hired Paul Wallis as sales director. 

He brings over 20 years 

experience with Sony Broadcast 

and Professional Europe, Pixel 

Power and most recently as managing 

director of O-Video. 

Clear-Com has named Larry 

Estrin as its new strategic technology 

specialist. As a result of 

Larry Estrin, Clear-Com 

the merger of HME’s Pro Audio 

Division with Clear-Com, 

Estrin is now joining the Clear- 

Com team to promote the 

brand globally 

Brian Massie has joined 

Hamlet as UK and International 

sales manager. His 

experience in the industry 

includes positions with Oxtel, 

Miranda and Omnitek. 

Brian Massie, Hamlet Video 

Six new staff members join 

Linear Acoustic’s TV broadcast 

team. In sales, the company has 

added four new representatives: 

George Elsaesser, corporate sales 

manager; Paul Insco, sales development, 

US eastern region; 

Anthony Wilkins, director of business 

development, EMEAR; and 

Guy Hufferd, director of marketing. 

The company has also added 

two engineers to its operations: 

Mike Richardson, senior hardware 

engineer, and Ed Bitel, technician. 

Martin Professional has hired 

Leif Orkelbog-Andresen as new 

business area manager-projects, 

overseeing project activities throughout 

Europe for Martin’s Danishbased 

EMEA sales organisation. 

Video transport solutions provider 

Nevion has appointed former 

BT Broadcast Solutions head 

Andrew Rayner as director of 

Ventura product management. 

Rayner has been involved in 

several key network deliveries 

while at BT, including the UK 

digital switchover and Channel 4 

distribution network. 

RouteCase is a powerful, compact and affordable 

4 channel HD/SDI production unit incorporating 

the latest in vision mixer technology with industry 

standard audio mixing facilities. 

Housed in a compact and rugged custom built 

flight case, RouteCase can handle asynchronous 

sources in many formats with comprehensive picture 

monitoring via the built in 15” HD LCD monitor. 

Norman Rouse, Snell Vincent Eade, Snell 

Leif Orkelbog-Andresen, Martin Pro Artur Podzorski, TSL Products Group 

Snell recently announced the 

appointment of Vincent Eade 

and Norman Rouse. Eade has 

joined the company’s European 

sales team as regional sales 

manager for the Nordics 

and Ireland. Prior to joining 

Snell, Eade served as technical 

account manager for Sony UK. 

Rouse joins Snell from Sony 

Professional in the role of market 

development manager. He is 

tasked with being chief evanglist 

for Snell in the global broadcast 

and media marketplaces. 

Artur Podzorski has joined 

TSL Professional Products 

Group as regional sales manager 

for Central and Eastern Europe. 

He comes to TSL PPG from 

Digital Video Systems where he 

was regional sales director for 

Eastern Europe. 

VSN has hired Van Duke to 

operate its North America sales 

division. Pedro Serrano, VSN 

VP sales, said, “Until now we 

have been focused on developing 

our business in regions such 

Europe, South America, Middle 

East and Asia Pacific. After 

VSN’s successful growth there, it 

is now the time to expand into 

the US market.” 

FEATURES 

o 4 HD/SD SDI inputs and 1 DI-D input. 

o 1080i, 1080 PsF, 720p HD, 480/576 SD modes 

o SDI 480 /576 formats accepted in HD mode via 

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o Fully synchronous mixing between all inputs 

o Automatic embedded audio switching 

o Tally output for external cues 

o 10 channel audio mixer 

o 12 volt operation 

Find out more at www.sislive.tv or call us on +44 (0)1908 865656 

Quote discount code: TVB 

4 www.tvbeurope.com MARCH 2011

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Europe’s television technology business magazine 

EDITORIAL 

Editorial Director Fergal Ringrose 

tvbeurope@mediateam.ie 

Media House, South County Business Park, 

Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland 

+3531 294 7783 Fax: +3531 294 7799 

Deputy Editor Melanie Dayasena-Lowe 

Melanie.Dayasena-Lowe@ubm.com 

+44 (0)207 921 8346 

UBM Ltd, Ludgate House, 

245 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 9UR 

Editorial Consultant Adrian Pennington 

Associate Editor David Fox 

USA Correspondent Carolyn Giardina 

Contributors Bob Charlton, Mike Clark, 

Richard Dean, Chris Forrester, Jonathan Higgins, 

Mark Hill, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, 

Heather McLean, Bob Pank, Nick Radlo, 

Neal Romanek, Philip Stevens, Will Strauss, 

Reinhard E Wagner 

Digital Editor David Davies 

Digital Content Manager Tim Frost 

Publisher Joe Hosken 

ART & PRODUCTION 

Group Production Editor Dawn Boultwood 

Production Executive Alistair Taylor 

SALES 

Sales Director Steve Connolly 

steve.connolly@ubm.com 

+44 (0)20 7921 8316 

Deputy Sales Manager Ben Ewles 

ben.ewles@ubm.com 

+44 (0)20 7921 8233 

Business Development Manager Alex Hall 

alex.hall@ubm.com 

+44 (0)20 7921 8305 

US SALES 

Michael Mitchell 

Broadcast Media International, PO Box 44, 

Greenlawn, New York, NY 11740 

mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv 

+1 (631) 673 3199 Fax: +1 (631) 673 0072 

JAPAN AND KOREA SALES 

Sho Harihara 

Sales & Project, Yukari Media Incorporated 

sho@yukarimedia.com 

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© United Busienss Media Ltd 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this 

publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any 

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ISSN 1461-4197 

New 3D and Workflow challenges 

Conference Preview 

By Fergal Ringrose 

Hopefully you have already seen advance notice of our first two 2011 

conferences in the TVBe weekly enewsletter? 3D Masters will return 

to BAFTA on Wednesday June 15; and The IT Broadcast Workflow 

2011 moves forward (from a November timeframe) to Tuesday July 5 

at America Square Conference Centre in the City of London. 

What’s different this year is that we’re working with a specialist 

new conference team at United Business Media who have already 

carried out in-depth research with past delegates and nonattendees 

alike to really focus in on the most compelling content 

offering we can possibly bring to these conferences. 

In the case of 3D, this information-requirement clarity is essential. 

When James Cameron’s Avatar smashed box-office records 

early last year it looked as though 3D was about to turn the global 

entertainment technology business on its head overnight. We now 

know that’s not the case: but we also know that 3D is not going 

away and we all need to learn where it will fit into production and 

technology strategy in the years ahead. 

3D Masters is not a ‘tips and tricks’ event; it is a high level technology 

management forum, attempting to plot out the future for 3D in European 

television broadcast operations just as our HD Masters event did in the 

nascent years of the HD roll-out across the continent. Key sponsors 

already on board include Decode, Presteigne Charter and Quantel. 

As I write our team is still building the content for the programme; 

keep an eye on www.3d-tvmasters.com for speaker 

updates in the coming weeks. Of course we will feature a keynote 

address from Sky 3D one year on — including an examination of 

the infrastructure, monitoring and distribution challenges associated 

with building a 3D channel. 

We will examine the practicalities of launching a new channel primarily 

dedicated to pre-recorded 3D content. We’ll look at how 3D 

TV is developing in Europe and what the major technical limitations 

are to date. What mainstream formats work well in 3D and which ones 

don’t? Can up-conversion be used effectively or should it be avoided? 

Dr Hans Hoffmann, representing both the EBU and SMPTE (as 

newly appointed Engineering VP) will lead our session on 3D TV 

standardisation; and there will be a panel discussion on generation 

3D content for display on screens ranging from IMAX to the iPod. 

Our insider interview with Steve Schklair, CEO 3Ality Digital 

Systems, will be followed by a special 3D production spotlight featuring 

at least four in-depth production case studies from around Europe. 

3D TV is not a gimmick, and it may or may not be the next big 

thing. But the reason we stage 3D Masters is to really provide 

high-level thought leadership on technology, production and business 

strategies that will help you make your own decisions about 

3D into the future. 

To look for America 

The IT Broadcast Workflow event moves venue this year, to America 

Square Conference Centre in Crosswall, City of London EC3. The 

reason it’s called Crosswall is that the original London Wall, (one of 

By Melanie 

Dayasena-Lowe 

Systems integrator 

Dega Broadcast 

Systems is 

installing 100 

Crystal Vision 

Indigo 2 frames as 

part of its ongoing 

project to 

provide the central 

technical areas 

and infrastructure 

for the redeve- 

The SYNNER-E 3G is used to 

lopment of BBC 

synchronise the incoming circuits 

Broadcasting 

House in London. 

Dega was appointed as systems integrator for W1 central technical 

areas following a competitive procurement process under EU 

regulations, and is using Crystal Vision synchronisers, audio 

embedders, fibre optic receivers and video and audio distribution 

Breakout-time in the David Lean Room at 3D Masters 2010: 

Each event features several networking breaks where vendors get 

the opportunity to make presentations to delegates 

the largest construction projects 

carried out in Roman Britain) runs 

right through the venue, providing 

a unique feature. 

This is the only conference to 

focus on this most critical transformation 

occurring right now in 

broadcast operations. We’ll be going 

in-depth into the migration from 

videotape to file-based workflows; 

cloud-based services for broadcasting; 

the changing role of the SI in the industry; harmonising broadcast 

workflows across multiple territories; multi-platform content distribution 

workflows; and identifying the challenges of the latest archiving 

and storage options. Confirmed sponsors to date include Front Porch 

Digital, MediaGenix, Symbox, Telestream and TMD. 

The convergence of Information Technology with traditional broadcast 

engineering is happening fast. Any chief technologist tasked with 

building a broadcast infrastructure today would use IT solutions to 

power the bulk of facilities. Any CFO tasked with making the business 

more flexible to new platforms, and more efficient in the process, would 

seek the automated and extensible systems that only IT can provide. 

These strategic decisions are based on getting the technology 

choices right, not least if the station is to be kept on air during the transition. 

It also implies significant change management of personnel. 

TVBEurope’s unique IT Broadcast Workflow event is dedicated to 

putting the facts before an audience of broadcast decision makers. 

Hear how broadcasters around Europe have implemented new digital 

workflows. Learn what worked and crucially, what did not. 

Understand what IT actually means in a broadcast environment; 

how it is best implemented for staff and technology; and the 

value to the bottom line a properly installed solution can provide. 

Many broadcast organisations across Europe have partially 

adopted IT-based workflows; but all of them would agree that not 

everything works together as expected and there is still much to 

learn from others undergoing the same changes. 

BBC Broadcasting House is synchronised by Crystal Vision 

amplifiers to help create the 3G-capable backbone for the routing 

and distribution of programme content. 

SYNNER-E 3G synchronisers will be used for synchronising 

the incoming video circuits, and additionally as audio shufflers for 

sorting out any embedded audio that might be on the wrong track 

assignment. Working with 3Gbps, HD and SD sources, the multifunctional 

SYNNER-E 3G combines a video synchroniser, tracking 

audio delay, embedder, de-embedder and audio processor with 

optional fibre I/O on one board, and allows the embedding or 

de-embedding of up to eight AES in any combination as well as 

special Dolby E processing. An integrated fibre output on the 

SYNNER-E 3G boards was selected for this project because using 

one module to both synchronise the incoming lines and turn them 

into fibre was the most space-efficient solution. 

FRX 3G fibre-optic receivers will be used for feeding outgoing 

lines. Meeting the SMPTE 297-2006 short-haul specification and 

using a Class I laser, this dual-channel board provides two optical 

inputs and two reclocked 3Gbps, HD or SD outputs per channel, 

allowing it to double as a distribution amplifier. Most of the 

equipment will be controlled via the BBC’s Broadcast Network 

Control System using SNMP. 


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Format choice: tapeless debate 

Although it is possible to buy a new tape-based camcorder, any models introduced recently have been 

tapeless — but how do you choose? David Fox talked to camera owners (members of Guild of Television 

Cameramen) on how they select the right camera and their experience with tapeless media production 

There are at least six types of 

tapeless media on offer: Compact 

Flash, disc, Memory Stick, P2, 

SD and SxS, all capable of 

recording a variety of formats. 

For anyone buying a camera, the 

choice is daunting. No wonder so 

many still shoot on tape, even 

though there are many good reasons 

for going tapeless. 

“File-based video has huge 

advantages,” says Mike Thomas, 

sales director at UK dealer Top 

Teks. “The shots are logged for 

you; you can add metadata on 

any computer; there is instant 

access to each shot; and proxy 

versions for fast distribution over 

standard internet.” 

“Tapeless has been an amazing 

boon for me as a cameraman and 

editor,” adds DP and editor 

Michael Sanders. He loves the quality 

from his Sony PDW-800 and, for 

the price, from the EX3. “As an editor, 

having the material come in 

already in clips is wonderful and 

being able to ingest in faster than 

realtime is great for news and some 

fast turnaround corporates I do (we 

recently did a 10 minute three camera 

shoot at 10am and uploaded a 

fully cut version two hours later). 

Reliability has been fine so far.” 

Sanders is a fan of XDCAM 

HD disc. “I don’t have a problem 

with solid state at all — I love it, 

especially if I’m editing and 

ingesting.” But he does have a 

problem with adding to his costs 

by buying extra cards so a production 

can keep shooting without 

stopping while he can’t charge 

extra for it. He also dislikes 

“recording to a media which is too 

expensive to be able to keep forever 

and needs archiving. I have 

three projects that have been 

ongoing for three years and regularly 

need me to go back to the 

rushes.” Using media that are so 

small they fit in a pocket and can 

easily get lost is a further problem. 

“That’s why I love XDCAM HD – 

and the pictures look lovely.” 

Sticking with tape: Christiansen, Oasis Productions, on location in Turkey 

Broadcast Audio. This is SSL. 

“One of the greatest features of these cameras is 

the buffer, which can record up to 10 seconds before 

the record button is even pressed. How useful when 

you have just missed a cabinet minister walking out 

of No10” – Darren Bramley, ITV Breakfast 

Party piece: Bramley at a UK party political conference, shooting on XDCAM 

Director David Hill of 

Acrobat Television shoots broadcast 

programmes, commercials, 

corporate and sell-thru DVDs and 

Blu-ray discs using XDCAM HD. 

“When the PDW-700 was new we 

had one failure with the laser 

which was apparently a problem 

with a particular batch and since 

then it has been faultless. The 

workflow is very efficient: we 

transfer rushes to 6TB drive 

arrays of which up to four can be 

connected to each edit suite at any 

time. These are cheap and fast 

enough to edit from directly, even 

at full HD. We keep the SX discs 

as our backup in the same way we 

did tape and we use Shotstore as 

our library system, which allows 

us to find clips instantly and load 

the proxy clips onto our server 

from remote locations.” 

Acrobat also has EX3 SxS 

cameras for some corporate jobs 

and extreme conditions, such as 

skiing or on boats. “We transfer 

the rushes in the same way to 

the hard drives and back up to 

Blu-ray discs. Not as elegant a 

solution but it works,” he says. 

“Tapeless has definitely speeded 

up our footage management 

and has also helped footage sales 

because it’s so easy to identify 

shots and find them.” 

Sydney-based freelance cameraman 

Peter Heap owns a 

Digital Betacam and a Sony 

PDW-700. He has been using 

XDCAM for a few years, mainly 

working on Discovery Channel’s 

Mythbusters. The show is based 

in San Francisco but the 

production company (Beyond 

Productions) is based in Sydney. 

With tape, nothing could be done 

until the material was shipped 

back, but with disc it is a lot 

quicker. “Because the camera 

records files it’s easy to copy 

them to a computer and then 

FTP them to Sydney. On a few 

occasions I’ve sent the 1920x1080 

files back, but usually the proxy 

files are all that are required for 

the offline,” says Heap. 

Another Sydney-based cameraman, 

Mal Hamilton, runs the 

XDCAM Pro User Group website 

(www.XDCAM.com.au). He has 

been using XDCAM for more 

than six years. “In that time I had 

to resort to shooting on tape once, 

it felt sluggish, unresponsive — 

never again. I shoot documentaries 

and also do stints in the studio — 

mainly as single camera. Most of 

my work involves a great deal of 

travel overseas, and to this end I’ve 

used different types of camera. The 

Sony EX3 is ideal for light travel, 

and where budget permits I prefer 

the PMW 350 [which is currently 

his main camera]. One of the greatest 

assets of using SxS cards, etc, is 

the fact you no longer have to cart 

around boxes of tapes.” 

ITV’s breakfast programmes 

GMTV and Daybreak have been 

using XDCAM for more than 

four years, and has Sony PDW-510 

and PDW-530 cameras. “The discs 

have never failed, and the only time 

that a camera failed on a shoot 

(because the battery connector 

board failed mid-record), we still 

managed to keep the contents of 

the disc by putting it in a player 

and running a special disc salvage 

application,” says Darren Bramley, 

head of cameras, ITV Breakfast. 

“Our workflow generally is 

to ingest material back at The 

London Studios via an XD 

deck straight into our Avid server 

in realtime,” he explains. “On 

the road we have used the XD 

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Format choice: 

tapeless debate 

Continued from page 8 

cameras and either an edit deck 

or a clamshell player with a built 

in LCD screen to play into Avid 

and FCP using the Sony Proxy 

Software, which makes for a 

much faster transfer, as we dump 

the material back as files. Much 

easier than a realtime playback 

off tape.” They have also used 

three of the cameras on live OBs 

using Sony Anycast with a player 

plugged in on a FireWire connection 

to playback clips, which can 

be set up as a playlist. 

“One of the greatest features 

of these cameras is the buffer, 

which can record up to 10 seconds 

before the record button is 

even pressed. How useful when 

you have just missed a cabinet 

minister walking out of No10, 

only to press record and then to 

have recorded him simply because 

the camera was always writing to 

the onboard buffer.” 

Card sharps 

Half of Paul Osborne’s work is 

as a freelance cameraman, the 

rest is for his own corporate production 

company (Green Field 

TV), shooting on tape, SxS and 

CF cards. When he started using 

SxS the cost of media meant 

there weren’t enough cards for a 

whole shoot, so they stopped 

regularly and transferred data to 

two hard drives. “But with media 

coming down in price (and low 

cost SxS alternatives available) 

we can afford to shoot without 

transfer, but producers/camera- 

Disc image: Hamilton in Turkey for a biblical documentary shot in HD 

Seoul man: Connelly on location for 

BBC Click in South Korea 

Hit or Myth: Heap riding a Segway 

while filming Mythbusters 

men generally still insist on a 

back up on location.” 

If people have lost data off 

their cards he wonders: “is it 

because they deleted the media 

inadvertently whilst freeing space? 

Or was it a corrupt file, in which 

case, how does backing it up make 

it un-corrupt?” With the EX1, 

there are sometimes media errors, 

which are often caused by formatting 

outside of the camera, “which 

would be avoided if we didn’t back 

up, or we get corrupt files due to 

powering down the camera early,” 

which could not be remedied by a 

backup. He believes that “the 

highest risk to media during a 

shoot is maybe the copying, ejecting, 

re-using, etc.” 

For freelance documentary 

lighting cameraman Mike 

Connelly, the manufacturer is 

more important than the format 

when he chooses a new camera. 

He wants “a well proven sturdy 

camera body; superior electronics 

build quality and a back-up service 

that will give me same-day 

maintenance with the facility of a 

possible loan camera whilst mine 

is out of action. Only one camera 

manufacturer has ever given me 

that service… Ikegami.” 

When he considered going 

tapeless, he dismissed using discs, 

because it still had “the weakness 

of employing laser technology 

and hence still reliant on moving 

parts as in a tape deck.” However, 

he was impressed by his first 

encounter with solid-state, a 

Panasonic P2 camera, which 

“looked and felt like an Ikegami, 

which I was very much at home 

with. The viewfinder … was pin 

sharp and I had no trouble practicing 

pull focus shots.” At the 

time, Ikegami’s GF CAM had 

only just been released and there 

were no adaptors for its GF 

PACK to facilitate cheap solidstate 

media such as Compact 

Flash or SDHC cards. 

His first HD project, an 

infomercial, “involved some very 

cold, muddy, wet days shooting. 

An ideal test ground for my 

broadcast work,” and he hired a 

Panasonic HPX500 from VMI. 

“It was brilliant. Not a single 

problem with any of the rushes 

shot over three one-week periods. 

So for me, P2 was the way to go.” 

He has tried several methods 

of transferring rushes, and now 

uses a G-Safe mirrored Raid drive, 

“so I only have to transfer the P2 

rushes roll once, cutting down on 

download times.” He has a Sonnet 

QIO multi-card reader to handle 

2xP2. 2xSxS, 2xCF and 2xSDHC 

cards, which he bought because of 

its fast eSATA connection, but he 

hasn’t managed to get the eSATA 

to work so uses FireWire 800 

between his MacBook and the G- 

Safe. “Although I have not experienced 

any problems, I’m told card 

readers can get very hot and stop 

reading. So as a backup I’ve also 

purchased Panasonic’s new single 

card reader.” 

“The future for me is low-cost 

solid-state media and I am happy 

to go Compact Flash or SD 

card,” says Paul Osborne. “Cost is 

a driver. I need many for the longterm 

productions I am shooting 

— often four or five at any one 

time, and likewise clients need to 

take them away. 

“I don’t need to jump through 

the hoops set by the broadcasters’ 

requirements for 50Mbps, and 

SxS and P2 are still not a disposable 

cost so don’t really suit me or 

my clients.” This is why he has 

now bought a Panasonic AF101, 

which works with his set of stills 

lenses, shooting to SD cards at 

24Mbps with the option to go 

higher to 100Mbps with external 

recorders if required. He is keeping 

his existing cameras as they 

still have a role. 

Disc v card 

“I’m not a fan of data wrangling 

at the end of each day so that I 

can re-use a P2 or SxS card the 

next day,” says Peter Heap. “At 

the end of a 10- or 12- or 14-hour 

day, the last thing I feel like doing 

is spending a couple of hours 

transferring files. And even worse, 

I’m more prone to making mistakes 

when I’m tired. And if I do 

make a mistake, those rushes 

probably aren’t covered by insurance 

and even if they are we can’t 

just order them on the internet; 

we have to go out and re-shoot 

the whole lot. 

“Mind you, I’m not against 

cards. When they can compete on 

price with tape or optical discs I’ll 

happily record onto a card. In 

fact I’ll record onto any medium 

as long as I can keep it and not 

have to re-use it the next day 

because of cost.” 




NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

Foundry storms ahead 

Visual effects software 

company The Foundry has 

launched its Red Digital Cinema 

workflow product, Storm. It 

brings a focused and easy to 

adopt tool to digital camera 

workflows in order to review, 

organise, prepare, edit, conform 

and deliver Raw Red media, on 

a laptop or workstation on and 

near-set. “Clients love to see 

shots previewed on set, Storm 

helps me show them what is 

possible, confirm what we have 

and what we need to deliver the 

director’s vision, and deliver 

just the right content to 

editorial. It is a real time saver,” 

said Simon Blackledge, VFX 

supervisor and head of post at 

Space Digital. Available now, 

Storm requires a MacBook Pro, 

Mac Pro or iMac with at least 

2GB RAM running OSX 10.6.4 

or later. It is optimised for Red 

R3D footage and will use a Red 

Rocket card if one is installed. 

www.thefoundry.co.uk 

AJA debuts new Io 

and Ki Pro Mini 

AJA has announced its support 

for Io Express in the Avid Media 

Composer 5.5 and NewsCutter 

9.5. AJA Io Express delivers a 

portable video I/O solution 

offering HD/SD capture, 

monitoring and output in the 

brand new Media Composer 

5.5. Features of Media 

Composer 5.5 workflow with Io 

Express include HDMI v1.3a 

input/output with Deep Colour 

support at 30 bits per pixel; 

10-bit HD to SD hardware 

down-convert; RS422 support, 

2-channel RCA audio output; 

and ExpressCard-34 and PCIe 

interfaces for laptop or desktop 

use. AJA is also now shipping Ki 

Pro Mini, the smaller version of 

its portable tapeless recorder 

that captures to the Apple 

ProRes 422 codec directly from 

camera. It is designed to bridge 

production and post, effectively 

eliminating log and capture. 

www.aja.com 




Heap recently shot a commercial 

using XDCAM plus a DSLR 

in an underwater housing. The 

producer was to transfer the 

DSLR data, but had forgotten a 

crucial cable. However, Heap also 

forgot a cable and couldn’t transfer 

the disc footage either. The 

commercial was to air within days, 

so Heap transferred the proxy files 

on to a USB stick, allowing editing 

to begin while he sent the HD 

files via courier or FTP. 

Osborne didn’t consider using 

discs due to the cost of ingest 

decks for all of his clients. SD, CF, 

and SxS cards require little capital 

outlay to ingest, and corporate 

clients rarely have extensive edit 

facilities. With cards, his edit suite 

is on his lap, not in a booth. 

DoP Lee Christiansen of 

Oasis Productions agrees. “What 

we really needed was a much 

cheaper way of playing the 

XDCAM discs into our edit 

suites. I’m finding that many production 

companies like SxS or 

CF because there is no additional 

outlay to ingest the media. £2,000 

for what is essentially a posh 

DVD player seems a bit steep.” 

A Better Future For Your 

Digital Content 

“That said, I love the idea of 

removable discs. Shoot on ’em, 

keep ’em... Never liked this brave 

new world where we delete the 

files from cards (although curiously 

it is what I’ve been doing 

for years on my stills cameras 

without concern).” 

If he buys a camera he wants 

to be sure that potential clients 

won’t have issues with the cost of 

ingest, “and no argument from 

me would persuade them to 

spend £2,000 on an XDCAM 

deck.” If they were more reasonably 

priced he’d be happy to buy 

two or three and supply them 

on loan. “Much as I prefer 

XDCAM as a potential format I 

fear that production only looks 

at the bottom line in many cases 

and in that respect, solid state 

looks good to them.” 

Cost considerations 

“I think the rules need to change 

a bit with solid state. The main 

issue is the cost of cards, then the 

cost of the interfaces although 

they are far cheaper than VTRs 

ever were,” says Thomas. 

Dead Sea scrolls: Hill with presenter Howard Stableford in Jordan 

To find out how StorNext has helped over 3,000 customers 

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“I’m not against cards. In fact I’ll record onto 

any medium as long as I can keep it and not 

have to re-use it the next day because of cost” 

— Peter Heap 

Bit rate: Osborne with a PMW-500 shooting to SxS cards at 50Mbps 

Production companies used to 

have a tape budget. “If they wanted 

to view tapes, they owned or 

hired a deck. Same goes for 

discs,” he adds. 

A 32GB SxS costs about the 

same as a 32GB P2 card, 

although data rates, and therefore 

recording time, differ. “Cards are 

pricey enough to be classified as 

an asset and can be purchased, 

leased or hired. My view is that 

production companies should 

still be supplying the media.” 

If their tape budget was £300 a 

month, they could lease about 27 

32GB SxS or P2 cards, or a mix of 

both (equivalent to 20 HDCAM 

tapes, 30 Digi Beta tapes or 40 

DVCAM tapes). The cards could 

be used like tape and returned to 

production who digitise it themselves. 

The budget they used to view 

tapes could go against interfaces. 

For about £850 a month on a 

Contract Hire you could have 20 

cards, a full archive system, a card 

interface and a field digitiser 

without the tie in of a long term 

lease. Current archive systems 

give secure online access to proxy 

and full resolution footage. 

Tape measure 

Lee Christiansen has found tape to 

be exceptionally reliable, and has 

not had a single tape failure in 

softwareinfo@quantum.com 

more than 20 years — and only one 

mechanism has failed. “On the other 

hand I’ve had three hard drives 

die on me with my computers.” 

Nearly all his work is corporate, 

which he mainly edits on 

Final Cut Pro and usually shoots 

on DigiBeta, as delivery is nearly 

always SD or for internet use. 

“I’m finding an interest slowly 

growing in HD, as computer 

screens offer higher resolutions 

and this will probably be the driving 

factor for a format change.” 

The 50Mbps Sony PMW-500 

camera looks particularly interesting 

to him, but he wants to 

see the cost of media and card 

readers reduced. “If my CF reader 

costs £20, why does an SxS reader 

cost £350?” 

He has shot on Canon’s 5D 

Mark II HD DSLR, where 

“despite our continuing efforts to 

ingest as the day progresses, it 

seems we’ve yet to achieve this. 

Ingesting always goes on the back 

burner as the next shot gets priority. 

I’m unwilling to allow an inexperienced 

operator to ingest as it 

carries quite some responsibility. 

This means overtime whilst we 

wait at the end of the day to 

import lots of cards. The portable 

card reader/hard drives seem 

great, but of course you still need 

to export to a drive for the client.” 

On the P2 shoots he does the client 

has always supplied the cards, 

which is the easiest way to work. 

The move to tapeless has 

meant he hires more. “I can’t buy 

until things settle down. I wish we 

could get manufacturers to adopt 

Compact Flash now the data 

rates are 90MBps.” 

Osborne has always valued 

tape for acquisition “I have only 

lost one tape to technical failure 

in 13 years of shooting DVCAM 

and HDV (and that was a head 

issue). The long term archiving is 

important for the corporate work 

I do and also with the long production 

cycles tape is much cheaper 

when a lot of rushes are stored 

prior to the edit. I was reluctant 

to go to tapeless as speed of 

ingestion at the edit is not a big 

priority. I invariably need to view 

and shot pick the rushes as I 



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UTV to archive 

with intelligence 


we aspired to move to a filebased 

storage solution. Having 

said that, we did not want simply 

to archive the stories as flat files, 

but rather required a system that 

would enable us to recall a consolidated 

sequence complete with 

timeline and clips. To be honest, 

we weren’t sure if anyone produced 

such a system, but in the 

end it was a challenge we presented 

to Tyrell.” 

Not only did Ferrin want the 

files to be stored with the relevant 

information, but the system 

needed to work across UTV’s 

media network. “Tyrell introduced 

us to Marquis who supplied 

the software solution and 

Object Matrix who offered its 

storage solution. The reason we 

chose Object Matrix is that it is a 

cluster server that provides the 

absolute redundancy required for 

a long-term archive. Also, the 

cluster can be expanded with no 

system management required.” 

Stuart Lawn, technical director 

at Tyrell, takes up the story. 

“This was a fascinating challenge 

as it involved two manufacturers 

who had not previously collaborated. 

But we knew there was a 

benefit to UTV of a scalable storage 

solution that didn’t have the 

term ‘SAN’ in the concept. 

“Once we had settled on 

Marquis and Object Matrix we 

got the two companies talking 

fairly quickly and I believe we 

were the first reseller to pair 

them up in a solution. Since 

then, the companies have 

exchanged engineering visits 

and developed a unified marketing 

approach.” 




ingest, so realtime ingestion is no 

real disadvantage.” 

His Sony Z7 hybrid is a very 

useful camera. “For many corporate 

agency and production company 

clients I have encouraged 

them to go tapeless, I synchronously 

shoot on CF card and 

HDV tape. At the end of the 

shoot the card is sent in the post 

to their edit, and I keep the tape 

as a safety backup. CF cards are 

relatively cheap now so I have 

enough for [clients] to keep them 

for a few weeks — or we might 

even encourage [clients] to buy 

them outright. However that hasn’t 

been the case with SxS cards,” 

says Osborne. 

Long term storage 

Archive is the big question for 

Thomas. “People backing up commercial 

data tend to use tape. This 

Sean Ferrin: UTV maintains a 

mirrored low resolution 

proxy of ingested material available 

on the house network 

He adds, “We did look at 

some other suppliers, but it was 

obvious that most couldn’t produce 

a cost effective system, or, 

perhaps more significantly, the 

specification that would be of use 

to UTV in the short term.” 

Lawn states that the solution 

offered by Marquis Broadcast provided 

a simple end user interface 

that did exactly what UTV 

required without huge amounts of 

setup time. At the same time, 

Object Matrix presented cost 

effective storage that could be 

scaled easily. In addition, the capability 

of the system’s P2 workflow 

with DropSpot was attractive as 

an added bonus. DropSpot is a 

secure and flexible archive and 

workgroup desktop application 

that interfaces with MatrixStore 

API. Using this application, it is 

possible to archive, write, read, 

search and delete to MatrixStore 

— the central repository for the 

archived packages. 

In short, the solution offered 

by the two suppliers enables 

the broadcaster to move entire 

sequences, including edit decisions, 

just seems wrong for video, but 

maybe LTO tape is a real contender. 

Hard disk drives need maintenance 

and spinning up at regular intervals. 

subclips and metadata from its 

Avid ISIS storage to the 

MatrixStore system with a ‘oneclick’ 

process. It also means that 

footage, along with all metadata 

including media and edit decisions, 

can be retrieved and 

dropped directly into the Avid 

system. This storage array 

currently provides UTV with 

32TB of nearline storage — but 

with a capability of considerable 

future archive capacity. 

Easy search 

Ferrin states that UTV maintains 

a mirrored low resolution 

proxy of ingested material that is 

available on the house network. 

“Each day, the library enters 

details of the previous 24 hours’ 

ingest. This allows the journalists 

to perform a search in iNews 

or using Strix archive search 

engine. They can then easily view 

the material at their desktop and, 

having identified their requirements, 

request the library staff to 

retrieve the high resolution version 

and place it into the current 

Avid work space. As far as news 

stories are concerned, we never 

delete any material.” 

As with any system a certain 

amount of adjustment was 

required to tailor the set-up to 

the existing workflow. However, 

the end result is an archive 

process that is simple. It involves 

the library staff dragging the 

required sequence and dropping 

it over the archive icon. UTV also 

trained the library staff to edit — 

allowing them to clip up live 

interviews and material identified 

by the newsroom. 

Alongside the archive solution, 

UTV took the opportunity 

to expand its Avid system to meet 

new requirements. This involved 

an expansion of the ISIS storage 

system with additional blades 

and chassis that quadrupled the 

Weapon of choice: Thomas with Panasonic, Canon and Sony P2, CF card 

and disc-based cameras. Archive is the biggest question 

“Holographic storage has 

been on the drawing board for a 

long time but IT sources seem to 

think it won’t happen, so Blu-ray 

broadcaster’s storage requirements. 

In addition, two HD 

Airspeed units were acquired to 

handle input into the Avid ISIS 

media network and provide extra 

capacity that allows UTV to 

increase its playback and recording 

of HD material within its 

transmission suite. 

“We have recently launched 

our HD service and are currently 

configuring a new automation 

and full HD playout system,” 

says Ferrin. “In January we took 

delivery of a 3ME fully-loaded 

Kahuna HD studio vision mixer 

with a satellite 1ME panel and 

our intention is to order a 

replacement HD router and two 

new multi-screen systems for 

the studio and Transmission 

Stuart Lawn: “We knew there was a 

benefit to UTV of a scalable 

storage solution that didn’t have 

the term ‘SAN’ in the concept” 

Control. We also have three new 

HD Omneon servers — one for 

prep and two for commercial and 

programme playout.” 

He concludes, “Our archive 

solution has been a success. In 

fact, I have ordered another 

Object Matrix server to use for 

near online storage.” 

is probably the best bet at the 

moment. Soon to go to 100GB I 

believe. It still has the benefits of 

being file-based, small in size and 

a good shelf life.” 

“I think tape has a lot going 

for it in that it’s a time tested, 

cheap, reliable storage system,” 

says Heap. “But I think 

XDCAM discs will prove to 

have the same qualities. The 

main difference for me is that I 

can transfer from my XD camera 

via a FireWire cable whereas 

getting footage off a Digital 

Betacam tape and onto a hard 

drive involves much more cost. I 

have to pay to have the footage 

digitised elsewhere as I can’t justify 

owning a Digi tape machine 

or, at this stage in my Digital 

Betacam’s life, the cost of 

installing an SDI card.” 

www.acrobat-tv.co.uk 

www.digibeta.com.au 

www.greenfieldtv.com 

www.LeeChristiansen.co.uk/ 

showreel.html 

www.mattgrant.co.uk 

www.mjsanders.co.uk 

www.top-teks.co.uk 


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New Ardendo/Vizrt MAM system is rolled out across the enterprise 

Sky files through 

MAM evolution 

New TVBEurope contributor 

Will Strauss talks to Sky’s Director 

of Operations John Lennon on the 

broadcaster’s move to a file-based 

workflow and how important it was 

to focus on the people involved 

before looking at the technological 

leaps required 

John Lennon, the director of 

broadcast operations at BSkyB, is 

pretty excited about his latest task, 

despite its enormity. He is the programme 

director for an ongoing 

workflow migration that will see 

the pay-TV broadcaster move 

from a predominantly tape-based 

operation to a file-based one. 

To understand the scale of the 

challenge, and the prize that 

awaits a successful implementation, 

you only have to glance at 

the complexity of the broadcaster’s 

current internal workings. 

“At the moment we have, on 

average, 4,000 physical tape 

movements every single day,” 

explains Lennon. “That’s a 

tremendous amount of people 

asking ‘Where the hell is my 

tape?’ That happens not just in 

every corridor in this place, but 

right across the broadcast industry. 

The benefits of changing 

from this to a file-based workflow 

are self-explanatory. It puts 

the power back into the hands of 

the content creators and enables 

us to deliver more content more 

efficiently to multiple platforms.” 

The transition, which is still 

roughly 12 months from completion, 

includes the installation of a 

major media asset management 

system and coincides with the relocation 

to a purpose-built production 

and broadcasting operation, 

Harlequin 1, at Sky’s campus in 

Osterley, west of London. Lennon 

is not hanging about though. 

“Our approach has always 

been to not wait until we get into 

the new building and go in with a 

big bang where everybody moves 

in and is handed a brand new set 

of work tools,” he says. “All of 

the processes and workflows are 

being introduced on a team-byteam 

basis before people actually 

move in.” 

This step-by-step process is 

not just being done with the new 

building in mind, however. There 

are other compelling reasons for 

doing it that way, argues Lennon. 

“Once we had chosen a vendor 

(Ardendo/Vizrt), we decided 

against a traditional waterfall 

project management approach 

where you do a user requirements 

gathering and then you deliver 

against that. Instead we took an 

agile approach, pinpointing the 

types of things we were trying to 

John Lennon: “My job is to ensure 

that we go back to what these 

people do and then ensure we’re 

giving them the right tools to do it” 

achieve and what the workflows 

are that we need to support. Then 

we introduced a little bit at a time 

and shaped out how the next part 

of that journey was going to go.” 

To do this, initially Lennon and 

his team partnered up with the 

internal production team working 

on rugby union. He says: “They’re 

a relatively small department, they 

were enthusiastic and the type of 

work they do touches most of our 

production gamuts: live, outside 

broadcast, studio and magazine 

shows. To make a magazine programme, 

you obviously need access 

to content. You need to be able to 

view your content, to mark up and 

edit your content, to push it to a 

studio and so on. It was a good fit.” 

It was during this early work, 

while mapping out and delivering 

functionality, that the team had a 

eureka moment. “Early on we 

thought we would do rugby and then 

simply roll on to the next department 

and do a similar process with them,” 

he says. “However, it was very clear 

that this was the wrong approach 

and essentially what we needed to do 

was to take the rugby guys and bring 

them on the journey with us for 

longer so we could actually build a 

Sky-wide platform. 

“By doing this,” continues 

Lennon, “when we roll on to the 

other teams, we’re doing more 

configuration changes rather 

than underlying development. It 

also creates advocates of the system, 

people who in turn will talk 

about what they’re now doing 

differently to make great content. 

And if they’re happy they’ll help 

create a wave of enthusiasm that 

others will also want to join.” 

As of early 2011, file-based 

workflows have been rolled out 

across teams working on tennis, 

American football, speedway, 

pool and darts as well as rugby 

union and they are currently in 

the process of moving on to the 

entertainment channels including 

Sky Movies and Sky1. 

It’s a journey that will continue 

over the next few months. At the 

same time, the recently added 

capabilities will be built into the 

new building so that, during the 

summer, there can be a migration 

phase of moving the pre-Harlequin 

1 system into the building. 

So far, so good 

Lennon believes that the stepby-step, 

agile approach to the 

roll-out will be of most benefit 

when they get to the latter stages 

“One of the most important steps we took was to 

decide that this was not to be designed and built 

by engineers and then forced upon the operations 

and content creation teams” — John Lennon 

of the project when they’ll have 

to migrate the biggest production 

teams. “The most complicated 

part of this for us is that 

we’re only half a dozen or so 

domains in,” he says. “During 

the course of the next nine to 12 

months that goes pretty much 

up to 100% so the numbers 

become quite significant. By that 

stage, from a functionality and 

technical point of view, bringing 

on somebody like the football 

team becomes much more 

straightforward.” 

This continued focus on people 

and their workflows — and 

not the technology behind it — 

will make Sky’s tapeless migration 

a success, argues Lennon. 

“One of the most important 

steps we took was to decide that 

this was not to be designed and 

built by engineers and then 

forced upon the operations and 

content creation teams,” he says. 

“We realised we had to start with 

the people and then with the 

workflows. After that, technology 

becomes an enabler.” 

Not focusing on the technology 

also helped when it came to 

evangelising the change. Lennon 

explains: “I traditionally hail 

from an operational and production 

background. So I’m not 

fronting up as an engineer saying 

here are loads of widgets. My job 

is to ensure that we go back to 

what these people do, what they 

aspire to do and then ensure that 

we’re giving them the right tools 

to do it.” 

Historically within the TV 

market, the path to a file-based 

operation has been beset with 

potholes. However, with Sky’s 

road proving fairly smooth so far, 

Lennon has advice for others 

making the same journey. 

“The most important thing is 

to engage your user community 

as early as possible,” he remarks. 

“There was some belief that, like 

any type of change, some people 

would be resistant. I think quite 

the contrary. I think people have 

shown that they’re hungry for it 

and they’re excited by it and, in 

many respects, they can’t wait to 

get their hands on it.” 

Managing the project internally 

— but using external consultants 

— has also helped the 

File-based workflows have been rolled out across teams working on tennis, 

American football, speedway, pool and darts as well as rugby union 

rollout, according to Lennon. “I 

don’t think anybody knows our 

business as well as we do. There is 

a tremendous amount of internal 

talent, but more importantly, this 

current project is about ensuring 

that we’re delivering to the people 

who make the great content. I 

think an internal team can make 

that connection so much better 

than an external team.” 

Sky’s shift from tape to digital 

is a fairly seismic one that involves 

just about everyone at the broadcaster. 

But it is one that Lennon is 

positive will be worth it. 

“At the moment, the production 

teams think that the way 

they produce content is pretty 

good,” he concludes. “And there 

is no reason why they wouldn’t 

believe that, because they do 

deliver great content. What we’re 

doing now is empowering them 

to do it better, faster and in a 

much more collaborative way.” 


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WHAT 

WILL HAPPEN 

IN VEGAS… 

…WON‘T STAY 

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NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

AKA decks out 

BBC W1 facility 

dB Broadcast has awarded AKA 

Design the contract to supply 

nearly 100 technical desks for 

the BBC’s new Broadcasting 

House in London, W1. The AKA 

technical furniture will be used in 

four state-of-the-art studio 

galleries, which will house the 

BBC’s TV news channels being 

relocated to Broadcasting 

House, 25 edit and reporters 

desks and 31 graphics 

workstations. AKA has been 

working closely with systems 

integrators dB Broadcast to 

ensure the final product meets 

the exacting technical and layout 

requirements for the facility. 

“Everyone who has been 

involved in this project at AKA 

has worked tirelessly on what 

was a technically challenging 

requirement and we are 

immensely proud to have won 

such a prestigious project. I am 

confident this will demonstrate 

AKA as a clear contender for 

future broadcast projects and 

look forward to seeing the first 

desks installed on site early in 

2011,” said AKA’s Operations 

Director, Alistair Davies. 

www.akadesign.co.uk 

ADA certification 

Atempo Digital Archive (ADA) 

has been certified for metaSAN, 

a high-speed file sharing SAN 

management application from 

Tiger Technology, a provider 

of SAN and workgroup 

management software solutions. 

This certification allows joint 

customers with rich media files to 

integrate metaSAN into their 

existing workflow environments. 

Atempo Digital Archive enables 

end-users to archive data either 

manually, automatically, or 

through policies and applications 

such as Final Cut Pro, from 

metaSAN storage to tape 

libraries or other storage devices. 

Media assets can then be 

retrieved, through metadata 

indexing from and to metaSAN 

managed storage resources. 

“Broadcasters, film producers 

and post production facilities 

produce huge amounts of digital 

data that must be ingested, 

edited, distributed, archived and 

managed daily,” said Alex 

Lefterov, CEO, Tiger Technology. 

“The seamless interoperability 

between metaSAN and Atempo 

Digital Archive offers our mutual 

customers a high-performance, 

cross-platform, file-level 

SAN with simplified storage 

management and file 

archiving capabilities.” Atempo 

Digital Archive is the first 

archiving solution to integrate 

with metaSAN. 

www.atempo.com 

A digital way of working 

Digital Perspectives 

Melanie Dayasena-Lowe talks to 

Niall Duffy, managing director of 

media technology firm Mediasmiths, 

about how the move from tape to 

file-based workflows has changed 

the way people work 

Working with large companies such 

as Sky, BBC, TV4, Peel Media 

(Salford) and Via Sat , Mediasmiths 

has seen the move from tape to filebased 

workflows happen firsthand. 

Not only has the company seen the 

way organisations have had to 

adapt to the change but it has also 

witnessed a number of challenges. 

To take full advantage of the 

benefit digital can bring, Duffy 

argues that broadcasters must find 

a way to operate more efficiently, 

reduce operational expenditure 

and still deliver on quality content. 

Yet the nature of the business — 

and in particular some of the more 

traditional workflow processes — 

means it can be difficult to know 

the specific costs associated with 

particular activities, making it 

tricky to deal with overspend. 

So what are the key benefits to 

organisations moving to file-based 

workflows? “One of the key advantages 

is that it helps to bring greater 

fiscal clarity. The knock-on benefit 

of this means organisations can renegotiate 

the costs that are required 

to run the business on a daily basis. 

For example, businesses could renegotiate 

costs with suppliers if they 

know exactly how their services were 

being used and potentially save money 

in the long run,” Duffy remarks. 

As file-based workflows take 

off, Duffy sees three key drivers: 

visionaries, upscaling equipment 

and relocations. “Visionaries such 

as the BBC see where the world is 

going and need to be there first,” he 

explains. Secondly, as kit becomes 

unavailable, out of supply or cannot 

be replaced companies are 

forced to purchase new technology. 

Duffy believes another strong driver 

is the relocation of offices or 

refitting of greenfield/brownfield 

sites where “architecture needs to 

be completely future-proofed”. 

But implementing a file-based 

workflow is not without its challenges. 

Duffy explains, “Every person 

in an organisation, from video 

engineers to production managers 

and c-level executives need to 

embrace a whole new way of working. 

Successful transition to a 

digital-based workflow requires a 

new set of thinking and an organisational 

shift that puts digital at the 

heart of all operations. After all there 

is no point implementing a new 

process if the people using it at every 

level aren’t buying into the technology.” 

However, the transition is often 

much more challenging because of 

the way organisations are structured 

in the first place. “The very nature of 

traditional workflows, for instance, 

Niall Duffy, Mediasmiths, sees 

three key drivers for file-based 

workflows: visionaries, upscaling 

equipment and relocations 

mean even greater and unnecessary 

costs are often incurred on an almost 

daily basis because the organisation 

is not structured in a way that facilitates 

and aids the transition to digital. 

It relies on tapes and the use of 

couriers to deliver content from studio 

to studio — a method which is 

not efficient and makes it very hard 

for broadcasters to understand 

where they are spending money.” 

In another scenario when moving 

a central store to a studio, operators 

normally have a set of rules 

they like to follow if something goes 

wrong. Duffy points out the possible 

challenges facing a studio-based 

workflow: “How do you know if it 

is the final version of a file? If the 

servers crash the staff might not 

know what to do.” This highlights 

the importance of education and 

training during the implementation. 

“You need to factor in testing using 

role play. What is likely to go 

wrong? What actually happens?” 

Raising awareness 

While some broadcasters might find 

comfort in asking how a file-based 

system can meet their checklist of 

requirements, Duffy suggests asking 

more specific questions. “What do 

you want to achieve from a system? 

What would success look like? 

What’s important to you?”For some 

companies, the most important 

requirement might be to get the best 

support and the best technology and 

not necessarily cost savings foremost. 

“Others could be all about the 

price. No one has the same view.” 

Mediasmiths has observed dramatic 

changes in how people work 

as a result of file-based workflows. 

Duffy gave the example of VT dubbing 

operators who would manage 

the logistical movement of tapes. 

Their role was in far less demand 

and there were fears of redundancy. 

However, as they have a good 

handle of content workflow and 

relevant skills, many have been retrained 

for media management 

operation roles. “They knew the 

old system and could quickly 

switch to the new system.” 

In post production an associate 

producer sits with an editor and 

when the tapes arrive would write 

timelines while cutting material. 

Now with file-based systems they 

no longer need to sit with the editor. 

The associate producer can 

now search the material coming in, 

select, bundle and hand it over to 

the editor. “It gives more ownership 

to the production staff and 

they feel more empowered.” 

As a result of more automation, 

staff headcount will ultimately be 

affected. “There are physically less 

tapes so less need for runners to 

move the tapes around,”says Duffy. 

“More money for equipment 

means less money for staff.” 

HD and 3D 

As more broadcasters enter the HD 

and 3D markets, workflow and 

architecture needs to be modified or 

adapted. Duffy explains how “3D is 

a new film language” and what this 

means for workflows: “One important 

element that has been largely 

overlooked in the discussion around 

3D is the human element in the production 

workflow. This is an area 

that is likely to be profoundly 

impacted by the emergence of 3D, 

primarily because the level of technical 

knowledge required for 3D post 

production increases dramatically. 

“With 3D the biggest changes are 

at the recording and editing stages, 

with the need for new and expensive 

equipment to record, view and edit 

content. However, once the 3D video 

is recorded as a file, the changes to 

standard workflows for managing 

the content is not that different to 

HD content, with the need for 

expansion of its capacity to handle 

the increased bit rates and files sizes.” 

Transmedia 

dynamic 

For broadcasters, the emergence of 

transmedia demonstrates a shift in 

the way that TV content is pushed 

out to consumers. This new 

requirement to have content 

available in multiple formats and 

through a variety of channels creates 

a number of challenges, including the 

need for technical workflows to be 

more efficient and measurable. 

Niall Duffy thinks tablets such as 

Apple’s iPad should be seen as 

complementary to TV eg, during live 

events additional information can be 

accessed through the tablet. “It also 

provides the opportunity to cut 

content in a different way and make 

the most of it.” The big challenge is 

to be smarter about what works. 

“There is a rush to push out services 

without thinking through the full user 

experience.” He thinks we will 

continue to see more interest in 

transmedia and service & 

applications on tablets this year. 



HTC product demo: The arrival of improved smartphones knocked 

broadcast TV off its perch by making streamed 3G TV services possible 

Mobile TV 

is alive! 


mobile broadcast TV service in 

the world. 

Dr Windsor Holden, principal 

analyst at Juniper Research, said 

the FLO venture fell victim to a 

number of factors, such as the 

lack of national coverage in the 

early years of the service; the 

reliance on operators to market a 

product of which they had little 

experience; and the requirement 

for consumers to buy a new 

phone, from a very limited range. 

In addition, the arrival 

of improved smartphones and 

HSPA knocked broadcast TV off 

its perch somewhat, by making 

streamed 3G TV services possible 

— while new technologies such as 

ATSC M/H allowed the use of 

existing digital TV networks and 

avoided the need to build expensive 

new infrastructure. 

Holden added: “The demise of 

FLO TV was emblematic of the 

waning popularity of dedicated 

mobile broadcast TV networks 

worldwide. The economics of 

deployment simply don’t stand up, 

particularly given the fact that in 

many markets streaming TV apps 

typically offload the bulk of traffic 

to WiFi. Indeed, streaming TV apps 

enjoyed a surge in popularity last 

year, witness the success of MobiTV 

in the US, which had more than 

14 million subscribers by late 2010.” 

He added that despite 

MobiTV’s success, it is fair to say 

that the mobile handset is not an 

optimal device on which to watch 

TV for any length of time. “Tablets 

are another matter entirely. Video 

traffic across tablets is likely to 

grow at an exponential rate over 

the next few years.” 

Holden stated: “However, mobile 

handsets, particularly smartphones, 

are ideal for ‘snacking TV’, 

be that in the form of videoclips or 

short streamed video, and it’s in this 

area that we’re likely to see the greatest 

scaling up of traffic volume, be it 

videos watched on social networks, 

Youtube, news clips, sports clips or 

even advertisements.” 

Jan Olin, managing director for 

Europe at MobiTV, agreed that 

tablets will feature strongly in the 

future growth of mobile TV: 

“Various mobile TV services have 

been launched by mobile operators 

in Europe, and none have been 

really successful. Mobile content as 

a standard vertical is not an easy 

sell in Europe; I see it being driven 

from the TV in the home, to the 

tablet and mobile, with personalised 

services.” 

Cedric Fernandes, VP of technology 

at MobiTV, added: “We 

believe that to be successful 

with mobile TV, you need to take 

the best of both worlds,” he 

remarked, referring to scheduled 

and personalised TV services. “I 

think other services haven’t done 

so well because they have worked 

on the model of doing purely 

broadcast to the mobile phone. 

Mobiles are personalised devices, 

so you must bring personalisation 

to it,” he said. 

MobiTV announced in January 

that it has partnered with Mobile 

Content Venture, a joint venture 

between various broadcasters in the 

US to create a mobile TV service on 

broadcast technology, mobile DTV 

(the US equivalent of Europe’s old 

favourite, DVB-H). 

Yet the final service, due in the 

second half of 2011, will not be 

purely broadcast; MobiTV is combining 

its background of unicast 

(unicast-based media servers open 

and provide a stream for each 

unique user) personalised mobile 

TV, including video-on-demand, 

with broadcast, scheduled TV. 

Fernandes commented: “We think 

a broadcast-only solution doesn’t 

work, as proven in Europe and by 

FloTV in the US. You need the 

whole offering, with unicast to provide 

personalised services as well.” 

IMB hotspots 

Another wireless technology 

being spoken about at the show as 

an alternative to unicast was 

IMB, which enables the broadcast 

of content such as live TV channels, 

at the cellular transmitter 

level, using the 3G or 4G licensed 

radio spectrum, and received on 

IMB capable 3G or 4G mobile 

terminals. IMB was accepted as 

part of the Release 8 3GPP standards 

in December 2008. It was 

endorsed as the preferred broadcast 

standard by the GSMA in 

September 2009. 

On 22 June 2010, O2, Orange 

and Vodafone announced a multioperator 

IMB pilot in the UK, 

which was set to run from October 

last year for around three months. 

The trial is looking at how mobile 

broadcast services can be deployed 

using shared network infrastructure, 

on a part of the 3G spectrum 

that is rarely used, called Time 

Division Duplex (TDD). 

This spectrum already forms 

part of the 3G licences held by many 

European mobile operators, but has 

remained largely unused because of 

a lack of appropriate technology. 

Currently, 3G TDD spectrum is 

available to over 150 operators 

across 60 countries covering more 

than half a billion subscribers. 

At the show, Benoit Graves, 

senior technical expert at Orange, 

gave an update on the progress of 

the UK IMB trial. He commented: 

“The results are impressive. The 

quality of service on video is really 

good on a smartphone screen, and 

set up time including buffering 

takes just three seconds to get on 

screen. Video interruption time for 

IMB to 3G handover is typically 

under two seconds; moving from 

one network to another is very 

important for this service. We have 

a brief interruption, but it’s very 

good. And if there is congestion, 

we can target the hotspots.” 

Graves continued on the benefits 

of IMB for mobile operators: “IMB 

allows us to provide limited content 

to an unlimited number of users, 

whereas unicast, which uses HSPA 

and LTE, provides unlimited content 

to a limited number of users. IMB 

is a single frequency network with 

synchronous transmission, which 

improves the overall spectral efficiency. 

It bypasses the mobile network, 

unlike unicast, which goes over it. 

“We have to think of IMB as not just live TV, in 

the way we thought of mobile TV before, but as 

a way to offload content from the mobile 

networks” — Benoit Graves, Orange 

“We have to think of IMB as 

not just live TV, in the way we 

thought of mobile TV before, but 

as a way to offload content from 

the mobile networks. We would use 

it to push some really popular content, 

such as subscribed magazines 

and newspapers, to end users. We 

can use it to offload 10% to 20% of 

user data from the networks. By 

offloading up to 20% of mobile 

data onto IMB, we would achieve 

cost savings on our 3G and 4G networks, 

and get better quality of 

service for end users,” he said. 

The trial, which is using 

combined spectrum in the 1905- 

10MHz (Orange UK) range and 

1910-15MHz (O2 UK) is still ongoing. 

The operators have achieved 

the simultaneous broadcast of 20 live 

TV channels and 10 radio channels 

over IMB. 

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Embrace new technology and take your TV network beyond the box. 

Join us at IBC 2010, Hall 4 Stand B54 to see how our 

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meet your customers’ needs profitably. 

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go beyond the box.

Make a clever change to HD. 

NAB, Las Vegas 

09.–14. April 2011 

Stand C7525 

www.fujinon.de Medical TV CCTV Machine Vision Binoculars 

The transition to HD requires substantial investments. 

Be clever and chose Fujinon’s attractively 

priced ZA series HD lenses – the smart solution. 

Thanks to the reduced (by one) zoom factor. The ZA series offer full 

HD quality and the same user-friendly controls as incorporated with 

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Harris first with Selenio 


Harris will be presenting a range 

of its routers, multiviewers and 

signal processing units including 

the industry’s first integrated 

media convergence platform, 

Harris Selenio. 

This is a modular solution that 

combines traditional baseband 

video and audio processing, compression 

and IP networking features 

within a single, 3RU platform. 

It hosts up to 28 channels of highdensity 

baseband video processing, 

and supports both MPEG-2 and 

H.264 compression standards for 

SD, HD, mobile and 3Gbps and 

advanced audio capabilities including 

5.1 and loudness control. A 

built-in web-based GUI provides 

functional block diagrams for configuration, 

monitoring and management 

of multiple functionalities. 

Also on display will be the 

Harris Magellan family of router 

Simultaneous 

with PAG four 

By David Fox 

PAG will demonstrate new batteries, 

chargers and power converters for 

broadcasters, cinematographers and 

videographers. The PAG RMC4X is 

a rack-mountable version of PAG’s 

4-channel, simultaneous battery 

charger. It is designed to be mounted 

in a 19-inch rack system and suitable 

for use in OB vehicles or workshop 

environments. The high-powered 

charger uses current efficiently 

for fast, simultaneous charging of 

PAGlok or V-Mount batteries manufactured 

by PAG, Sony or IDX. 

The PAG L95eR Li-Ion battery is 

designed for use with the Red One 

camera. The 95Wh V-Mount battery 

provides a capacity reading, expressed 

as a percentage, in the Red One 

viewfinder. The capacities of two 

L95eR batteries can be combined, to 

provide extended run-time and a current-draw 

of 10A for the Red One, by 

using a new version of the PAG 

Power Plate dual battery mount. It 

includes the contacts that allow the 

capacity information to be communicated 

to the Red One viewfinder. 

C9921 

control panels. Available as a series 

of 10 programmable hardware 

panel types in both 1 and 2RU 

versions, the Magellan templatedriven 

panels provide intuitive, 

web-based configuration for quick 

and straightforward setup in both 

local and remote operations. 

To help streamline workflows 

in today’s multiformat environments, 

Harris is introducing ingest 

and playout support for two new 

codecs in its NEXIO platform: for 

playout, the H.264 video compression 

standard; and for production, 

the Avid DNxHD “mastering” 

format for post-editing. 

Harris will demo the LLM- 

1770 loudness logger and monitor 

compact audio monitoring 

tool. The company also adds 

3DTV signal monitoring for 

its VTM-4150PKG monitor 

and TVM-9150PKG signal 

analyser packages. 

For transmission needs, Harris 

is offering new plug-in modules 

for its Apex M2X exciter and will 

introduce its next-generation control 

platform, the Harris Multi- 

System Controller (MSC), for 

redundant television and radio 

transmission systems. 

N2502 

TSL adds to PAM family 

Making its world 

debut, the PAM1-3G16 audio monitoring 

unit features a full 16 bar graph display and Aux Input Mixer 

By David Davies 

TSL will announce the global 

launch of a brand new concept in 

audio signal monitoring and management. 

A member of the PAM 

(Precision Audio Monitor) family, 

PAM2i-C uses the features of TSL’s 

PAM2-3G16 and adds external 

screen monitoring capability, IT 

network integration and advanced 

signal management functionality 

such as Loudness Logging, Audio 

Alarm reporting and third-party 

system control. PAM2i-C forms 

part of an integrated facility wide 

audio monitoring and management 

system collecting and collating 

signal data from Ingest, Master 

Control, QC and any other critical 

element of the broadcast workflow. 

Also making its world debut is 

the PAM1-3G16. It combines the 

size and convenience of the original 

1RU multichannel audio monitoring 

unit with a full 16 bar graph 

display and many of the advanced 

features of the PAM2-3G16, such 

as Loudness Measurement, Preset 

Standard Switching and advance 

monitoring mode selection. 

TSL’s Intelligent Power Distribution 

units are deployed in broadcast 

facilities worldwide providing 

alarm monitoring and system control 

functions. The units can be used with 

any established monitoring software; 

however TSL has launched PsiMon, 

an SQL server-based system with a 

unique dashboard display. Following 

customer requests TSL has added a 

new Blast function that implements 

pre-configured power maps with a 

single button press. 

N1119 

TVBEUROPE NAB 2011 SNEAK PREVIEW 

NAB 2011 SNEAK PREVIEW 

If you've booked your Las Vegas flights then you'll find the 

following selection of new products on the aisles of the NAB 

2011 show floor. If not, then we'll do our best to let you know 

through the next few issues what's hot and what's new at 

the NAB extravaganza. Part Two of our Product Preview will 

follow next month. — Fergal Ringrose 

Chyron in the cloud: At NAB Chyron will present its graphics technologies such 

as the AXIS Graphics platform. Claimed as the world’s only cloud-computing 

graphics creator designed specifically for the broadcaster, AXIS simplifies, 

streamlines, and facilitates the graphics creation workload across many users in a 

broadcast operation. AXIS services are set to launch in Europe and the Middle 

East during 2011. Chyron’s Lyric PRO 8 graphics creation software comes with 

new scriptless conditional intelligent transitions and delivery of superior-quality 

realtime 3D animations. Channel Box 2 will also be highlighted at the NAB show. 

Built on Chyron’s Lyric technology, Channel Box 2 is the next-generation channel 

branding system that features 2D/3D design with a complete data acquisition 

toolset for all branding applications. Other products on demo include the Quintette 

newsroom graphics production and playback platform. — Fergal Ringrose 

SL1520 

Linear Acoustic airs AERO 


Linear Acoustic will be showcasing 

innovative new products, new 

features, enhanced designs and 

exclusive upgrades. A key product 

will be the new 2RU version of the 

company’s signature TV audio 

processor, the AERO.air. Key features 

that were once optional 

upgrades will be made standard on 

many 2011 versions of the Linear 

Acoustic product line. 

The AERO.air transmission 

audio/loudness manager features 

HD/SD- SDI I/O, which allows for 

de-embedding and re-embedding 

up to 16 channels of audio plus 

SMPTE 2020 (VANC) metadata. 

UPMAX-II provides a more spacious 

and stable 5.1 upmix from a 

stereo source while CrowdControl 

ensures dialogue is preserved even 

in rich stereo mixes. 

AERO.one is a simple, costeffective 

solution designed to 

Linear Acoustic showcases new 2RU 

version of its TV audio processor 

manage loudness, upmixing, metadata, 

signal routing and audio coding. 

This 1RU product allows the audio 

quality of the main path to be 

matched in a cost-effective manner. 

The LQ-1000 employs the 

ITU-R BS.1770 method for measuring 

loudness and displays the 

results in a logical, easy-to-understand 

format. New EBU mode 

adds relative gating feature and 

loudness range metering to the 

unit at no extra cost. The new 

LQ-1000 adds as standard features 

a simple ‘gain apply’ scaling 

function and HD/SD-SDI I/O. 

SU3326 

www.tvbeurope.com MARCH 2011 23

TVBEU RO PE NAB 2011 SNEAK PREVIEW 

Xedio Flash new for newsrooms; ENGSoft for Avid editing environment 

EVS pushes 3D, news 

and sports boundaries 


At NAB EVS will introduce solutions 

that are designed to perform 

advanced production and content 

management tools for fast-turnaround 

productions; new live sports 

production tools that allow graphic 

inserts and live 3D editing; and 

EVS-OpenCube MXF for tape 

ingest and workflow digitisation. 

Sola Eng 

Lighting Redefined 

For IPDirector, new API and 

MOS protocol support ensure full 

interoperability with all types of 

third party systems such as asset 

management, automation, and 

NRCS including Avid I-News, 

ENPS or Annova systems. 

EVS will introduce Xedio 

Flash, an integrated hardware and 

software system offering all-in- 

® 

Now Shipping! 

one newsroom capabilities. Xedio 

Flash is designed for small and 

regional newsrooms. It’s a turnkey 

newsroom production system that 

fits into a single 16RU rack, 

including ingest, production, editing, 

storage and playout modules. 

Epsio and its new live graphics 

tools offer a range of live autogenerated 

overlay graphics integrated 

Telestream presents a Vantage 


Telestream will feature new products 

at NAB, following its acquisition 

of Anystream last year. The 

acquisition extends Telestream’s 

deep video transcoding, broad 

workflow design and automation 

expertise to enable companies to 

address broader and deeper 

production workflows. Agility 

2G and Avalon products address 

demands for multi-platform 

SOLA ENG 

Award-Winning LED Technology 

Great quality of light 

Variable Spot & Flood—10° to 70° beam control 

Fully dimmable daylight output 

Long Throw Light Source 

Cool-running light source 

in the LSM remote controller 

and will be presented in 3D mode 

— as well as with third-party 

graphic integration 

IPEdit, EVS’ live editing tool, 

will be shown with its new 3D 

feature that allows it to work 

The Ultimate 

News Acquisition 

LED Camera Light 

LED FresnelAs much 

818 752 7009 • info@litepanels.com 

content syndication, including 

standards conversion, video 

streaming, subtitling and watermarking. 

Agility 2G, which 

automates and manages enterprise-class 

video production 

workflows, is optimised for scalability 

and reliability. 

Vantage Workflow Portal enables fast, 

easy creation and deployment of 

operator user interfaces 

Litepanels 

Live editing tool IPEdit will be 

shown with new 3D feature 

Telestream will be demonstrating 

its Vantage video workflow design 

and automation software that features 

a bridge to Agility. New 

transcoding and enterprise-class 

workflow management capabilities 

will also be demonstrated at NAB. 

A new Vantage Workflow Portal 

enables fast, easy creation and 

deployment of operator user interfaces 

for browsing video, entering 

metadata and forwarding media. A 

new SDK simplifies Vantage integration 

into existing software 

systems using a web services interface. 

Plus, new GraphicsFactory 

® 

www.litepanels.com A Vitec Group brand 

NAB Booth C6025 

instantly on live 3D feeds recorded 

on EVS XT series server for rough 

cut or highlights editing. EVS will 

also present its latest integrations 

with third-party HyperMotion systems 

and will unveil 3D SuperMotion 

replay on the XT-LSM platform. 

EVS-OpenCube is set to 

announce the latest versions of its 

tape ingest and DCP servers based 

on advanced MXF file and native 

multi-codec support (XDCAM 

HD, JPEG2000, Avid DNxHD), 

which offer producers and operators 

an efficient approach to 

streamlining production, post and 

D-cinema digitisation processes. In 

addition, EVS’ MXF special division 

will introduce ENGSoft, its 

new solution for ENG XDCAM & P2 

file and associated metadata import to 

the Avid editing environment. 

C9508 

integration allows template-based 

layered graphics and audio to be 

applied during a transcode. Also 

new is aspect ratio identification for 

MXF, GXF and LXF files. 

Wirecast Pro makes its NAB 

debut. Telestream’s Wirecast live webcasting 

software allows anyone to 

easily create live or on-demand video 

broadcasts for streaming to the web. 

Wirecast Pro builds on Wirecast’s 

advanced video production capabilities, 

adding more graphic content, 

including 3D virtual sets, live scoreboards 

and enhanced audio controls. 

SL3309 

output 

as a 250W tungsten 

but runs on 

10% of the power! 



Digital Rapids will be presenting 

its complete range of tools and 

solutions for transforming and 

distributing media. The company 

will unveil new products 

for the first time at the 

show. There will be a new version 

of Digital Rapids Transcode 

Manager featuring new 

dynamic workflow capabilities 

and further extending Transcode 

Manager’s scalability within 

facilities and beyond. 

New product StreamZ Live 

IP offers flexible, top-quality 

encoding and streaming capabilities 

of the StreamZ Live 

family in a dedicated configuration 

for transcoding live IP-based 

sources. It supports single or 

multi-programme Transport 

Stream inputs with H.264 or 

MPEG-2 compressed video. 

Also on display will be 

StreamZHD Live ABR, which 

encodes and streams live HD 

and SD content in multiple simultaneous 

bit rates and resolutions 

for delivery through the latest generation 

of adaptive streaming 


Digital Rapids tools transform media distribution 

The AT-LINE-PRO4’s HDMI output 

is capable of both digital and 

analogue switching plus full 3D 

support for HDMI pass-through 

New switch 

to Atlona 

By David Fox 

New products from Atlona 

Technologies include a 10input 

video scaler/processor/ 

switcher with HDMI output and 

3G-SDI/HD-SDI/SD-SDI to 

HDMI with stereo audio converter. 

The AT-LINE-PRO4 has 

10 inputs for all A/V devices, 

including four HDMI/DVI, 

three VGA, one component, one 

S-Video, and one composite 

video input. The unit is designed 

to upscale the signal from any 

A/V device to the native resolution 

of the connected display 

up to 1080p or 1920x1200, 

ensuring the highest picture 

quality possible. 

The AT-3GSDI-HD2 is 

used for monitoring and production 

where camera or computer 

SDI outputs need to be converted 

to work with HDMI or 

DVI displays. 

Other products on show 

include the AT-DRC444 multiinput 

presentation switcher, 

the Atlona AT-DIS7-PROHD 

7-inch testing monitor and KIT- 

PROHD3 digital connectivity 

testing kit. 

In addition, Atlona will showcase 

a wide range of fibre-optic 

extension solutions from its 

Signature Line. 

SL7706 

Discover the Kahuna 360 

A Revolution In Live Production 

Kahuna 360 is the brand new 

addition to the Kahunaverse. It 

brings major new functionality 

and flexibility to meet the 

most demanding production 

requirements. Kahuna 360 breaks 

the tradition of fixed M/Es, fixed 

resources and fixed formats, and 

supports many simultaneous 

productions that would require 

multiple switchers from any other 

provsider. 

Efficient Operations 

Creative Freedom 

Reduced Costs 

Creativity 

Unmatched freedom in 

combining mixers, keyers and 

3D DVE effects to create any 

on-air style. 

New intelligence in the switcher 

allows Kahuna 360 to handle 

the mundane, freeing you to 

create great productions. 

Flexibility 

Uniquely powerful, Kahuna 360 

can run up to 16 productions 

simultaneously from a single 

mainframe. 

FormatFusion 3 raises the bar 

for multi-format operations, 

supporting any combination 

of SD, HD, and 3G. 

Productivity 

Dramatically reduce the 

overhead of show set-up times. 

Advanced file workflow tools 

enable you to turn around 

content in seconds. 

Reliability 

Designed for mission critical 

operations with a hot-swappable 

architecture. 

Innovative Live Assist features 

provide even greater on-air 

confidence. 

StreamZHD Live ABR encodes and streams live HD and SD 

content in multiple simultaneous bit rates and resolutions 

technologies from Adobe, Apple 

and Microsoft. There will also 

be new versions of TouchStream 

portable live streaming appliances, 

StreamZHD software and The 

MediaMesh content delivery system. 

SL6010 

Routing 

Modular Infrastructure 

Conversion & Restoration 

Live Production 

Automation & Media Management 

Control & Monitoring 



NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

MADI international 

launch from Wohler 

Making its international debut 

is the new MADI-8 audio 

monitor, which enables 

broadcasters to implement the 

Multiple Audio Digital Interface 

(MADI or AES10) in their 

production workflows. The 1RU 

monitor features a 16-character 

by two-line LCD display as well 

as both coax and optical MADI 

inputs and outputs, mixed 

2-channel or mono analogue 

outputs, channel presence 

indicators, and eight 

user-nameable presets. 

Other Wohler products on 

display will include the new, 

compact Pandora system for 

clear, configurable loudness 

monitoring; the Presto 

multiview source selector; 

three new versions of Wohler’s 

award-winning HDCC-200A 

range of captioning cards; and 

enhancements to its AMP2-16V 

audio/video processing monitor. 

N2524 

WorldTV by GlobeCast 

GlobeCast and Netia, who are coexhibiting, 

will feature live demos 

and animations of their global 

distribution, media asset 

management and international 

content playout capabilities. 

GlobeCast will feature a showreel 

of some of the 170 channels in 35 

languages being distributed by 

WorldTV, a source for 

international content in the US. 

For broadcasters who want to 

ingest content locally, manage 

their media, and play out content 

in several regions of the world, 

Netia’s CMS allows customers to 

globally streamline all of their 

production processes through 

simple workflows and task 

automation. The new suite also 

allows users to connect all of 

their partners and vendors within 

a single production ecosystem, 

simplifying the sharing and 

managing of media assets. Also 

on display will be Netia’s Radio- 

Assist 8 range of digital audio 

automation software. 

SU911 

Hi Tech unveils Avita hybrid 


New at NAB will be Hi Tech 

Systems’ Avita production control 

system. The company has developed 

a unique hybrid control system 

using the latest touch screen 

technology and modular hardware 

panels to allow multiple 

users to access multiple server 

ports over a network. 

Tom Favell, managing director, 

said: “Avita takes Hi Tech’s control 

expertise right to the heart of production 

workflow, providing financial 

and operational benefits to our 

customers.” Avita is a live produc- 

Runs in the Cache: Cache-A 

Corporation is collaborating with 

HP to develop an easy-to-use 

implementation of LTFS (Linear 

Tape File System) for the 

professional media and 

entertainment industry. LTFS is 

based on open source software 

and enables users to interchange 

content across different operating 

systems, software applications 

and physical locations. This 

collaboration combines the 

benefits of LTFS, which makes 

tape look like disk, with Cache-A’s 

appliance approach, which makes 

tape behave like disk, to provide a 

complete archive solution. Once 

LTFS is completely integrated 

into the Cache-A archive 

appliance, customers will have the 

choice of using the mature tar 

format or the new LTFS format. 

Also, all existing Cache-A LTO-5 

customers using tar will be able 

to flip a switch and start using 

LTFS going forward without 

additional cost or needing to 

transfer their existing tapes. 

Like Cache-A’s tar based 

appliance, LTFS provides a 

self-describing file system on an 

LTO cartridge. — David Davies 

SL8209 

WHEN YOUR BUSINESS IS MEDIA 

YOUR BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM MUST BE MEDIA-SAVVY 

Louise © BMS Designed for Media 

End to end program management 

Linear and nonlinear scheduling 

Comprehensive rights, metadata and budget tracking 

Workflow engine automates processes 

Scalable multichannel, multiplatform 

Louise © Business Management System for Media Companies 

Office Europe Metz, France - Office USA Atlanta, Georgia 

www.proconsultant.net 

Hybrid can capture, edit and 

play out from multiple sources 


Vislink News and Entertainment 

will display its wireless 

camera transmitter, SatCom 

terminal and mobile & studio 

gateways at NAB. The LINK 

XP1310 is a high performance 

H.264 compliant HD wireless 

camera transmitter for the news 

and entertainment market. 

When combined with the new 

Lynx Diversity Receiver it offers 

a cost effective, web browser 

controlled wireless camera system 

for both traditional and new 

media broadcasters. 

The new transmitter is field 

upgradeable with HD-SDI, ASI, 

IP and composite video inputs as 

well as dual input SD encoding, 

tion system that is designed to capture, 

edit and play out media from 

multiple sources easily and quickly. 

The core of the system is the 

Avita engine that provides sophisticated 

video clip management 

tools with shared databases, multiple 

playlists and enhanced 

search facilities. Avita can be supplied 

as a software only system 

and can be fully driven by a touch 

screen and features gesture control 

of the various system applications. 

Alternatively, Avita is supplied 

as a system of hardware consoles 

and mix-and-match control 

and is transmit capable with up to 

200mW output. 

Advent NewsLite is a portable, 

IP-enabled SatCom terminal 

designed for use with current and 

new lightweight antenna systems. 

It combines the performance of 

high bandwidth broadcast contribution 

feeds with the flexibility 

of BGAN type newsgathering 

and creates new remote connectivity 

applications. 

NewsLite’s ergonomic design 

is IATA weight compliant for airport 

baggage handling and its 

modular electronics support a 

broad range of satellite antennas. 

The system on display at NAB 

will introduce a cost effective ‘two 

box’ sub 23kg solution when 

modules so that a panel can be 

constructed to suit the operational 

requirements of a particular 

workflow application. 

The hardware panel has a large 

clear touch screen with gesture 

control that is used to manage play 

lists, server set ups, clip creation 

and management, database creation 

and searching and is used to 

configure the hardware modules 

with an extensive range of functionality 

and appearance choices. 

Avita also has a unique feature 

to aid operator comfort when 

using the touch screen over 

extended periods of time – a cantilevered 

hinge that brings the 

screen to rest inclined in front of 

the hardware modules. 

N6259 

Vislink lites portable terminal 

By David Fox 

Anton/Bauer, a brand of The 

Vitec Group, will demonstrate its 

advanced Gold Mount System for 

both camera and non-camera 

applications at NAB. 

“The key to our success and 

foundation of all of our technology 

begins with the Gold Mount 

System,” said Shin Minowa, VP of 

marketing and business development. 

“While introducing new battery 

technologies to the market, it is 

an important part of our business 

to stay focused on developing inter- 

Gold Mount provides an 

interchangeable battery system 

changeable Gold Mount solutions 

for the continuous stream of camera 

and non-camera technology 

constantly being introduced. 

The Advent NewsLite IP-enabled 

SatCom terminal can be used with 

lightweight antenna systems and is 

IATA weight compliant 

combined with the 1m Advent 

Mantis antenna. 

C6019 

Gold Mount is key to success 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See us at NAB 2011 

Booth N5812 

During this year’s NAB, we will 

showcase our many new and existing 

Gold Mount solutions, the 

most secure mounting system available 

for professionals.” 

The Gold Mount provides an 

interchangeable battery system 

using a forward compatible 

approach originally developed by 

Anton/Bauer. This system allows 

for new cell chemistries as they are 

developed, allowing a battery introduced 

today to perform seamlessly 

on a charger purchased 10 years 

ago, with only a simple software 

upgrade. Three solid mechanical 

connections ‘lock’ into place, providing 

secure contact for a steady 

stream of uninterrupted power, an 

inherent problem with other 

mounts causing users to experience 

intermittent power failure. 

Anton/Bauer is now offering 

new Gold Mount power solutions 

for the Canon EOS 5D Mark 

II, EOS 7D and EOS 60D 

Digital SLR cameras, the 

QR-DSLR, which addresses the 

needs of broadcasters and filmmakers 

incorporating Digital 

SLR camera video capture into 

their productions. 

C7032 


A new video server direction by Autocue 


NAB marks the official US 

launch of Autocue’s first four 

standalone, Linux-based video 

servers. The servers feature up 

to four bi-directional HD/SD 

channels for simultaneous record 

Marvin will be used in a film about 

Freddy Heineken, capturing every 

frame from two Red MX cameras 

Marvin scopes 

3D support 

By David Fox 

Marvin Technologies will introduce 

its new Marvin 2.0 on-set 

camera data management system. 

Along with support for all common 

digital cinema cameras, 

including Red, Arri Alexa, 

Silicon Imaging SI 2K and others, 

visitors will get to see Marvin’s 

new stereoscopic 3D support. 

Marvin automates the creation 

of backups, LTO tape masters, 

QuickTime proxies for offline 

editing and DVD dailies as well as 

shot logging. Now, with Marvin 

2.0, filmmakers have a choice of 

three models, ensuring data safety 

and efficient transcoding for any 

size of project. 

The new stereo 3D support 

in Marvin 2.0 allows the system 

to ingest left and right eye 

images simultaneously, archiving 

to two LTO tapes — one for 

each eye. It will render stereoscopic 

content to side-by-side, 

interleaved or checkerboard 

QuickTimes for Final Cut Pro or 

MXF files for fast import into 

Avid systems. 

Marvin 2.0 is available in three 

models based on daily shooting 

requirements. Marvin 400 can 

process 400GB of camera data 

per day, the Marvin 800 can handle 

800GB per day, and the 

Marvin 3D can ingest up to 

1.5TB of regular or stereo 3D 

footage per day. 

“We’ll be using the new 

Marvin on our next feature,” said 

director Maarten Treurniet, 

inventor of the Marvin. “The film 

is a dramatic re-telling of the 1983 

kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, 

owner of the Heineken brewing 

empire. We’ll be shooting for 45 

days and Marvin will be capturing 

every frame from two Red 

MX cameras and generating all of 

our on-set deliverables right on 

the spot. You can’t get more efficient 

than that.” 

SL1716 

and playout, and a range of storage 

capabilities. 

They can also replace tape 

machines and be used for secondary 

applications within broadcasters. A 

beta version of the next generation 

server will also be on show, which 

incorporates vision and audio mixer 

handling, virtual playback channels, 

internal character generation, 

channel branding and virtual record 

channels. This new system would 

allow customers to use a single system 

to produce live programmes without 

the need for additional hardware. 

Also being launched at the show 

is the new Master Series 12-inch 

teleprompter. Using LED backlit 

technology, Autocue’s design team 

has created the first ever slimline, 

high-bright teleprompter monitors. 

C8525 

WORKFLOW 

OVER IP 

QTube shrinks the world. 

With QTube global media workflow you can: 

Edit content located anywhere. 

From anywhere. 

Over the internet. 

Find out how QTube can revolutionize your world 

quantel.com/qtube or see it at NAB booth #SL2014 

Workflow over IP 


Autocue’s first Linux-based video 

servers can replace tape machines 



Newsroom on 

iPhone: Octopus 

will introduce its 

new product 

extension Octopus 

Mobile for the 

iPhone, an 

Octopus6 

application. 

Octopus Mobile 

aims to integrate 

mobile devices into 

newsgathering 

workflow enabling journalists to work on their stories in the field with just 

a phone in their hands. Octopus6 is available on the iPhone and Android. 

With Octopus Mobile one journalist in the field can prepare the whole story 

to be added to the rundown as breaking news quickly. Octopus Mobile is an 

offline/online client that can be used in places with no internet connection 

or when preparing a story on the go. Journalists can browse wires, 

rundowns and stories in folders; write a script, add video, etc. When 

finished, the story is sent to the Octopus6 list of stories where it is ready 

to be added to rundown — Melanie Dayasena-Lowe 

SU820 

www.mediagenix.tv 


Lynx Technik, provider of modular 

interface solutions, will debut 

its new yellobrik distribution 

amplifier and fibre products at 

NAB. The new fibre solutions 

significantly expand the line of 

compact yellobrik ‘brick-style’ 

modules. Products on show 

include the yellobrik OTT 1812 

dual-channel 3G/HD/SD-SDI to 

Fibre Transmitter. This unit provides 

two independent 3G/HD/ 

SD-SDI to fibre transmission 

channels and supports distances 

up to 10km over single mode fibre. 

Lynx Technik will also present 

its other yellobrik units such as 

yellobrik OTT 1842 dual-channel 

Three from Shotoku 

By David Fox 

Shotoku Broadcast Systems, 

international manufacturer of 

camera support equipment, is 

enhancing its manual range with 

three new products as well as 

introducing enhancements to its 

control systems. A pneumatic 

pedestal, perfect counter-balance 

pan-and-tilt head, and positional 

calibration system will all be 

shown for the first time. 

Shotoku’s newly developed 

TP200 two-stage pneumatic pedestal 

has a maximum payload of 177lbs. 

and supports a wide-range of camera 

configurations. Its innovatively 

designed column and base offers 

maximum stability and operational 

flexibility. One-step foot brake and 

Lynx expands yellobrik family 

single-action cable enables precise 

movements and control at all times 

and fast and easy positioning. 

The SX300 perfect counterbalance 

pan-and-tilt head, designed 

to support portable cameras with 

viewfinders and prompters, has a 

maximum payload of 83.8lbs. Its 

robust structure and wide-range 

of precise balance mechanisms 

WHATS’On allows us to launch 

new channels and on-demand services 

without a proportional 

increase in staff. 

yellobrik amplifier has been 

designed for wide bandwidth 

3G/HD/SDI to fibre transmitter 

with CWDM and yellobrik OCM 

1891 — 9-channel CWDM fibre 

optic multiplexer. 

The new fibre units come with 

a power supply and transport 

case and can be used as a standalone 

device or racked mounted 

supports a versatile variety of 

camera configurations. The 

SX300’s mount can be either flat 

base or 150mm ball. 

SPI-Touch was developed to 

offer a totally new way of positional 

calibration for Virtual 

Studios. It eliminates the need to 

mark the studio floor and move 

the pedestal making calibration 

easy and fast. 

C8528 

New two-stage pneumatic pedestal 

and counter-balance pan-and-tilt head 

The 

CEO 

using the yellobrik 1RU 19-inch 

chassis. Up to 14 modules (mixand 

match yellobriks) plus central 

and redundant power supplies 

can be accommodated in the 

yellobrik rack. Up to two of the 

9-channel multiplexers/demultiplexers 

can be housed in the 

yellobrik 1 /2-inch RU chassis. 

The company is also expanding 

its yellobrik line with a new distribution 

amplifier. The yellobrik 

DVA 1704 is a compact ‘brickstyle’ 

one input, 4 output (1>4) 

analogue video or sync distribution 

amplifier. It distributes analogue 

SD and HD video signals or SD bilevel 

and HD tri-level sync pulses. 

N820 

MediaGeniX 


NAB world debut for Safe Switch 3G and two new versions of Up-Down 3G 

Clean switch for Crystal Vision 


Crystal Vision will be showing its 

latest range of interface products 

with extra features. Products include 

Safe Switch 3G provides clean and 

intelligent 2 x 2 switching between 

two 3Gbps, HD or SD sources 

a 2x2 switch which combines clean 

with intelligent switching, two new 

versions of its dual-output up/down/ 

cross converter, an upgraded down 

converter with enhanced GPI functionality, 

a colour corrector for 25 

different video standards and an 

aspect ratio converter for live use — 

along with Crystal Vision’s four 

group embedder/de-embedder and 

multi-functional synchroniser which 

are now shipping. 

Making its world debut at 

NAB will be Safe Switch 3G, 

which provides clean and intelligent 

2 x 2 switching between two 

3Gbps, HD or SD sources. 

Crystal Vision will be introducing 

two new versions of Up- 

Down 3G, now available in five 

versions. Up-Down 3G allows flexible 

up, down and cross conversions 

between 3Gbps, HD and SD 

sources and can perform two conversions 

simultaneously — putting 

out co-timed dual outputs that 

TMD flexes 

its features 


TMD will launch Version 4 of its 

Mediaflex suite of media business 

applications. Mediaflex V4 allows 

users to better create, manage and 

monetise their media content. TMD 

will also be releasing the latest 

enhancements to its i-mediaflex 

Digital Asset Management platform. 

Mediaflex V4 includes new 

user-configurable screen layouts 

along with significant data model 

enhancements enabling clients to 

design their own metadata 

schema. Workflow developments 

include new integrations with 

broadcast technologies including 

Amberfin iCR, Rhozet Carbon 

Coder and Harris Nexio servers. 

Building on the core 

Mediaflex MetaServer, i-mediaflex 

provides a web-based applications 

environment for users to 

search, browse and create media 

workflow processes from the 

wider enterprise and beyond. 

N3716 

remain constant in format (as 

either 3G/HD or SD), even if the 

input changes. Up-Down-AT 3G 

and Up-Down-ATX 3G provide 

extra data handling features for 

playout applications, with conversion 

of timecode between SD 

DVITC and HD ATC and audio 


routing by stereo channel. Up- 

Down-ATX 3G can additionally 

carry teletext and subtitle information 

across different definitions. 

Other products on display include 

the latest versions of its Q-Down 

range of down converters such as Q- 

Down-AG 3G and audio products 

like TANDEM 3G and SYNNER-E 

3G. Crystal Vision has also released 

ARC-20MC, a new product for SD 

users who need to change the aspect 

ratio of their signals. 

Making its Las Vegas debut will 

be a modular colour corrector and 

legaliser for 25 different video standards. 

CoCo 3G supports the 50Hz 

and 59.94Hz standards for 3Gbps, 

HD and SD and the 23.98, 24 and 

25fps progressive video standards 

for film to HD video transfers. 

N1520 



Enhancements to EditShare Ark include a new partial file 

restoration capability that supports virtually any codec 

EditShare continues to expand 


EditShare will unveil its new HD 

production platform at NAB. 

By integrating its five product 

lines, the company can provide 

an end-to-end production workflow 

for managing multi-camera 

productions such as reality shows, 

sitcoms and soap operas. Geevs 

(ingest/playout), Flow (asset management), 

Ark (archiving) manage 

creation and movement of media 

across the production workflow 

with EditShare XStream (shared 

storage system) at the core managing 

content access and storage. 

Geevs captures multiple channels 

of HD video, in any codec — 

PRORES, DNXHD, or XDCAM 

— and records files direct to the 

EditShare shared storage systems. 

Flow automatically generates 

proxy files for quick and easy 

viewing over the network. Users 

can also feed a signal into a switcher 

to get a switched version of 

what they are shooting. 

EditShare will showcase 

major advancements in archiving 

solutions — EditShare Ark 

— at NAB. EditShare Ark offers 

media protection for broadcast 

and post, providing hard disk 

and tape-based options for 

backup and archiving. Major 

enhancements include a new 

partial file restoration capability 

that supports virtually any 

codec. Also new for NAB is the 

Ark Wizard based tool that 

helps facilities convert their 

videotape archives into a filebased 

archive. 

SL4728 

Media for the 

Enterprise 


Pilat Media will be presenting its 

centralised modular platforms at 

NAB. The company’s IBMS 

broadcast management software 

has been enhanced by the addition 

of an advanced Performance 

Dashboard system. It is an operational 

tool that ties together workflow 

processes and business information 

to monitor and display the 

status of a large number of business 

processes. At-a-glance visuals 

and graphic displays quickly and 

efficiently highlight exceptions 

and alert key business executives 

to items needing attention. 

Pilat Media also offers the 

IBMS Enterprise Traffic 

Management Console — a single 

point of control to drive 

business and traffic operations 

from schedule creation to reconciliation. 

It also introduces the 

concept of streams, a matrix of 

channels or networks across 

regions, to define the span of 

actions and visualise the status 

of processes. 

IBMS:Adapt is an advanced 

business customisation layer, 

which can now act as an enterprise-scale 

workflow orchestration 

and integration hub. The 

enhanced module includes a 

comprehensive toolkit for assembling 

complex integrations using 

file and web services, customisable 

control logic, direct access 

to the full repository of metadata, 

and integration with 

IBMS’ dashboards, reporting, 

and analysis functions. 

N4429 



Granite 2000 features a new wide 1 M/E control panel with key priority controls 

Broadcast Pix adds Granite 


Broadcast Pix’s latest addition to the 

Granite family of live production systems 

will make its show debut at NAB. Granite 

2000 features a new wide 1 M/E control 

panel and the company has also announced 

an enhanced control panel for its 2 M/E 

Granite 5000 system. The Granite 2000 is 

available now, and the new panel for the 

Granite 5000 began shipping in January. 

Both control panels provide faster access to 

all of Granite’s video and file-based content. 

Combined with Granite’s Fluent file-based 

workflow software, the new panels enable a 

single operator or small team to create highly 

compelling live video for broadcasts, webcasts, 

events, and other productions. 

“Granite provides so much power to combine 

live video and file-based content that we 

just had to bring out some larger panels to 

access it all,” said Ken Swanton, president of 

Broadcast Pix. “No other switcher control 

panels enable a single operator to create such 

amazing live video,” he claimed. 

The Granite 2000 control panel provides 

a much larger work area than the Granite 

1000. It expands the number of input buttons 

from nine to 16 (and reaches 32 with 

shift), doubles the number of keyer buttons 

from three to six, and increases auxiliary 

output buttons from two to 10. It also adds 

key priority controls, as well as mnemonics 

to display auxiliary output assignments. 

The enhanced Granite 5000 control panel 

adds the new features that debuted on the 

Granite 2000, including dedicated Fluent 

Macros buttons, control of all aux outputs, 

and key priority controls for each M/E. In 

addition it includes extra capabilities for the 

new bank of Fluent Macros controls. 

Both new panels also feature patented 

PixButtons for every input, key and content 

library. 

N4506 

The VB330 monitoring and analysis probe can deliver a 60GB monitoring capability 

Bridge raised to new heights 


Bridge Technologies will launch a monitoring 

and analysis probe, VideoBRIDGE VB330, 

at NAB. It is the first product to be based on 

Bridge Technologies’ entirely new 10GB 

architecture. With three blades fitting in a 

single 1RU chassis and each VB330 probe 

having two 10GB interfaces, the system can 

deliver a 60GB monitoring capability. 

“The launch of the VB330 at the 2011 

NAB show is a notable milestone for 

Bridgetech,” said Simen Frostad, chairman. 

“The VB330 is a big advancement on the existing 

solutions available to the industry, and raises 

the bar for heavy-duty performance in the 

highest traffic situations. There is already a lot 

of demand for a probe like the VB330 and as 

more 10GB infrastructure comes into operation 

the demand will increase rapidly.” 

Other products on display at the show 

include the new VB12-RF monitoring/measurement 

appliance, the VB262 DUAL 

QAM/VSB input option card, microVB with 

analytics and VideoBRIDGE 4.7 software. 

The company will also introduce a new 

EC (Enhanced Chassis) for VideoBRIDGE 

probes. It features redundant power supplies, 

front-to-back airflow, six CPUcontrolled 

high-speed fans, and high-grade 

cast alloy metalwork. The new chassis has 

been designed for NEBS-compliance and 

has also been engineered to accept future 

generations of high-power cards. 

SU7302 

The 

DVICenter: 

The KVM matrix that delivers 

crystal clear images 

Leading 

the way in 

digital KVM 

www.gdsys.de 

NEW: 

DYNAMIC 

PORT 

TECHNOLOGY 

The new DVICenter from Guntermann & 

Drunck is a DVI Matrix switch that optimises 

studio workflow. Offering centralised 

configuration through a web interface or OSD, 

it provides multiple users with access to a 

series of computers using different platforms 

simultaneously. 

This unique KVM broadcast solution provides 

a high resolution of 1920x1200 @ 60Hz over 

distances of up to 280m by CAT cabling and up 

to 10km by fiber optics. Which means computers 

can now be based in a dedicated plant room, 

gaining more space in the studio with less heat 

and noise. Yet despite the distance between 

computers and consoles, users enjoy brilliant 

video quality with absolutely no loss of quality. 

The DVICenter allows engineers and IT 

administrators to service and configure the 

system, without disturbing studio or post 

production personnel and so allowing 

continuous use, 24/7. It supports both PS/2 

and USB keyboards, offers Dynamic Port 

technology – 32 ports in total – and any number 

of computer and workstation connections can be 

freely chosen. This ensures flexibility for all your 

future tasks. 



I-Movix shows latest SprintCam 

By David Fox 

I-Movix will debut the latest version 

of SprintCam Vvs HD 

(Phantom-Powered), the ultraslow-motion 

system for live HD 

broadcast production. SprintCam 

Vvs HD now operates at frame 

rates up to 2,700fps in 1080i50 

or up to 5,800fps in 720p60 

(more than 200 times slower than 

live action) and provides instant 

replay at native HD resolution 

and image quality. 

New features include a dual 

output that allows a camera operator 

to shoot and record at the 

same time, segmented memory, 


Making its NAB debut, Telecast’s 

new family of fibre-optic links for 

robotic cameras delivers the established 

functionality of the company’s 

original ‘HD/POV’ 

solutions,plus the option 

of Ethernet control, 

enclosed 

in small ruggedised 

housings. 

T h e 

CopperHead 

3000 Series 

is the newest 

addition to 

Telecast Fiber 

ramping of speed within a replay, 

dual output of live action and 

replay sequences, and integration 

of both live- and replay-view 

on the viewfinder. Operational 

enhancements include compatibility 

with EVS server ultramotion 

mode, a digital lens 

interface for better iris and lens 

switch control and improved 

replay controls. 

Specially designed for live 

broadcast use, SprintCam Vvs 

HD can be specified in a standard 

camera version or optimised 

for shoulder-mounted 

portable shooting, providing an 

New Telecast fibre links 

Systems’ patented CopperHead 

family of camera-mountable fibre 

optic transceivers, providing a single 

fibre optic link between any professional 

camera or 

camcorder 

and the 

broadcaster’s 

truck, control 

room, 

or ‘video 

village’ position. 

It can 

handle all 

vital camera 

signals and can 

be configured 

The new CopperHead 3400 multiplexes four HD/SDI signals 

SprintCam Vvs HD is an ultra-slow-motion system for live HD broadcasts 

for specific applications such as 

ENG or multi-camera use. 

Telecast will show the 

CopperHead 3050, specifically 

designed to meet the unique requirements 

of ENG and satellite news 

gathering (SNG), and the Copper- 

Head 3200,which offers an affordable 

yet powerful multi-camera solution 

for a range of HD broadcasting 

applications. Both systems deliver 

uncompressed HD video and simultaneously 

transport bidirectional 

digital (SDI or HD/SDI) and analogue 

(NTSC or PAL) video, as well 

as all two-way camera control, audio, 

video, data, sync, tally/call, prompter, 

and intercom signals between the 

camera and the base station. The new 

CopperHead 3400 multiplexes four 

HD/SDI signals, as well as camera 

control, return video, intercom, and 

all of the other signals required for 3D 

rigs and/or Phantom-style high-speed 

camera systems. 

C8925 

Media puzzles solved. 

 


Sound Devices will introduce 

the latest hardware accessory for 

its 788T digital recorders, the 

new CL-WIFI. The CL-WIFI 

allows users to control the 788T 

from anywhere on set. It works 

together with its companion iOS 

software app to allow iPads, 

iPhones and iPod Touches to 

control a connected 788T. 

The CL-WIFI turns an iOS 

device into a simple, portable 

control surface that allows a 

sound mixer to move around on 

set, away from the sound cart, 

yet still have extensive control 

and monitoring of their 788T 

recording system. 

“Sound Devices constantly 

strives to provide intuitive accessories 

and firmware updates to 

Front Porch Digital brings you DIVASolutions, the world leader in integrated 

video migration, management, and online publishing. 

Our team of experienced video specialists is dedicated to supporting you 24x7 

in the design, delivery and implementation of modular, scalable solutions that 

ensure your success. 

Solutions that work the way you do. It’s that simple. 

outstanding level of convenience 

and creativity in ultra-slowmotion 

action. 

The SprintCam Vvs HD system 

comprises the latest generation 

Vision Research high-speed 

HD camera; an operational control 

panel that provides a broadcast-quality 

colour matrix and 

control of frame-rate choice; a 

slow-motion remote that allows 

the user to select a video sequence 

and instantly replay it with an 

HD-SDI output for live broadcast 

or storage on any HD-SDI 

recorder for a later use; and the 

camera control unit, which provides 

control of the slow-motion 

instant replay, camera control, 

and data interface between a camera, 

EVS server, or SDI recorder. 

C4644 

Sound Devices adds WIFI 

visit fpdigital.com 

sales@fpdigital.com 

CL-WIFI is a Wi-Fi access point that 

allows users to control the 788T 

digital recorders anywhere on set` 

help meet the growing needs of 

our new and existing 7-series 

recorder customers,” said Jon 

Tatooles, managing director for 

Sound Devices. 

“The CL-WIFI was created 

to help sound professionals 

manage their 788T regardless of 

their location on set for production 

applications that require 

non-tethered audio recording 

control, such as critical soundfor-picture 

and music productions 

that require the sound 

mixer to record while not directly 

connected to the dedicated 

sound cart.” 

The hardware CL-WIFI is a 

Wi-Fi access point, when the iOS 

device connects to it over Wi-Fi. 

The CL-WIFI app then uses the 

Wi-Fi connection to communicate 

with the 788T. 

The iOS app controls metering 

of 788T input and track 

levels, time code, file length, 

frame rate display and record 

start/stop control input-to-track 

routing enabling take list and 

take name editing. 

C2946 


Dalet targets sports production market 

Debuting at NAB is Dalet Sports Factory, 

a new MAM-based solution developed 

specifically for sports production 


Dalet will debut its new line up of 

next-generation Media Asset 

Management (MAM) systems at 

NAB. Dalet Sports Factory, Dalet 

News Suite and Dalet Media Life 

are designed to address the specific 

production and media management 

needs of sports, news and programme 

workgroups. “This year at 

NAB, we will unveil Dalet Sports 

Factory, a powerful new MAMbased 

solution developed specifically 

for sports production. The acquisition 

of Gruppo TNT last year 

brought a unique and recognised 

‘savoir faire’ in sports production, 

which we have further developed 

and integrated with our MAM platform,” 

said Raoul Cospen, director 

of marketing, Dalet. 

Dalet Sports Factory offers new, 

fast sports production tools, fully 

integrated within an enterprise 

MAM platform. Sports Factory’s 

Volicon observes 

three additions 


Volicon will unveil three major additions 

to its Observer product line: 

ASI/transport stream logging, 

Loudness Monitoring, and AC- 

3/Dolby Digital decoding. Volicon 

Observer captures, stores, and indexes 

broadcast content from multiple 

channels, offering users simultaneous 

web access to recorded video content 

from their desktop computers. 

The new Observer ASI/ 

Transport Stream Monitoring and 

Logging system gives broadcasters, 

networks, and cable operators the 

ability to handle MPEG-2 and 

MPEG-4 transport streams and 

retains the content and extensive 

metadata carried within them. 

Using intuitive overlay controls 

within its web-based interface, 

Observer provides continuous measurements 

identifying programme 

loudness and true-peak signal 

levels. Observer’s fully compliant, 

integrated loudness monitoring 

simplifies the overall monitoring 

workflow and adds value by eliminating 

the hassle and cost of working 

with external systems. 

The Volicon Observer AC-3 

(Dolby Digital) decoding option 

makes it easy for operators to 

capture and log HD/SD-SDI 

content without the need for an 

expensive external AC-3/Dolby 

Digital decode. 

SU5902 

highlights and replay components 

cover all the moves — logging, playby-play 

highlights and playback, 

and instant replay with multiple 

camera angles and slow motion 

In the newsroom, Dalet News 

Factory applies the principle of 

story-centric production, in which 

all departments of the newsroom 

collaborate in a multimedia oriented 

production — from the news desk, 

planning coverage and production, 

to the control room. It fully integrates 

desktop scripting with video 

Compact, lightweight, powerful and cost effective 

3G/HD/SD-SDI and Analogue formats 

Full up/down/cross conversion 

Separate cross/down conversion output 

Up to 16 channel embedded audio, 8 digital 

and 4 analogue 

and multimedia tools, providing a 

smooth and intuitive workflow, 

from ingest through automated 

playout and multi-platform delivery. 

Dalet Media Life is an enterprise 

solution designed to meet the complex 

production and asset manage- 

New FA-9500 

Multipurpose Signal Processor 

Back to the future for frame synchronization 

ARC Aspect Management 

AVO automatic video optimisation 

Colour Corrector 

Web monitoring and control 

Frame Rate Conversion option 

More options 

A complete line of frame synchronizers from our affordable analogue 

model up to our new multi purpose signal processor. 

ment needs of multi-platform content 

providers. Cospen stated, “The 

explosion of new media platforms 

with multiple formats and delivery 

standards has generated an exponential 

growth in content, with a 

corresponding need for improved 

content management and more efficient 

production processes. Dalet 

Media life answers this call.” 

SL6014 

3G-SDI Frame Synchronizer 

3G-SDI 

Input Output 

HD-SDI 

HD Analogue Component* 

SD-SDI 

SD Analogue Component* 

Y/C* 

Embedded Audio (16 Channels) 

AES/EBU (8 Channels) 

Analogue Audio (4 Channels) 

Dolby E* 

Head Office (Japan) Tel: +81 (0)3-3446-3936 

UK (London) Tel: +44 (0)20-8391-7979 

Italy (Milan) Tel: +39 039-881-086/103 


FA-9500 

HD-SDI 

HD Analogue Component* 

SD-SDI 

SD Analogue Component* 

Analogue Composite Analogue Composite 

Y/C* 

Frame Rate Converter 

Optical* Optical* 

Dolby Digital* 

Time Base Corrector 

Up Converter 

Down Converter 

Cross Converter 

Aspect Ratio Converter 

A/D Converter 

D/A Converter 

Proc Amp 

Video Delay 

Colour Corrector 

Auto Video Optimizer 

Logo Generator 

Audio MUX 

Audio DEMUX 

Audio Delay 

Sampling Rate Converter 

A/D Converter 

D/A Converter 

Down Mix 

Channel Re-mapping 

Channel Mute 

Dolby E Encoder 

Dolby E Decoder 


Embedded Audio (16 Channels) 

AES/EBU (8 Channels) 

Analogue Audio (4 Channels) 

Dolby E* 

* options 

www.for-a.com


NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

New Front Porch 

answers for DIVA 

In response to customer 

feedback, Front Porch Digital 

has enhanced its DIVApublish 

video publication platform so 

that it can handle even more 

highly complex broadcast 

workflows. It has also 

developed a new product, 

DIVAframe, to incorporate the 

metadata-creation tools that 

were formerly a part of 

DIVApublish. To reflect the 

cloud-based publishing 

platform’s new capabilities, the 

company has added the suffix 

‘mpx’ to the DIVApublish name. 

The integration of DIVAframe 

with DIVApublish mpx enables 

management of content 

distribution to key platforms, 

and the automated creation of 

deeply searchable frame-level 

metadata for video content. 

DIVApublish mpx enable users 

to extend their existing digital 

file-based workflow from 

DIVArchive straight through to 

publication of content to online 

communities and VoD 

systems. With DIVAframe, 

users can scrutinise their 

content down to the framelevel, 

then annotate it 

automatically and precisely 

using advanced tools such as 

facial recognition, scene 

detection, speech recognition, 

natural language processing, 

ad-break detection, and 

closed-caption time alignment. 

N5806 

Photon Beard 

goes wireless 

By David Fox 

Lighting equipment manufacturer 

Photon Beard is launching a new 

concept in low heat, energy efficient 

location lighting with its 

PhotonSpot Nova 270 light fixture. 

The pre-production prototype, 

seen by the company as the future 

of location and broadcast lighting, 

is being shown for the first time at 

NAB and is said to be the world’s 

first to use a new, highly efficient 

light source that is far more efficient 

than either HMI or LED. 

The PhotonSpot Nova’s power 

consumption is just 270W and 

can be mains or battery powered. 

Because of its cool-running 

nature, no fans are required. 

The unit is focusable from 12 

to 15˚ and is daylight colour 

balanced within a near continuous 

spectrum. 

Photon Beard will also introduce 

a new ‘break-out 

box’ for its Wi Light 

range — a low-cost concept 

for remote studio 

lighting system control — 

to provide wireless control 

of non-Photon Beard 

devices. Wi Light is 

designed as a low-cost, 

easy to install add-on 

to the DMX-controlled 

series of Photon Beard 

Highlight fluorescents, 

but can also be used to 

control a mixture of fluorescent 

and incandescent 

lighting systems. 

Each Wi Light unit 

contains a unique identity 

that is added to all transmissions. 

To close the 

network and eliminate 

interference, each receiver 

can be set to respond to 

only one transmitter. 

C3346 

DK focuses on audio loudness 


In light of the recent CALM legislation 

on audio loudness in the US, 

DK-Technologies is highlighting the 

audio and video metering products 

within its range that are compliant 

with ATSC recommendations, as well 

as the European EBU R128 and ITU 

BS1770/1771 recommendations. 

The company is also promoting 

a free software update offer to all 

customers with a MSD or PT0 600 

series audio meter, which will 

enable them to use the new recommendations. 

All new MSD and 

PT0 600 series meters will automatically 

have these specifications 

included, allowing customers access 

to use both ATSC and EBU R128 

recommendations. 

DK-Technologies will also be 

showing a number of new innovations. 

These include the PT0700R 

Client Panel — a remote unit for the 

MIRANDA NVISION COMPACT ROUTERS 

NOW STOCKED BY ARGOSY 

Robust, slim-line and affordably priced, the Miranda NVISION Compact 

Router Series is ideally suited to all utility routing applications. 

Extremely small form factor for space-conscious 

production environments 

Ultra light weight ideal for mobile applications 

Photon Beard’s Managing Director Peter Daffarn 

with Wi Light, a new easy to install wireless 

control unit for remote lighting systems control 

Wide range of matrix sizes – 8x8, 16x4, 16x16, 32x4, 32x32 

Comprehensive array of formats including 3Gbps/ HD/SD, 

Analogue Video and Audio, AES and Port/Data routing 

Powerful configuration tools providing easy set up of salvos and partitioning 

in addition to control panel configuration and network settings 

Multiple control capabilities using Ethernet, serial control, local and remote control 

panels, in addition to control by other Miranda NVISION or third party routing systems 

SERVING THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY 

CABLES CONNECTORS PATCH PANELS MDUs RACK SYSTEMS FIBRE/HYBRID CABLES ROUTERS VIDEO ACCESSORIES 

Argosy products are available from stocks at locations in the UK, UAE, India and Malaysia 

Visit Argosy 

at NAB 2011, 

Booth no. 

N4316 

ARGOSY 

t: +44 1844 202101 

f: +44 1844 202025 

www.argosycable.com 

e: sales@argosycable.com 

Free software update for PTO 600 users 

PT0760M HD/SD Multi-channel 

Video Waveform Monitor. It gives 

users access to a set of soft keys that 

replicate those on the main unit. 

Also on show will be the 

PT0740M, an audio-only version of 

the PT0760M waveform monitor. 

This unit, which is aimed at engineers 

who don’t need a video measurement 

tool, offers de-embedding from a single 

HD/SD SDi input and full 

StarFish surround sound metering. 

C7840 

ViewCast High-Def systems 


ViewCast will present two new 

HD products, the Niagara 4100 

and the Osprey 710e HD. The 

Niagara 4100 is designed to 

quickly and easily stream HD 

content to broadband and mobile 

networks including live adaptive 

streaming to Apple iPhones and 

iPads. With the ability to ingest 

HD video, the Niagara 4100 is 

suitable for live sports and newsgathering 

operations, webcasting, 

or any streaming application. 

With ViewCast’s SimulStream 

technology, the Niagara 4100 can 

simultaneously stream multiple 

resolutions at multiple data rates 

in multiple streaming formats, 

including MPEG-4, Adobe 

Flash H.264, Windows Media 

(Silverlight compatible), and 

Apple iPhone. 

The Osprey 710e HD and SD 

combination video capture card 

comes with advanced features, 

including AES digital audio, 

high-powered PCI Express (PCIe) 

technology for maximum performance, 

acceptance of both SD and 

HD inputs, automatic adaptation 

between SD and HD signals, onthe-fly 

HD to SD downscaling and 

low-profile architecture for formfactor 

constrained environments. 

SL5010 

ToolsOnAir hosts 

workflow partners 


Together with partners Archiware, 

Chesapeake Systems, Laurdan and 

mxf4mac, ToolsOnAir will be 

demonstrating its just: Broadcast 

Suite, a complete Apple-based 

workflow for the broadcast industry. 

“There has been much discussion 

and concern among systems 

integrators about the announcement 

by Apple that they will be discontinuing 

their Xserve hardware, 

and how that will affect the viability 

of other server products,” remarked 

Gilbert Leb, ToolsOnAir’s VP of 

sales and marketing. “At NAB this 

year we will be showing a number of 

innovative alternatives which are 

already available now.” 

ToolsOnAir’s just: Broadcast 

Suite, dubbed TV Station in a 

Mac, boasts more than 100 installations 

worldwide. This year the 

company has teamed with select 

partners to demonstrate the viability 

and versatility of the Macbased 

end-to-end workflow from 

ingest to playout. 

SL1414 


SGL back to the future 


At NAB SGL will unveil what it 

terms the next-generation of archiving, 

including FlashNet and non- 

FlashNet systems. SGL will show 

key new features to FlashNet 6.4 

highlighting its Open System architecture 

and the benefits of providing 

reliable, scalable solutions with 

substantial cost and workflow 

improvements for broadcasters, 

post production facilities, news/ 

sport organisations and film preservation 

archives. The company will 

also highlight its support for the 

Haivision Furnace 6.0 debut 


Debuting at NAB is the latest 

version of Haivision’s Furnace 

IP video distribution system, 

Furnace 6.0, with enhanced workflow 

and a new InStream player. 

Furnace 6.0 with MultiStream 

enables users to record a classroom 

environment, with both 

the speaker and any computer content 

streamed and captured simultaneously 

at full frame rate, in HD/ 

high resolution, and in realtime. 

Realtime metadata (HotMarks) 

can be applied and multistream 

content automatically published to 

authorised users. The system also 

includes a revamped InStream, 

Haivision’s patented client/server 

player technology. 

Also on show is Haivision’s 

CoolSign digital signage solution 

featuring n-tier architecture, native 

multicasting support, realtime connectivity, 

full edge device monitoring 

and control, flexible media 

scheduling, closed data architecture 

and bandwidth usage controls. 

Create Compelling Live Video 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granite 1000 System 

FlashNet 6.4 can store index information on the Cartridge Memory chip 

New products on display include 

the Makito family of HD H.264 

encoders and decoders. The new 

Makito encoder offers efficient and 

affordable distribution, capture, and 

rebroadcast of HD video. Recently 

upgraded to revision 1.5, the 

Makito now supports constant bit 

rate (CBR) encoding and, optionally, 

realtime metadata capabilities. 

Haivision’s Makito H.264 

decoder offers extreme low-latency 

decoding available with less than 

70ms of latency at video resolutions 


Create Compelling Live Video 


latest version of Apple’s Final Cut 

Server (FCS) and Avid Interplay 2.3. 

SGL will introduce an innovative 

system for writing data to the LTO 

Program (HP, IBM & Quantum) 

Linear Tape File System (LTFS). 

This real world working demonstration 

will illustrate how FlashNet 

is breaking new ground in archive 

technology. Specific to the LTO-5 

tape format and all future LTO tape 

formats, LTFS enables true interoperability 

between what were disparate 

systems. As well as for the broadcast 

sector this approach also has wide 

implications for post production and 

acquisition workflows where content 

can be acquired to disk on location, 

dragged and dropped to data tape 

and transported back to a facility. 

N2821 

Furnace 6.0 has an enhanced 

workflow and InStream player 

of up to 1080p60. When paired 

with the Makito HD H.264 

encoder, this system provides efficient 

delivery of HD video via 

HD-SDI or HDMI output. 

SL9112 


NAB debut 

for Norwia 


Norwegian NAB newcomer Norwia 

will introduce the miniHUB optical 

video distribution platform and the 

OC-4B-SDI optical video distribution 

card. The miniHUB platform 

1RU chassis features a ‘Click & Go’ 

card locking system, free controller 

card and a quality engineered next 

generation frame. 

The OC-4B-SDI is a 3G-SDI 

optical video distributions card that 

can be populated with Norwia 

SFP’s from one to four channels as 

the user needs expand. The 1 card 

can be used for transmit, receive or 

both. This flexibility is driven by 

Norwia’s new Auto SFP technology 

and tightly integrated with 

Norwia’s Flexi I/O technology to 

give greater flexibility with the BNC 

signal direction. 

All of these features give the 

customer a building block tool 

that provides Optical video links, 

Optical distribution, Optical transponder 

and add/drop/pass networks 

all on the one card and all at the 

user’s discretion. The company’s 

optical distribution solution can 

morph and replaces five or more 

different cards that exist on the market 

today, according to Norwia. 

N829 

www.broadcastpix.com 

Frankfurt, Germany +49 (6163) 82 90 71 

 



Eyeheight tweets plug-ins 


Eyeheight will feature major additions 

to its range of broadcastquality 

production and post production 

tools. KARMAudioAU is 

a new plug-in for the Apple Mac 

Final Cut & Soundtrack Pro that 

performs offline scaling of an 

entire programme file to match 

audio loudness to a target LKFS 

level. It also performs an 8x oversampling 

true-peak analysis and 

corrects for true-peak overshoots. 

Sharing similar features, 

KARMAudioAS is a new plug-in 

for Avid Media Composer and 

Pro Tools. 

Eyeheight’s KA-2 Loudness 

processor with KARMAudioRT 

is a hardware solution based on 

a geNETics processor that 

allows realtime, unattended 

adaptive loudness and true-peak 

correction of stereo, 5.1 surround, 

dual stereo or dual 5.1 

surround audio. 

TVtweetCaster is an out-ofthe-box 

solution for integrating 

social media into broadcasts and 

provides for instant audience 

interaction. It includes a complete 

software and SD-SDI/HD- 

SDI hardware package for 

accessing, filtering and inserting 

Twitter content into a live broadcast. 

simpleText enables live text 

data to be inserted into a broadcast 

crawler. 

N3719 

TallyHo! with Brick House By Fergal Ringrose 

By David Fox 

BHV Broadcast is introducing three 

new products all designed to simplify 

operations, cut costs, and promote 

reliability for live productions. 

The manufacturer is debuting 

TallyHo! — a wireless on-air indicator 

for vision switchers, and Video 

Ghost — phantom power modules 

for use with digital video feeds. 

TallyHo! offers camera operators 

reliable remote on-air indication 

in the field. It is comprised of 

a base station with direct interface 

to the local vision mixer and a set 

of camera hot-shoe mounted 

receiver modules. 

Video Ghost is video equivalent of 

phantom power for audio systems 

“It stands alone in its ability to 

furnish wireless feedback to cameras; 

essential information that 

every operator in the field needs, 

but couldn’t access economically 

prior to TallyHo!” said Julian 

Hiorns, managing director of 

BHV Broadcast. 

New product Video Ghost provides 

a switchable 5V or 12V auxiliary 

power for camera accessories 

using the existing video cable. 

“Video Ghost is the video equivalent 

of phantom power for audio 

systems,” adds Hiorns. “We developed 

it to provide a set of affordable 

phantom power modules for use 

with digital video feeds. We’re 

delighted to bring this long over-due 

product to market.” 

N6531 

Pixelmetrix will launch its new generation 

network management system, 

the Consolidator, offering an 

end-to-end solution to DTV broadcasters 

to centrally monitor and 

control their broadcast operations 

performance realtime. 

It provides centralised access to 

all data and the visibility to key fault 

and performance information for up 

to a thousand Pixelmetrix probes in 

a distributed content delivery network. 

It tracks all probes realtime, 

with a combination of push notifications 

and information pull mechanisms, 

enabling faster response 

time for fault resolution. 

Introducing VideoIPath 

Is Video Transport Dead… or Being Transformed? 

Nevion’s, VideoIPath may just 

revolutionize video network 

management. From a simple, 

web-based graphical interface, 

We’re keeping this under you wraps can until monitor NAB. and manage 

all of your video traffic/ 

connections. 

Don’t miss it! Come to booth SU7217, 

or sign up for the email announcement at: 

nevion.com/is_video_transport_dead 

TVtweetCaster can insert Twitter content into a live broadcast 

The Consolidator takes on NAB 

A new application for the 

Electronic Couch Potato (ECP), 

to be featured at NAB, is the 

Video Quality Analysis (VQA) 

application. This quality measurement 

tool provides realtime 

evaluation of video quality that 

the end users experience. 

Impairments that impact the 

end users’ experience are quickly 

identified to allow corrective 

action. As the end user is continuously 

changing channels, the 

VQA on the ECP assigns each clip 

a Video Quality Index from one 

to 100, which represents the picture 

quality. 

SU7813 


San Solutions 

debuts new 

ArtiSAN products 


San Solutions will showcase new 

products within the company’s 

ArtiSAN Storage and ArtiSAN 

application platforms. The 

ArtiSAN Storage Platform 

consists of two product lines: 

the ArtiSAN 9400 series 

designed for high-performance 

film and video applications 

and the ArtiSAN 5400 series 

suitable for high capacity nearline 

media storage. 

Rack featuring multiple ArtiSAN units 

The ArtiSAN 9400 series supports 

multiple streams of 2K/4K 

media as well as all HD video 

streams including 3G and 3D 

applications. The platform 

includes San Solutions’ dual 

active RAID controllers. 

Designed for high-capacity 

requirements, the ArtiSAN 5400 

storage platform holds 192TB of 

2K/4K content as well as all types 

of video media including HD and 

3D material. Point in time volume 

images, remote volume mirroring, 

and replication services are optional 

features in this product series, 

enabling an effective disaster recovery 

storage implementation. 

New for NAB will be two versions 

of the ArtiSAN DDR, one 

designed specifically for broadcast 

workflows and the other for 

post-production. The ArtiSAN 

DDR for broadcast is an 

ingest/playback server that supports 

a broad range of formats in 

SD and HD. It offers high resolution, 

direct capture, and playback 

for high-end post production 

facilities supporting formats in 

SD, HD, and 2K. 

Also making its debut is the 

ArtiSAN Content Archive. It 

allows facilities to free up valuable 

production storage by providing 

a high-capacity, affordable 

storage tier that is easy to manage 

and maintain. The Content 

Archive features an ingest cache 

and is capable of archiving to 

both disk and/or tape tiers to 

meet the stringent requirements 

of broadcast compliance. 

SU3725 

Wireless HD video solutions 

Experience more options and speed for live video 

transmissions by using digital COFDM links without 

compromises in reliability. 

6-way high performance diversity 

Ultra low delay (40ms end-to-end) 

H.264 ready (MPEG4) 

TCP/IP Video out & remote control 

Automation platforms: New for NAB this year is NVerzion’s NCompass software platform designed to 

help stations manage the processing and playout of file-based content being received through Pitch 

Blue, Pathfire and other content delivery systems. NCompass allows stations to manage each platform 

with a single, common user interface that provides access to programme metadata and helps them take 

the content directly from the provider to the on-air video server. The company is expanding the capacity 

of its TeraStore line of disk-based storage solutions. NVerzion can now support up to 144TB of networkattached 

storage with the addition of a 3TB/48-bay configuration. The TeraStore line features unlimited 

expandability and easily integrates with popular server platforms, including Omneon, Grass Valley, Ross, 

360, and others. Its embedded Xpansion file management software provides seamless, automated file 

migration based on user-defined rules and on-air scheduling requirements. — David Davies 

SL2505 

Thrilling 

moments – 

fascinating 

perspectives. 

BMS products are used on a daily basis by hundreds of 

customers involved in all kinds of live TV productions worldwide. 


25 Years Experience in Wireless Video Transmission 

Phone: +49 6124 723900 | saleseurope@bms-inc.com | www.bms-inc.com 

DR6000 MK2 

Diversity Receiver 



Mistika fame for SGO By 

By Adrian Pennington 

SGO will showcase its flagship DI 

and stereoscopic 3D post production 

system, Mistika, and live onset 

application, Mistika Live. 

Mistika’s open architecture and 

open storage approach enables thirdparty 

systems to have direct access to 

files, providing flexible workflows. 

Internally, Mistika also uses open 

formats at the highest bit-depth quality, 

with true 16 bit floating point per 

channel processes, HDR support, 

8K+ resolution support, with optical 

quality-based processing. 

Unveiling Mistika’s Version 6, 

the system can now play 48fps and 

Signiant puts IT at ease 


Software creator Signiant will be promoting 

a range of new products and 

services: Signiant Media Exchange, 

Content Distribution Management 

(CDM) Software Version 9.0 and 

Signiant Community. 

Media Exchange (MX) is a 

secure browser-based application 

that enables IT and non-IT managers 

and staff to send content that 

is too large to send by e-mail faster 

and more easily. Users working from 

their offices or production sites, or 

even from home, can exchange 

content with other employees, customers, 

systems, and applications 

regardless of location and size of 

digital assets. MX has been 

enhanced so that media and project 

files can be moved across WAN, 

DSL, or cable, and has added new 

notification features allowing users 

to track workflow benchmarks, 

confirmations, and alerts for other 

departments. Additionally, a greater 

range of custom workflow options is 

now available through enhanced 

integration with its full system via the 

Media Gateway application. 

At NAB, Signiant will also be 

demonstrating Version 9.0 of CDM, 

which now includes two new software 

modules that allow media and IToriented 

enterprises to better manage 

their content. The new Media Gateway 

module streamlines the transfer 

and sharing of large files between 

individuals and organisations. 

SL5229 

Does your scan converter do this? 

Upconvert YouTube and Skype to full screen HD. 

BrightEye Mitto Scan Converter is the new way to takeYouTube, 

Skype video, weather radar, maps and viewer emails to your SD, 

HD or 3 Gb/s master control or routing switcher. Even a small part 

of the computer screen is upconverted to full screen HD video. 

Purveyors of Fine Video Gear - 

Loved By Engineers Worldwide 

See you at NAB N1323 

New stereo 3D tools for Mistika 

include a Matching Colour feature 

and Depth Map tool 

includes new data developments for 

both the left and right eye in stereo 

3D. The new upgrade will also 

make it possible to re-conform in 

the timeline, while still retaining 

previous effects, with the option to 

move them to new positions and 

durations. New stereo 3D tools 

include a ‘Matching Colour’ feature, 

which provides an overall 

accurate pixel-by-pixel colour 

adjustment between both eyes. 

Another stereo 3D highlight is the 

‘Depth Map’ tool which solves 

practical issues, such as colour differences 

that occur between both 

eyes, which are derived from mirror 

rigs or wrong depth when the frame 

exceeds the parallax (positive or 

negative), by adjusting this depth to 

tolerable levels. 

SL12116 

JVC camera innovation 

David Fox 

JVC Professional 

Products 

Company will 

demo its new 

KA-AS790G 

ASI module 

at NAB. It 

provides a 

compressed 

MPEG-2 output 

for microwave transmission and 

long cable runs for OB vans with no 

additional encoding required. The 

module attaches to the back of the 

GY-HM790U or new GY-HM750U 

ProHD camera without external 

wiring or adapters. 

Both HD video and audio are 

compressed using the camera’s 

built-in encoder (running at either 

19.7 or 35Mbps), which creates an 

MPEG-2 signal and then provides 

lossless transcoding to DVB-ASI. 

The module outputs the live signal 

from the camera, even while recording, 

via a standard BNC connector. 

When the camera automatically 

detects the presence of the 

KA-AS790G module, it switches to 

low-latency mode. 

“The KA-AS790G is another 

example of how our elegant modular 

approach brings added versatility 

to our ProHD camcorders. 

It’s a great tool for broadcasters 

• High Performance Scan Converter 

• Genlock reference input, timeable output 

• Easy-to-use Mac and PC interfaces, too 

• New iPhone and iPad support 

The GY-HM750U ProHD camcorder 

delivers 1920x1080 images 

that need a reliable way to uplink 

video from the field,” said Craig 

Yanagi, national marketing and 

brand manager, JVC Professional 

Products Company. “It also eliminates 

the need for an external 

encoder on location, which simplifies 

the transmission process and 

helps reduce clutter.” 

JVC will also be presenting the 

GY-HM750U ProHD compact 

shoulder-mount camcorder. It delivers 

1920x1080 images in a small, 

lightweight form factor and records 

at selectable data rates up to 35Mbps. 

The camcorder can also record HD 

footage in 720p, 1080p, and 1080i, as 

well as SD footage (480i). 

C4314 

www.ensembledesigns.com 

+1 530.478.1830 


Sensio tackles 3D concerns 


Sensio Technologies, developer 

of Sensio Hi-Fi 3D, will be 

presenting a newly expanded 

offering that specifically addresses 

the broadcast industry’s 

concerns about image quality 

and compatibility in 3D, right 

down the line. 

Sensio offers a suite of 

stereoscopic signal processing 

technologies for 3D broadcast 

production needs, from 3D format 

encoding and decoding to 

image enhancement and more. It 

caters for the widest range of 

frame-compatible formats: sideby-side, 

top-and-bottom and 

Sensio Hi-Fi 3D, the format that 

provides the highest fidelity to 

the originally captured images. 

The company’s compression 

noise reduction and format conversion 

technologies, applied to 

3D images before spatial and 

video compression, optimise the 

quality of the video signal to be 

processed, and produce a superior 

result with the best possible use 

of resources. 

The company will be demonstrating 

its end-to-end solution in 

Sync with 

never.no 


never.no will highlight its 

Synchronised Companion App, 

the latest addition to its Interactivity 

Suite (IS). This new 

emerging technology enables the 

viewer to sync iPads, PCs, or 

smartphones to action on the TV. 

Powered by IS, the Synchronised 

Companion App works 

by monitoring frame-by-frame 

changes in broadcast programming 

or live production. It then 

uses the changes to trigger delivery 

of relevant content to the 

second screen. 

The IS is a toolkit for creating 

the technical backbone of interactive 

broadcasts and digital marketing 

campaigns. It supports 

true participation TV by enabling 

viewers to influence a broadcast 

in real time, and interact with one 

another and the rest of the world. 

Visitors can get a full 360˚ view 

of an interactive broadcast and 

companion app for an iPad workflow. 

There will also be the opportunity 

for live demos of everything 

from interactive sports applications 

to user-driven music channels 

and the chance to sit in the 

producer’s seat to control the interactive 

workflow in real time. The 

app will also be on display in the 

Vizrt booth (SL5408) in conjunction 

with Vizrt graphics engines 

and touch screens. 

N3737 

partners’ equipment, and will 

be present at the Miranda 

Technologies booth. 

“Our recent acquisition of 

Algolith’s format-conversion and 

noise-reduction technologies 

enables us to offer targeted 

responses to both the technical 

and business needs of our 

clients,” said Nicholas Routhier, 

Sensio president and CEO. 

N2515 

45 m rope 

8 carabiners 

6 energy bars 

1 goal 

Focus on functionality — the new mc²66. 

Inspired by your needs — the mc²66 MKII. Not only does this much 

developed mc²66 MKII stand out with proven efficiency and outstanding 

functionality, but also with its new features, which once 

again make high tech equipment from Rastatt a worldwide standard 

for mixing consoles. Now you can benefit from the latest touch 

screen displays, a revised layout and totally reliable control computer 

redundancy. One of the best consoles available suddenly became even 

better. Only one thing has not changed: The mc²66’s outstanding 

usability, which will continue to inspire audio engineers in OB trucks, 

studios and theatres. For more information visit www.lawo.de 

Visit Lawo at Prolight + Sound 2011 

Frankfurt, April 6 – 9, Hall 8.0, Booth M91 

Sensio offers stereoscopic signal processing technologies for 3D broadcast 

production needs — from 3D format encoding to image enhancement 


Lawo AG | Rastatt / Germany

RAI Amsterdam 

Conference 8-13 September : Exhibition 9-13 September 

IBC2011 

Discover more 

IBC is at the cutting-edge of new technology in the 

rapidly evolving electronic media industry. It couples 

a comprehensive exhibition covering all facets of 

today’s industry with a highly-respected peer-reviewed 

conference that helps shape the way the industry will 

develop in the future. 

IBC2010 welcomed 48,000+ attendees from over 140 countries. 

They had access to 1,300+ key international technology suppliers 

and 300+ high-profile conference speakers. In addition, visitors took 

advantage of a variety of free extra special features including: 

• New Technology Campus – 

showcasing the latest developments 

in broadcast technology 

• Connected World – for IPTV 

and Mobile 

• Big Screen – providing the 

perfect platform for manufacturer 

demonstrations and movie screenings 

• Production Village – presenting 

the latest camera technology in a 

purpose built environment 

• range of production training 

opportunities to further your career 

• Awards Ceremony – recognises 

those who have made a real 

contribution to the industry and 

whose careers have had a positive 

impact on its future direction 

IBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK 

T +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E info@ibc.org 

www.ibc.org

New Snell processing 

platform plan for NAB 


Snell will showcase new and 

enhanced products that enable 

greater automation and more 

flexible media handling in live 

production, playout, infrastructure, 

media restoration, and transformation 

environments. 

At NAB, Snell will further 

expand its IQ Modular 3G product 

line by launching a new video 

and audio processing platform. 

The compact, highly integrated 

processing engine enables flexible 

signal handling and, in space- 

Firsts for Lawo 


Loudness metering, the latest feature 

of Lawo mc 2 consoles, will be 

demonstrated at this year’s NAB 

show. Following EBU R128 and 

ATSC A/85 specifications, and 

based on ITU1770, the mc 2 series 

will feature loudness metering for 

every channel. The metering is 

shown in the Channel Display and 

the GUI Main Display; a permanent 

display of the integrated measurements 

is provided within the 

GUI. This is a first within the Lawo 

product range and claimed to be a 

world first for production consoles 

HS-2000 

5-Channel Mobile Video Studio 

- HD 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p 

- I 

 

 

- 

 

 

 

 

 

- Int 

 

 

constrained 

applications, 

can serve as an 

advanced 

audio processing 

solution. 

Snell will also 

introduce a 

Galaxy Event List 

gives operators 

more time to 

concentrate on 

the creative side 

of productions 

— a mc 2 series console offering 

integrated loudness metering. 

Additionally, visitors will be able 

to familiarise themselves with Lawo’s 

V4.12 software release, which will be 

demonstrated on the mc 2 66 MKII 

and the mc 2 90 consoles. 

Lawo will also introduce the 

Lawo Remote App for the iPhone, 

iPad and iPod Touch and presents 

Lawo’s Plug-in Collection. For the 

first time at a US trade show, it 

will introduce the newest member 

Visit us at 

BOOTH: SL4105 


new range of fibre-optic interfacing 

modules that combine electrical-to-optical 

conversion with 

critical processing functions such 

as video synchronising. 

The company is launching a 

major upgrade to its IT-based 

playout system, ICE. The new 

release incorporates a host of new 

capabilities and is now available in 

a range of turnkey packages, providing 

complete playout solutions 

that are simple to install, with 

extremely low deployment costs. 

Snell’s Alchemist Ph.C — HD, 

with Emmy award-winning Ph.C 

motion measurement technology, 

will also be on display. Featuring 

1080p capability, it allows users to 

deliver content to any broadcast 

standard without compromising 

picture quality or clarity. The 

new Version 5.1 software release 

adds an enhanced Dolby E 

Authoring option to the system’s 

existing Dolby E transcoding and 

of its on-air radio and TV broadcast 

console family — the 

sapphire. Other products on 

display include the 

new Nova29 compact 

16-port MADI 

router, Nova73 HD router 

and Lawo’s crystal console, 

designed for on-air radio and edit 

suite applications. 

Lawo will be presenting itself 

as a Ravenna partner. 

C2628 

decoding capabilities, supporting 

encoding (PCM>Dolby E) with 

more comprehensive audio routing 

control. The new timeline 

controller adds scene-by-scene 

restoration control to Archangel 

Ph.C — HD. 

Also new is the Galaxy Event 

List, which works with Kahuna’s 

third-party device control 

protocols to enable automation 

of mundane tasks, in turn giving 

operators more time to concentrate 

on the creative side of 

the production. 

Other Snell products on 

display include routing switchers 

— Sirius 830, MV-Series multiviewers 

— and the NAB debut 

of the Centra control and 

monitoring platform. Snell’s 

RollMechanic V.2, also being 

launched at the 2011 NAB show, 

is now available within the 

Centra environment. 

N1820 

Lawo introduces sapphire, the 

newest member of its on-air radio 

and TV broadcast console family 

 

Floridadreef 106, 3565 AM Utrecht - The Netherlands - Telephone: +31 (0)30 261 9656 - www.datavideo.info - info@datavideo.nl 


TVBEU RO PE THE BUSINESS CASE 

Solving the skills crisis 

The days of training schemes in 

broadcast engineering have 

disappeared. Dick Hobbs talks to 

the IABM’s Roger Crumpton to find 

out how the industry vendor body 

aims to get technology training 

back onto the digital media 

industry agenda 

Not so long ago, most of the big 

broadcasters had internal training 

schemes that created the large numbers 

of engineers the industry 

required. Some made a career within 

the broadcaster, some left to work 

with manufacturers to create new 

products. But one of the significant 

downsides of the recent transformation 

of the industry is that these 

training schemes have all but disappeared 

— and unsurprisingly we 

now find ourselves with a critical 

shortage of engineering talent. 

While everyone recognises 

this as a problem, the IABM (the 

body which represents the interests 

of manufacturers and suppliers) 

has taken action. Former 

director-general Roger Crumpton 

has been appointed its new 

Roger Crumpton: “This is a global 

problem: the situation has 

been deteriorating for many years, 

and this is a long-term fix” 

director of education, employment 

and training. 

He makes the point that his 

three-faceted job title reflects the 

challenges which the industry faces. 

“There is a continuum from 15 to 

65,” he says of the training and 

development problem. “It goes 

back as far as school: there are 

issues with entrance to colleges and 

universities, with the link between 

universities and employers, with 

induction and how people get oriented 

to the industry. And there is 

an absence of continuing professional 

development.” 

Crumpton embarked on a 

programme of research in 2010, 

talking to manufacturers, broadcasters 

and universities around 

the world. His report to the 

IABM board resulted in them setting 

up a three year programme of 

investment and development. 

While he acknowledges the 

delicacy of the matter, he emphasises 

the key shift in training 

provision. “Most of the technical 

people who lead the industry 

today benefited from an education 

and training regime when 

they came into the industry that 

was arguably very well structured 

and probably world class. Most of 

them have either been involved in 

the disbanding of it or have 

watched it disband. 

Widespread recognition of the problem 

The IABM initiative has focused 

attention on the issue on a 

broader scale. In the Middle 

East, the new broadcast facilities 

company twofour54, part of the 

Abu Dhabi Media Zone 

Authority, includes a training 

operation (Tadweeb) alongside 

its studio and facilities business 

(Intaj). Head of Intaj Hassan 

Sayeed explained how they are 

actively encouraging people in 

the local community to see 

media as a career opportunity. 

“We have a programme in 

place which takes graduates and 

gives them three months intensive 

training through twofour54 

Tadweeb and the BBC Academy,” 

he explains, “then a nine month 

internship at Intaj.” That extended 

internship gives the new 

entrant a chance to try different 

roles and find the best niche. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“At the moment we have more 

women than men in the programme, 

by around three to one,” 

he says. “That goes against the traditional 

conservative nature of the 

region against women developing 

craft skills, which is encouraging.” 

Abdulhadi al Shaikh, CEO of 

Live, the outside broadcast facilities 

division of Abu Dhabi Media 

Company, concurred with the 

need for local entrants into the 

industry. “Skills development is 

very important to us,” he says. 

“The team on an outside broadcast 

becomes a family, so we are 

very picky about the resource we 

have onboard. 

“These guys are our front end, 

and it is very important that we 

develop them.” 

At the recent BVE exhibition 

in London, Barry Spencer of 

Trilogy Broadcast hosted a 

“I am not saying that to try to 

shame people,” he continues. “I am 

saying it to make them sit up and 

pay attention, because there really 

is something wrong if they have 

actually managed — intentionally 

or by neglect — to allow that whole 

framework of developing engineering 

talent to gradually dismember. 

And the industry needs to do something 

to bring it back.” 

His view is that the problem 

starts at school and the study of 

mathematics. Educational systems 

vary, but in the UK and North 

America the compulsory study of 

maths ends at 16, which means 

decisions taken at the age of 15 can 

remove you from the potential talent 

pool. So creating awareness of 

the excitement and challenges of 

working in broadcast engineering 

has to start young. 

“There are a number of universities 

and colleges, across Europe, 

which run what we can call ‘digital 

media engineering oriented’ undergraduate 

studies,” Crumpton 

explains. “What is really intriguing 

is that almost all of them have full 

employment as an outcome — the 

graduates nearly all get jobs. 

But while they might have full 

employment, in many cases they 

only have perhaps 30% of the places 

taken up,” he adds. “They have an 

input problem. One reason is that 

the pool of qualified applicants is 

not there is because the educational 

system is not producing them. 

“The second reason is that 

universities tend not to recruit: 

people tend to apply. There is very 

little merchandising of the courses 

and what they mean for a career 

afterwards. Specialisations like 

digital media engineering tend to 

get lost behind the more conventional 

choices of IT systems or 

software engineering.” 

In a conversation that was 

otherwise largely concerned 

with “challenges” and “issues”, 

Crumpton did have some cheer 

on this issue. “The good news is 

that we are talking here about 

hundreds of specialist graduates, 

not thousands. If the industry is 

short it is by a few hundred graduates 

— the solution is realisable. 

“If an individual broadcaster or 

supplier adopted one school, ran 

some programmes and encouraged 

10 students to think about the 

industry, and that happens with 

lots of companies and lots of 

broadcasters, then suddenly the 

 

 

 

 

lunchtime conversation about 

the need for a fresh approach to 

training. Around the table were 

David Fairweather of CBS News, 

consultant Graham Deaves 

(famous for his long association 

with Mersey Television, now 

Lime Pictures), Roger Crumpton 

of the IABM and Kevin Hilton, 

broadcast journalist with a special 

interest in audio. 

Trilogy Broadcast CEO 

Spencer echoed the point about 

broadcasting being a good place to 

work. Citing his own experience, 

he said: “We have travelled around 

the world, and we have loved the 

broadcast business for many years. 

Why would that not attract young 

people? They want to be part of 

the media but do not see the technical 

side as being sexy.” 

Deaves reminded us that, when 

he was at Mersey Television he was 

 

 

 

 

 

one of the few broadcast companies 

that made the effort to 

work with universities and try to 

develop skills. “[Mersey Television 

founder] Phil Redmond asked 

John Moores University to start a 

broadcast engineering course,” he 

said. “It ended up as an IT course 

with something on shooting video. 

“The result was that when I 

interviewed graduates, none of 

them had taken the engineering 

option and could not even explain 

the basics of how television works.” 

Fairweather put the issue into 

contemporary relevance, noting 

that his crews sent to Cairo to cover 

the recent revolution immediately 

had their broadcast cameras confiscated. 

They had to buy consumer 

camcorders off the shelf — and 

then had to work with engineers 

back at base to make it all work. 

The conversation took up the 

theme, and concluded that everyone, 

at every level, has to contribute 

if there is to be a chance of 

solving the problem. 

There is an increasing trend 

for broadcasters to be secretive 

about their technology: it can 

be hard for magazines like 

TVBEurope to get access to 

report on new developments. 

Without such reports, though, 

there is no opportunity to demonstrate 

to potential entrants to 

the industry how complex and 

fascinating the engineering challenges 

are. 

At the same time, the idea that 

digital technology has made 

broadcast engineering simpler 

has taken hold within the business. 

Production people, it was 

agreed, have no idea how a programme 

gets on air so have no 

appreciation of how much effort 

it takes. There is simply a downward 

pressure on costs, which in 

turn makes it hard for engineering 

departments to take the time to 

encourage potential new entrants 

through work placements and 

visits, when openness, all agreed, 

is vital for the future. 

 

 

 


pool of availability would sort itself 

out. This is not a problem of 

unmanageable proportions.” 

Raising enthusiasm at school 

and directing people to the right 

degree courses leads to the next challenge: 

graduation. Here Crumpton 

points the finger at recruitment. 

“The broadcast and media sector 

does not go looking for the best 

talent,” he says. “The most talented 

engineers end up at Cisco or 

Microsoft or Apple, because those 

companies build relationships with 

universities, and the senior lecturer 

rings them up and says ‘in my cadre 

this year I have two or three students 

who are really hot’. 

“What the media technology 

sector has not done — with a few 

exceptions — is let the best talent 

know about this very secretive 

industry where there are lots of 

really ritzy roles. If you are going 

to put the infrastructure into 

Formula 1, or a presidential election, 

or the multi-platform delivery 

of the Olympics, or X Factor 

or whatever it is, there are some 

really glamorous roles in there. 

“People in universities do not see 

that. They find the opportunities at 

IT companies sound more exciting!” 

There is clearly a need for 

more engagement between 

employers and academia. That 

includes work experience and 

placements, final year projects, 

company tours, open days, and 

more. To drive that engagement 

the IABM is appointing an educational 

liaison officer, charged 

with building relationships. 

It is also establishing a brokerage 

operation for placement opportunities 

and work experience. “A 

company can come to us and say ‘we 

are thinking of maybe taking on a 

couple of student placements for 

graduates: can you put us in touch 


with people who might have some 

interesting candidates.’ And also get 

the universities to come to us and say 

‘we have got these five really talented 

people and we think someone ought 

to take a look at them’.” 

The third element of this bold 

programme is a look at continuing 

professional development. Very little 

exists today in our industry, so 

in consultation with broadcasters 

and vendors the IABM is developing 

its own set of courses. They are 

pitched at three levels: entrant, 

engineer and expert. 

“At entrant level we are talking 

about both technologists and nontechnologists 

— people whose job 

function touches technology without 

having to develop it or use it,” 

Crumpton explains. “People in 

procurement in broadcast, maybe 

people who are in marketing communication 

roles at suppliers. They 

have to know what a router is: even 

if they do not need to know how it 

works or how to use it.” 

The offer is a measured, stepby-step 

entry, with two new programmes 

to be introduced every six 

months over the next three years. 

The first will appear in the second 

quarter of 2011. In most cases there 

will be two versions of the course: a 

classroom, instructor-led version 

and an online, self-paced version. 

“The programmes we are looking 

at will typically be short duration, 

high intensity — maybe two 

days and 10 teaching hours, with the 

goal to make people aware of the 

technology and give them the opportunity 

to understand it,”he says. “We 

are seeking to stay within a sensible 

budget for the employer that says ‘I 

have a graduate electronics engineer 

here who will be working on a 

product who has to understand the 

fundamentals of audio and video for 

it to be fit for purpose’.” 

DVS Spycer handles data 

for Animals United in 3D 

Animals United, the first German 3D animation film, consists of 

about 130,000 individual images for both the left and right eye 

By David Stewart 

The makers of the 3D animation 

film Animals United used the content 

control system, Spycer, from 

DVS Digital Video Systems within 

its 3D workflow. Animals 

United, the first German 3D animation 

film, consists of about 

130,000 individual images for 

both the left and the right eye, 

which require about 100TB of 

storage space. In order to keep 

track of the enormous quantity 

of digital film data and ensure 

constant access to the data for all 

involved, Hanover-based production 

company Ambient Entertainment 

decided to work with 

DVS Digital Video Systems. 

As an open system, Spycer can 

be integrated into existing IT infrastructures 

for file-based workflows. 

The software accelerates the data 

flow and allows users to search the 

entire network for image data and 

metadata. As a result, the entire 

organisation of film data becomes 

significantly more transparent and 

These courses will be delivered 

by instructors on behalf of the 

IABM itself, but will also be 

made available for delivery partners 

around the world. Some of 

these may be commercial trainers, 

some will be industry associations. 

They will provide local language 

versions but they will fundamentally 

be the same courses. 

“We want everyone to understand 

what a ‘qualified broadcast 

engineer’ is, not in terms of where he 

or she comes from but what are the 

competencies that they need to have,” 

Crumpton says. “One facet of this — 

that is a long way off at the moment 

— is some form of testing and certification 

capability. Infocomm has 

done a good job of that in the AV 

industry. They started in the early 

1990s and they have made a difference. 

That is a good role model.” 

The development of a new team 

to develop and oversee industryspecific 

education and training, 

and the creation of 10 or 12 (in the 

first instance) practical courses 

looks like a significant investment 

for the IABM. 

“The IABM has made money 

available from the reserves to 

make that long-term commitment,” 

he continues, adding that it 

was not a bottomless pit. “We have 

to do it on some form of commercial 

basis. We are a not-for-profit 

organisation but we do have to try 

to recover the money we are 

investing so we can invest more in 

new programmes. It has to make 

economic sense, but the pump 

priming fund is something that the 

IABM has decided to make available 

on an exceptional basis. 

“What we as the IABM are 

trying to do is take our part and 

help others do their bit, working 

with the industry as a whole to 

make a difference.” 

reliable, while the extensive Spycer 

feature set enables continuous editing 

of the material. 

While in Munich large parts of 

the final film editing took place, 

among other tasks for picture and 

sound, in Hanover Spycer was 

used. At Ambient Entertainment, 

the DVS software acted as a central 

linking point for the hardware and 

software components involved, 

took over the clip-related writing of 

data to the hard disks as well as 

their defragmentation. “Besides 

the enormous hardware involvement, 

for us Spycer was absolutely 

necessary, in order to organise the 

finish rendered scenes in 3D,” 

explained Ambient CEO Holger 

Tappe. “Our system was only able 

to manage a data throughput of 

almost 600MB per second thanks 

to Spycer.” 

DVS CEO Hans-Ulrich 

Weidenbruch is pleased about the 

successful collaboration and a 3D 

result to be proud of: “As regards 

the graphical realisation, Animals 

United, and with it 3D art from 

Hanover, is in no way inferior 

to the stereoscopic works of 

Hollywood. With Spycer we were 

able to make our contribution 

towards it.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Video Processing Specialists 

TV One Ltd, Continental Approach, 

Westwood Ind. Est., Margate,, Kent CT9 4JG, UK 

Telephone: +44 (0)1843 873311 

Fax: +44 (0)1843 873312 

Email: sales.europe@tvone.com 

www.tvone.eu 

C2-6104A - Systems 

Product of the Year 2010 

 

 

 

 

Stand C5647 

April 11 - 14, 2011 

E&OE. All Copyrights and Trademarks are acknowledged 



The globalisation of post 

Following the acquisition of 

London’s VTR by Indian company 

Prime Focus, Dick Hobbs finds 

out what the acquisition meant 

for the Indian firm and what the 

future holds as the company 

continues to grow by expanding 

into North America 

When I first started writing about 

this industry one of my specialisations 

was post production. In 

those days the industry was 

marked out by boutique facilities, 

often owned at least in part by 

star operators, who certainly 

dominated. They were often 

flamboyantly decorated, competed 

to see who could serve the best 

coffee, and were always equipped 

with the latest in technology. 

That cosy certainty was challenged 

five years ago when one 

of the largest post groups in 

London, VTR, was acquired by 

the Indian company Prime Focus. 

Anshul Doshi, global COO of 

Prime Focus, had founded the 

company with his colleague 

Namit Malhotra, who came from 

a long line of Indian film people. 

His grandfather was the DoP who 

shot the first colour film in India, 

and his father was a producer. 

Malhotra and Doshi were working 

in the film industry when the 

Indian government introduced 

sweeping changes in television in 

1995, allowing private investment 

in the sector and the breaking of 

the monopoly of the state broadcaster 

Doordarshan. 

Rapidly, new television groups 

like Star and Zee appeared. As is 

always the case, these new broadcasters 

desperately needed programming. 

Malhotra’s father 

had wisely invested in television 

acquisition equipment, and suggested 

that the younger men 

might want to set up an edit suite. 

“That first edit suite was running 

24/7,” says Doshi. “One suite 

became seven, and they were all 

running 24/7. And as we were 

doing the programmes, so advertisers 

wanted us to make their 

commercials too. We started 

recruiting computer graphics 

specialists — still the number one 

creative talents in India. 

“At that time we could edit 

commercials but producers had 

to go to Singapore or Thailand to 

do the colour grading,” he recalls. 

“So we set up a grading facility 

and trained our own colourists. 

“Then the big movie studios in 

India wanted trailers for television,” 

he continues. “They wanted effects 

like Hollywood, so we set that up too. 

All of this organic expansion made 

us big enough to tap into the capital 

markets. It allowed us to raise the 

money to buy facilities in London — 

yes, we wanted to put ourselves 

through the extreme pain again!” 

Changing perceptions 

At the time of the acquisition, the 

VTR Group was going through 

some difficult times. For various 

reasons key staff had left and there 

was a lack of clear leadership. But 

for all that it had an excellent reputation 

and some good clients so 

represented a good deal for Prime 

Focus. How did they set about 

turning it around? 

“We had to change the corporate 

culture,” says Doshi. “Board 

rooms and big management 

Prime Focus facilities contributed visual effects sequences to 

James Cameron’s breakthrough stereoscopic 3D movie Avatar 

Anshul Doshi: “We have always sold 

creativity; it was a mistake to think 

we sold technology” 

offices went straight away. We 

created more operational rooms, 

upgrading the technology and 

bringing back the creativity.” 

Challenging the established 

Soho business model, which was 

widely matched in most places with 

world-class post production, was 

not an easy task. “The technology 

was changing, and someone had to 

recognise that. We knew that client 

contact had to be maintained, but 

because of our structure we were 

able to back office some of the work 

to Vancouver and India. 

“We also structured ourselves 

to be able to work on television, 

commercials and high end features, 

which balances the risk,” 

explains Doshi. “The fundamental 

technologies are the same, but 

the pipeline is different.” 

In summary, he said that on 

one side the business model of his 

clients is changing and on the 

other the technology is becoming 

commoditised, so the post industry 

could not stay the way it was. 

And having delivered on their 

promise in London they expanded 

into North America through 

acquisitions in New York and 

Los Angeles. 

“Through this we acquired a 

cool research and development 

team,” he says. “They have a technique 

for converting 2D to 3D 

stereoscopic. In January 2010 

Warner Bros. came to us with 

Clash of the Titans. They wanted 

“All of this organic expansion made us big enough 

to tap into the capital markets. It allowed us to 

raise the money to buy facilities in London — yes, 

we wanted to put ourselves through the extreme 

pain again!”— Anshul Doshi 

to release in April so we had 10 

weeks to convert it to 3D. 

“We grew the team from 10 to 

1,000 people to do that, with 800 

people rotoscoping in India and finishers 

in London and Los Angeles.” 

Doshi is clearly proud of the 

contribution they made to this 

highly profitable movie, but he is 

more pleased by the way it changed 

the perception of the company, in 

Hollywood and generally. 

“We demonstrated we could 

deliver value, not just be a service 

provider,” he said. “The way we 

operate in London is as a value 

added partner. We have always 

sold creativity; it was a mistake to 

think we sold technology. 

“So we have our own business 

called Prime Focus Technology 

which solves problems like data 

storage and file transfer,” he continues. 

“But that is not a post production 

issue. You have to give 

good creativity from start to finish. 

“The fundamental process of 

offline-grade-online will not 

change, and it will not change if it 

is a viral or a movie,” he explains. 

“But the cost does. You can do it 

all in After Effects and get a good 

result. You have to deliver that 

process at a cost that is acceptable 

to your client. We are selling 

creativity, and we will deliver a 

creative product at any budget.” 

Which brings us back to the 

transformation of the post production 

industry and the changes that 

have to be wrought. “We are not 

from investment banking,” he says. 



Growth of London shows 

On display: Sony’s Daniel Dubreuil with the new OLED master monitor 

BVE Wrap Up 

Broadcast Video Expo was packed with 

more visitors than ever, and many new 

products — several of which hadn’t 

been seen elsewhere. David Fox 

reports from the London show 

While most new releases had at 

least been talked about before, 

Sony unveiled two previously 

unheralded master-quality OLED 

displays offering a noticeable 

improvement on the Trimaster 

LCD range, and a huge reduction 

in bulk. 

The reference-grade BVM-E 

Series were shown in 17- and 

25-inch sizes, and are claimed to 

“incorporate groundbreaking 

processing and imaging capabilities 

designed to give digital 

production professionals a true 

replacement for CRT in critical 

evaluation applications.” 

“These new monitors are the 

next step up in professional displays 

providing end users with the 

highest picture quality ever seen, 

well above any other existing 

display device,” said Daniel 

Dubreuil, senior product specialist, 

Sony Professional Solutions 

Europe. “This is breakthrough 

technology for applications where 

visual performance and accuracy 

are paramount, offering an 

unbeatable combination of image 

reproduction, colour accuracy, 

reliability and stability.” 

The new displays boast several 

new features designed for professional 

master monitoring. 

Claimed to be the first monitors to 

deliver full HD resolution OLED 

panels with 10-bit drivers, they 

use a newly developed Sony 

Professional Display Engine to produce 

deep blacks (better even than a 

CRT), high dynamic range, blur-free 

motion, and accurate picture reproduction. 

They also boast a much 

wider colour gamut, even in low light 

portions of the picture, where LCDs 

and CRTs narrow significantly, and 

improved standard definition scaling, 

thanks to a new algorithm not 

available to the BVM-L series. 

They also use new Super 

Top Emission technology that 

improves the colour quality, and 

offers a higher contrast ratio than 

conventional OLED displays. 

The monitors have a new 

chassis design, with a lighter, 

much slimmer chassis, for a 

smaller footprint, and reduced 

power consumption. 

Standard inputs include 

3G/HD/SD-SDI, HDMI and 

DisplayPort. Four slots are available 

for use with a choice of five 

BKM input boards. 

The 25-inch BVM-E250, 

which is aimed at colour grading 

and high-end monitoring, will be 

available in May. The 17-inch 

BVM-E170, which is aimed at 

camera control or OB use, will be 

available in July. 

Video trumps DSLR 

Whereas BVE 2010 was notable 

for having more DSLR cameras 

on display than conventional 

cameras, this year saw video cameras 

dominant once more. 

Canon did have a new DSLR, 

in the shape of the EOS 600D, 

which has a swing-out LCD and 

the ability to zoom in by 3-10x 

without affecting the HD resolution 

(by using less of its 18MP 

sensor as it zooms). However, its 

DSLRs were pushed into the 

background by its new XF range. 

It showed a pair of its new 

XF105 cameras (which have just 

started shipping) in the new lightweight 

Genus Hurricane 3D rig 

(www.genustech.tv) designed by 

cameraman Alister Chapman to 

demonstrate the camera’s innovative 

3D-friendly features. 

The XF105 uses the same 

50Mbps codec as the larger XF305 

and offers most of its controls, but 

Canon has added a few features 

that make it suitable for 3D. 

It has screen inversion in any 

direction, to make it easier to 

use in a mirror rig (like the 

Hurricane); the zoom lens has a 

focal length guide, which allows 

users to set a reference point (the 

cameras aren’t fully synchronised 

although they have genlock/timecode 

synch), and as a numerical 

scale allows a lot more precision 

when setting the two zooms manually 

so that both cameras are at 

the same focal length; there is also 

an Axis Shift Function. 

“This uses the lens shift from 

the Optical Image Stabiliser to keep 

the centre point of the image to a 

point you have chosen. It takes the 

cameras out of OIS mode, and uses 

the lens shift to keep that centre 

point throughout the zoom,” 

explained Peter Yabsley, Canon’s 

business development manager, 

Professional Video, EMEA (pictured 

with two XF105s). 

“You can also use it to fine 

tune the convergence of the cameras 

when you are shooting 3D. 

You can move the centre point 

more easily than actually moving 

the cameras,” which is useful in a 

manual rig like the Hurricane. 

Although the adjustments the 

XF105 allows are all manual, “it 

is intended to make the process 

easier” thanks to novel uses for 

technology already in the camera. 


A new 16 channel flagship 

model was launched by Bel 

Digital Audio at Broadcast 

Video Expo in London. The latest 

offering provides 16 channel 

audio and video monitoring of 

3G HD, SDI and SD video signals 

with loopthrough and 

Dolby E and Digital decoding 

with Integral Loudness metering 

compliant to ITU-R 

BS1770 in a 1U package. 

The new BM-AV1-E16SHD 

provides a range of inputs and 

outputs. There are two SDI 

No other camera of this size, 

or indeed in this price range, has 

these features. “It is probably the 

smallest general purpose camcorder 

with genlock, and SDI, 

and a high quality codec,” he said. 

20-second pre record 

JVC Professional launched its latest 

GY-HM750E ProHD compact 

shoulder-mount camcorder, which 

should appeal for news use. Its Pre 

Rec feature, which continuously 

records and stores footage in cache 

memory to prevent missed shots, 

now stores 20 seconds. 

The camera can record in readyto-edit 

file formats for Apple Final 

Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere (.mov), 

or as Sony XDCAM EX files 

(.MP4). For standard definition 

work, it can also record DV files 

(.avi or .mov). 

It records to a dual card slot for 

SDHC cards and/or an optional SxS 

recorder. It now allows simultaneous 

recording to both SDHC cards, for 

instant backup or client copy. It has 

three CCD sensors and records HD 

in 720p, 1080p, and 1080i, plus SD 

(576i), at up to 35 Mbps. 

It has a 68-pin chassis connector 

for a clean, direct interface to various 

additional modules, including the 

new KA-AS790 ASI output module, 

which provides a direct feed from the 

camera to a satellite uplink or 

Canon’s Peter Yabsley with two 

XF105s: “It’s probably the smallest 

general purpose camcorder with 

genlock, SDI and a high quality codec” 

inputs alongside eight AES 

audio pairs and eight analogue 

inputs. The device provides 

auto-selection of 3G, HD and 

SD SDI bitstreams and decodes 

as appropriate. Switching 

between inputs is accomplished 

by use of the simple, front 

mounted rotary controls. 

Visible audio monitoring is 

via eight, three colour LED bar 

graph meters on the front 

panel that are switchable 

between all available channels 

and inputs. The meters have 

adjustable colour transition 


microwave transmitter via BNC, ideal 

for broadcasting live HD from the 

field. The GY-HM750E automatically 

switches to low-latency mode 

(less than 300ms delay) when the 

module is in use. The GY-HM750E 

includes a Canon 14:1 zoom lens, 

but accommodates any lens with a 

1 /3-inch bayonet lens mount. 

Recording technology: 

Ninja unleashed at BVE 

The Atomos Ninja HDMI ProRes 

recorder started deliveries just after 

BVE, and should be followed at 

NAB by a new HD-SDI version. 

It has a clear touchscreen user 

interface, and records 10-bit Apple 

ProRes files (in LT, 422 or HQ 

formats), which can be used directly 

in Final Cut Pro or most other 

non-linear editors running on the 

Mac, or on Windows if Apple’s 

ProRes QuickTime Application is 

installed. It costs €795/£695, and 

records to 2.5-inch laptop drives 

(bought separately). 

The package comes with a carry 

case, two 2,400 amp hour batteries, 

dual charger, two disk caddies, and 

a computer docking station with 

FireWire 800 and USB 3.0 ports. 

The initial firmware doesn’t support 

recording in 25p or 30p, but 

Atomos’CEO, Jeromy Young, promised 

that would arrive with the first 

firmware upgrade, scheduled for 1 

March. The frame rates aren’t part of 

the HDMI spec, so needed more 

work (they are output as double 

frames at 60 or 50fps, and the Ninja 

will then record just one of each pair), 

Atomos promises a model with 

HD-SDI input, which should be 

on show at NAB and will be called 

the Samurai. Unlike HDMI it will 

transmit timecode and use the 

more secure BNC connection. 

Sonnet Technologies’ Qio 

media reader/writer was on show 

in the UK for the first time at 

BVE. It allows users to transfer 

files to edit stations or RAID 

storage many times faster than 

with USB 2.0 or FireWire. 

It connects via PCI Express 

for high-speed transfers with 


Bel sounds product debut at Video Expo 

points and peak-hold facility. 

The ballistics are user assignable 

and seven standard scales 

are available to choose Nordic, 

BBC PPM, DIN PPM, VU, 

VU Ext., AES/EBU plus 

Loudness metering, catered for 

to ITU-R BS1770. 

To enable video monitoring 

there is an high quality OLED 

video display on the front 

panel providing clarity and 

image definition. Comprehensive 

metadata reporting is 

also provided via the OLED 

screen, which has an autodimming 

function when not in 

use that increases the lifespan of 

the screen significantly. 

www.beldigital.com 


Exploring the latest 

developments in 3D 

TV to inform technical 

strategy and content 

development 

BAFTA, 195 PICCADILLY, LONDON, 15 JUNE 2011 

Attend TVBEurope’s premier 3D TV 

conference to: 

Explore solutions to the financial and 

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Gain important market insights & 

understand the latest technological 

developments to ensure you’re effectively 

responding to the 3D TV trend 

Learn from the experiences of industry 

leading speakers and ask questions that 

will help inform your own 3D TV strategy 

Watch clips from recent 3D TV 

projects and learn how the teams behind 

them developed solutions to overcome the 

challenges they faced 

Network with experienced practitioners, 

leading broadcasters and equipment 

vendors from across Europe 

Sponsored by: 

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and enthused by great 

speakers, including: 

Steve Schklair 

Chief Executive Officer 

3Ality Digital Systems 

John Ive 

Consultant and Technologist 

IveTech 

Michel Chabrol 

Director of Sales Support & 

Customer Care 

Eutelsat 

Jim Bottoms 

Director & Co-Founder 

Futuresource Consulting 

Presented by: 


REGISTER BEFORE 1 APRIL 2011 TO SAVE £100 

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Growth of 

London shows 


aggregate bandwidth of up to 

210MB per second and supports 

Sony SxS, Panasonic P2, 

Compact Flash, SD(HC) and 

SDXC cards. It has two slots for 

each format (SD shares with SxS) 

and can transfer data from two 

cards simultaneously. 

It will improve transfer speeds 

for camera users who need to 

back up on location, as one single 

device can import files from up to 

six cards at a time. 

“Sometimes it takes a practical 

device such as Qio to make the 

most out of breakthrough technologies. 

There’s no doubt that 

tapeless recording and file-based 

editing are revolutionary, but 

there’s an irritating bottleneck — 

getting data from the cameras to 

the editor quickly and safely. Qio 

is a really elegant solution,” 

claimed Allan Leonardsen, director 

of Holdan, its UK distributor. 

The new three-in-one Teranex 

Mini compact up/down/cross 

converter and SD standards converter 

“is an outstandingly high 

quality and versatile format and 

standards converter,” claimed 

James Thomas, director of Engineering 

at Preco, its UK distributor. 

It can be used for realtime 

SD/HD ingest to file-based editing 

and playout systems. It provides 

full proc-amp controls, handles 

eight channels of embedded digital 

audio and can be operated and 

updated via browser-compatible 

software. Features include: smart 

4:3/16:9 aspect-ratio conversion; 

PixelMotion de-interlaced format 

conversion; multi-directional diagonal 

filtering; temporal recursive 

noise reduction; and per-pixel 

video/film detection to ensure 

correct output cadence. 

Rear-panel connections include: 

a BNC 10-bit SD/HD-SDI 

1.485Gbps input with embedded 

audio; a BNC SD/HD-SDI activeloop 

output; and two BNC 

SD/HD-SDI 10-bit 1.485Gbps 

outputs with embedded audio. 

iPad, iPhone and 

Android prompters 

Datavideo’s new TP-200 prompter 

for Apple’s iPad is a rail-mounted 

system that can fit a range of cameras. 

It includes camera and tripod 

support rails, hood and beam 

splitter glass, but can also be fitted 

under the lens for use with retroreflective 

light rings. 

It comes with software and a 

wired controller for £330, and can be 

fitted in both landscape and portrait 

modes with mirrored or standard 

text alignments. The iPrompt Pro 

software can also drive external displays 

using standard VGA or 

Composite video cables available for 

the iPad. The rig can also accommodate 

Datavideo’s £375 DN-60 

solid-state CF card recorder, which 

can capture AVI, .mov or MXF 

files, or M2T files for HDV 

Light on the pocket: Morphy with 

the new Tech Pro Filloni LED panel 

camcorders. It currently connects by 

FireWire, but there will probably be 

an HD-SDI version by IBC. 

The new TP-100 Smartphone 

Prompter is similar to its old 

iPrompter, but can be used with a 

wider range of on-lens mounts, 

and includes the wired remote. It 

currently works with the iPhone, 

but an Android app will be 

launched at NAB. It costs £275. 

Dedolight plays panel game 

Tech Pro, the value brand of 

Dedolight, launched a new 1x1 

LED panel for budget production 

at BVE. The 30x30cm Filloni 

should sell for less than £450. It is 

claimed to be twice as bright as 

comparable panels, and will work 

with NP or V-lock batteries. The 

Colour Rendition Index is said to 

be “in the 80s”, which is reasonable 

for this type of light, although 

Dedolight is working to improve 

this in further versions. It will be 

offered in daylight initially, with bicolour 

and tungsten models later. 

The 24-Watt panel will operate 

between 5.8 and 16.8v, so it can use 

common DV batteries, and includes 

a dimmer that can be used remotely. 

There will also be a DMX model. 

“We’re getting about one-and-ahalf 

hours on an F960 [NP] battery,” 

said UK distributor David 

Morphy, director of Cirro Lite. 

“For a battery light, it’s better 

colour than what’s out there. It’s not 

going to create beautiful, film-quality 

images. It’s for talking heads.” 

Also new is the 1kW Dedolight 

DLH1000T, which has double 

aspheric optics “which makes it 

more efficient than a comparable 

1,000W light,” he claimed. 

It will be available in three 

versions: a 1.2kW HMI (the 

DLH1200D); the DLH100T; and 

an 80v 1,200W tungsten version 

(the DLH1280T), which has a 

much smaller low-voltage filament, 

is more efficient optically, and is “a 

nicer bulb to work with — it’s for 

the purist.” These should be available 

by early summer. 

The new Paso from Visio is a 

portable 100W LED light that 

boasts output equivalent to 

1,000W tungsten. Like the recently 

introduced Minima, the Paso is 

notable for its user-defined colour 

temperature control. It has six temperatures 

instantly selectable, with 

each preset fully RGB adjustable, 

which will save the need for filters. 

“The Paso is the latest in a really 

exciting series of LED lights. The 

unit is very flexible — it will be at 

home both in the studio and on location. 

For any professional needing 

bright, cool, reliable lighting, the 

Paso is a Godsend. We think it’s 

going to be very popular for lighting 

interviews or any production that 

needs fast but highly controlled illumination,” 

said Nick Allen-Miles, 

MD of Ianiro UK, its distributor. 

The Paso has good colour 

fidelity, with a CRI in excess of 

90%, and costs £999. It includes 

built-in DMX control, and its 

power consumption is a modest 

0.6 amps, which will apparently 

allow it to run off a typical professional 

battery pack for days. 

www.atomos.com 

www.canon-europe.com 

www.datavideo.info 

www.dedoweigertfilm.de 

www.ianirouk.com 

www.jvcpro.eu 

www.preco.co.uk 

www.pro.sony.eu 

www.sonnettech.com 

www.teranex.com 

The globalisation 

of post 


“This is the only business we know 

and the only business we understand. 

“What we are doing is value 

engineering the post business. We 

have to find a business model that 

works. As long as you have a 

brand and can attract the market 

share you have a good business. 

“But you might not need 

10,000 square feet any more,” he 

cautions. “Your creatives might 

need to adapt the way they work. 

The old days of creative stars have 

gone: you have to realign business 

logic, while still giving them the 

tools they need.” 

Surely one area where business 

logic fails is the location of post 

houses in expensive real estate in 

the centres of cities. In London 

and the other European centres of 

post production this is compounded 

by the historical buildings 

into which modern facilities 

have to be fitted. 

“We can talk about this as 

much as we want, but there is a 

certain method in the madness,” 

he responds. “Soho is where 


Electric dolly for fume-free filming 

Off track: The new Flyka Electric Dolly in use in Manchester 

By David Fox 

The new Flyka Electric Dolly is 

the first product from a new 

company, and was developed 

by photographer/cameraman 

Tony Holker, who broke his leg 

in 2008 and used a disabled 

buggy for filming. 

“The smooth ride from a disabled 

buggy was a great platform 

to film from. I researched 

and researched to see what else 

was out there, but there seemed 

to be nothing, so I set about 

developing a prototype. Five 

prototypes later, I now have 

number four and five developed 

into working, conceptual vehicles 

for filming and the reaction 

from the industry has been 

superb,” explained Holker. 

The Flyka should save 

many hours by making it simpler 

to set up shots, while no 

time will be wasted laying 

track. Users will also be able 

to record sound during filming, 

despite using a motorised 

Dolly. Hire costs are £500 per 

day (£200 for the first day new 

clients) or £1,800 per week, and 

future models are being developed, 

including lighter vehicles, 

jib cranes, all terrain capabilities, 

and remote control. 

Other benefits include: 

being able to do forward or 

backwards tracking shots without 

track coming into shot; 

doing long shots without having 

grips getting tired pushing 

a dolly back and forth; no 

down time needed while a 

Steadicam operator recovers; 

the ability to create very slow 

moving Steadicam shots without 

footstep jerks; plus variable 

speed and constant speed from 

0 to 8mph. 

www.flyka.tv 

people want to work: this is the 

established place. I really do not 

see that changing soon.” 

He reinforces the point by 

talking about a new film effects 

house they are constructing — in 

central London. It is the companion 

to a new visual effects house 

in New York, on Hudson Street in 

the heart of Manhattan. While 

Prime Focus has had a dramatic 

impact on the post industry — 

and is continuing to look towards 

expanding the geographies it 

serves — clearly taking the clientfacing 

suites out of the traditional 

locations would be seen as a step 

too far. 


TVBEU RO PE CHANNEL IN A BOX 

Channel in a Box: Emperor’s 

New Clothes to Arms Race? 

Following last month’s ‘Channel in a 

Box TV’ debate in these pages, 

industry consultant Russell Grute 

explores the future of Channel in a 

Box and asks whether there has 

been too much emphasis on the 

‘box’ rather than ‘channel’ part of 

the discussion 

In last month’s issue of 

TVBEurope, the original and 

controversial ‘channel in a box’ 

proposition was debated again for 

2011. While now a mainstream 

discussion among those trying to 

perfect next-generation broadcast 

playout, for many, clear answers 

remain elusive. What is the 

best approach to evaluating this 

potential technological breakthrough? 

Has there been too 

much emphasis on what is technologically 

possible ‘in the box’ 

and not enough clarity with the 

‘channel’ part of the proposition? 

There was certainly a lot of 

squabbling over the terminology 

in last month’s feature. So what’s 

in the box? 

Russell Grute: “The biggest 

challenge by far for thematic 

channels is in channel branding and 

onscreen graphics” 

Firstly, and briefly — as this 

was covered thoroughly by contributors 

— the channel in a box 

(CiB) proposition is actually very 

ambitious. In ‘the box’ a single 

subsystem; comprising hardware 

or software, more likely the 

Choose Your TurnKey 

Broadcasting Solution. 

correct blend of both, assembles 

multi-format content in realtime 

by replacing several best-of-breed 

subsystems. These include: inputs 

to handle live feeds, tape ingest, 

multiple codecs and file wrappers, 

and file management for video, 

audio and subtitle components 

that make up final programmes. 

Add signal processing for 

DVEs, aspect ratio conversion, 

up/down conversion and increasingly 

channel branding. Each of 

these elements has separate metadata 

and is produced somewhere 

upstream by various departments 

often using disparate processes. 

To complete the CiB proposition, 

all of this has to be weighed up 

against the potential capabilities 

of an integral automation system 

and crucially, streamlined integration 

with the media management 

and channel management/traffic 

system. All of this to be provided 

at a lower price per channel … no 

wonder so many were sceptical! 

In short, few broadcasters or 

service providers get the opportunity 

to start with a clean sheet. And 

so when also considering the 

number of incumbent technology 

combinations and integration 

possibilities, any CiB manufacturer 

is certainly entering a complex 

content assembly ‘arms 

race’. Failure to keep up in any 

one area could mean that you are 

out or wasting time. 

Not surprising then that early 

pioneers entering the market a few 

years ago have yet to achieve the success 

they expected. Meanwhile 

broadcasters have had to launch HD 

services cost effectively and increase 

channel branding and onscreen 

graphics. Simultaneously linear tele- 

vision is increasingly challenged by 

mobile, on demand and over the top 

services. Everything is changing. 

What type of channel 

do you actually watch? 

So what about the ‘channel’ part? 

This is where the most confusion 

actually lies. Suppliers and customers 

have often both struggled to 

articulate their point of view. Whilst 

technology vendors have attempted 

to ambitiously blend broadcast 

and IT technology to develop their 

own unique value proposition, 

broadcasters have been searching 

for a solution to streamline content 

assembly for their increasingly 

unpredictable audiences. 

There is in fact, a wide range 

of channel types onscreen(s). 

“Whilst technology vendors have attempted to 

ambitiously blend broadcast and IT technology 

to develop their own unique value proposition, 

broadcasters have been searching for a solution 

to streamline content assembly for their 

increasingly unpredictable audiences” 

Taking a solutions rather than 

products perspective, we are all 

learning that understanding the 

requirement is becoming more 

important than just solving technology 

problems. Particularly 

from an end-to-end business 

planning point of view; perhaps 

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Powerful Full Text search engine 

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Daily and Weekly playlist 

Automation 

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Embedded Logo and CG 

Device management 

We Know How To Do It 

Servizi informatici srl - www.si-media.tv - Tel +39 0423 750075 


nowhere is this more pertinent 

than when selecting the optimal 

CiB approach. 

An initial view seems to 

polarise between two main types 

of channel. Firstly those reactive 

and manually controlled channels, 

the original MCR, where 

channels are almost assembled by 

hand. Examples include national 

broadcasters with complex junctions 

and live events, networks 

with inserts and overruns, live 

sports and news — all of which 

usually require realtime functionality. 

Improving the presentation 

of these channels has always been 

challenging. 

With a single ‘super server’ or 

‘content engine’ and pre-integrated 

automation, things should be 

easier. Perhaps they will be in 

2011, with updated versions of 

many CiB solutions. Indeed those 

that can package their solutions 

using the latest lower cost yet 

increased multi-core processing 

horsepower will help address the 

realtime I/O, signal path processing 

and automation hiccups that 

have troubled most first generation 

CiB solutions. 

At the other end of the scale, 

apparently more straightforward 

thematic services such as children’s, 

music and movies are often seen 

as easier channels to manage. 

Many suspect that with improved 

upstream workflow and direct integration 

with channel planning/ 

traffic systems, thematic channels 

would benefit most from CiB and 

could now be driven using a more 

supply chain type approach. 

Coupled with the rapid increase of 

global file delivery for high payload 

HD, stereoscopic 3D and beyond, 

this is now true for the long form 

programmes and commercials. 

Yet thematic channels have 

interesting added complications. 

When a single core service is 

distributed to multiple regions 

for example, the number of 

audio channels and subtitles can 

increase dramatically in a typical 

multichannel thematic workflow. 

But, the biggest challenge by far 

for thematic channels is in channel 

branding and onscreen graphics. 

Broadcasters now compete to keep 

viewers watching, using much 

more than great content, a good 

schedule and a simple station ID. 

Complex patterns of onscreen promotion 

during both programmes 

and commercial breaks are now 

mainstream; often accompanied 

by a voiceover in local language. 

Graphics on the main service 

promoting ‘coming up next’ and 

‘later on’ are now cleverly combined 

with multichannel and 

multimedia cross promotions. 

These inform the viewer what is 

over on another channel, on the 

radio and online services. While 

channel branding is challenging 

to reproduce onscreen often using 

live data, it’s actually the back end 

design and scheduling workflow 

that is the biggest difficulty for 

many broadcasters. 

By adding a graphics or channel 

branding capability to their offer, 

each manufacturer has further 

increased the stakes in the CiB arms 

race because they now have to compete 

with best-of-breed in standalone 

broadcast graphics. In turn 

graphics technology vendors have 

now entered the fun from the reverse 

angle (sic); although most don’t yet 

call theirs a CiB. This is actually a 

very compelling proposition, as 

graphics vendors already have many 

of the key interfaces for graphics 

management and crucially better 

understand the end-to-end graphics 

design and scheduling workflows. 

Somewhere in the middle, 

another type of channel is the selfcontained 

regional TV station, in 

the US a ‘call letter’ station. Here 

the business has to cover everything 

24/7 for a single channel with 

very few staff. These customers 

typically have the smallest budget 

and actually represent one of the 

most exacting tests for CiB which 

begins to look more like a Station 

in a box. The solution has to do 

absolutely everything and be 

extremely resilient; for this type of 

channel the critical path is very 

tight indeed. 

What’s next for CiB 

in 2011 and beyond? 

Talking with customers in 2010 

it’s clear that initial scepticism has 

given way and most are trying to 

find ways to make it work. 

Choosing the right approach to 

CiB depends on more clearly 

deciding which compromises to 

accept in order to streamline 

operations and potentially reduce 

costs. This could be looked at 

sequentially starting with optimal 

back end scheduling and content 

management workflow, the correct 

level of manual control and 

finally onscreen performance. 

Perhaps selecting CiB from 

those vendors already experienced 

in automation and workflow is less 

risky. Following recent mergers 

and acquisitions the new choices 

are interesting. Furthermore CiB 

TVBEU RO PE CHANNEL IN A BOX 

vendors should have an established 

relationship with channel management 

systems and offer robust and 

properly documented API’s. 

Most of all though, vendors 

need the integration services 

capacity to support higher levels 

of ongoing integration which this 

type of technology requires; which 

in turn should be paid for by customers. 

Although it sounds like a 

traditional ‘product’ (Channel in 

a ‘box’), it’s actually a realtime 

solution, which requires continuous 

refinement, testing and support; 

often while on air. 

Vendors and SIs could challenge 

prospective customers to 

be clearer about the scope of 

channel type and branding 

onscreen and which workflows 

they seek to streamline. Working 

together could improve the 

scope and reduce the risks to 

allow CiB the success it undoubtedly 

deserves; reducing 

risk and lowering the stakes in 

the CiB arms race. 

Channel management systems 

will increasingly play a direct role 

in playout solutions; perhaps soon 

bypassing automation for some 

channels. Perhaps channel management 

systems could directly 

mount multiple CiB devices rather 

like a SOA. CiB could offer a high 

performance building block, or 

‘service’, receiving programme and 

channel branding schedules directly 

and assembling video, audio and 

graphics from multiple upstream 

workflows. For some channels 

with low levels of intervention, 

operations can now be monitoredby-exception 

only requiring assistance 

when there is an error — 

even remotely. 

Improved content validation is 

also now more important to facilitate 

higher content throughput. 

It’s crucial, while unnecessary 

intermediate transactions or 

manual checks are reduced, that 

every piece of content will actually 

play out. This can be detailed 

visual QC but equally automatic 

file checking is now becoming 

mainstream too. 

By 2012 streaming type 

technologies using Flash, H.264 

or HTML 5, could be incorporated 

to enable even higher levels 

of regionalisation and even 

the personalisation of services 

and promotions. 

Martin up for Awards: The 32nd Bavarian Film 

Awards ceremony, recently held in Munich, 

featured lighting and visuals from Martin 

Professional, including Martin EC-20 and LC Plus 

LED displays. Media Resource Group of Crailsheim 

implemented the lighting concept designed by 

Markus Müller (BR). As in previous years, the 

Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, which carried 

out the live production, used multi-purpose 

spotlights, special effect lighting and LED 

technology manufactured by Martin Professional. 

The EC-20 is an LED panel with a 20mm pixel 

pitch that complies with the IP65 safety rating for 

outdoor use. A major advantage of the plug-in 

system is the lack of external cabling between panels, greatly reducing the likelihood of errors. Werner Butscher, 

production manager at Media Resource Group, said, “The LED panels did not pose any problems whatsoever 

throughout the entire production. In fact, it was actually a lot of fun using them.” — Melanie Dayasena-Lowe 

www.martin.com 



NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

BHV incorporated 

Brick House Video, manufacturer 

of production and post 

production equipment, has 

announced the incorporation of 

BHV Broadcast, a sister company 

established initially to manage 

the sales and marketing of the 

company’s product range on an 

international basis. BHV 

Broadcast will sell Brick House 

Video’s product line featuring 

rack-mount and portable digital 

vision switchers, up/cross/ 

down-converters, standards/rate 

converters, and equipment 

designed to simplify operations, 

cut costs, and promote reliability 

for live productions. In addition, 

BHV Broadcast will be promoting 

its own range of camera-based 

products such as Video Ghost, a 

phantom power system and 

TallyHo!, the multi-camera 

wireless tally system. 

Manufacturing, warranty and 

technical support will remain the 

responsibility of Brick House 

Video, which has also recently 

contracted to provide OEM 

services to third-party companies 

and is actively seeking further 

projects in this market. 

www.brickhousevideo.com 

www.bhvbroadcast.com 

Calrec mixing desks 

for new BBC studios 

Calrec has sold four Artemis 

Beam mixing desks to the BBC 

(one 48-fader model and three 

with 40 faders). The consoles are 

for use in the TV news studios 

being built at Broadcasting House 

in London. One TV news studio is 

already operational, and features 

a Calrec Zeta audio console. In 

late 2010, Calrec Audio won the 

tender process for the audio 

consoles in the next four TV news 

studios to be built on the site. 

Three of these will receive identical 

40-fader Calrec Artemis Beam 

consoles, and will be dedicated to 

24-hour news channels. The 

fourth, a larger flexible rig studio, 

will receive a 48-fader console. 

The Artemis Beam consoles are not 

expected to go on air until 2012-3. 

www.calrec.com 

Why demand for the Alexa digital cinema camera is outstripping supply 

Alexa getting serious 

Camera Update 

Arri’s Alexa digital cinema camera 

has been used in a wide range 

of productions since its release 

last June, such as the BBC’s 

big Christmas drama, Upstairs 

Downstairs, and several highprofile 

3D movies, including 

Martin Scorsese’s first 3D production, 

Hugo Cabret, The Three 

Musketeers, Spy Kids 4, and 

Vicky and Treasure of the Gods. 

“Due to the ergonomics and 

performance of Alexa, people in 

serious filmmaking love it,” 

claims Milan Krsljanin, director 

of business development, Arri. 

Although not giving any figures, 

demand for the Alexa is outstripping 

supply “by far.” 

The Alexa is being used for 3D 

because “it has that image quality 

that is outstanding and it is 

very easy to fit in most commonly 

used 3D rigs,” he adds. 

“It is relatively light. It is compact. 

People might prefer if it had 

been smaller, but in comparison 

with most high-quality cameras it 

is small.” 

The camera’s sensitivity is also 

important. A beam-splitter 3D 

rig reduces the amount of light 

available to the camera, “so you 

need the extra headroom to allow 

for these losses, which it does, at 

Highly sensitive: Milan Krsljanin with the 800ISO Alexa camera 

800ISO.” It has also been independently 

tested to verify that it 

has 14 stops of exposure latitude. 

“If you produce movies in 3D, 

it has to work in 2D. So all the 

aesthetics you’d have normally in 

2D have to be present in your 

shot. You can get reliable 3D with 

small sensor cameras, but for it to 

work in 2D and do justice to production 

requirements, you need a 

larger sensor.” 

The digital dailies tool developed 

with Colorfront is, he says, 

particularly useful for 3D because 

it streamlines the production 

process and helps to eliminate 

certain parallax issues. An 

upgrade to Alexa that was 

released at IBC added several features 

suitable for 3D, including 

Performance capture: The speed of the SxS card allows users to archive faster 

better synchronisation and full 

master/slave control (so you only 

have to set up one camera). 

The new €8,000 Alexa Plus 

upgrade, which adds a new side 

panel and other options to the 

Alexa, includes integrated lens 

control. Most existing Alexa 

owners have ordered the upgrade. 

“One thing that will be a big 

issue is metadata, and the lens 

data system with the big sensor 

cameras is in its infancy — but 

with file-based cameras people 

expect much more metadata.” 

This is why the Plus gives a full 

lens data download, including 

focus, iris, etc. “At the moment it 

is the domain of special effects, 

but others will find it useful too.” 

The metadata requirements of 

the film industry are different to 

broadcast, but for 3D metadata is 

particularly important. 

The Alexa is a relatively 

straightforward camera to use. 

“The single page menu structure 

is simpler than a [Sony] EX1. The 

camera was designed by people 

who spent all their lives designing 

film cameras, so the ergonomics 

are very good,” he claims. 

They even tested how easy 

it was to change BNC cables 

in a sub-zero chamber, wearing 

gloves, to get the distance 

between them right so it can be 

used in extreme conditions. 

Tapeless workflow 

“In philosophical terms, we are 

very far from being totally tapeless,” 

says Krsljanin. “Some producers 

have to keep all their rushes 

for legal reasons, so if you are 

shooting tapeless you have to put 

everything on LTO [digital tapes]. 

Hard drives fail — the question is 

just when — so you have to have 

a good archive strategy.” 

The reason Arri chose fast 

memory cards (SxS) and the PCI 

interface was to make it easier to 

transfer to archive. “There is 

nothing faster at the moment 

than these cards and our segment 

of the market is not as price-sensitive 

as EX1 or EX3 users. In 

film terms, the cards are cheaper 

than the equivalent length of 

film, but are re-usable. 

“At the moment, the price is 

too high to keep 10 days of shooting 

on cards. But, one day it will 

be, and only at the end of the 

shoot will we re-use them.” 

Even if he feels that tapeless 

is currently as achievable as the 

“If you are shooting tapeless you have to put 

everything on LTO [digital tapes]. Hard drives 

fail — the question is just when — so you have to 

have a good archive strategy” — Milan Krsljanin 

paperless office (some productions 

still use SR tape for legacy reasons), 

its key benefit is file-based editing, 

“because you can immediately go 

to the timeline and start editing.” 

Alexa users have two main 

recording options (both of which 

can be used at once): record to 

Apple’s ProRes codec, with the 

compression done in a 16-bit signal 

processor (which offers optimal 

performance as it is next to 

the sensor); or record Raw, 

uncompressed images, with very 

large file sizes, to an external 

recorder from the likes of Codex 

Digital or S.Two. 

“We have raw output, and that 

can be recorded easily.” But few 

productions are using raw, because 

not all the tools are in place, especially 

for easy manipulation in 

post. The raw implementation used 

in the Alexa is based on the D21, 

but the latest Version 3.0 software 

update includes an Alexa raw 

implementation, as well as incamera 

playback of recordings 

from the SxS cards and a new colour 

management system — which will 

allow easy creation of look up tables 

using online software. 

Shooting ProRes means there is 

no distinction needed between 

online and offline edits, except 

moving to a grading suite at the 

end, as it can record ProRes 4:4:4, 

although normal ProRes HQ 4:2:2 

is good enough for TV, as it is, 

Ksljanin claims, “better than 

HDCAM or AVC-Intra.” It is also 

optimised for post production. 

www.arri.de 


Blackmagic HD touch for Corrie 

Post Workflow 

The first HD version of Coronation 

Street, including the first new set 

of titles since the 1990s, was 

delivered on time to ITV thanks to 

Space Digital & Blackmagic 

By David Stewart 

As part of its 50th anniversary 

celebration, Coronation Street 

(Corrie) switched to HD. With 

that switch, the show’s owners, 

ITV Networks, required the first 

set of new titles in almost a 

decade. ITV chose Space Digital 

to meet those requirements. 

Space Digital built a complete 

HD workflow for many of 

the graphics, editing and testing 

needs for Coronation Street. 

Much of its workflow is tied 

together with Blackmagic 

Design’s DeckLink HD Extreme 

and Intensity Pro capture and 

playback cards. Media Express 

software and the UltraScope 

waveform monitoring technology, 

both from Blackmagic 

Design, are also essential to the 

post practice. 

For the titling sequence, Space 

Digital shot on Red cameras, 

using the Coronation Street 

set and locations around 

Manchester. Several shots were 

altered to modify geography. To 

do this, co-founder Simon 

Blackledge worked directly on the 

Red’s native R3D files to create 

multilayered composites, replacing 

background buildings, and 

adding one of Manchester’s 

updated Metrolink trams. Additional 

enhancements were then 

added using Adobe After Effects 

and the finished sequence was 

graded in Apple Color. Offline 

editing was done on Final Cut 

Pro, with in-house custom tools 

translating the project into 

NukeX for conform and VFX. 

Throughout this project, 

Space Digital used the 

Blackmagic cards, software and 

testing products to capture and 

view dailies and pass through 

final quality control, and integrated 

them with Adobe’s 

Production Premium package 

and Final Cut Pro for editing. 

Autodesk/Maya animation and 

3D software and The Foundry’s 

NukeX compositing software 

were also used. 

“Corrie is an institution, and 

that opening scene, music and 

titles are almost sacred to people. 

It was a huge responsibility to 

get this done correctly, and 

Blackmagic Design really helped 

make this a flawless and perfectly 

executed process.” 

Space uses four Intensity Pro 

cards for playback and broadcast 

monitoring, and from Nuke 

compositing systems. Two HD 

Extreme cards are used for capture 

and playback to view daily 

reviews of VFX from both Adobe 

and Final Cut Pro systems, with 

Media Express software providing 

the ability to capture video 

from an HDMI source and then 

use the HDMI output to monitor 

video capturing. “I can afford to 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NEWS 

IN BRIEF 

First for production 

The College of Production 

website, part of the BBC 

Academy, went live on 21 

February. The first of its kind 

for the production community 

in the UK, the website provides 

practical advice on all aspects 

of TV, radio and online 

production and will be available 

to the production community 

and general public for free. 

It is hoped that the website will 

become a valuable asset not 

only for training BBC staff, but 

an authoritative and useful 

resource for the wider 

broadcasting industry, for 

people seeking to enter the 

industry and for other 

interested audiences. A host 

of the top names in broadcast 

have contributed to the site 

including Gary Lineker, 

talking about the Match of 

the Day production team. 

Experts representing a broad 

spectrum of jobs and skills 

in radio, TV and online 

production will be invited 

to share their knowledge 

and expertise. 

www.bbc.co.uk/collegeof 

production 

Nevion scoops 

Oscar project 

Nevion, formerly Network/VPG, 

provided video transport 

solutions for the 83rd Academy 

Awards at the Kodak Theater in 

Hollywood on 27 February. In its 

sixth consecutive year working 

for the Oscars, Nevion’s Ventura 

systems transported video 

signals from outside broadcast 

(OB) trucks at the Kodak 

Theater across the local 

network and throughout the 

country. “Our Ventura solutions 

have once again been chosen 

to transport video for the 

most prominent award 

ceremony in the world, thanks 

to their unparalleled visual 

quality and carrier-grade 

reliability,” said Eugene Keane, 

president of Nevion’s media 

networks division. 

www.nevion.com 

HPA forecast: An infinite 

number of digital workflows 

‘Snowflake’ workflows fell at the sunny Hollywood Post Alliance’s 

Tech Retreat. Carolyn Giardina reports from the Palm Springs confab 

‘So how black are those blacks?’ Sony unveiled its new OLED reference 

monitor (centre), with a comparison between LCD and CRT monitors 

As no two are exactly the same, 

snowflakes were used as a metaphor 

to describe the seemingly infinite 

number of digital workflows that can 

be implemented in today’s productions, 

during the Hollywood Post 

Alliance Tech Retreat, mid-February 

in Palm Springs, California. 

An estimated 400 attendees 

from both sides of the pond were 

on site to examine workflow 

approaches — a theme that ran 

throughout the HPA’s four-day 

annual event, which combines a conference, 

technology demonstrations 

and networking opportunities. 

In exploring workflows, participants 

discussed the growing number 

of digital cameras including 

DSLR options, portable recording 

options, post production systems, 

asset management systems — and 

of course proprietary technologies. 

“There are a lot of toolsets that 

have been developed over the past 

two years, and a lot of facilities and 

companies have made great 

strides,” said Sean Cooney, VP, 

advanced production technology at 

Warner Bros. “It looks like the next 

phase is going to be integration. I 

think the integration is going to 

give us some efficiencies.” 

Kicking off a full day session, 

appropriately titled ‘Snowflake 

Workflows,’ Cooney and several 

other participants announced that 

Warner Bros had completed its 

Next Generation Production 

Workflows Report, which involved 

the testing of 20 different workflows 

using technologies from an estimated 

30 vendors. Among the technologies 

were a variety of cameras 

including the Alexa, F35, Red and 

DSLR; recording devices such as 

Codex, S.two and Clipster; and even 

tools such as CineSlate, a new type 

of slate developed by Sony. 

Each workflow had a data 

repository, transcoding, DAM, 

and colour management. And 

each workflow was tested for its 

ability to deliver editorial media, 

digital dailies, DVD dailies and 

archived backups. 

Jonathan Smiles, digital production 

supervisor, predicted that eventually 

there might be two or three 

standard workflows per camera system. 

“Beyond that, it becomes tweaking,” 

he added. “With DAM, you 

need automation,” Cooney warned. 

“And very few systems are out of the 

box. That is one of the challenges.” 

3D update 

In a yearly roundup, it was reported 

that there are now 43 3D channels 

worldwide (source: Quantel). 

According to Screen Digest, 3.3 

million 3DTVs have now been 

shipped globally. 

3D was also addressed during a 

panel featuring an update from US 

broadcasters including ABC, CBS, 

“The terrestrial channel is here to stay. Multicasting 

is increasing. Mobile DTV has great promise. File 

downloads are appealing” — Art Allison, NAB 

NBC and Fox—all of whom demonstrated 

caution in 3D. Jim DeFilippis 

of Fox suggested that when there is a 

“backward compatible system and 

an approach within ATSC standards, 

and we can produce content in 

an efficient manner, then you will 

hear about 3D from us.” 

In this time that media competition 

continues to increase, 

NAB’s Art Allison asserted that 

broadcasting has a bright future. 

“The terrestrial channel is here to 

stay. Multicasting is increasing. 

Mobile DTV has great promise. 

File downloads are appealing.” 

US public broadcaster PBS 

reported that it has three public 

Mobile DTV stations on air, with 

20 more expected by midyear. 

Broadcasters including ABC and 

PBS outlined their plans to move 

toward electronic file delivery. 

IIF, ACES, IMF, FIMS 

Director of photography Curtis 

Clark, ASC, with colourist Pankaj 

Baipai from Encore (which with the 

rest of Ascent Media Creative 

Services, was recently acquired 

by Deluxe), showed before and 

after images to demonstrate the 

Academy of Motion Picture Arts 

and Sciences’ Image Interchange 

Framework (IIF) and the Academy 

Colour Encoding Specification 

(ACES) — all aimed at next generation 

workflows that maintain the 

cinematographer’s intent. “This is 

meant to be colour corrector and 

camera agnostic,” Clark explained, 

adding that Filmlight’s Baselight, 

Autodesk’s Lustre and Digital 

Vision’s Nucoda Film Master are 

currently compliant. 

Also on new and emerging 

developments, HPA attendees 

were urged to participate in the 

Image Interchange Framework, 

which essentially aims to do for 

Fox’s Jim DeFilippis emphasised need for “efficient manner” to produce 3D 

video masters what DCI did for 

digital cinema in creating a standard 

format. SMPTE has formed 

a working group — chaired by 

Annie Chang, VP post production 

technology at Walt Disney 

Studios — with a goal of standardising 

the format. 

Chang related that the group 

aims to have a basic IMF standard 

— which would include HD and 3D 

— by year’s end. A second version 

of the spec would be released at a 

later date, to reflect future needs. 

The original IMF spec — which 

was presented last year at IBC — 

was created by Hollywood studio 

representatives and other stakeholders 

under the Entertainment 

Technology Centre@USC umbrella, 

and version 1.0 was slated to be 

published at press time. HPA also 

featured an overview of FIMS 

(Framework for Interoperable 

Media Services), an EBU/AMWA 

effort. Via a recorded message, 

EBU’s Hans Hoffmann suggested 



Sony maximises its memory 

to go beyond high definition 

NAB Preview 

By David Fox 

The centrepiece of Sony’s offering 

at NAB will be its new 

SRMemory, an expansion of its 

SR format and a move beyond 

HD. The HDCAM-SR format 

has been Sony’s high-end tape 

system, but it will soon be moving 

mainstream, for broadcast multicamera 

recording and as an 

option on its mid-priced PMW- 

F3 Super35mm camcorder. It will 

also be going tapeless, using solid-state 

cards with capacities of 

up to 1TB. 

This is part of Sony’s push to 

cater for not just HD, but higher 

resolution capture, including 4K 

and above. Of course, “resolution 

alone does not make better pictures. 

There are other imaging 

parameters that we need to consider, 

such as higher dynamic 

range, wider colour space, multiple 

view points (such as 3D), and 

higher frame rates,” said 

Yasuhiko Mikami, its senior 

manager for Product Planning. 

“By improving the technology 

and our products in these five 

directions, we can start addressing 

new applications that exist 

outside of the traditional broadcast 

business, such as 4K cinema 

and ODS (other digital stuff), 

UDTV, 3D, and HDR.” 

The new SRMemory will 

allow realtime recording and 

playback, file-based post production, 

and offer scalable compression 

levels for different types of 

application (one of the first of 

which he believes will be for the 

Olympics in 2012). It uses the 

MPEG-4 Simple Studio Profile, 

which covers everything from 

standard definition to 4K x 2K 

4:4:4 at 10- or 12-bit 50/60p. 

“Memory is a very good 

choice for high-capacity, highspeed 

recording, but there is still 

the problem of archiving, so we 

have to come up with a good way 

HPA forecast 


that FIMS could result in flexible 

workflows with cost efficiencies 

and production efficiencies. 

The cloud was the big topic of 

another session, during which 

speakers suggested that these are 

best achieved when they enable collaboration 

and when the user still 

plans for failure. “I don’t know 

about you, but I don’t like upgrading 

software,” said Avid’s Al 

of integrating memory and tape 

for archive,” he added. 

To enable SR file-based operation, 

Sony is providing the native 

SR compressed file and wrapping 

it in MXF. “SR is based on 

MPEG-4 SStP. A completely 

open codec,” he explained. For 

high-end post work, this can be 

encapsulated in DPX files. 

However, this would be unnecessary 

for most broadcast work, so 

it is also adding a new level: SR 

Lite, which will record at 

220Mbps. The other levels are 

440Mbps SQ, for acquisition and 

post, and 880Mbps for 1080 

50/60p and visual effects. 

On file 

SR Lite means “you can shrink 

the file size to half with minimum 

sacrifice in image quality. We 

firmly believe it is important to 

keep your camera original material 

at the highest possible quality. 

However when you’re finished 

with grading, compositing, editing, 

you can shrink the file to 

make it pass through the broadcast 

food chain more easily. We 

also plan to create SR Lite files 

from regular HDCAM tapes, so 

that images acquired on your tenyear-old 

F900 will still fit into the 

modern post production environment,” 

said Mikami. 

Sony has been working with 

the EBU to offer a production 

codec for HD production, and 

tests have shown that “SR Lite 

seems very promising, even after 

multiple generations.” 

The simplest way to go filebased 

is to upgrade its existing 

SRW-5800 HDCAM/HDCAM- 

SR tape deck. The new 5800/2 

will offer MXF file transfer, 4:2:2 

and 4:4:4 double-speed recording 

and playback, 3D recording and 

playback, 2K in realtime 

(2048x1556 / 2048x1080), and 12 

channels of 96k/24bit audio. 

Avid’s Media Composer, 

Apple Final Cut Pro and 

FilmLight will all be supporting 

SR, and Mikami, who was speaking 

to a dealer meeting in 

Prototype SRMemory Deck can record four channels 

and up to 100 hours of HD in 12TB of solid-state memory 

Kovalick during the session, suggesting 

that notion of software is 

on its way out. “But if I can access 

from a user experience (in the 

cloud), I’m happy with that,” he 

added, noting that the value prop is 

both that it is accessible and a ‘pay 

for what you use’ model. 

Technology demos 

The Tech Retreat also featured its 

annual demo room of new and 

emerging technologies, and many 

of the participants underscored the 

theme of workflows. Sony, for 

instance, is bringing file-based 

Super Super35mm: Sony’s Yasuhiko Mikami shows 

off the new PMW-F3 with an SRMemory recorder 

capabilities to its SR format. At 

HPA, it previewed its new SR 

memory platform, which enables a 

direct to edit native workflow of 

the SR codec, explained Sony 

Marketing Manager Peter Crithary 

(see story above). The introduction 

included an SR memory card, 

which can accommodate up to 1TB 

of storage, an SR memory camcorder, 

a camera adapter, a transfer 

unit and a deck. 

Sony also grabbed attention by 

introducing its OLED reference 

monitors. A 17-inch model and a 

25-inch model will begin shipping 

London, showed plans for an SR 

Data Transfer Unit that will allow 

fast ingest of cards or tapes to 

servers or NLEs. It will support 

NFS and CIFS disk formats to 

mount a shared directory or folder 

on NLEs or servers, and can 

ingest using GbE or, optionally, 

10GbE. It will also clone 

SRMemory to tape at two times 

normal speed and will be controllable 

via a web browser. 

On deck 

There will also be a new 

SRMemory Deck, which can be 

used as a multi-channel recorder 

for studio or outside broadcast. It 

is smaller than a normal VTR 

(4RU), but can handle four channels 

of I/O, including 3D or 4K, 

recording at 220Mbps, 440Mbps, 

or 880Mbps, or uncompressed 

DPX, with 16 channels of 24-bit 

PCM audio. Each HD video 

channel is 3G SDI dual-link capable 

— 1080/60P 3D or Key + Fill. 

It can also have up to 8TB of 

internal fixed memory, giving it a 

maximum capacity of 12TB (100 

hours of SR Lite). It can also copy 

material to SR tape for backup. 

“The Memory Deck is very 

flexible in terms of I/O. It can 

combine four cameras onto a single 

card and use another card as 

in the spring. Sony’s new line goes 

after the CRT replacement market 

— which Dolby also has its sights 

set on with its 42-inch Professional 

Reference Monitor, which was on 

display at the HPA Retreat and is 

now shipping. “Several customers 

have already received orders for 

the first monitors and others are 

evaluating the monitor for purchase,” 

according to a Dolby 

spokesperson. “We are receiving 

incredibly positive feedback from 

major studios and content creators 

about their experiences using 

the monitor. Many have already 


backup, or one 2D or 3D camera 

onto four cards, if required,” he 

explained. Theoretically it could 

have 12 inputs and record 12 

channels onto a single card. 

SR memory has a guaranteed 

transfer rate of 5Gbps, more than 

fast enough to enable multichannel 

HD and high framerate 

recording, and cards will be 

offered in various capacities, from 

256GB to 1TB. 

Sony chose 5Gbps as its design 

goal because if you record 4K 

60p, full RGB, 10-bit material, 

the uncompressed data rate is 

about 20Gbps. “Then apply 4:1 

good quality compression, like 

SR, and that gives 5Gbps.” 

An SxS card has a maximum 

transfer rate of 800Mbps, but 

this can fall to 200Mbps due 

to fragmenting and poor memory 

management. However, in 

SRMemory “a very clever memory 

chip controller mechanism 

is built in, so you will never skip 

a frame during recording or 

playback.” It ensures that no 

single memory sector gets 

over used (making it more 

likely to fail), and has “incredible 

error correction.” 

On camera 

For acquisition there will be a 

portable SRMemory recorder 

capable of 3G and HD-SDI dual 

link recording, including uncompressed 

DPX files. When used 

with an optionally-upgraded 

PMW-F3 Super 35mm camcorder, 

it can record 10-bit S-Log 

RGB files, with look-up tables 

(which are baked in to the 

MPEG-2 4:2:0 copies recorded to 

the SxS card, for offline use). “It’s 

a very self-contained, integrated 

solution,” said Mikami. However, 

it does need a dedicated power 

supply. The unit could be used 

with any camera with dual-link 

SDI, but it will only handle variable 

speed recording on the F3, 

thanks to a dedicated connection 

— the F3 won’t do variable frame 

rates with third-party recorders. 

The high-end SRW-9000PL 

camcorder started shipping as a 

tape-based unit, but there will be 

a card-based version by the end of 

the year, and all existing models 

will be upgradeable (with the card 

recorder replacing the tape drive). 

Users could also just add an 

external SRMemory unit in addition 

to recording to tape. 

www.pro.sony.eu 

used it on projects such as colour 

grading for HD mastering of feature 

films.” 

Avid previewed features in its 

new versions of its editing line: 

Media Composer v5.5, NewsCutter 

v9.5 and Symphony v 5.5. Avid 

believes that its newly added support 

for AJA Video System’s Io 

Express input and output interface 

will make it more cost effective to 

work on a laptop. 

Referencing snowflake workflows, 

HPA president Leon 

Silverman concluded that it will 

be ‘snowing’ for quite some time. 



AD 

INDEX 

46 

34 

55 

5 

37 

3 

35 

20 

41 

IFC 

38 

21 

38 

17 

33 

32 

22 

31 

FC 

40 

39 

24 

13 

28 

15 

52 

36 

9 

44 

51 

50,54, 

OBC 

26 

29 

27 

12 

42 

14,16, 

18 

30 

48 

4 

25 

8 

7 

10 

19 

28 

43 

11 

47,49 

3D Masters Conference 

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Argosy 

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AJA www.aja.com 

Blackmagic Design 

www.blackmagic-design.com 

Broadcast Microwave 

Services www.bms-inc.com 

Bridge Technologies 

www.bridgetech.tv 

Broadcast Pix 

www.broadcastpix.com 

Clearcom 

www.clearcom.com 

Datavideo 

www.datavideo.co.uk 

Digital Rapids 

www.digital-rapids.com 

DVS www.dvs.de 

Echostar www.echostar.com 

Ensemble Designs 

www.ensembledesigns.com 

EVS www.evs.tv 

For-A www.for-a.com 

Front Porch Digital 

www.fpdigital.com 

Fujinon www.fujinon.de 

Guntermann and 

Drunck www.gdsys.de 

Harris 

www.broadcast.harris.com 

IBC www.ibc.org 

Lawo www.lawo.de 

Litepanels 

www.litepanels.com 

Matrox www.matrox.com 

MediaGenix 

www.mediagenix.tv 

Miranda 

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Murraypro 

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Nevion www.nevion.com 

Newtek 

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Octopus 

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Phabrix www.phabrix.com 

Playbox 

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ProConsultant Informatique 

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Publitronic 

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Quantel www.quantel.com 

Quantum www.quantum.com 

Red Byte 

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Riedel 

www.riedel.net 

Ross Video 

www.rossvideo.com 

Servizi www.si-media.tv 

SISLive www.sislive.tv 

Snell www.snellgroup.com 

Solid State Logic 

www.solid-state-logic 

Sony MPE www.pro.sony.eu 

Studiotech 

www.studiotech.be 

Telestream 

www.telestream.com 

Tools on Air 

www.toolsonair.com 

TV One 

www.tvone.co.uk 

TwoFour54 

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Wohler 

www.wohler.com 

Global broadcast with iTX 

Philip Stevens finds out how one 

large playout centre went about 

acquiring new equipment to meet 

increasing demands 

With the massive increase in channels 

that have appeared over the 

last decade or so, one significant 

growth area has involved playout 

centres. Not only have their numbers 

grown, but the demands 

made by clients have also diversified 

to meet viewer needs. 

Central London based 

GlobeCast currently manages 36 

channels providing mainly full 

playout services, but also re-purposing 

for different markets using 

content substitution and time 

shifting. “The channels are not all 

for the UK market, nor are all the 

broadcasters based in the UK,” 

states Peter Elvidge, head of 

media solutions. “For example 

GlobeCast operates services for 

B4U where the majority of content 

originates in India and services 

are delivered globally.” He 

adds, “The combination of playout, 

a global fibre network and 

access to a wide portfolio of satellite 

platforms is quite compelling 

for our customers.” 

The channels operated by 

GlobeCast are intended for conventional 

television delivery; however, 

the company has been 

involved in delivering output to 

the internet. Elvidge reveals that 

in the future he expects to deliver 

an increasing amount of content 

for video on demand applications. 

“In this area we have seen significant 

growth in the past year 

and more of a shift to 

High Definition.” 

In order to cope with the 

increasing and changing demands 

from its clients, Globecast made 

the decision at the end of 2009 to 

purchase more playout capacity. 

Early in 2010 it issued a Request 

For Proposals (RFP) to the key 

playout technology vendors. The 

responses from the suppliers were 

utilised to formulate a more 

detailed specification in order to 

seek out a suitable system. 

“Among the key requirements 

were reliability, resilience and sur- 

Control desk: iTX has helped Globecast meet increasing demands 

Laura Kirkland: “iTX fully 

supports operation as disaster 

recovery/business continuity” 

vivability. We needed systems 

where channel output can be 

maintained if ‘core’ components 

of the system failed,” explains 

Elvidge. “Beyond that, we were 

looking for flexibility. As a service 

provider we must be able to 

appeal to a wide range of customers 

each with its own specific 

requirements and plans.” 

“The RFP was given to most 

playout technology providers,” 

reports Elvidge. “However, the 

responses demonstrated that suppliers 

who had more of an integrated 

software approach, such 

that video servers could do more 

in the box, were a better match for 

our needs.” 

Alongside the RFP process, 

GlobeCast ran hardware and integration 

trials using actual customer 

scenarios. Following these 

various procedures, it was decided 

to purchase the OmniBus Systems 

iTX master control and automation 

platform. In fact, 

GlobeCast’s installation is the 

first iTX installation at a UK 

playout centre. 

Elvidge explains that the 

OmniBus system is designed to 

grow the centre’s capabilities, 

rather than replace existing systems. 

Those existing configurations 

include an Omneon- and 

Pharos-based system and some 

Thomson equipment. 

He reveals that the biggest 

shortfall of other systems that 

were considered was lack of flexibility. 

“We really felt that the 

approach OmniBus had taken, 

where functionality is added by 

licence enabling software modules 

on standard IT hardware, was a 

good one.” 

According to Laura Kirkland, 

strategic account manager at 

OmniBus, “the thing that makes 

iTX unique is that all video/ audio 

and graphics processing is performed 

in software rather than 

using a dedicated graphics card. 

This means it matches and 

exceeds the capabilities of the previous 

generation of technology in 

a much more efficient way. It will 

support many different video and 

file formats and provides unique 

capabilities in multi-platform content 

delivery.” 

She adds, “One of the benefits 

of the architecture is that the system 

is scalable. Currently, the 

largest single deployment has over 

200+200 HD channels on air. 

GlobeCast needed above all to 

install a platform that could adapt 

readily to a wide variety of scenarios, 

and be quickly scaled to 

meet new requirements.” 

Initially, the GlobeCast system 

has been configured with seven 

fully redundant channels, and one 

more to be added shortly. The system 

includes iTX’s built-in graphics 

capabilities for logos and character 

generation, voiceovers, 

scheduling, dynamic format conversion 

(including down- and upconversion 

for SD/HD re-versioning), 

and integration with the inhouse 

media asset management 

system using iTX’s API. 

“iTX fully supports operation 

as a disaster recovery/business 

continuity system,” states 

Kirkland. “The GlobeCast set-up 

is fully redundant for both the 

Database and Framework servers 

as well as having each channel 

configured for full mirroring and 

auto-failover.” 

GlobeCast operates a Content 

Management System (CMS) that 

can be scaled up as customers’ 

needs grow. This is currently 

based on media management software 

provided by subsidiary Netia 

and high-availability off-the-shelf 

IT hardware. 

The system is integrated with the 

playout platform via its API, such 

that when material is scheduled that 

is not available on iTX the CMS will 

execute a workflow to provide the 

content in the right format and suitably 

wrapped with any additional 

audios and other materials. 

Further, the GlobeCast 

Content Management System and 

the company’s international fibre 

network allows close integration 

with its other playout operations in 

Singapore and Miami – meaning 

that scalability is not limited to the 

London facility. 


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