Integrated IT Playout, By George Jarrett (Pt. 3)

What has Pixel Power developed and/or combined specifically to serve this market sector?
"The play out software runs on the Clarity graphics engine. A format-independent server is built which, with a 4TB capacity, can run a channel for an extended period. And of course seamless switching is incorporated. The platform also means we can incorporate graphics and advanced functionality like 3D DVE into the live playlist. Try asking the PC-based CIAB vendors if they can do a 3D squeeze back with live graphics," said Gilbert.
Is CIAB a dated, misleading and restrictive tag? "ChannelMaster is of course a perfect fit for a file-based workflow and can communicate over IP just as it does over SDI. But the inescapable fact is that the end point of a broadcast workflow is a stream of video going off to the transmitter or the head end. So the focus of the CIAB solution must be perfect video on the output, which is our strength," said Gilbert. "There are people now talking about 'virtualising' play out in a render farm, but that depends upon a lot of IT skills which do not necessarily align well with broadcast expectations."

More correctly TV Channel in a Box
Don Ash, the MD of PlayBox Technology UK was succinct about the customer expectations of CIAB technology.
"Most expect that it will give them a fully integrated workflow solution that can fit into their workflow and bring advantages to their play out. The central advantage is the ease at which content providers can set up and run channels simply and reliably that are quick to learn as well as easy to operate. We are reaching more tier 1 broadcasters than ever before. Most didn’t even acknowledge that CIAB even existed two years ago," he said.
"CIAB or more correctly TV Channel in a Box or even otherwise known as Master Control in a Box, was to really emphasise that the 'box' could do all the master control play out of a single channel, i.e. server, automation, content storage, CG and graphics," he added. "In reality, each client has their own requirements: in other words, all that a TV channel would need in a 'Box'. Of course some vendors would argue that to do this effectively would also require traffic, MAM or subtitles, etc. Our CIAB systems are based on modular software running on company-approved but otherwise standard off the shelf servers."
The latest version of Playbox’s core AirBox product incorporates a GPU-enhanced graphics mixing engine which allows video rotation effects and depth-order layering effects to be performed in real-time. What else is new?
"Logo animation facilities are also added for applications such as titling, captioning or channel branding. The audio capabilities of AirBox are expanded with support now provided for Dolby E and Dolby Digital Plus. In its automated play out mode, AirBox allows fixed-time scheduling for weeks ahead," said Ash. "It can be used for live production as well as automated play out. Every clip in the playlist, except the one currently playing, can be trimmed or repositioned seamlessly."
Did PlayBox develop anything specific to serve this relatively new market sector?
"All our products serve it. The CaptureBox PRO enables multiple channels of HD or SD content to be captured from HD/SD SDI digital feeds; analogue sources and MPEG transport streams. Four video sources can be monitored on a single screen and controlled via a new streamlined UI. Audio levels can be monitored as loudness/true-peak displays and adjusted when required. Content is available for playback within a few seconds of ingest commencing," said Ash. "The feature set also includes capture-list import from third-party traffic systems, support for CEA-608/708 closed-captioning and automated VTR control via RS-422 with batch-capture listing.
"Hopefully CIAB will mean less people are needed for the mundane part of play out and will allow more people to be creative in making a better on air look for channels," he added. "CIAB allows a given number of stuff to achieve more than they could possibly had they stayed with old technology. That can mean fewer staff but equally it can mean more channels under the control of a given number of people. And we are not just talking about automation. Our technology allows for manual override of automated playout, so for live productions, any changes to the playlist during an on-air session are possible. There are no queued or locked clips. Every clip in a playlist, except the one which is currently playing, can be trimmed, edited or repositioned."
What did the company produce for NAB?
"Our partnership with Masstech helped to make it an outstandingly successful show. Masstech offers the world's most comprehensive content asset management and archiving system. Combining our two systems allows content manipulation, storage and play out to be performed within a unified control environment supported by a single reference database," said Ash.

The connected platform
Steve Smith, Imagine product line manager for integrated play out, workflows and asset management, said that while we are strong fans of integrated channel play out, "It does not have to be a box. It doesn’t have to be an appliance. It will be software, I/O using IP instead of baseband, and linked to public or private Cloud.
"One of the things that allows the integrated channel solutions to be more cost effective is that the points of integration are all known and proven, in that inside the single solution you have your automation, clip playback, graphics, branding and master control switcher," he added. "They are all known entities and are all tenanted together. This is versus traditional automation where you pick and choose what your components are, and because they may come from different vendors there is a higher risk to the automation platform."
That has not been as economical as the CIAB, and all the things round it for things like traffic and billing would be best of breed. The CIAB is meaner and leaner.
"It is not intended to be a station in a box with real estate and office space and everything else that goes with a TV station," said Smith. "It is a channel of origination within a contained unit.
"Fairly often people mistake the CIAB offering as a cheap way of running channels. It is not. It is a cost effective way, with the same functionality we traditionally would have got with a normal automation product, video servers, master control switch, etc," he added. "They are discrete elements and it is cost effective to consolidate those into a single entity, but it does preclude other business processes from still being in place, like traffic, scheduling, billing, and ingest – anything you can think of that may go around your channel."
To see what Imagine offers we have to start with the branded variants of Versio. Versio 2.X is the shipping platform, and it integrates automation, clip playback, graphics, master control, and branding.
Imagine has an option that lets you run baseband I/0 alongside IP functionality. Will the next buzz be channel-in-a-card?
"Hardware specific requirements are spoilers. Some of our competitors are going down the path towards developing proprietary cards that plug into the modular frame. And then you would be stuck in a world where you are physically on their hardware and you have to countenance support contracts," said Smith.

George's article is also available in BFV online.