IBC TV Chooses VRT-EBU LiveIP Studio

VRT and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have announced that IBC TV will use the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio production set-up throughout IBC2016.

The set up will be used to shoot, edit and produce some of the programmes covering this year's conference and exhibition in Amsterdam, 8-13 September.

Established in the summer of 2015, the VRT-EBU LiveIP studio is a complete live production that relies exclusively on IP. This summer, VRT successfully started using this solution to broadcast daily, live programming for its children's channel, Ketnet.

IBC TV delivers content online and on screens throughout the RAI Exhibition Centre. The LiveIP project at IBC2016 is being supported by partners, as well as the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS). The set-up will be split over three sites connected by fiber to demonstrate the flexibility provided by IP technology.

The LiveIP studio floor and the control room where the production staff are based will be on booth D10 in Hall 8; the data centre which holds much of the network equipment will be hosted on EVS's booth B90 in Hall 8; and the IBC TV studio in Hall 13 will have the capability to control the LiveIP studio remotely. The set-up will be on display for visitors at all times, and available for testing when not in use by IBC TV.

Driven by the VRT Sandbox incubator program and the EBU, and powered by a list of partners including Axon, Digital & Media Solutions (D&MS), Dwesam, EVS, Genelec, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Lawo, Nevion, Tektronix, Trilogy and Vizrt, the LiveIP project has developed a fully functional IP production studio. Using existing open standards SMPTE 2022-6, AES67/RAVENNA, PTP and OpenFlow, the venture demonstrates a high level of interoperability and leverages the benefits of IP to create efficiencies, such as remote production and automation.

Sue Robinson, Producer, IBC TV, said: "Since the last IBC event in September 2015, the industry has made great progress in bringing IP to live production, including the development of agreed open standards, interoperability testing and of course projects like LiveIP. As the high-profile provider of content for one of the broadcast industry's biggest gatherings, IBC TV wanted to try the technology for itself and highlight the potential of IP in revolutionizing production."

Karel De Bondt, Project Manager of the LiveIP project, added: "There is a tremendous momentum behind the use of IP and IT technology in live production because of the potential benefits of having an environment that can be remote, shared and automated. There are also a lot of questions around the maturity of the technology, so the use of the LiveIP set-up by IBC TV will be a perfect opportunity for visitors to IBC 2016, to see for themselves, how an all-IP studio can work. Visitors will also have the chance to talk with both technical and production professionals about their experience. This is very much what all of us in the project set out to do: explore the potential of IP and IT and share our findings with the industry at large."

The VRT-EBU LiveIP project recently won the 2016 EBU Award for Technology & Innovation. It has also been shortlisted for the IBC 2016 Innovation Awards, in the Content Creation category.

www.vrt.be/en

(JP/LM)