Trends In Broadcast Systems Integration

Watching NAB and IBC visitors trying the latest generation of immersive head-worn television displays this year was both informative and amusing, says Russell Peirson-Hagger, Managing Director, ATG Danmon UK.

It proved a useful reminder that broadcasting may yet branch out in very different directions from those we currently take for granted. A large number of television viewers have remained loyal to the traditional panel-on-the-wall display screens. However, we have seen many viewers migrating to other devices. Young generations particularly now routinely access music, short video clips and even full-length programmes on tablets, laptops and mobile phones. Even their parents are seeing the benefits provided by these platforms and the flexibility of the new services offered. So immersive displays do have a chance, I would suggest far better than 3D with its cardboard filters.

Seen in hindsight, the development of broadcast technology should have been very easy to anticipate. A logical progression from discrete components to integrated circuits, from analogue to digital signal processing, from discrete storage media to servers, from dedicated hardware to generic-platform software, and so on. One useful pattern is evident: many new technologies tend to co-exist with their predecessors, rather than replacing them.

Television itself supplemented rather than ousted radio just as radio supplemented rather than ousted printed media such as books and newspapers. Magnetic tape, for example, is still a popular medium for long-term offline archiving.

The past year has seen continuing fast-paced progress right across the broadcast media business. Increasing attention has centred on higher video definition and wider dynamic range, as well as the relative merits of SDI versus IP.

The relative balance of equipment in the apparatus rooms of modern television stations has swung from around 80 per cent dedicated broadcast kit and 20 per cent IT servers to the exact opposite. Until quite recently, engineers would spend a significant amount of their time locked in the CAR configuring devices during the course of a system build, all fighting over space. Now the bulk of that activity is performed from their desks by simply remote-accessing into the system. This brings the advantage of reducing the number of installation technicians required on site. It also allows post-installation technical support to be provided much faster. Within minutes of an issue being flagged, an engineer can be diagnosing an issue and providing a fix.

4K UHD has moved from aspiration to must-have in the minds of many content owners and broadcasters and we have already implemented such systems for a number of customers. We recently completed a five-camera UHD flyaway for Universal Music Group. This project centred on the design of a complete 4K production system housed in flight cases which can be deployed rapidly at music events. It incorporates multiple cameras capturing 16 bit RAW 4K direct to solid state memory cards.

Our sister company, Danmon Group Systems, recently completed a UHD channel for Viasat Sports in Stockholm. This is the first UHD channel in Scandinavia and is being used for live sports events, including the recent Rio Olympics.

Software product integration has long been a central part of our activity both for new installations and the upgrade or expansion of existing systems. We recently completed a quality-assurance and transcoding station for a globally active news service. This is being used to ingest and process file-based news arriving from reporters around the world. We combined Vidcheck QC software with Dalet Amberfin transcoders and Tachyon frame-rate converters.

Following the recent completion of a quality-control system for one of Europe's largest state broadcasters, we produced seven content transfer workstations for use at the network's film and tape archive. Each workstation was housed in its own booth and equipped with Sony video tape decks plus a Steenbeck film editing machine. The VT and Steenbeck video feeds connect through a Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle to MagicSoft Recorder ingest software running on each workstation. The system can capture seven concurrent streams with far higher quality content transfer than the DVD media previously used. A large Dalet Amberfin ingest system was also supplied.

The future of broadcast systems integration, like the future of broadcasting itself, continues to look bright. As a systems integrator we need to ensure we are tuned to new developments and ready to act on these technology changes. Our customers rely on us to make the right technological choices for them in order to gain maximum benefit from their investment. Wherever the industry progresses, you can be sure we will be following developments closely.

www.atgdanmon.co.uk

(JP/LM)