Reach Further And Deliver More

The recent live coverage of the Winter Games in PyeongChang enthralled viewers from across the world. Coverage of the events wowed audiences and gave them access to sports they had never encountered before. I, for one, was particularly impressed with the skill and indeed bravery of some of the acrobatic antics of some of the top skiers and it certainly made for many hours of compelling viewing.

The key to producing coverage of this quality, live from venues as remote as ski slopes, lies in the ability to be able to transport content over IP.

For more than 20 years, Media Links has been supplying a range of standards-based products that allow telecoms networks and broadcasters to transport live and pre-recorded signals efficiently and reliably for any type of broadcast application. In-fact our staff participate and lead the teams responsible for the various standards required by carriers to move content successfully over wide area networks with 100% QoS using our true IP based products and hitless switching technology. In 2014, Media Links was honored with a Technical & Engineering Emmy® Award for Standardization and Productization of JPEG2000 (J2K) Interoperability.

We enable remote production over IP with our MD8000 solution which allows high quality video audio and data to be transported either compressed or uncompressed using JPEG2000 into an MPEG-2 Transport stream. Depending on available bandwidth, we are able to use a variety of bit rates on each of the required streams – with minimal end-to-end latency to move content from the venue to the production studios and back to the venue as required. The encoding process enables lower bit rates while also maintaining image quality and reducing the amount of bandwidth consumed across the network.
On a typical project, a number of our IP Transport units are installed at the remote venues. Our MD8000 multi-service provisioning platforms for example, will receive and process numerous camera signals from each event, including all audio, video and data plus ultra HD signals.

One workflow takes advantage of the streams being produced in a local OB vehicle, where multiple signals can be transported over an existing telcos network back to the main broadcast studio. The signals are then received in the studio by more MD8000 devices before transmission across the globe.

With recent deployments of Media Links' technology and support services at many of the most watched sporting events this year, Media Links is trusted for its mission critical media over IP transport solutions worldwide.


At NAB this year, we will reveal our latest agile IP infrastructure solutions for flexible, reconfigurable and scalable IP workflows. Alongside our reputation for dependability, Media Links' solutions provide broadcasters and media carriers with the technology, features and services for a frictionless IP transition enabling them to reach further and deliver more.

NAB 2018 will be a showcase for our latest generation of core and edge media over IP technologies. We aim to take broadcasters beyond the boundaries of traditional video transport services with solutions specifically designed to support interoperable standards, custom network requirements and to provide a bridge to SDI equipment and infrastructure.

Media Links' solutions are increasingly used to launch smaller video over IP deployments that still require high network availability to access content from anywhere. Therefore, one of the highlights at the show will be our MD8000 Fly-Away Kits™ that support remote video and data services that can be adapted to almost all video formats and network bandwidths, whether working in J2K, H.264, SDI or 4K.

We are looking forward to meeting new contacts and providing some expert insight on IP workflows, regardless of where a network sits, and where content is going or coming from. We look forward to seeing you at NAB 2018 on booth SU5021.

By John Smith, Managing Director, Media Links

This article is also available in the April edition of Broadcast Film & Video.

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