Pharos introduce Playtime playout system

Broadcast process control specialist Pharos Communications have introduced Playtime, a multi-channel multi-layered presentation playout system enabling broadcasters to emulate on-air the look and feel of web pages.
Playtime uses the edit timeline as the basis of a unique toolset for the creation and playout of broadcast media publishing channels. It allows a scheduler to create television channels that would otherwise require extensive post-production.
Playtime introduces the concept of packaged-playout integrated with multi-layered nonlinear editing; a package can have any number of layers and the overall system will scale from one to hundreds of channels. Traditional automation systems rely on a playlist of video events as their main timing reference. Playtime uses a package with separate tracks for every event sequence it contains. Each track, typically representing main video, backup video, discrete voiceover languages, GPIs, mixer effects, logo and subtitles) is displayed on the Playtime control screen as a separate timeline.
Playtime allows packages to be assembled manually or automatically. In automatic mode, a schedule is imported or events are sourced directly from a newsroom system. Individual event timings can be checked and adjusted before the package is committed for transmission. Video can be sourced to a package from any file without re-ingest to the server. Clip in/out points can be edited for a specific purpose without affecting the stored copy.
The system can be configured to provide a backup video channel automatically matched to an incoming programme schedule, providing an alternative signal source.
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