While the industry was already increasingly moving towards models of remote and distributed working in all aspects of the workflow, the events of 2020 have provided a dramatic accelerant to this trend. The requirements of Covid-mandated social distancing protocols have added to the already compelling economic arguments for remote work, and meant that media organisations are looking for solutions that can accommodate the data flows of the new IP-based broadcast ecosystem reliably and securely with the high performance criteria that broadcast video — especially live broadcast video — requires.
Virtualizing broadcast operations
A+E Networks® UK, a joint venture between Hearst and Sky, is a leading media network reaching 58 million homes across 100 countries. With its global portfolio of popular, high-performing and creative brands – HISTORY®, Crime+Investigation®, Lifetime®, HISTORY2® and UK free to air BLAZE® – A+E Networks® UK has entertained and inspired audiences for over 20 years; telling the stories that need to be told. They currently partner with over 360 operators broadcasting throughout the Nordics, Benelux, Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
How to Win the QoE Battle in OTT Video
Once upon a time, content was all that mattered for a streaming service to be successful.
It’s still the main concern, of course. But with the proliferation of streaming services, it’s no longer enough. Great content at the right price lets you in the game; great quality of experience differentiates you.
But delivering a high quality of experience on an OTT platform can be a challenge. And the challenges are intensifying with the emergence of next-generation video formats – with 4K and HDR entering distribution streams and a potentially embracing surround viewing, virtual and other extended-reality formats, volumetric holographic content and, eventually, 8K.
Matrox White Paper: Insiders Guide to Validating Devices for SMPTE ST 2110 Infrastructures
Why Test ST 2110 Devices?
A SMPTE ST 2110-networked environment must deliver all of the benefits of an IP infrastructure – with the predictability of SDI – in order for it to be useful. This challenge can be met only when the infrastructure is well-managed and edge devices respect specifications. A rogue ST 2110 device may not deliver as expected, which would be bad enough. More importantly, it could adversely affect other functioning devices and lead to unpredictable general failure, which could be catastrophic.
With this in mind, the first step to take after acquiring a new ST 2110 device for a broadcast network is to make sure that it is a good “network citizen.” A good network citizen will not affect the network or disrupt operations when it is directly connected to an on-air production environment. The second step is to actually test the promised functionality and its compliance to SMPTE standards and industry norms. For example, a production environment that is architected around ST 2022-7 redundancy would be very poorly-served if devices do not actually support the ST 2022-7 specification properly – which could ultimately lead to disruptions.
It is important to understand that some devices might actually work well in a small synthetic setup, but fail when put into a real working environment. Due to a number of unaccounted variables, a simple pass-fail test may not be sufficient to make informed decisions on choice of equipment. For example, network packet timing is very different when several transmitters are sending to one receiver compared to a single transmitter sending to a receiver. The timing of a sender is also different if it sends a single ST 2110 flow vs. several flows. Another typical testing pitfall is the dependence on one kind of transmitter. A receiver might work great with a narrow gapped transmitter – like an SDIto-IP gateway – but not work well with a wide linear transmitter.
At first glance, issues like these may not appear to be a problem if the environment may only contain narrow gapped devices. However, knowing the functional boundaries of a working environment is critical to maintaining future expansion. Misinformed decisions taken today may limit future capability and possibilities, (e.g. supporting wide senders). To pre-empt this, it is advisable to build up a test suite that pushes the test boundaries for imperfect, but sufficiently good cases. It is only with these types of tests that informed decisions could be made, eventually leading to judicious ST 2110 device purchases, safe device firmware/software updates, and beneficial service agreements.
How to assure quality of experience in today’s streaming landscape
In this presentation, Edgeware’s Johan Bolin demonstrates the role of automation regarding real-time video QoE monitoring and service assurance and the ways it can improve how teams operate and video services perform in the current streaming climate.
In The Hub Ep 7 – Engineering and Systems Architecture – w/ John Reid
In the seventh episode of the In the Hub podcast, Neil speaks to John Reid – a broadcast engineering and high level systems architecture expert with nearly 50 years of experience working with companies like the BBC and Panasonic. Neil and John discuss how John got his start in the industry, why he chose to go down the independent consultancy route and the benefits of seeing the ‘bigger picture’ when it comes to broadcast technology systems and workflows.
In Conversation with Symply a Global Distribution Brand
In this interview, Alex Grossman (Chief Marketing Officer, Symply a Gobal Distribution Brand) talks to IABM TV about Symply Workspace, an expandable desk-side multi-user storage solution for collaborative editing.
Covid success story: Telstra
Over the last decade, with the likes of Uber, Monzo and Netflix dominating and disrupting traditional industries, we’ve seen first-hand the revolutionary potential of digital transformation. The acceleration of digital technology has become a buzzword yet again in 2020 with the emergence of Covid-19. The pandemic has sped up several incubating trends over the last four months and digital is now a universal requirement for every business that remains in business today. It is also the means to productivity and resilience from future crises and shocks.
Covid success story: TVU Networks
We’re all in this together. These were the words we came to say and believe as an organization in early spring as the coronavirus spread across the world and began to paralyze the business operations of our customers and the broader community. Even as we were transitioning our worldwide staff to long-term work-from-home arrangements and restricting travel for safety, we were planning and mobilizing as an entire company to help broadcasters to transition from physical studio operations to remote setups in living rooms and other shared living spaces in homes.
5G for media and entertainment: from theory to practical use cases
In recent years 5G has very much been the talk of the technological town in general and increasingly in the media industry. People expect it to play a significant role in live production and contribution as well as distribution to consumers. There are trials and real-world 5G deployments and testing of media use cases going on behind the scenes. In this COVID-19 era, the role of 5G in remote production becomes even more relevant to cut production costs while complying with strict social distancing guidelines.
