The 2018 IBC Show wrapped up a successful event last month in which the industry took stock of the latest technologies, trends and insight into what’s on the horizon. Like it’s bigger cousin, the NAB Show, the IBC event provides an opportunity for our industry to not only examine its current status but to hear from emerging players as well as established leaders in content creation and media distribution.

The major talking points coalesced around 5G, UHD, IP, the cloud, immersive audio and VR and AI, which has had an increasingly important impact on both creation and distribution over the past year. I had a chance to speak with many of the vendors about industry trends and how they saw our market changing.

That change is constant now, according to Jeff Rosica, CEO of Avid. “Welcome to 2018 where disruption is the new norm,” he said. “We’ve got to admit that this is not some kind of temporary situation that is going to go away. We have to think differently and that includes technology suppliers.”

Rossica noted the importance of the industry working together to solve problems. “We’ve got to get on open environments where we can develop openly together,” he said. “We not going to solve the problems individually, and we’ve got to do it fast. We used to talk about doing one thing at a time, now we’re talking about doing 10 things at once.”

While SMPTE standards are still important particularly in real time live production scenarios, Rosica noted the impact that Silicon Valley has had on the modern media landscape, illustrated by Apple’s announcement just prior to the show that its next generation iPhone XS platform will support Dolby Vision and HDR 10. “That’s a big deal and all the telcos are now going to focus on those standards,” he said.

On the show floor, Grass Valley moved into the exhibit area occupied by SAM just a year ago, announcing that the integration of the two companies is now complete. At the company’s press conference, President Tim Shoulders discussed a recent company survey that revealed some interesting industry trends.

Looking at the core broadcast segment, Shoulders said that while industry revenues from subscriptions, advertising and licensing have been growing “at a very rapid pace,” at around 4 percent annually, customers’ costs are increasing due to the explosion of content creation and distribution platforms, illustrated by competition from OTT players such as Netflix and Amazon.

“Multiplatform distribution has been a problem for our customers in that they have been investing a lot of money to access new markets,” he said. “This change in market cost structure has put pressure on our segment of the industry and when you combine that with being in the middle of a technological revolution where it’s the cloud, IP, or the need to go UHD, it’s made it a difficult market to participate in.”

Shoulders said he thinks that the pace of revenues from the video business will decelerate with the average price of subscriptions dropping as we see more “skinny bundles” proliferate as well as the expansion of viewership in China and India. He also expects the cost of live TV production will increase as rights to marquee events get renegotiated and expectations for UHD/HDR coverage will be added to the packages.

Imagine Communications CEO Tom Cotney sees similar market pressures as well.

“Our customers are under increasing pressure, they’re being squeezed by a change in technology and loss of viewership to different mediums,” he said. Cotney also called for more intra-industry cooperation. “What I’ve learned over the nine months since I entered this industry is that I’m not competing with everyone else who has a booth in this exhibit hall,” he said. “Imagine is competing with our customers’ number one problem and that is the total cost of ownership and technology is part of that answer but not the complete answer.”

At the show, Cotney announced that Imagine will begin rolling out a new set of services that will help its customers not only migrate to IP but help those customers that may not be ready to take the plunge.

“We’re going to be beta testing three new service offerings that address the needs of customers who may be too risk averse to go to IP right away,” he said. “Some people like to buy into technology later on the maturity curve. We need to be a partner for that customer as well as the one who is ready to make the deal this quarter.” The new services will be ready by the 2019 NAB Show.

For the former Ericsson Media Services, the show served as the coming out party for “MediaKind,” the new name for the company division, which was spun off last year as its parent company chose to focus on its core market, 5G. Matt Goldman, senior vice president for the division, noted the launch of the “MediaKind Universe” which resulted in the renaming of all of its core products around constellations, adding that the renaming of the business represents a renewed vision.

“The product line is everything that we were before Ericsson Media Solutions,” he said. “But now we’ve bloomed because we now control our own destiny.”

Although attendance was down by a mere 3 percent, the exhibit floor grew by 667 square meters (7,180 square feet) and conference delegates were up by 14 percent from 2017.  

AMSTERDAM-- Organizers of the 4K 4Charity Fun Run announced that it raised more than $65,635 in donations at the 2018 IBC Show. AWS Elemental, which organizes the event, said the donations would go to global and local non-profit organizations focused on increasing diversity and inclusion in the media and entertainment industry. The run, which first launched at the 2014 IBC Show, took place in Amsterdam Sept. 15, during the show, drawing 653 supporters from 165 media companies.

Since it began, the 4K 4Charity Fun Run has raised $860,000 and pulled in nearly 9,000 supporters. This year, the number of runners and walkers participating in the 4k rose by 44 percent.

Sponsors for the 4K 4Charity Fun Run at IBC 2018 included Cisco, Vidispine, Arqiva, Munson-Simu Gift Fund in honor of Sam Blackman, Verimatrix, Dolby, Brightcove, Irdeto, Nagra Kudelski, Bitmovin, ChryonHego, Raz PR, and SVG Europe. IBC was the official association sponsor.

“Every single person and company who gets involved in the 4K 4Charity makes an impact,” said Laura Barber, co-founder of the 4K 4Charity Fun Run Series. “It’s incredibly exciting to see more and more people pick up the torch and take meaningful steps for enriching our industry and making it better for everyone. We are deeply appreciative for the generosity of our sponsors and individual participants, and for the strong support from our media partners and IBC. Please join us today with your support!”

Sponsorship opportunities are now open for the newest 4K 4Charity Fun Run Series event, which will take place at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in Los Angeles. during the SMPTE 2018 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. Sponsorship opportunities will open later this fall for the 4K 4Charity Fun Run at NAB Show 2019. Inquiries for both may be directed to Kate Incerto (incertok@amazon.com). 

AMSTERDAM-- The future for virtual reality will be bright, if its quality continues to improve, said Rob Koenen, president of the VR Industry Forum (VRIF), during a “Masterclass on VR Technology and Industry” at the 2018 IBC Show.

Koenen looked back to the first generation of “pricey” and “clumsy” VR headphones which forced users to require expensive computers. By contrast, he said the newest wave offers standalone, VR headphones for under $200, with no wires or computers required to operate.

“Consumers and businesses alike are interested in VR and a healthy ecosystem is developing, but for it to be truly successful it needs to reach enough people, deliver a cinematic-type experience and be affordable to distribute,” Koenen said.

Koenen pointed to the progress at VRIF demonstrations at IBC’s Future Zone as an example of the format’s progress. Those included high-quality live VR360 streaming, tools for the production and playback of streaming VR360 based on the MPEG Omnidirectional Media Format (“OMAF”) and MPEG‑H spatial audio.

“Live services will be key to the success of VR; they take the VR experience to the next level,” Koenen said. “They are a now key focus for VRIF and we will document recommendations for live VR in the upcoming version of our Guidelines, which is scheduled for publication in January 2019.”

Koenen also seemed optimistic about the use of VR applications outside of entertainment, such as in healthcare and training.

“Forecasts for VR are good – IDC, for example, expects spending on AR and VR products and services to reach $27 billion in 2018 – but there is still work to be done,” said Koenen. “To ensure these projections are delivered, the industry needs to come together to focus on creating interoperable, high-quality services which are accessible and bring true value to end users.”

VRIF members include Qualcomm, Sky, Sony, Verizon and more. 

A year after launching its cloud-based, pre-integrated, ready-to-launch OTT solution OpenTV Signature Edition at IBC in Amsterdam, Nagra is using the show to promote Android TV support for the product.

OpenTV Signature Edition will now feature an Android TV Operator Tier solution, enabling on-boarding of apps and SVOD services in an operator-branded user experience.

OpenTV Signature combines the OS, experience/interface and player alongside pre-integrated set-top box hardware, including a 4K-ready box from SmarDTV, and support for third-party apps such as Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.

"Operating within an end-to-end TV framework like OpenTV Signature Edition, an Android TV-based solution offers pay-TV operators a compelling TV experience that engages consumers and drives active content monetization," said Holger Ippach, senior VP of the user experience product unit for Nagra, in a statement. "We have been successfully embracing Android for mobile devices and tablets for years, and now with support for Android TV, we can help our customers benefit from everything it has to offer.”

Also at IBC, Nagra announced that its TVkey Cloud product, which brings pay-TV services directly to Internet-connected smart TVs without the need for any external device, would be available for Samsung smart TVs. 

Vizrt recently introduced a new version of its MAN transfer system at IBC2018 at the RAI in Amsterdam. The Viz One 6.1 has new cloud infrastructure zones can manage compute, storage and transcode resources across multiple cloud and on-premise zones. It also allows media companies to access their content anywhere on Amazon Web Service. 

The system can handle millions of datasets with large assets, according to the company. It’s also ramped up its restore decision for tape libraries, saving up to 10 times the restore time for most restore situations. This enables different production crews to work on the same system without using each other’s resources.

Vizrt produces interactive and virtual solutions, animations, maps, weather, social media, video editing, compositing, and multiplatform VOD and live playout tools. It supplies companies like CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, VICE and The Washington Post.

“Viz One with multiple cloud infrastructure zones give media companies added flexibility by coherently managing both in-cloud and on-premise resources,” said Vizrt Product Manager for MAM Oscar Tengwall. “This allows pre-existing infrastructures to be connected and augmented with the most attractive cloud services. Users can securely access content on Viz One from any location using the improved two-factor authentication in-cloud or on-premise.”

To watch Viz One demonstrations, please visit Vizrt Live Stage on stand 7.B01.

Basingstoke, UK — September 13, 2018 - EditShare a technology leader in intelligent scale-out storage, AQC and media management solutions, today announced that its new Flow software-defined media asset management (MAM) release will be available through a subscription-based model at the end of September. Showcased at the IBC2018 exhibition (stand 7.A35), the latest version of Flow has been completely re-engineered for non-EditShare storage environments including Avid NEXIS, StorageDNA and Amazon S3. Bringing its intelligent media management layer to existing storage pools, Flow opens up new possibilities for collaboration and production from remote locations.

“The days of everyone involved in a production being in the same building, at the same time, are long gone,” states James Richings, General Manager, EditShare. “Whether you’re a broadcaster, post facility, news agency, education establishment, or a corporate media department, this new version of Flow creates flexible ways for teams to make better use of their existing storage infrastructure. With unrivaled collaboration and remote workflows at a price that works for even the smallest of teams, Flow opens up new possibilities for those working in non-EditShare storage environments..”

Educational stalwart, Catapult Learning provides education solutions for students and schools around the world. With more than 5,000 educators on staff, the breadth and depth of its educational content are immense. In charge of producing both the company’s video-based curriculum and promos is production manager and videographer, Kevin Marchese, who was a beta tester for the new Flow release.

“Because the educators are not video producers in the traditional sense, we work closely with them to construct the right outflow of material as well as produce the polished piece,” explains Marchese. “With Flow’s simple-to-use tools, the educators can access video content from any location in the world and storyboard the learning narrative, notate changes and provide feedback. It’s incredibly powerful for collaborating on the video evolution.”

At any given time, Marchese can be working on between eight and 10 video learning projects using various freelancers to help pull together the packages. “We rely on a number of freelancers, whether it’s shooting or editing, to get projects done. And because we have a global footprint, content is stored in various storage pools and cloud pockets. Flow threads these pools together and gives me a holistic view of global assets with a way to collaborate with freelancers as I do with the educational producers. It’s a great approach to managing the vast amount of media for an incredibly low price.”

About EditShare Flow

EditShare Flow brings intelligent ingest, asset indexing, search and retrieve as well as tools to storyboard, annotate and collaborate on media projects. It also offers advanced automation and workflow design tools to automate complex processes such as transcoding and redundant media migrations including moving content from production to nearline to archive storage spaces. The new third-party system integration highlights include:

• AVID ISIS/NEXIS - Workspaces can be used natively by Flow for all the usual operations such as scanning, folder watching, proxy creation, copy/move, and transcode to/from.
• Amazon S3 - Archive and restore to and from S3 buckets of all storage classes including “General Purpose,” “Infrequent Access” and “Archive.” In addition, users can move or copy assets between these buckets and storage classes.
• Amazon Glacier - Archive to and restore from Amazon Glacier vaults.
• Generic S3 - Archive and restore to and from any generic S3 object storage, such as Object Matrix.
• Storage DNA - Archive and restore to and from StorageDNA defined Tape archives. Flow proxies can also be shared with the StorageDNA media browser.
• SGL FlashNet support.
• SMB/CIFS - Support for any SMB/CIFS storage platform.

Flow Pricing

EditShare Flow is available in three packages: Basic, Advanced and Enterprise. Subscription pricing starts from 19 GB/25 EUR /29 USD per user, per month (based on a 12-month commitment). Volume pricing is available. For more information, please contact sales@editshare.com or visit flow.editshare.com.

Attendees to IBC can book a private demo of the latest version of Flow and other EditShare innovations at www.editshare.com/ibc-2018.

For more information on EditShare at IBC2018, please visit editshare.com/ibc-2018. To book a private press briefing, please contact Nick Govoni at nick@zazilmediagroup.com.

About EditShare

EditShare is a technology leader in networked shared storage and tapeless, end-to-end workflow solutions for the post-production, TV, and film industries. Our ground-breaking products improve efficiency and workflow collaboration every step of the way. They include video capture and playout servers, high-performance central shared storage, archiving and backup software, media asset management, and Lightworks – the world’s first 3-platform (Windows/OS X/Linux) professional non-linear video editing application.

©2018 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare is a registered trademark of EditShare.

Press Contacts

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

Basingstoke, UK — September 12, 2018 - EditShare a technology leader in intelligent scale-out storage, AQC and media management solutions, today announced that post-production and creative facility Ka-Boom has invested in an end-to-end EditShare workflow solution that encompasses EditShare Flow and AirFlow media asset management (MAM), XStream EFS scale-out storage, EFS 40NL parking storage and EditShare Ark archiving solutions to support its growing media business. Located in the heart of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ka-Boom’s busy facility is currently working on a wide range of documentary and entertainment programs including Channel 5 “Celebs on Solitary” by Stellify Media, the BBC NI Drama “Counsel” for Lacada Entertainment, and the BBC Network daytime series “Holding Back the Years” for BBC Studios, to name a selected few.

“We’ve just opened up a new facility with more offline suites and have greater expansion plans over the next six to 12 months, which is where EditShare comes in,” comments Zach Willis, Ka-Boom’s co-founder and producer. “With the facility and projects expanding, we had to scale our technology to meet the client needs as well as give our team a way to better collaborate.” Zach explains, “While our current building and new building are in the same location, there is a bit of a gap between them and we needed a technology solution that could span across multiple sites with ease. With EditShare, we can house the entire EditShare infrastructure platform in our main building and then easily connect to the content hub and to each other from the new building and anywhere else in the world via Flow and AirFlow so that it is all very seamless.” Ka-boom have six offline suites with another five coming online shortly, all of which are connected to the EditShare tiered storage infrastructure, which includes XStream EFS scale-out storage, 40NL parking storage, and Ark tape archiving. Seamlessly integrated, Flow and AirFlow provide the control layer for managing assets and automating migration policies across the EditShare tiered storage pools with simple-to-use production tools for producers and directors to review content, annotate notes, storyboard ideas and collaborate with teams across departments and beyond facility walls.

Zach elaborates, “With the capabilities of the Flow and AirFlow, producers and clients can be located anywhere in the world and review media, storyboards and collaborate with editors, colorists and other staff back at the facility. This setup far better suits with our expanding filmmaking workflow.” Within Flow, all assets and relative metadata are tracked, making searching and retrieving media fast and efficient, even for those assets stored on tapes. AirFlow provides team secured remote access to content with tools to facilitate editorial review and approval from anywhere. Zach adds, “We have quite a few projects that can be very quick turnarounds. There is typically lots of material where the edit producers and the execs along with their actors want to sit down to review the rushes or do rough assemblies and things like that. It’s not like a drama or a feature or scripted material, where you know what the story is and you have only two or three takes and that’s it. A lot of what we are doing is you have a story but you have no scripts. You’re working on the material that you’ve got and many times the team is dispersed in different locations, so the Flow and AirFlow product lends itself absolutely perfectly to what we do anywhere, and that type of flexibility is really our bread and butter of TV.”

With content indexed across the tiered EditShare storage environment, staff can use Flow to easily search and retrieve content, even with material shot years earlier. Willis explains the impact of this new capability, “Even when a project is finished, staff still have access to the proxies. They can search for that shot that they always wanted to use but didn’t because it would have taken them half a day to find it in all those drives we used to store content on. With Flow, they can find it in seconds and that’s been big. Our clients are going to love this.”

See Ka-Boom Workflow at IBC 2018

Attendees to the IBC2018 exhibition can see the Ka-Boom workflow on the EditShare stand (7.A35). For more information on EditShare at IBC2018, please visit editshare.com/ibc-2018. To book a private press briefing, please contact Nick Govoni at nick@zazilmediagroup.com.

About EditShare

EditShare is a technology leader in networked shared storage and tapeless, end-to-end workflow solutions for the post-production, TV, and film industries. Our ground-breaking products improve efficiency and workflow collaboration every step of the way. They include video capture and playout servers, high-performance central shared storage, archiving and backup software, media asset management, Automated QC, and Lightworks – the world’s first 3-platform (Windows/OS X/Linux) professional non-linear video editing application.

©2018 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare is a registered trademark of EditShare LLC.

Press Contacts

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

AMSTERDAM—Sachtler and Vinten, part of the Vitec Group, will introduce a new, carbon-fibre tripod range at IBC2018 at the RAI in Amsterdam. The flowtech100 has quick-release brakes at its base that can deploy simultaneously and adjust automatically to the ground's surface. flowtech100 accommodates all major 100 mm fluid heads and supports a payload of up to 30 kg (66 pounds), making it ideal for heavy-duty newsgathering and documentary filming production, according to the company.

Nature and wildlife photographer Thorsten Milse took the flowtech100 on a recent six-week trip to photograph the famed lemurs of Madagascar. Here’s what he had to say about its performance:

"In Madagascar, flexible, fast setup was a critical requirement for capturing the lemurs, which move really quickly in the high treetops. Not only was flowtech100 incredibly fast and easy to set up and adjust, but it allowed us to get to a really low position fast, which is really important for capturing those fleeting ground shots," Milse said. "With the lemurs, sometimes I had only a few seconds to get the shot. But I was able to approach with my camera and lens in one hand and the tripod in the other, open the legs with my foot and adjust the height, snap on the camera, and shoot."

During his trip, Milse also used the flowtech100-FSB 10 setup to shoot video footage using a Canon EOS C200 digital cinema camera. For video, he snapped on the flowtech100's mid-level spreader and enjoyed its stability. "With a 600mm lens, you need really good balance between the lens and the camera. The flowtech100 and FSB 10 were the perfect combination, offering a firm platform for my expensive gear and the stability needed for precision shooting with such a long lens," he said.

Flowtech100’s hinge-lock mechanism enables it to rise to 155 cm for high shots, or to lower to 26 cm to accommodate extremely low, ground-level shots without the need for "baby legs."

"A year ago, we made tripod history with the introduction of flowtech75, the world's fastest-deploying tripod. Based on the reviews and feedback, flowtech75 has transformed the way camera operators work — it's faster, easier, and incredibly lightweight but also rock-solid and a back-saver, just to name a few of the comments," said Barbara Jaumann, product manager — supports. "Now, with flowtech100, we've taken everything that's great about flowtech75 and delivered it in a tripod geared to the professional 100 mm class of users, with the ability to support the demanding payloads of hard-working field news reporters and documentarians."

See flowtech at Vitec Group, Stand 12.E65

AMSTERDAM--Grass Valley and Arena Television will showcase a new IP-enabled truck at at IBC2018 at the RAI in Amsterdam. At the Grass Valley stand in Hall 9, Arena will demonstrate how its new OBZ end-to-end IP UHD HDR truck uses IP-based infrastructures and workflows to produce in live OB production environments.

“As broadcasters, OB and production companies seek to future-proof their businesses and leverage greater flexibility and efficiency, IP delivers the capability and agility they need for mission critical live UHD HDR production,” said Mark Hilton, vice president, Grass Valley Live, Grass Valley. “We are very proud to be showcasing our partnership with Arena Television at IBC 2018 to give visitors insight into how IP revolutionizes the OB environment, optimizing it to meet the needs of a shifting market.”

Watch the display in Hall 9 beside the Grass Valley stand 9.A01.

More than 41 million soccer fans worldwide had access to illegal streaming feeds of the FIFA World Cup games, according to a report from Viaccess-Orca, a company that develops anti-piracy software. The company fused three reports into one global analysis that monitored how well its anti-piracy software identified and stopped illegal feeds of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

During the 32-day World Cup campaign, VO identified several important trends and details about the piracy landscape:

• The total number of piracy links detected during the football championship game was 40,713.

• Social media played a critical role in piracy during the tournament, with a total of 14,615 links for the three most popular social media networks, representing 41,371,139 viewers.

The research analyzed audience measurement figures by country for each monitored football match across different platforms. It also examined the role and responsibility of rights owners, consumers, content distributors, ISPs, platforms, ad servers, and payment providers in stopping illegal streaming.

VO helped operators combat illegal streaming distributed via networks, portals, social networks, plugins, or OTT STBs. In general, VO partners with user-generated content sites, search engines, and social networks, like YouTube, Google and Facebook to remove illegal links within minutes from any of those platforms, according to the company.

"The number of illegal streaming networks is growing, and this is an issue that needs to be dealt with urgently," said Christine Maury Panis, executive vice president, general counsel and security, at Viaccess-Orca. "Creating awareness about the end-to-end chain and sharing it with public stakeholders is important, so that each player has a deep view on the overall landscape and the part it can play in absolving this problem. We hope that these reports provide clarity about the reality of illegal streaming and show how operators can deter it with intelligent anti-piracy services."

VO will demonstrate its anti-piracy services at IBC2018, Sept. 14-18 in Amsterdam at stand 1.A51. Request a meeting here https://www.viaccess-orca.com/what-s-new/events/ibc-2018.

AMSTERDAMS–In advance of the 2018 IBC Show starting later this week at the RAI in Amsterdam, Imagine Communications says its Versio microservices-based playout solution has become “the platform of choice for global media companies at every stage of the transition to next-generation technology.” In the last three months alone, Imagine says customers worldwide have used Versio to put more than 100 channels on air.

Combined with the company’s Zenium microservices platform, the Versio playout solution has gone from “pioneering to proven,” according to Steve Reynolds, president of Playout and Networking at Imagine Communications.

“Imagine was a very early advocate for cloud-native and microservices-based innovation, and it took time for the industry to understand and accept this significant technology shift,” he said. “Time and time again, we have shown that no other system provides the flexibility or the time to market advantage of Versio.”

At IBC2018, Imagine will demonstrate a complete Versio-based playout and media workflow platform spanning from ingest, prep and playout to automation, graphics, master control and branding. The company will also showcase various transition scenarios that allow customers to gradually layer in new features and capabilities that the Versio playout engine offers—and migrate from traditional to next-generation playout operations at a pace that works for their operation, whether in a traditional broadcast center, a data center, or private or public cloud.

Over the past year, Imagine says Versio has been deployed by media companies around the world in multiple applications including Atresmedia, a Spanish commercial broadcaster that complemented its existing Versio integrated playout installation with a Versio-based disaster recovery playout center; Jawapostv, an Indonesian news broadcaster that chose Versio for the upgrade of its master control room for HD playout operations; and Dubai’s Abu Dhabi Media, which used Versio as the foundation for a full upgrade of its central technical facility, which currently supports playout of 15 HD channels, but is future-proofed to incorporate IP connectivity.

[Read: IBC2018 Preview: Transforming Theory To Application]

France Télévision used Versio to undertake the first large-scale hybrid SDI/IP playout implementation in the country as part of an upgrade of its master control functionality for France Ô, which provides television services for the nation’s overseas territories. In addition, French operator Médias du Sud chose Versio to support the “VIA” initiative that formed the basis of the first national grouping of local TV stations in France. Médias du SUD/VIA plans to eventually extend to cover 30 stations, all driven from the same central playout data center.

In Thailand, True Visions, a leading cable and satellite operator in the country deployed Versio—in a playout architecture that took just four weeks to set up—to deliver the FIFA World Cup in 4K Ultra HD to its subscribers. The deployment represented what Imagine says is “the first Ultra HD channel in Southeast Asia.”

In the U.S. Sinclair Broadcast Group is using Versio in a fully virtualized public environment for its KidsClick Diginet, using the public cloud to distribute the channel’s children’s programming in a Software as a Service (SaaS) environment to affiliates across the country.

“The scalability and customization capabilities that the public cloud approach offers is unlike anything we could do using a traditional, on-premises model,” said Del Parks, CTO, SBG. “And since we’re only delivering this programming for a few hours a day, the flexibility of originating in the public cloud is a far superior alternative to purchasing traditional equipment that would sit idle for many hours at a time.”

Imagine Communications will be in Stand #4.01 at the Amtrium in the RAI. 

MONTREAL—Grass Valley this week announced an R&D initiative aimed at leveraging its research and development resources with what the company describes as a more agile, collective approach to enhance quality and capability across its entire product portfolio.

The initiative, called "Core Technology," began conceptually inside Grass Valley in 2016. It is based upon the lean engineering philosophy employed at companies like Amazon, Google, Netflix and Tesla, the company said.

Core Technology will allow Grass Valley to innovate faster and at scale by building once and integrating to many in areas such as video processing, IP connectivity, cloud technologies and software-defined solutions. The initiative will deliver the common cores, platforms, engines and interfaces that add value across Grass Valley’s entire product lineup, the company said.

Michael Cronk, Grass Valley vice president of Core Technology, is leading the team at the company implementing the initiative. “As an R&D powerhouse in the industry, we are committed to be the partner of choice by staying ahead of the curve and innovating not only the solutions we bring to market, but the way we actually create them,” said Cronk.

Visitors attending IBC2018 in Amsterdam will see the company’s first fruits of the Core Technology initiative in products like iTX, GV Flex and ICE.

See Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, at IBC Stand 7.A01

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.—MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions last week announced two appointments aimed at helping to shape the company’s future.

Bob McAlpine, most recently CEO of Cobalt Digital, will serve MultiDyne in a key global advisory role. Jesse Foster, who was Director of Product and Business Development at Cobalt Digital, takes on the role of Director of Product Development and Western Region Sales.

Both will represent MultiDyne at IBC2018 in Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18, and meet with customers and the company’s partners. They will report to MultiDyne President Frank Jachetta.

Foster will be responsible for driving new product development to strengthen MultiDyne’s fiber-optic transport family and broaden its reach throughout broadcast and production infrastructures. His responsibilities also will include development of new MultiDyne openGear modular cards.

Foster joins MultiDyne as it opens a new service facility in the Los Angeles area (1221 Avenida Acaso in Camarillo, Calif.). In addition to repair, design and engineering services and technical sales support, the facility also will serve as a supply outlet for video accessories.

McAlpine joins MultiDyne through his Black Pearl Management Group consultancy, which he founded in August 2018. He will focus on the growth of sales globally and market penetration around the world, the company said.

More information is available on the MultiDyne website.

September 11, 2018 – Sigma is pleased to announce the development of three new Sigma Cine lenses in the FF High Speed Prime Line: 28mm T1.5 FF, 40mm T1.5 FF and 105mm T1.5 FF. With these additions, the FF High Speed Prime Line now includes ten lenses covering 14mm to 135mm and T1.5 to T2, giving cinematographers even more options to empower their artistic expression and take their cinematic vision to the next level.

Available for test-shooting at the 2018 IBC Show in Amsterdam from September 14-18, 2018, attendees are welcome to visit the Sigma booth 12.D64 to get hands-on with the new cine lenses.

New Models in the Sigma Cine FF High Speed Prime Line

All the lenses in the FF High Speed Prime Line, including the brand new 28mm T1.5 FF, 40mm T1.5 FF and 105mm T1.5 FF, are compatible with full-frame image sensors and optimized for ultra-high-resolution 6K-8K shooting.

All three lenses come in PL, EF and E mounts with lens support foot and cap included. The 105mm T1.5 FF is expected to start shipping in October 2018, the 40mm T1.5 FF in the end of 2018, and the 28mm T1.5 FF in early 2019. Pricing for each new model will be announced at the time of availability. For further technical specifications and lens characteristics and high-resolution product images, please download the full announcements here: https://bit.ly/2O46Gen.

Development of LPL Mount

In the future, the Sigma Cine lens series will include an LPL mount, the new lens mount optimized for the large format sensor released by ARRI in 2018. The planned release date for the Sigma Cine lenses in LPL mount is 2019 or later.

About Sigma Corporation

Craftsmanship. Precision. Dedication. Since 1961, Sigma has been devoted to the pursuit of advancing photographic technology. Unique to the industry, the family-owned business produces its high-quality, award-winning cine and camera lenses, DSLR and mirrorless cameras, flashes, filters and accessories from its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in Aizu, Japan.

In 2012, the company introduced the Sigma Global Vision with three distinct lens lines: Art, Contemporary and Sport. Designed for industry camera mount systems including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and Sigma, each lens is handcrafted and tested in Japan to ensure a high-performance, premium product that is purpose-built to last.

Sigma continues its tradition of imaging excellence with the mirrorless sd Quattro, sd Quattro H and the compact dp Quattro camera line. Leveraging the ultra-high resolution Foveon sensor, the Sigma Quattro cameras are designed to produce the highest quality image with every shot.

For information about Sigma, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com or follow the company on Sigma Blog, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

MELBOURNE, Florida--Qligent will demonstrate its new Vision SQM platform, a cloud-based, second-generation, big data processing engine for viewer satisfaction at IBC2018, Sept. 14-18 at the RAI in Amsterdam. The platform uses real-world MVPD deployments to verify overall Quality of Experience (QoE) for subscribers watching live streaming sports or video on demand, recording a show, browsing the program guide, or accessing any other content or service.

Qligent works with MVPDs and other service providers to easily identify and correct network performance issues sooner. Qligent says Vision SQM serves those MVPD “silent sufferers,” or subscribers who never complain to customer service about service difficulties and just decide to drop the service.

[Read: Telestream to showcase IQ Monitoring Platform at IBC2018]

“By proactively reaching out to these suffering users—whether it’s one person or tens of millions—and telling them, ‘We see you had a problem and we’re going to make it right for you,’ MVPDs can show their commitment to delivering that optimal user experience that keeps customers happy, engaged and on-board,” said Ted Korte, Qligent COO.

Qligent will demonstrate its platform at Stand 8.E47.

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AMSTERDAM—No sooner had the confetti been swept up from IBC’s 50th anniversary celebrations last year than the team was back planning our 51st show. Not such an exciting number, admittedly, but certainly a whole lot has happened in our industry in a year, and IBC 2018 promises to delve into all the new technological developments—and the business implications they present.

This is a key factor in the ongoing relevance and development of IBC. It may be an odd thing to say, but in a technological industry it is not only the technologies themselves that are exciting. Certainly there are big things happening; I think we will see big advances in areas like artificial intelligence, 5G and blockchain, and you do not need me to talk about the shift to IP connectivity and software-defined topologies; about the convergence of broadcast, IT and telecoms; and about the search for new formats, whether that is Ultra HD or virtual reality.

PUTTING RAW TECHNOLOGIES INTO ACTION

For me, the real excitement comes when these raw technologies are put into action. IBC puts these ideas in front of people who can imagine the possibilities and create the applications that transform our creativity and our business models. How are the businesses that use these technologies evolving? How will broadcasters, telcos and streaming companies co-exist? Will OTT providers be the new broadcasters, or will producers sell direct to consumers? Advertising still seems a reliable and lucrative way to fund content production and delivery; will programmatic advertising planning and dynamic ad insertion transform the cost/revenue model? Or will new monetization methods—maybe blockchain-managed micropayments from consumer to producer—transform the creative industry?

These issues may not be solved at IBC2018, but they will be much talked about. The last stage of development in IBC was a move away from a purely engineering-based event to one which attracts debate from the creative, operational and commercial sides of media businesses, because amazing technology is meaningless if it doesn’t gel within a workflow or it costs more than it earns.

In order to keep at the forefront of these issues, we are constantly refreshing and tweaking the IBC format to meet the needs of today’s much wider broadcast industry. We are the first to admit that some innovations are more successful than others, but we are also agile as a business and learn from our efforts. The end result is an event that continues to grow.

FROM ENGINEERING TO CREATIVE

A great example is the Leaders’ Summit. The move from an engineering-led event to a creative and commercial one meant that we had to engage more at CEO level. By helping C-level executives understand what the technology allowed them to do, they would be better equipped to develop strategic pathways for their businesses, which would maximise return. We developed this invitation-only, behind-closed-doors day to ensure that the people in the room could freely exchange ideas and opinions with their peers. It remains a cornerstone of the IBC Conference, and has led to additional C-level sessions being developed, such as the Cyber Security Forum and the Telco and Media Innovation Forum. Again, these are hosted, high-level events that bring new people and new businesses into the IBC community, and provide advocacy and context for the rapidly developing world of media.

These events underline my strongly held belief that people still have a real need to meet and talk face to face. In our industry we are dealing in extremely complex systems that use technology to drive creativity and commerce. It is not the sort of industry where a quick Google search will find an off-the-shelf product, so getting together with multiple potential partners, in the right environment to do business, is really valuable.

The broadening of the industry into adjacent markets also means that there are wildly successful companies you’ve never heard of in different sectors, or small start-ups with no advertising budget, that may have just the workflow or product or idea that will make a big difference to your business. IBC is a great place for those collaborations to be incubated.

This diversity is reflected in the conference program. While the IBC Conference was founded on technical papers—and they remain absolutely central to the program—this year they are woven more closely into broader sessions, so that the underlying technology is handled alongside the operational and business implications, putting all sides of the story in the same place. We will see new ideas from converging markets and emerging technologies from nascent companies as well as leaders from broadcast organisations that are successfully evolving with the new technology available, showing how the underlying technology is handled alongside the operational and business implications. With over 400 expert speakers across six dedicated streams, there will be much to learn and discuss.

ON THE EXHIBIT FLOOR

As well as the conference, we have 15 exhibition halls full of all the players in this rapidly changing industry. That includes some new and exciting businesses from the Alibaba Group, based in China, and the sixth largest internet company in the world, to start-ups who will take a small space at IBC and achieve a dramatic result. We are also seeing exhibitors evolve in the way they tell their stories; it’s no longer about black boxes with blinking lights—they need to sell less tangible (though no less important) products and services as software or in the cloud—so they are devising clear, compelling and exciting ways to present them.

There’s lots to look forward to at IBC 2018. On a practical level, I am very pleased to confirm that the new North-South metro line is finally open! Now visitors will be able to get from central Amsterdam to the heart of the RAI in just a few minutes. It will be a great relief for those who dread the crowds on the number 4 tram, and it will slash journey times.

We are expecting more than 57,000 people from around the world this year, and I encourage you all to immerse yourselves in the whole experience. Drop into conference sessions that interest you, or that you know nothing about. Go to the Awards Ceremony to see what the really innovative people are achieving today. Visit the IBC Future Zone, our regular space given over to the hit products of five years in the future. But above all, talk to people. Share your knowledge and experiences, and seize the opportunity to be a part of the big global debate.

To register for the show, visit http://show.ibc.org.

Michael Crimp is CEO of IBC.

AMSTERDAM--Matrix Solutions and Imagine Communications will showcase an integrated, end-to-end ad sales workflow at IBC2018, Sept. 14-18 in Amsterdam. The two companies are combining their front and back-office advertising solutions to help broadcast, cable and broadband companies optimize inventory value and drive ad spend across multichannel, multi-market operations.

Matrix Solutions’ media ad sales platform aggregates and normalizes disparate data sources throughout the enterprise and gives users real-time access to all of their ad sales data. Imagine’s ad tech portfolio features inventory optimization and management systems, as well as targeted delivery solutions, which help broadcast, cable and broadband companies optimize inventory value.

“Imagine Communications brings world-leading optimization technology and enables automated workflows right across the ad sales and commercial operations process,” said Graham Heap, Director Product Management, Global Sales, for Imagine Communications Ad Tech. “Our collaboration with Matrix Solutions will help extend those capabilities to the front-of-house activities and enable media companies to adopt a more data-driven sales strategy, which directly correlates to media companies increasing revenue.”

[Read: More Advertisers Using Video In Digital Campaigns]

Matrix Solutions and Imagine Communications will demonstrate their combined solution at Imagine’s stand in the RAI Amtrium, 4.A01.

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AMSTERDAM—Clear-Com will feature a new high-density frame card for its Eclipse HX digital matrix at the 2018 IBC show, Sept. 13-17 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

The company’s E-IPA is an audio-and-intercom-over-IP connection card for the Eclipse HX digital matrix that delivers 64 low-latency and high audio bandwidth streams to new and existing Clear-Com IP-based devices and is natively AES67 compliant and hardware SMPTE 2110-30 ready. E-IPA serves up to 256 IP ports in the Eclipse HX-Median and Omega systems. 

The E-IPA card comes in 16, 32, 48, and 64-port options, and can fit in up to three Eclipse HX-Delta system frames, and up to four Median and Omega system frames.

“The high-density 64-port version also means that our users don’t have to use up valuable frame card slots to meet their needs. This is truly what IP promises and delivers,” said Simon Browne, Vice President of Product Management at Clear-Com.

Clear-Com will be at Stand 10. D29.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.—ENCO will highlight new multi-language capabilities and NDI compatibility for its enCaption global captioning product at the 2018 IBC show, Sept. 13-17 at the RAI in Amsterdam. enCaption4 use artificial intelligence to provide live-action, quick turnaround closed captioning to videos. It also enables users to add new languages on the fly.

The new features include a dictionary database that has, for the first time, been expanded to 29 languages and the ability for users to add new languages on the fly. In addition, ENCO will demonstrate NDI compability for enCaption4 which simplifies the captioning workflow by eliminating the need for specialized encoding hardware. enCaption4 can now automatically generate captions through its NDI input stream, and output an NDI signal with captions keyed directly on top of the video stream

[Read:Automated Captioning Is Here to Stay]

“With more than three times the language support of previous generations, enCaption4 is now helping broadcasters around the world to reduce or eliminate the rising costs and short-notice staffing challenges of real-time stenocaptioners,” said Ken Frommert, president, ENCO. “We have significantly raised the bar for accuracy in live captioning environments and have surpassed the speed of professional human captioners. We’re helping our customers make an immediate on-air impact in news, sports and other programming with automated closed captioning.”

enCaption4 shrinks the gap between live speech and on-screen caption display, while increasing accuracy, according to ENCO. In fact, the company said enCaption4 has a 90 percent accuracy rate.

ENCO will be at Stand, 8.A59.

AMSTERDAM—Telestream will showcase what it calls the “world’s first fully-virtualized end-to-end adaptive bit rate (ABR) video monitoring & analytics solution” at the 2018 IBC Show, Sept. 13-17 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

Telestream iQ provides end-to-end correlated video service monitoring from ingest to viewer with all software virtualized, automated and orchestrated solutions with open API’s, deep data collection and actionable KPI’s to ensure Quality of Experience (QoE) for subscribers and Quality of Service (QoS) for service providers, according to the company.

[Read: Telestream Debuts Wirecast S For Microsoft Stream And Office 365]

The platform includes pre/post encoder, publishing and post origin/cache stages, through to third party analytics post end client integration. It also provides a single integrated graphical user interface for intuitive video service management and troubleshooting.

Telestream will be at Stand 7.C16

OXFORD—Solid State Logic will spotlight the latest enhancements to its System T software architecture at the 2018 IBC Show, Sept. 13-17 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

The new S300-32 is a 32-fader compact broadcast console for SSL’s System T broadcast audio production platform, featuring a fixed layout control surface. The S300 integrates with SSL’s System T control, Network I/O and processing engines, or in standalone arrangements.

The System T S300 fully incorporates arbitrated radio and control resource sharing to SSL’s Network I/O range, for all Tempest platform-based consoles. This means the S300’s System T can bounce from one control room to another within the same facility, or be added on as a backup surface to the larger S500.

To add to that flexibility, SSL has also added more System T and I/O transport, routing and control devices to its suite. The TCM1 and Network I/O has GPIO 32 units that allow direct LTC, MIDI, and GPIO connectivity to System T’s Event Manager software. TCMI will thrive in music production and post production workflows due to its standard LTC (XLR) and MIDI (DIN) connections, along with two USB ports and 25-way GPIO ports. Each of these connects to System T through USB.

Also new is SSL’s immersive audio implementation for System T, with support for ATSC 3.0, Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H. To accommodate the emergence of 3-D audio immersive audio in film and broadcast, SSL offers new 3-axis coordinate panning for System T, which uses 2 and 4-channel overhead speakers for available channel and bus formats.

To compliment the channel and bus, SSL has a 12-channel monitoring system — with 49 inputs formed as one primary input and a 12-channel AFL monitor bus, together with a pair of 12-channel insert points for internal processing and “rendering engine returns.” These features work especially well within multilanguage productions, according to SSL.

SSL will be in Stand 8.D83.

LONDON — Broadcasters from around the world will have a chance have their business challenges solved by professionals from international startups and scale-ups during the 2018 IBC Show at the Rai in Amsterdam next month. 

On Sept. 18, "Speed dating with startups at IBC," organized by IBC2018 and Dutch-based MediaMatters, will host 15-20 startups and scale-ups eager to pitch their business solutions to an audience of broadcast executives and leaders from content and publishing companies. After the pitch stage, media executives can meet with startup and scale-up owners individually and possibly strike deals.

“Media companies are looking for new and innovative ways to push their businesses forward and startups are looking for partners to enable them to grow,” said Bert Kok, co-founder of MediaMatters in a press release. “Bringing them together at such an established, global forum like IBC2018 enables startups and scale-ups to connect with the right contacts with the aim to establish fruitful partnerships and to work together on new products and services that improve existing processes.”

[Read: Mixed Reality Lab Demo To Go Immersive At IBC 2018]

MediaMatters specializes in matching up big media companies who need innovative business solutions with "later-stage startups and scale-ups." The organization will help select for the speed dating event and shave down the list startup and scale-up participants to between 15 to 20. Media companies that want to take part in the speed dating event can order tickets at the Eventbrite website. Startups and scale-ups looking to participate can apply on the MediaMatters website. "Speed dating with startups at IBC"  will take place in the Topaz Lounge.

The 2018 IBC Show will take place Sept. 13-17.  

WATERLOO, Ontario — Dejero has announced that it will unveil a new, more powerful version of its EnGo mobile transmitter at IBC 2018 at RAI Amsterdam, Sept. 14–18.

The increase processing power gives broadcasters an advantage, especially when capturing high-motion news events and sports content, Dejero said.

[Read: Participate in Future’s 2018 IBC Best of Show Awards]

The unit, which benefits from an enhanced implementation of HEVC, also leverages the company’s auto-transport and adaptive bitrate encoding technology to deliver higher picture quality across a wider range of bitrates, it said.

With enhanced processing, EnGo can provide new dynamic content adaptation, which intelligently adjusts encoding based on how much motion is detected in the content being captured, the company said. As a result, broadcasters can transition from low-motion frames, such as talking heads, to high-motion content without creating compression artifacts or softening the image.

The latest EnGo can encode up to 20 Mbps and now supports 1080p 50/60.

Visit the company at IBC 2018 Stand 11.C15.

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LONDON — The Future Zone at IBC 2018 Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam, will offer attendees a look at how an immersive production environment can be used for live broadcast at the Mixed Reality Tech Lab.

“The Future Zone presentation provides an opportunity for visitors to gain hands-on experience with some of the groundbreaking solutions we’ve already implemented and discuss how the boundaries of technology can continue to be pushed,” said Andy Hook, technical solutions director at White Light, the technical solutions specialist responsible for the demo.

[Read: Participate in Future’s 2018 IBC Best of Show Awards]

The demonstration will be powered by a platform from a collaborative visualization tool developer called disguise. The platform sits at the center of the workflow to be shown, allowing the set, displays, lighting and cameras to be visualized and tracked in 3D space. White Light’s research and development efforts leverage the platform to create workflows for small, flexible production spaces.

Using content from Malfmedia, the demo will feature live cameras equipped with Mo-Sys StarTracker technology, which feeds positional data to the disguise media server. Doing so allows content to be generated for display on LED walls that conforms to the cameras’ perspective.

The disguise media server will be running Notch, a real-time motion-graphics, VFX and VR software application. The demo will display how live generative content can be used as a video source to create scalable content in real-time that reacts to the environment and studio lighting.

Experts from White Light will be on hand to discuss how they have used the setup in complex broadcasts for Discovery Eurosport Cube and in the ITV Sports studios during the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

“At disguise our goal is to work closely with successful and visionary practitioners, such as White Light, to help develop the next generation of immersive experiences,” said company founder Ash Nehru.

See the Mixed Reality Tech Lab at IBC 2018 Stand 8.F40.

The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam. For more information or to register, visit www.ibc.org.

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AMSTERDAM—Slomo.TV, a Torrance, Calif.-based provider of cost-effective high performance video record and instant replay systems, will debut what it says is “the world’s smallest video replay server” at the 2018 IBC Show at the RAI Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18. The “Ripley” video replay server is configured within the form factor of the replay controller, according to the company.

“Ripley is another significant step that Slomo.tv is taking in making our solutions affordable and desirable for the broadest range of sports production,” said Michael Gilman, CEO of Slomo.tv. “This controller/server combo builds on the success of our Simple R and Jr. products: but in this case, our design engineers have succeeded in creating a fully functional server inside a 4.5 kg controller. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities for anybody who wants a broadcast quality slow motion instant replay server for sports and video-judging applications.”

Ripley is configured with eight separate bidirectional HD/SD SDI-interfaces supporting HD/SD channels in a 442 configuration (4 record, 4 search and 2 replay channels). Despite its ultra-compact form factor, Ripley supports 2x-3x SuperMotion cameras.

Also, Ripley can be used as a four-camera sports video judging unit. It has two graphics ports for the main interface and multi-viewer monitors. If the operator has only one monitor available, he can easily switch between these modes using the unit’s MultiSkin function. For easy integration within wider workflows, Ripley comes fitted with LTC input, an RS232/422 port as well as two In and two Out GPO interfaces.

Another unique feature of Ripley is four SDHC memory card slots for video import and export. Four-channel recording is achieved with H.264 or AVC-Intra 50Mbit codecs. Within the server, the recorded material can be exported for NLE editing by most popular codecs including ProRes, AVID DNxHD, XDCAM 50, DVCProHD, AVC-Intro.

As standard, the server has a 1GbE networking interface for file exchange between other systems. This combo server also includes two free options – a transfer (networking) option for exchanging clips and playlists within Slomo.tv servers and a telestrator (Game Analyzer), which allows drawing on the video being played.

According to Slomo.tv, Ripley has been developed as a replay server for fly-away installations and that its robustness alongside with distinctive intuitive user interface makes it an ideal redundancy unit.

Slomo.TV will be in Stand 8.B40. For more information, visit the show website.  

AMSTERDAM—Broadcast Pix will introduce BPswitch RX, a portable model in its line of integrated production switchers, at IBC2018, Sept. 14-18 at RAI Amsterdam. A self-contained unit complete with touchscreen display and integrated streaming to Facebook Live and other CDNs, BPswitch RX provides multicamera production and high-end motion graphics for live production on location.

Ideal for sports, concerts, and event coverage, BPswitch RX features four multidefinition video inputs, plus two IP inputs that support RTSP and NDI protocol. It also includes eight channels of clips and graphics, built-in audio mixer, three keyers with DVEs, and seven outputs. The integrated NewBlueNTX multi-layer 3D motion graphics CG includes hundreds of title styles and templates, so it is easy to create and update lower-thirds, bugs, animations, rolls, crawls, and looping effects like a glint or shine.

BPswitch RX offers the full complement of Broadcast Pix workflow tools, including built-in program recording, clip and graphic stores, file-based macros, ClearKey chromakey and Virtual Studios virtual sets, and customizable multi-view. The system is housed in a durable aluminum alloy chassis with built-in handle for easy transport.

Although BPswitch RX can be operated with the included keyboard and mouse, users can connect a traditional Broadcast Pix control panel or use the optional Broadcast Pix Commander customizable touchscreen interface. With its simplified controls, Commander helps non-technical personnel easily switch live productions, add titles, insert clips, and control robotic cameras. The recently updated iPixPanel and iPixPad provide other control options, allowing a second operator to complete specific production tasks through an iPad or iPhone.

Like other models, BPswitch RX provides full-motion video and complete access to all sources and workflow tools through a browser-based interface that can be accessed by tablet, phones, and laptops. The company’s BPNet IP ecosystem, powered through the ioGates cloud-based media management platform, delivers BPswitch’s control-over-IP capabilities with low latency, as well as extended encryption and two-factor authentication for secure performance.

BPswitch RX supports optional robotic camera control as well as BPfusion, Broadcast Pix’s optional software for streamlined data-intensive CG graphics for sports, election, and news coverage. Broadcast Pix also offers soft and hard carrying cases for additional protection for air travel or other transport. Priced at $14,995, BPswitch RX will be available at the end of September.

Broadcast Pix will be in Stand 7.C06. Click here to register.  

Paris, France – August 14, 2018 – Dalet, a leading provider of solutions and services for broadcasters and content professionals, announced today that they have been shortlisted alongside Euronews for the IBC2018 Innovation Awards content creation category. Lauded as one of the most coveted awards in the media industry, the competitive competition celebrates technical and creative excellence, acknowledging collaboration between organizations like Euronews and Dalet to achieve clever and innovative solutions for real business challenges.

“We are honored to be nominated for the IBC2018 Innovation Award with our technology partner Dalet,” says Francois Schmitt, COO, Euronews. “With the help of Dalet and our other partners, we were able to achieve our vision and become the world’s first truly ‘Glocal’ news channels, providing our audiences important global headlines with perspectives and viewpoints relevant to their regions, cultures and communities. We thank the IBC Innovation Award judges for recognizing this incredible technical feat and Dalet for working alongside with us on this exciting journey."

Euronews had been addressing the region’s need for multilingual programming by providing a single channel of news programming with identical video and English-only graphics delivered to countries with 12 different language versions. Groundbreaking when Euronews had originally launched in 1993, the “Multiplex” approach to broadcasting lacked the ability to adapt programming to the specific needs of individual countries, a limitation for today’s viewers who crave customized content. With multiculturalism as a core value, management sought to better connect global content with local audiences, transforming Euronews into a “Glocal” media brand.

“This project perfectly coincides with Dalet’s values of innovation, passion, and multiculturalism,”comments Johann Zemmour, general manager, EMEA & APAC at Dalet. “Collaborating with the same ideals and vision, we were able to leverage the advanced media asset management and orchestration capabilities of the Dalet Galaxy platform to construct one of the world’s most technically advanced newsrooms, empowering Euronews journalists to collaborate and turn any local or global topic into compelling news stories with perspectives and insights that resonate with their respective audiences.”

The legacy Euronews infrastructure had limited news to a “one-size-fits-all” with journalists relying on technicians to package non-localized news story with 11 voice-overs. The lack of system integration pushed news air times to an hour or more. To transform the operation, Euronews implemented Dalet’s component-based workflow powered by the Dalet Galaxy Media Asset Management and Orchestration platform, featuring federated editorial tools that empower the 500 journalists and a workflow engine that maximizes and automates complex, custom content delivery operations. The successful Euronews transformation, which saw no change in staff, increased television content production by 100%, feeding its newly launched 12 individual channels fresh content with a local perspective. It also increased Euronews digital content output by 20%, growing its online audiences by 66%.

“We are incredibly proud that the Euronews project has been shortlisted for an IBC Innovation Award and want to extend our appreciation to our technical partners on the project, PEAKS, who we collaborated with closely to bring the Euronews vision to life, and Adobe,” adds Zemmour. Technical project partner PEAKS provided a total redesign of the Euronews website and Dalet Galaxy integrated CMS to achieve a true 360° Newsroom that can produce up to 350 stories a day, reaching more than 13.5 million digital-users.

To learn more about Dalet and Euronews, please watch the video at: https://www.dalet.com/customer-stories/euronews. You can also visit Dalet at IBC2018 on stand 8.B77.

Dalet at IBC 2018

Dalet will be exhibiting its Dalet Galaxy five solution alongside new technology innovations Dalet Media Cortex and Dalet OnePlay at IBC2018 on stand 8.B77. IBC2018 attendees can book a private demonstration or workflow consultation with a Dalet expert to learn more about Dalet Galaxy five, Dalet Media Cortex, and Dalet OnePlay feature highlights.

About Dalet Digital Media Systems

Dalet solutions and services enable media organisations to create, manage and distribute content faster and more efficiently, fully maximising the value of assets. Based on an agile foundation, Dalet offers rich collaborative tools empowering end-to-end workflows for news, sports, program preparation, post-production, archives and enterprise content management, radio, education, governments and institutions.

Dalet platforms are scalable and modular. They offer targeted applications with key capabilities to address critical functions of small to large media operations - such as planning, workflow orchestration, ingest, cataloguing, editing, chat & notifications, transcoding, play out automation, multi-platform distribution and analytics.

Dalet solutions and services are used around the world at hundreds of content producers and distributors, including public broadcasters (BBC, CBC, France TV, RAI, RFI, Russia Today, RT Malaysia, SBS Australia, VOA), commercial networks and operators (Canal+, FOX, MBC Dubai, Mediacorp, Mediaset, Orange, Charter Spectrum, Warner Bros, Sirius XM Radio) and government organisations (UK Parliament, NATO, United Nations, Veterans Affairs, NASA).

Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0011026749, Bloomberg DLT:FP, Reuters: DALE.PA.

Dalet® is a registered trademark of Dalet Digital Media Systems. All other products and trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

For more information on Dalet, visit www.dalet.com.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni

Zazil Media Group

(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com

(p) +1 (978) 866-7354

####

AMSTERDAM—Marshall Electronics will debut two new compact cameras and a high-speed for slo-mo at IBC 2018 at the RAI Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18.  

Built around a 12.4-Megapixel, 1/1.7-inch sensor, the Marshall CV420-CS is a new, compact true 4K camera that delivers crisp, clear 4096x2160p video with vibrant colors and fast frame rates in outputs including 12G/6G/3G/HD-SDI and HDMI 2.0. It has a Varifocal or Fixed CS/C lens mount capability with DC Auto-Iris plug-in for custom lens adaptions.

The CV420-CS offers the following resolution modes and frame rate settings:

• True 4K (4096x2160p) at 50, 59.94, 60, 25, 29.97, 30, and 24 fps

• UHD (3840x2160p) at 50, 59.94, 60, 25, 29.97, 30, and 24 fps

• Interlaced HD (1920x1080i) at 50, 59.94, and 60 fps

• Progressive HD (1080p and 720p) at 50, 59.94, 25, 29.97, and 24 fps

Remote control for the CV420-CS is operated by RS485 (Visca) or OSD menu joystick, and a wide range of picture adjustment settings are available such as Paint (Red/Blue), White Balance, Gain, Pedestal (blacks), Gamma, Shutter and more. The CV420-CS can capture detailed shots while maintaining a discrete presence and can be used as a fixed "e-PTZ" camera, where select windows of the image can be zoomed and panned within the frame.

Marshall will also highlight its CV380-CS POV camera, which uses an 8.5-Megapixel, 1/2.5-inch sensor to capture detailed video images, with outputs in 6G/3G/HD-SDI and HDMI 1.4.  The CV380-CS has a Varifocal or fixed CS/C lens mount with DC Auto-Iris capability and can accept a range of interchangeable lenses for enhanced customization. 

The CV380-CS offers three resolution modes with the following frame rate settings:

• UHD (3840x2160p) at 25, 29.97, and 24 fps
• Progressive HD (1080p and 720p) at 50, 59.94, 25, 29.97, and 24 fps
• Interlaced HD (1080i) at 50, 59.94, and 60 fps

Also on hand will be the new ultra-high-speed Marshall CV506-H12, built for capturing high-speed action for detailed, high-definition slow-motion video.

The CV506-H12 offers the following resolution and frame rates settings:

• Progressive HD (1080p and 720p) at 120 fps
• Interlaced HD (1080i) at 50, 59.94, and 60 fps

The CV506-H12 can be controlled through RS485 (Visca) and has a range of adjustable image settings including Paint (Red/Blue), White Balance, Gain, Pedestal (black), Gamma, Shutter and more. It has a 2-Megapixel, 1/2.8-inch sensor with single HDMI 2.0 output.

The M12 lens mount can be used with fixed prime or varifocal lens options, and the lightweight, small footprint build enables it to be placed easily into tight, hard-to-reach locations for unique angles and viewpoints. The CV506-H12 is designed for use in broadcast, live sports, machine vision, process analysis and any other slow-motion application.

The CV380-CS and CV506-H12 are among the first additions to Marshall’s latest generation of compact and miniature cameras utilizing a fully redesigned body style and form factor. Special attention has been given to enhance durability in the field with the addition of new structural ‘wings,’ designed to give greater protection to rear connectors during use.

Marshall will be in Stand 12.D20.

MIAMI, Fla. — Primestream will demonstrate the next generation of its Dynamic Media Management platform at IBC2018. The platform features new solutions for IP video capture and delivery covering professional and consumer formats, a cloud-based review and approval system, robust 4K workflow, public APIs to integrate third-parties into the Xchange platform, and a new configuration framework for quick and easy installations. The next generation of Primestream’s Dynamic Media Management platform is built with features needed to manage sports, enterprise and broadcast workflows from capture through delivery.

[Read: Tata Communications, Primestream Partner On Cloud-Based MAM]

Primestream will highlight enterprise-grade Media Asset Management in the Cloud through a cloud-based version of its Xchange MAM solution in conjunction with Tata Communications’ cloud storage platform and high-performance Video Connect network. The service also features advanced file acceleration and an expandable object storage solution suitable for disaster recovery or content archiving.

Primestream will also demonstrate the latest in VR/360 asset management, an updated Adobe Premiere Pro extension panel that features a new project versioning system, improvements to archival workflow and lifecycle management with cloud and tape storage providers, in addition to “under the hood” improvements for better performance and reliability, according to the company.

Primestream will hold demonstrations in Stand 7.C18. The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam. For more information or to register, visit www.ibc.org.

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Paris, France – August 8, 2018 – Dalet, a leading provider of solutions and services for media organizations and content professionals, today announced that it will showcase the latest version of its flagship Dalet Galaxy five platform for Media Asset Management (MAM) and Workflow Orchestration, along with two major product introductions: the Dalet Media Cortex AI services and the Dalet OnePlay new-generation studio automation solution, at the upcoming IBC2018 exhibition held in Amsterdam from September 14–18, 2018 (stand 8.B77).

“Today’s media businesses need to become more data-driven and build new paths to go direct to their consumers,” comments Arnaud Elnecave, vice president of marketing, Dalet. “This starts with a strategic investment in an open, agile technology platform with core workflow orchestration capabilities that enables a cohesive, agile digital media supply chain and puts content personalization at the forefront of the workflow design.” Elnecave elaborates, “The new products we announce at IBC2018 tackle strategic areas of your operations, bringing the entire value proposition of Dalet Galaxy five yet a level higher for your business.

Dalet Media Cortex introduces tailored, managed cognitive services that will maximize the usability and effectiveness of your content at every step of its life cycle.

Dalet One Play will augment shows by further optimizing the operational efficiency of your productions while enabling a much richer and personalized multiplatform experience for audiences.”

A nominee alongside Euronews for the coveted IBC2018 Innovation Awards content creation category, Dalet will showcase the new version of the market-leading Dalet Galaxy five MAM and Workflow Orchestration platform, introducing the following major enhancements:

Dalet Media Cortex - Orchestrated AI Services for Media Workflows

Unveiled at IBC2018, the new Dalet Media Cortex SaaS enables Dalet Galaxy five customers to connect and consume AI services on demand in a pay-as-you-go model. For media organizations to get full business value from their AI investment and operate at scale, they need the right method and the appropriate platform. Dalet Media Cortex makes it simple and effective. It connects and orchestrates smart combinations of cognitive services while managing all the complexity of data alignment. The AI-generated data is displayed at various levels of the Dalet Galaxy five application, in a set of new intuitive UIs, to provide contextual, actionable insights and recommendations to the users.

Dalet OnePlay - Modern Automated Studio Production

Dalet will also unveil Dalet OnePlay at IBC2018, a new-generation studio automation solution designed to modernize live production with synchronized multiplatform distribution. An extension of the Dalet Galaxy five platform, Dalet OnePlay fully leverages the MAM, NRCS and workflow orchestration capabilities to open up new forms of collaboration inside productions, automating more complex events, and eventually helping create new forms of audience engagement and revenue opportunities while optimizing costs. Dalet OnePlay benefits any sho production, making it an ideal solution for newscasts, sports magazines, live and live-to-tape studio shows. Dalet OnePlay’s modern and efficient UI and UX combined with the agile Dalet Galaxy five News Production and Workflow Orchestration platform enables custom live production workflows with more advanced collaboration and unrivaled operational flexibility, way beyond traditional automated production control solutions.

Cloud, Remote Editing and IMF Workflows

In addition to the new AI and studio automation product introductions, Dalet Galaxy five features several important enhancements that will be showcased at IBC. For hybrid on-premises and cloud deployments, the platform offers auto-scaling capabilities to balance infrastructure load and optimize costs. This new feature allows selected media processes to scale up and down automatically, according to a combination of process predictions, business rules and real-time demand.

Dalet will also showcase new remote editing capabilities that leverage the AWS infrastructure as a service resource. Dalet OneCut editors - such as journalists working in the field - can connect to the central bureau or facility to search and browse content, seamlessly mix it on their timeline with locally stored content (even in offline mode), and offload the rendering to the central site. Elnecave adds, “The real advantage of leveraging AWS for remote editing is in the user experience. For editors connecting from the field or from another facility, the combination of S3 storage and Cloudfront gives a much more efficient workflow and a more fluid editing UX.”

A pioneer of component-based workflows, including IMF workflows industrialization, Dalet Galaxy five creates real business opportunities for global distribution. Key Dalet Galaxy five MAM and Orchestration functionality stores rich technical metadata, with workflow design tools, to automate IMF processes such as complex CPLs creation/rendering and supplemental IMF Packages management. Shown at IBC are new Dalet WebSpace tools for preview, review and approval of all objects of an IMF package, including the CPL, with a glance at the Video Timeline available on any web client, eliminating the need for mastering tools.

IBC2018 attendees can book a private demonstration or workflow consultation with a Dalet expert to learn more about Dalet Galaxy five, Dalet Media Cortex and Dalet OnePlay feature highlights.

Dalet Press Briefings at IBC Show 2018

To schedule a press briefing with Dalet, please contact Nick Govoni at nick@zazilmediagroup.com.

About Dalet Digital Media Systems

Dalet solutions and services enable media organisations to create, manage and distribute content faster and more efficiently, fully maximising the value of assets. Based on an agile foundation, Dalet offers rich collaborative tools empowering end-to-end workflows for news, sports, program preparation, post-production, archives and enterprise content management, radio, education, governments and institutions.

Dalet platforms are scalable and modular. They offer targeted applications with key capabilities to address critical functions of small to large media operations - such as planning, workflow orchestration, ingest, cataloguing, editing, chat & notifications, transcoding, play out automation, multi-platform distribution and analytics.

Dalet solutions and services are used around the world at hundreds of content producers and distributors, including public broadcasters (BBC, CBC, France TV, RAI, RFI, Russia Today, RT Malaysia, SBS Australia, VOA), commercial networks and operators (Canal+, FOX, MBC Dubai, Mediacorp, Mediaset, Orange, Charter Spectrum, Warner Bros, Sirius XM Radio) and government organisations (UK Parliament, NATO, United Nations, Veterans Affairs, NASA).

Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0011026749, Bloomberg DLT:FP, Reuters: DALE.PA.

Dalet® is a registered trademark of Dalet Digital Media Systems. All other products and trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

For more information on Dalet, visit www.dalet.com.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni

Zazil Media Group

(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com

(p) +1 (978) 866-7354

####

TOKYO – With an emphasis on 12G-SDI and IP-based technology at IBC, FOR-A is presenting its HVS-1200 compact 1.5ME 4K12G /3G/HD compatible switcher, 4K 3 M/E HVS-6000 vision mixe, MFR-1000 8 X 8 12G matrix routing switcher, and MFR-6000 SD/HD/3G/6G/12G routing switcher.

Featuring up to 10 12G inputs and eight 12G outputs, the HVS-1200 switcher is designed for smaller scale 4K/12G productions and/or use of a fly away system in conjunction with an MFR-1000 routing switcher. It offers two MEKEY and one FLEXaKEY (assignable to ME, AUX or DSK), up to four channels of 2.5D DVE, Still/Clip Store, Macro, and Event Memory.

Offering 12G-SDI capability on all inputs and outputs, the 4K 3 M/E HVS-6000 vision mixer is the latest unit in FOR-A's line of HANABI switchers. With a maximum of 80 inputs/32 outputs or 64 inputs/48 outputs in 12G-SDI, the HVS-6000 is a 12 RU switcher that's ideal for users upgrading from HD to full 4K. It offers scalability to users looking to transition to 8K further down the line.

The MFR-1000 8 X 8 12G (maximum 16 X 16 12G) matrix routing switcher will be introduced at IBC. A 4K- and 8K-compatible routing switcher, the MFR-1000 offers 4K-UHD conversion and 12G compatibility across all inputs and outputs. It provides support for 12G/6G/3G/HD/SD-SDI and DVB-ASI input and output. Automatic signal detection determines the type of SDI input supplied. A built-in webserver enables immediate setup without installing software on external devices.

FOR-A will also show its MFR-6000 SD/HD/3G/6G/12G routing switcher. Offering 12G-SDI compatibility across a matrix of up to 144 inputs and 144 outputs, the MFR-6000 brings powerful support to 4K and 8K routing. The MFR-6000 routing switcher enables matrices of 144 x 144 inputs and outputs and supports versatile signal formats, including 12G/6G/3G/HD/SD-SDI and DVB-ASI.

Additionally, FOR-A is introducing an integrated baseband/IP control and monitoring system for use in a mixed SDI/IP environment. Designed with future cloud-based operation in mind, it enables gradual integration of SDI systems into the IP era. The system also features a web interface for easy access from multiple computers.

COLOGNE, Germany – RTW, a vendor of visual audio meters and monitoring devices, is bringing its TM9 TouchMonitor to IBC 2018 as a 19-inch 4U rack-mount solution (MA4U). This reconfigured unit includes all of the audio monitoring features of the standalone RTW TM9, but offers a new design that is more easily accessible in broadcast studio applications. 

The TM9 panel-mount version is approximately 9.25 x 5.35 x 1.8 inches without the power supply and is designed for mounting into front panels. The unit comes standard with a USB extension to the front panel and the mounting kit is compatible with DIN 41494/IEC 60297 19-inch 4U racks. 

Equipped with RTW's nine-inch touch screens and an easy-to-use GUI, the TM9 TouchMonitor offers precision, performance, efficiency, and flexibility for audio monitoring. With the graphical user interface of the TM9, instruments can be scaled, randomly positioned and combined in almost every way for optimized use of available screen space. Multiple instruments of the same type, assigned to different input channels and configurations, can be displayed simultaneously. Additionally, a context-sensitive, on-screen help feature supports the user, allowing for easy setup changes. 

Read: RTW Announces Multi-License Server Solutions at BroadcastAsia 2018 

The latest firmware version of the TM9, also used with the TM7, expands the basic software to a four-channel display: 4x Mono or 2x Stereo/2x Mono. Additionally, 1x Stereo can be measured without the need of an activated multichannel license. Output routing can be individually adjusted for each preset and all presets can be exported or imported at the same time. 

Read: RTW Skates Into The 2018 Winter Games

MALAGA, Spain — Tedial, a provider of media and content management solutions, will be at IBC to showcase its live sport solution SMARTLIVE and its Hyper IMF end-to-end IMF platform. It will also bring Evolution aSTORM, its hybrid content management solution.

SmartLive, a live event solution for remote logging, PAM support and automated storytelling, leverages AI tools and provides compatibility with existing PAM systems such as EVS and SAM, the company said. Using a proprietary metadata engine, SmartLive automates media logging, clip creation and distribution, including social media pitches. Marrying AI to MAM, the company says SmartLive is capable of automating the event metadata ingest process and creating a production environment for teams, managing multicamera and multivenue feeds, providing multiple, instantaneous live searches to bring historical archives to live events, and automatically generating highlights and delivering them to digital platforms and social networks.

Tedial says that the Hyper IMF, an end-to-end MAM solution that supports IMF formats for ingest, archive and delivery, offers new features that improve the content delivery and management to nonlinear platforms by providing assembly-on-the-fly. Hyper IMF now includes automatic leader insertion, which incorporates all the elements required for each platform. Hyper IMF includes automatic localization based on delivery profile, enabling all credits and text insertions for every language required to be added automatically.

Evolution aSTORM, the company’s content management solution changes the storage paradigm from the traditional HSM approach (multitier vertical) to a true object-based storage environment (multisite, horizontal). aSTORM manages various storage tiers across departments and locations. The company says it allows users to adapt their investments when technology changes or when related storage costs decrease. aSTORM manages online, cloud and deep archive storage with complex algorithms based on customer-tailored business rules. It can virtualize file locations to enable multisite operations, cloud workflows and hybrid scenarios, offering an “augmented perception” of their physical location.

Demonstrations will be held throughout the show on Stand 8.B41. The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam. For more information or to register, visit www.ibc.org.

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TORRANCE, Calif. — Slomo.tv, which produces high-performance SSD-based video record and replay systems, will launch a multifunctional 4K server at IBC2018 that the company says is aggressively priced.

Dominator AT/12G provides advanced slow motion and instant replay capabilities and direct recording for editing on site. In 4K mode it supports the 662 configuration — six-channel recording, search on six channels and two channels replay (6 Record + 6 Search + 2 Play); in 3G/HD replay mode it supports 10 channels recording, search on all channels and four channels replay (10 Record + 10 Search + 4 Play). Mode switching is achieved with one button push and does not require any reconfiguration of the system.

“Since many manufacturers use 12G SDI interfaces for 4K [UHD] operation, the new server is equipped with 12 universal 12G/3G/HD/SD video interfaces,” explained Slomo.tv CEO Michael Gilman. “This allocates one [BNC] connector for all standards, which perfectly fits modern cameras and mixers and significantly reduces the number of connecting cables.”

The Dominator AT/12G offers enhanced replay capabilities with two operators working simultaneously on the same unit. With four independent graphics outputs each operator can work with separate monitors using the main GUI and multiviewer. The GUI built-in multiviewer has five basic configurations, displaying video windows of different or equal size, for input video, search channels and video outputs. Suitable in compact OB environments, an optional MultiSkin function allows the user to display several different interfaces on one monitor.

Slomo.tv will be in Stand 8.B40. The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam. For more information or to register, visit www.ibc.org.

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AMSTERDAM — Rohde & Schwarz will unveil a number of products, from post-production storage to satellite and terrestrial transmitter networks. Being launched at IBC2018 is a next-generation storage product, which is an extension to what the company says is its cost-effective, high-performance shared storage solutions for collaborative media production networks. The new storage product targets broadcast, post-production and file-based archive applications.

Making its debut is the R&S TMU9evo, an air-cooled transmitter for UHF applications. With the new transmitter Rohde & Schwarz is introducing R&S Multiband Doherty for medium-power transmission applications providing transmitter efficiency combined with lower energy costs.

[Read: Rohde & Schwarz Assisting On 5G Tests In Germany]

Rohde & Schwarz will expand on its R&S PKU100 family of satellite uplink amplifiers with the addition of its first outdoor satellite variant, which incorporates adaptive pre-distortion. The company will showcase extensions and refinements to its established equipment, including the R&S Clipster, a workstation for mastering and distributing feature films and episodic TV, and R&S Venice media servers with their IP-based platforms for studio production and channel playout.

Rohde & Schwarz will also feature its RelayCaster IP contribution solution for today’s IP-centric, file-based broadcast environment. The new RelayCaster Encoder supports HEVC encoding of live content and up to four inputs in a single 1RU server. With RelayCaster customers are changing the economics of professional contribution and distribution networks. The company will also demo its content monitoring for broadcast and streaming media services with the R&S PRISMON multiviewer.

The IBC2018 show is Sept. 13–18, in Amsterdam.

Rohde & Schwarz Stand: 7.B21

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HUDSON, Mass. — Facilis will debut the latest upgrades to its high-performance shared storage solutions for collaborative media production networks at the 2018 IBC Show at the RAI (Stand 7.C14), in Amsterdam Sept. 14–18. To enable more efficient use of its TerraBlock shared storage and Hub Server systems, Facilis will showcase v7.1 of its Shared File System, FastTracker v2.5, and a preview of features still in development.

Building on v7.0, which introduced a web console interface and some shared file system enhancements, v7.1 adds workflow management features including:

• Real-time and historical bandwidth monitoring of volumes and workstations;
• RAID50 and RAID51 management through an admin console;
• Preferred connection address for multipath networks;
• Automatic load balancing of clients across server IPs;
• Remote client deployment to facilitate upgrades in multiclient facilities.

With FastTracker v2.5, Facilis claims users can get better organized with custom ingest-to-archive workflows to LTFS and disk-based backup. Previews of local storage assets, as well as LTFS and network-based assets, can be generated and stored in a way that makes them easier to find. And catalogs can be created for the separation and security of indexed data and accessed through a new Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects panel.

[Read: Evolution Of Storage Solutions: What Matters Now In Media Management]

“Even the average facility has hundreds of thousands of video and audio files that are often very difficult to locate,” said James McKenna, VP of marketing at Facilis Technology. “By … indexing and cataloguing data with FastTracker, our customers have increased efficiency, and … full access to the facility library.”

With speeds over 4 Gbps from a single virtual project-based volume, the new Facilis Hub Server — which optimizes drive groups and increases bandwidth from TerraBlock storage — gives new customers a way to scale bandwidth through dynamic aggregation, while letting existing customers extend the usable lifespans of older systems.

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AMSTERDAM—The IP Showcase will return to the IBC for the third year in a row, according to several broadcast technical and standards organizations.

The Audio Engineering Society (AES), Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and Video Services Forum (VSF) will again host the IP Showcase at the annual IBC Show in Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18.

The Showcase, which started out as the “IP Interoperability Zone” at the 2016 IBC Show, will feature vendors and broadcasters who will provide instructional and case-study presentations and an array of IP-based product demonstrations highlighting the benefits of, and momentum behind, the broadcast industry’s move to standards-based IP infrastructure for real-time professional media applications.

[Read: IP Showcase Returns To IBC2017]

Organizers say the event has been instrumental in helping the industry to galvanize behind the standards-based approach to IP. This is the first IBC show since the publication of documents within the SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards, the foundational standards for essence-based transmission of video, audio, and metadata.

“The broadcast industry reached a crossroads when it faced the choice of pursuing a standards-based approach to IP or pursuing multiple alternatives and directions,” said Brad Gilmer, executive director of the IP Showcase. “Almost unanimously, the industry chose the standards-based approach, uniting behind SMPTE ST 2110/ST 2059, AES67, and AMWA IS-04/IS-05. As we move from watching the progress of the early adopters into seeing how the industry as a whole will move into the IP transition, the IP Showcase is more important than ever.”

The IP Showcase will feature equipment displays and product demonstrations that emphasize everything industry vendors have achieved in support of IP standards and specifications. The displays will showcase the benefits IP can bring to an operation and will comprise equipment from an estimated 50 vendors — one of the most massive assemblies of interoperable IP products ever. Displays will highlight the benefits of IP signal transport and focus on SMPTE ST 2110-10/20/21/30/31/40, the SMPTE ST 2059 Broadcast Profile for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), AES67, and AMWA IS-04/IS-05.

The IP Showcase Theatre will provide an education resource of information about the phases of IP adoption. Vendors, broadcasters, service providers, and integrators alike will highlight their solutions to technical challenges related to the transition from SDI to IP. Choosing from a full slate of presentations on IP technology and installations, professionals ranging from broadcast/IT engineers and CEOs to TV producers can learn how to unlock the full potential of using IP for real-time professional media.

The IP Showcase will take place in rooms E106 and E107 at RAI Amsterdam during the show. More information is available at www.ipshowcase.org.

AMSTERDAM--Telestream will showcase the latest strategic advances and developments related to its broad product portfolio—spanning live streaming, video encoding/transcoding, video monitoring and analytics—at the 2018 IBC Show at the RAI in Amsterdam, Sept. 14-18, 2018. As a provider of file-based media workflow orchestration, media streaming and delivery technologies, Telestream’s latest technologies are applicable to on-premise and virtualized environments.

Following its 2017 acquisition of IneoQuest—and its systems that analyze and report whether content was prepared and delivered correctly over managed and unmanaged networks—Telestream is now ready to show how this technology benefits customers when integrated within its overall solution. 

[Read: Telestream To Acquire IneoQuest]

At the show, Telestream plans to introduce two customers—German cable network operator, Unitymedia, and US-based broadcaster, Fox Sports—that will serve as real-world examples of how this technology can increase efficiency, reduce operational and infrastructure costs, and optimize the customers’ quality of experience (QoE).

By adopting Telestream’s latest, intelligent media processing and file-based quality control, Unitymedia will be able to leverage this advanced video monitoring and analytics platforms throughout its network, which will help position its offerings as premium quality, and ensure that its technology investment is supporting its business development activities.

Telestream will also profile how the Fox Sports Operations & Engineering team has been using a solution integrating Telestream Vantage and Lightspeed Live with IBM’s Aspera FASPStream to produce Fox Sports' coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup from its Los Angeles facility. The combined solution enables high-quality streaming over standard IP networks to remote production teams for near real-time editing and production.

[Read: Fox, Telemundo Offer A Clearer View Of FIFA World Cup Russia]

Visitors to Telestream’s 2018 IBC exhibit will also see the following new products, features and capabilities:

• Lightspeed Live for capture, encoding, packaging and delivery now offers scalable and social media-compatible caption insertion on multiple live streams with zero re-encoding and re-streaming, using sophisticated 608/708 caption insertion.
• New feature sets also streamline ingest for Avid workflows by creating Avid OPAtom MXF media with associated AAF files and automatically checking assets into Interplay or MediaCentral.
• Through greater integration with Avid, Vantage now supports MediaCentral directory monitoring and triggers jobs from MediaCentral ‘virtual directories.’.
• Vantage Post Producer’s titler engine allows for processing of NewBlue Titler Pro templates as part of Post Producer workflows for rich, animated graphics and titles. In addition, Titler Designer Pro now supports the import of Adobe After Effects projects direct into Vantage workflows.
• For its Wirecast live production and streaming platform, Telestream will debut Wirecast Live Captions, which provides the ability to embed live closed captions within streams using automatic speech recognition (ASR), and then distribute the content to YouTube, Facebook, and other RTMP destinations.
• Telestream will also debut Wirecast Restream, a cloud-based redistribution service that restreams live feeds to additional destinations simultaneously, saving bandwidth and processing power.

Telestream will be in Stand 7.C16. 

Basingstoke, UK — June 28, 2018 - EditShare will be promoting several key themes including important media and entertainment initiatives around content security and compliance, highly sought performance capabilities that vastly improve production and post-production workflows, and content repurposing at the upcoming IBC2018 exhibition, held in Amsterdam September 14th through the 18th (stand 7.A35). Attendees to IBC can book a private demo of the following EditShare innovations at www.editshare.com/ibc-2018

Secure, Real-time 4K, 8K, and Beyond Enterprise Storage Video Playback

In addition to the new XStream EFS File Auditing technology, advanced content security capabilities that mitigate cyber attacks and content theft, EditShare will be showing in-demand real-time 4K, 8K and beyond EFS scale out storage video playback. A unique capability for enterprise storage performance, XStream EFS delivers the best of both worlds in terms of IT and media performance. “Most enterprise storage systems are developed for IT transactional environments. They are not designed for media workflows and more often than not, do not take into account that low latencies are a key requirement,” comments Bill Thompson, EditShare storage product manager. “This is where EditShare XStream EFS differentiates. It's an enterprise architecture that is designed for media workflows which are more time-critical; hence, low latencies and high bandwidth are crucial to mitigate issues like stuttering video on playback. The EFS media file system allows numerous creative applications on different operating systems to share media assets efficiently from the same storage pool ensuring high-performance for every workstation.” The XStream EFS scale-out shared storage solution product family includes the single-node EFS 200 and EFS 300 solutions for small to mid-size facilities, multi-node XStream EFS 450 solutions for enterprise workflows and the SSD-based EFS storage node options for clients requiring ultimate high-resolution real-time playback. For those facilities who have online storage space as a premium, the EFS 40NL parking storage nodes are designed to optimize content use by allowing them to park content whilst not in use.

Automated QC for IMF Testing

EditShare will show its support for IMF in its new QScan Automated Quality Control (AQC) family of products, powered by the award-winning QUALES QC engine. An important industry initiative, the Interoperable Mastering Format, known as IMF, aims to solve the pain points of mass international file delivery, allowing facilities to meet the growing demand for content all over the world. Key to the initiative, and especially important for OTT content providers, is that packages are properly run through QC prior to delivery. QScan detects the existence of the corresponding XML files (CPL, PKL, OPL, AssetMap, Volume Index) reading the contents and providing information about the structure of the entire IMF package (IMPs), identifying any errors that may be present. The intuitive timeline view of the CPL, where all essence files are described, helps users better understand the structure of IMP. “Compliance is taking center stage for many productions and hence pushing QC workflow needs to the top of the discussion,” comments Howard Twine, director of software strategy, EditShare. “With IMF adoption on the horizon, QScan is positioned to cost-effectively assist facilities who want to take advantage of new global business opportunities IMF will provide.”

Smarter Storage with Flow — Now in Public Beta

The new software-defined Flow, which is now in public beta, has been completely re-engineered for non-EditShare storage environments such as Avid NEXIS, StorageDNA and Amazon S3. Bringing critical search, browse, and retrieve capabilities as well as tools to assemble media to static media storage, the new software-defined MAM platform maximizes the value of customers’ existing storage infrastructure by adding an intelligent media management layer that can manage millions of assets across multiple storage tiers in different locations. “It doesn’t matter how good the shot was unless you can locate it and use in your productions, it has no value,” states Matt Sandford, worldwide product manager for Flow. “Flow eases the burden of managing all that content whether it's on online premise, nearline or cloud storage platforms. It simplifies and eliminates that pain point.”

For more information on EditShare at IBC 2018, please visit www.editshare.com/ibc-2018. To book a private press briefing, please contact Nick Govoni at nick@zazilmediagroup.com.

About EditShare

EditShare is a technology leader in networked shared storage and tapeless, end-to-end workflow solutions for the post-production, TV, and film industries. Our ground-breaking products improve efficiency and workflow collaboration every step of the way. They include video capture and playout servers, high-performance central shared storage, archiving and backup software, media asset management, and Lightworks – the world’s first 3-platform (Windows/OS X/Linux) professional non-linear video editing application.

©2018 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare is a registered trademark of EditShare.

Press Contact

Nick Govoni
Zazil Media Group
(e) nick@zazilmediagroup.com
(p) +1 (978) 866 7354

FREMONT, Calif. — At the 2018 IBC Show from September 14–18 at the RAI in Amsterdam, Digital Nirvana, a provider of digital video equipment and services, will debut v5.2 of its flagship MonitorIQ media and management platform in Hall 14, Stand D05. The company’s exhibit will also showcase its latest metadata generation, subtitling, and closed captioning solutions.

With functions spanning multichannel signal monitoring, logging, loudness monitoring, SmartSearch, ad verification, content repurposing and archive, MonitorIQ enables broadcasters to monitor their video, primarily to meet compliance requirements.

v5.2 adds features that enhance the platform’s efficiency, stability, and end-user experience, including: search filter options with calendar controls, improved geographic time zone display, and NAS configuration options to change retention period of original and proxy encoded files to use storage space more effectively.

Other features improve configuring the player for closed captions, subtitles, teletext, NAC, LKFS and ratings, and enabling player controls in full-screen mode, as well as support for network tuner devices using network device discovery (via SSDP). The new version also improves support for IPTV protocols (MPEG-TS over HTTP), recording H.265 in MPEG-TS, and recording multiple channels from a single input.

Also debuting at IBC is Metadator, a new software application that the company claims will make the Avid editing process faster and easier by generating locators for media assets, along with metadata, outside of Avid’s Interplay MAM system. It automates extracting video and audio, and generating transcripts using speech-to-text technology, and then ingests this content back into Avid Interplay so that metadata can be found more easily during editing.

Digital Nirvana also offers a cloud-based caption generation workflow for prerecorded and online video content that combines automated speech-to-text conversion with experienced captioners, reducing the time and cost to publish and providing better search engine performance. The company’s cloud-based caption synchronization service automatically realigns live broadcast captions for online usage, utilizing audio fingerprinting to automate near-live synchronization of live broadcast captions.

Digital Nirvana will be in Hall 14, Stand D05 at the RAI. 

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LONDON--The annual IBC2018 media, technology, and entertainment show is now in-sight, and those that register before June 8th qualify for a special launch rate. At this year’s high-profile trade show—taking place from September 13-17 at the RAI in Amsterdam—attendees will have access to a wide range of sessions, panels and presentations examining cutting-edge developments shaping the future of the media and entertainment industry.

IBC show organizers promise to inspire show-goers with “fresh inspiring conference themes that focus on innovative new platforms, audience engagement and interaction/immersion, as well as a wide-ranging exhibition that will encompass the latest technologies from artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to advanced cloud-based workflows.”

For the first time ever, the IBC Conference will feature “The Global Gamechangers,” chaired by Edith Bowman, who will host industry-leading business, creative, and technology talent, including Peter Salmon, Chief Creative Officer of Endemol Shine Group, and Deborah Turness, Head of Euronews for NBC Universal.

This year’s IBC conference tracks are designed to illuminate emerging topics, such as:

“NextGen: Interactive & Immersive Experiences,” a panel discussion—featuring Hammer Films Joint CEO Marc Schipper and other immersive industry experts—exploring AR and AI, among other immersive techniques.

[Read: IBC Announces Keynotes, New ‘Global Gamechangers’ Stage]

“Audiences: Engage. Influence. Grow” will delve into GDPR and machine learning and reveal ways to engage niche and evolving audiences. Rob Koenen, President, VR Industry Forum (VRIF) and an MPEG leader will showcase “Cutting-edge Tech Innovators,” exploring where AI, VR, blockchain and other immersive media technologies could take the industry.

Several sessions will focus on maximizing advertising and targeted marketing opportunities. Former Channel 4 Chief David Abraham, now of Wonderhood Studios, will examine how video consumption business models are changing, and the impact these trends could have on studios and content creation. On a similar note, “Advertising: The New Attention Economy” will explore new ways of maximizing targeted marketing and revenue in the age of big data and blockchain.

IBC will host three invitation-only Executive Forums: The Leaders’ Forum, Cyber Security Forum and the Telco & Media Innovation Forum, convening the industry’s most influential and visionary people to discuss key trends, opportunities and disruptors impacting the industry and its future.

As with previous IBC shows, the exhibition—from September 14-18, 2018—will feature products for every stage of the workflow from content creation through distribution. The Future Zone Theatre will present curated sessions exploring the impact of new technologies like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (MXR), and The Big Screen will showcase the latest in cinema projection and sound technology.

According to IBC, the show attracts roughly 60,000 attendees from more than 170 countries and representatives from over 1,700 industry leading suppliers.

To register, visit the IBC Show website.