Communications systems have always been a necessity in broadcasting but, often, they were something that was almost taken for granted. But this year’s NAB Show gave a major platform to new intercom technologies and products.

Many of the big technological trends and fashions in broadcasting do not always cover all the technical aspects of acquisition and production. The spotlight at most NAB Shows over the last decade has been firmly on 4K, HDR and location to post-production workflows. 

With the possible exception of the last of those, that focus has excluded intercom but this always important, sometimes overlooked area is now fully on trend thanks to the high profile of the cloud, virtualization and remote operations at the major broadcast technology exhibitions of the last few years.

That was certainly the case at this year’s Vegas gathering, where Remote Integration (REMI) based on IP—and increasingly involving the cloud and virtualized systems—was addressed by the main intercom manufacturers.

Bridging Old with the New
“People continue to look for new ways to communicate,” said Kris Koch, business development director for Broadcast Network and Media Production at Clear-Com. “In particular, REMI workflows were a common topic at NAB. Our customers require us to be flexible in supporting their workflow, whatever that may be. Often we need to bridge older technologies with new IP based workflows, so while AoIP [audio over IP] has become something of a standard in new designs, most customers need to transition into IP workflows.”

Clear-Com’s Arcadia Central Station received particular attention this year—the IP-based communications platform is scalable and can integrate components from the company’s HelixNet, FreeSpeak and Encore ranges, as well as third party Dante AoIP devices, to provide communications for fly-away systems and OB trucks. Also on show were new features for the Eclipse HX digital matrix, including Dynam-EC real time production software and V-Series Iris IP-based user panels.

Telos Alliance made the brave—or foolhardy—decision to give live demonstrations of its Infinity Virtual Intercom Platform (VIP), linked together with other AoIP products from the company’s portfolio, plus telephony devices, on what Martin Dyster, vice president of business development, described as “one big LAN”.

He acknowledges that it was a “bit of a leap of faith” to stage such a demo at a trade show but that the company wanted to illustrate how a hardware system could be virtualised in software and deployed on a computer or mobile phone with built-in audio, including a USB microphone and loudspeaker.

Telos VIP is now featured as part of other companies’ cloud infrastructures, including Grass Valley AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform), Vizrt’s Viz Now and the Panasonic KAIROS IT/IP system.

“It has found favor from some big hitters that have built end-to-end virtual platforms using a SaaS [software as a service] model,” explains Dyster. “VIP doesn’t need a lot of bandwith, it can work as a four-wire intercom for both on-prem and cloud with about 32 Kbps in each direction.” He adds that the audio quality produced has now led to customers wanting to use the system for both contribution links and voice-overs.

Matrix Advances
Intracom Systems’ VCOM virtual matrix is another software-based communications platform aimed at both on-premises and in-cloud implementation. During the NAB Show, the company highlighted v7 of the system, which included new features for selecting talk and listen keys, which can now also be activated using Elgato’s Stream Deck control interface, and managing user access using Single Sign On (SSO). 

Intracom chief executive Stephen Brand observes that in the current “crowded intercom field,” broadcast customers are looking for features, functions and overall technologies that will “save them money, simplify workflows and keep them ahead of the curve in a highly competitive environment where pristine communications are critical.”

AEQ has taken a matrix-less approach with its Xpeak system. This cloud-based intercom is particularly aimed at live and remote production applications, with Sales Director Gustavo Robles adding that REMI is now a “major trend in the market.” New from AEQ this year was the TP9116 rack-mounted intercom panel, featuring 16 four-way lever keys, with two functions on each lever, and IP connectivity over either Dante or AES67. Robles said a desktop version could be available by IBC.

Riedel Communications launched its Audio Monitoring App (AMA) for the 1200 SmartPanels range at the show. Product Manager Kristina Uhlitz comments that this is capable of running “several apps simultaneously” and attracted interest from many of the visitors to the company’s booth. 

Also introduced were the Dante UIC card for the Artist system and new firmware for Bolero and its integrated charging station. “It provides visual data of registration and charging status and lets you upgrade all devices in the charger at once,” she added.

RTS introduced the DSPK-4 digital speaker station, part of the RTS Digital Partyline intercom range. Offering hybrid functionality in desktop, flush-mount and wall-mounted versions, it can operate in party line mode with the OMS (OMNEO Main Station) or as a portable key panel in conjunction with a RTS matrix, either ODIN or ADAM.

Competitor Compatibility
Many intercom manufacturers now offer compatibility with competitors’ systems. Studio Technologies’ new Model 545DC is compatible with Clear-Com party line products, while the Model 545DR, launched alongside it, offers a single two-channel interface for the RTS TW two-channel analog intercom circuit series.

Both can connect to Dante-equipped matrix intercoms, digital audio processors and mixing consoles and can work with Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled belt packs, intercom stations and audio engines. Also new was the Model 342 intercom station, which can be used in multiple modes with a Dante audio matrix or as a point-to-point system involving two units.

Pliant Technologies continued to fly the flag for wireless-based intercom and debuted a new IP-rated radio transceiver for its CrewCom range. Available in both 900MHz and 2.4GHz versions, these are aimed at live broadcast and events where outdoor placement of transceivers is necessary. 

Also on the booth was the new CCU-08 CrewCom control unit, which allows operators to use up to eight four-wire ports and provides the same features as the existing CCU-22 and CCU-44. Gary Rosen, vice president of global sales said there was still interest in wireless communications and while the cloud and AoIP have found favor for remote production, when it came to on-site installations “a dedicated and reliable intercom system remains key for most users.”

Whatever the connectivity medium, intercoms certainly showed significant advances at the 2023 NAB Show. 

The events of the past two and a half years have demonstrated the importance of reliable and flexible communications among media production professionals. And like the television industry, the world of professional intercoms is advancing forward with IP and now, the cloud, and with it the promise of a robust and expanding environment for remote production. In this month’s ebook, TV Tech looks at the evolution of media comms and what we can expect to see in the future as media companies adapt to changing requirements.

Download this free ebook here. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Some of us can remember when audio was regarded merely “as the poor step-child of video.” There was but a single channel to look after, and it passed muster if it met the aural equivalent of “it looks good leaving here” and the transmitter operator didn’t complain about carrier over-deviation. 

But that was then, and this is now. Television audio in the 21st century is anything but a simple “step-child” that doesn’t need to be watched that closely. 

Multiple Formats
Start with the increasing plethora of formats, according to Mike Waidson, application engineer at Telestream.

“Gone are the simple days of analog audio—we must now deal with digital PCM with one-to-many channels,” Waidson said. “These audio channels are distributed in multiple ways. Sometimes the audio is embedded in SDI. But it is now also carried as an audio stream in IP. To further complicate matters, the carriage in multiple file formats, whether uncompressed or compressed, is a common occurrence.” 

Berny Carpenter, audio product manager at TSL, agrees. “With the evolution of audio delivery formats, we have seen audio channel counts gradually increasing, particularly for marquee content, such as high-profile sports events,” he said. “What was stereo became 5.1, and now we’re seeing the next generation of audio delivery formats for broadcast which cater to immersive and personalized audio, including Dolby Atmos and Fraunhofer’s MPEG-H. 

“The signal formats used in productions have gradually changed too,” he added. “Within the last two decades, SDI has gone from 1.5G (HD-SDI) to 3G, and now 12G is becoming more and more common.”

Like so many media tech solutions these days, “one size does not fit all” anymore, according to Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe, Nugen Audio product specialist.“People are consuming content in such a wide variety of environments, on such a wide variety of equipment, so in my opinion our biggest challenge is making sure the audio always translates. You want the dialog to be intelligible regardless of whether someone is watching on their laptop on a train using inexpensive earbuds, or watching in a home cinema with a finely tuned 7.1.4 setup.” 

Meeting the Challenges
A common denominator in designing today’s professional audio monitoring gear for television is flexibility—the ability to expand or otherwise change monitoring capabilities as operations grow and requirements are added. Capability for updating existing capabilities or for unlocking initially unneeded features is also a big plus.

“Being able to future-proof an investment is obviously appealing for broadcasters, enabling them to reduce CAPEX and add capabilities to a product only if it is required at a later date,” said TSL’s Carpenter. “TSL’s audio monitors include connectivity options and software features as upgradeable items. The PAM-IP supports upgrades for both ST 2110 and Dante IP connectivity, whilst our SAM-Q range offers optional MADI connectivity and loudness functionality. All of these can be purchased with the unit, or retrospectively applied.”

Larry Schindel, senior product manager of TV Solutions at the Telos Alliance, is also an advocate of upgrading via software changes.  

“Unless a monitoring unit is a basic stereo, analog, ‘speaker in a box’ type of unit, the modern monitoring devices are digital, sometimes even being a ‘PC in a box,’” Schindel said. “The nature of these digital devices today is that they are meant to be updated as new features are developed. All Telos Alliance units are designed to be updated as new software-based features are added and become available.”

Nugen’s Vinehill-Cliffe observed that product “agility” is not the only benefit derived with software-driven monitoring.

“The ability to work faster than real-time with software tools, Nugen’s VisLM or LM-Correct, for example, is also a major advantage,” Vinehall-Cliffe said.

“As it stands, our full Loudness Toolkit bundle already supports 7.1.2 audio, and this is also true of Halo Vision. Anyone who owns VisLM, LM-Correct or ISL v2.0 and above can already upgrade to v2.9 for free. Many of our updates are free, and even when issuing a paid update we offer discounted upgrade paths for existing owners.”

In addition to monitor future-proofing, Wohler CEO Makarand Karanjkar described another “plus” that can come with software architecture: increased functionality within a single “box,” something that’s especially welcome in crowded racks found in smaller control rooms and production vehicles.

 “The rapid evolution of signal types, whether Dante, Ravenna, ST2110, ST2022-7 or Dolby ATMOS, coupled with various mezzanine compression formats like JPEG2K for backhauls, or HEVC for distribution, is driving the need for multifunctional hardware, with software that can upgraded to meet evolving needs,” he said. 

And the Beat Goes On…
As ATSC 3.0 broadcasting continues to roll out, it brings with it additional requirements, even one for which a standard has yet to be developed. “We anticipate the need to support multiple audio codecs for ASTC 3.0, and our iVAM series of products are well equipped to support emerging technologies like Dolby AC4 in the future,” said Wohler’s Karanjkar 

“With the additional height channels and personalization objects in next-generation audio formats there is more to measure than ever before.” said TSL’s Carpenter. “As an example of how TSL can help broadcasters with this requirement, the SAM-Q range allows for up to eight simultaneous programs [each up to 9.1.4] to have loudness measured, logged and a downmix can be monitored through the unit itself.” 

Telos Alliance’s Schindel notes that for broadcasters moving to ATSC 3.0, audio monitoring specifically for the advanced broadcast format may not be necessary.

“Most broadcasters who are launching ATSC 3.0 services today are doing a simple simulcast of what’s on their ATSC 1 service, so other than wanting a monitor which can decode Dolby AC-4… there isn’t much new that they need, yet,” he said. “Dialog Enhancement is an inherent part of Dolby AC-4, so really any AC-4 decoder should be capable of supporting this function, but looking forward, broadcasters will want monitors that support Dolby Atmos and personalized audio which ATSC 3.0 is capable of supporting.”

“The challenge for the broadcaster is to deal with another compressed audio format, AC-4,” said Telestream’s Waidson. “While this offers…the ability to carry multiple streams with more audio channels, it requires equipment to support these formats.”

Nugen’s Vinehill-Cliffe noted that some of this equipment has yet to be developed.

“It’s great that the ATSC 3.0 spec includes support for object-based audio,” he said. “But currently there is no standard for calculating or measuring the loudness of object-based audio, which poses a problem. Once a loudness standard has been developed… broadcasters will need monitoring tools which can support the new standard. This is something which we at Nugen are looking towards tackling.” 

Television audio monitoring has certainly come a long way from one simple VU meter. Perhaps it’s fitting to resurrect an old saying and add a corollary:

“There’s no rest for the weary—particularly if you’re an audio monitor designer.”

LOS ANGELES—The universe of AES67- compliant products has expanded over recent years and with the interoperability standard now published in the SMPTE 2110 standards suite has become the “Rosetta Stone” of audio-over-IP. But while digital mixing console system products were among the first to adopt AES67, to what extent are end-users networking compliant products? What barriers to adoption remain, and what can be done to promote more AES67 network implementations?

ALL IP

“In the TV market, AES67 interoperability is part of almost every client conversation,” said Martin Dyster, vice president of business development-TV, TV Solutions Group, The Telos Alliance. Proof that AES67 is ready for primetime can be seen at University of Notre Dame Martin Media Center, a benchmark for what is possible in an all-IP, multivendor environment, where his company supplied the console and routing pieces, Dyster said.

Across the campus-wide media production environment, says Dyster, “All video and audio are transported as IP from the cameras and mics to PCR, and in the case of the Telos Alliance Axia Fusion consoles, there’s not a physical router in sight. Everything is routed at switch level, so it truly is a system achieving what was intended with AoIP all along.”

The installation includes Evertz core video and control elements. “The interchange of around 450 AES67 streams between it and the audio production system is seamless,” Dyster says. “Other vendors in this installation include Riedel, who supplied an AES67-equipped Artist system. Other examples where we’ve connected at AES67 level include products like the Genelec 8340 IP monitors—but any AES67 compliant product should work fine.”

AOIP IS THE GOAL

Don Bird, vice president of Business Development and Marketing for Lawo North America, agrees that AES67 is a basic requirement in almost every customer project. “In some cases, as a natural subset of their request to deploy a complete ST2110-compliant infrastructure, but even in those projects involving an upgrade of existing facilities where AoIP is the goal and the rest of the production pipeline is going to be migrated to IP over time,” he says.

Lawo has been providing AES67 capabilities across distributed and remote production architectures as well as in local studio environments for some years now, according to Bird. “This is nothing new at this point, as customers clearly recognize the savings in cost, flexibility and efficiency of operation.”

Phil Owens, senior sales engineer, for Wheatstone in New Bern, N.C., has observed less enthusiasm for AES67 thus far. “Customers are primarily concerned with their central infrastructure,” he says. “AES67 tends to address add-ons, in most cases. This will change in the TV market as SMPTE 2110 and its audio component, SMPTE 2110-30, become more prevalent.”

Owens has primarily seen client interest in interfaces with a live sound component in a system, and interfaces with some AES67- or Dante-capable intercom systems. “And we have seen smaller local studio implementations, such as interfacing with Dante-equipped mic preamps via AES67,” he reports.

“We are currently working on two university projects that have an auditorium equipped with a Dante-equipped live sound board tied into their broadcast facility via AES67,” adds Owens. “Another university has expressed interest in interfacing a Wheatstone system with an RTS intercom using their Omneo protocol, which is in fact Dante; that will be an AES67 interface.”

Calrec Audio has supplied AoIP networks to several broadcasters for facility-wide installations, reports Dave Letson, the company’s vice president of sales. “More often, though, we are seeing pockets of deployment in POC or smaller applications, so the broadcaster or facility can cut their teeth and gain an understanding of SMPTE 2110 networks.”

The real benefits and savings will come from greenfield builds that can implement the networking facilities from the get-go, Letson believes. Thus, some manufacturers have developed products, such as Calrec’s H2-IP Gateway devices, to bridge proprietary IP infrastructures and create hybrid networks.

That said, Calrec consoles are being networked with products such as Sonifex’s AES67-based monitor pre-hear products and Grass Valley routers, says Letson. “Calrec’s AoIP I/O solutions allow any piece of third-party equipment that is AES67 compatible to talk to Calrec’s I/O boxes and enter the [company’s proprietary] Hydra2 domain.”

BARRIERS TO ADOPTION

Manufacturers almost universally note that AES67’s lack of discovery, control and connection management, which were never part of the standard’s brief, are a barrier to adoption. Lawo’s Bird observes, “We offer a range of products that enable us to provide all-AES67 network infrastructures for our customers, so we don’t really encounter any barriers in that respect.”

“AES67 is an audio-only interface that has to be set up manually by entering a number of stream parameters at both the send and receive ends,” says Owens, “or ‘semi-manually’ by using an SAP utility to advertise those stream parameters to the various endpoints. Control—logic events—has yet to be addressed, although yet another standard, AES70, is a possible solution.”

Letson points to a recent survey by Grass Valley that indicates that IP adoption is slower than previously forecast. Two-thirds of respondents stated a preference for a hybrid approach, with cost a major concern when considering a move to IP. “Cost is obviously a barrier unless you are already planning to replace equipment,” he says, including the costs to deploy completely new infrastructure and train staff, and costs incurred through disruption.

“A fear of the unknown and a feeling that AoIP is brand new and unproven” also militate against wider or faster adoption, Dyster suggests.

The Networked Media Open Specification [NMOS] is currently being finalized. The IS-04 part of that spec addresses discovery, and the IS-05 part addresses connection management, according to Owens. “NMOS will make AES67 much easier to set up and use,” he said.

Calrec, like many other manufacturers, is developing a stream manager, Calrec Connect, which will allow complex network information to be displayed and streams to be created in a user-friendly manner, according to Letson. “This helps to reduce the burden of training needed,” he said.

Bird noted the importance of ongoing training in fostering adoption. “Through involvement in associations like AIMS and various technical recommendation groups and standards bodies we put great emphasis on education and awareness,” he said. “We encourage any customers interested in deploying an AES67 infrastructure to have open dialog with their consultants, integrators, and equipment providers to verify that all components specified are fully supporting the standard in an interoperable way.”

It’s often been said that producing live television can be among the most complex of technical operations. The margin of error is small and the consequences of a lost audio or video signal or missed cue can have a significant impact on a station or production company’s bottom line—and its reputation. 

Perhaps that’s why intercoms have taken on an ever more important role in television production, especially live events. Intercoms create the integral links between production crews and directors and the technology to maintain those links is evolving rapidly.

In our 2018 Guide to Intercoms, we focus on the latest trends in intercoms for broadcast and the new systems vendors are offering to the industry

TV TECHNOLOGY:What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2018 NAB Show?

JASON TOMLIN: Increasingly, equipment and software manufacturers are creating solutions that are compliant with the new SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards. We anticipate much of this technology will be featured prominently at the 2018 NAB Show. The development toward one common Internet protocol, per SMPTE ST 2110, is already in place with AES67, the Audio Engineering Society Standard for IP audio. The TVSG product portfolio complies with AES67 Livewire+ standards, and is compatible with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet IP switching and routing equipment.

TVT:What will be your most important product news?

TOMLIN: TVSG is leading the television industry’s migration to AoIP, and broadcast professionals are quickly embracing our recently introduced IP Intercom solution, which unleashes the full potential of a distributed IP audio infrastructure. Telos Infinity, which is slated to ship in April, 2018 is far more than a talkback system; it’s a total reimagining of broadcast communications. It brings together voice communication and contribution audio on a single IT backbone employing the latest standards-based VoIP and Livewire+ AES67 AoIP transport to provide dedicated features and functionality in a simplified, more elegant form and without limitations. Telos Infinity replaces outmoded matrix technology with an advanced, distributed IP solution that allows plug-and-play networked devices to be added to the system as part of a planned or ad-hoc expansion without the worry of exceeding the number of available ports on a matrix.

TVT:How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

TOMLIN: There isn’t anything on the market currently that compares with the Telos Infinity IP intercom. What makes it so unique is its ease of integration, which provides customers with the versatility and cost-efficiency of using their existing infrastructure for advanced AoIP communication. You can access any networked audio endpoint through our Telos Infinity Dashboard software and make it available wherever you need it—internally or on-air. And, because it natively supports Livewire+ AES67, it seamlessly connects with our own AoIP products as well as those from other supporting manufacturers. Being matrix-free allows plug-and-play networked hardware and software devices to be added to the system as part of a planned ad-hoc change without ever worrying that you might exceed the number of available ports on a matrix.

TVT:What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?

TOMLIN: Given the competitive pressures to accommodate increased content production and expanded audio choices in today’s highly charged environment, the NAB Show provides a comprehensive vehicle for the industry to find solutions that are right for them. I think the NAB Show website says it best—“This is the ultimate event for media, entertainment and technology professionals looking for new and innovative ways to create, manage, deliver and monetize content on any platform.”

As a leader in the television industry’s migration to AoIP, TVSG is at the NAB Show with our full product portfolio, including TelosSystems, OmniaAudio, AxiaAudio, Linear Acoustic, 25-SevenSystems, and MinnetonkaAudio. These brands have popularized and helped to fast-track AoIP through eight major solution groupings: distributed and decentralized routing; mixer hardware and software; site-to-site connectivity; multi-line call management; signal distribution and format conversion; real-time audio processing; audio measurement and monitoring; and IP intercom and communication.

Read up on all of TVT's NAB Show Sneak Peeks and other 2018 NAB Show news here.

CLEVELAND—Combining technologies from a group of audio-centric companies in the broadcast industry, Telos Alliance has announced the formation of a new entity, the Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group. Offering audio-over-IP (AoIP) technologies for TV broadcast and production applications, the Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group seeks to aid the broadcast industry’s migration to AoIP products and systems.

The Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group has broken its lineup of offerings into eight AoIP solution groupings: distributed and decentralized routing; mixer hardware and software; site-to-site connectivity; multi-line call management; signal distribution and format conversion; real-time audio processing; audio measurement and monitoring; and IP intercom and communication.

One of the products that the group will be featuring is the Livewire and Livewire+ AES67 protocol, which are designed to provide compatibility across AoIP products and systems from Telos Alliance and its technology partners.

The Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group will have its own presence at the upcoming NAB Show, located at booth SU2321.