NAB Show Product Review: Storage, Recording & Cloud

It’ll hardly come as a surprise that the cloud is booming—as a secure archiving repository, as a host for live and linear channel playout, as a way to sync clients and to manage VOD depositories. Back here on earth, on-premise storage is also experiencing a boom. Storage devices are taking on multiple new roles (sometimes as encoder, converter, recorder and player all wrapped into one) as well as workhorses collaborating in shared hybrid partnerships and managing ever-growing TBs of data.

CLOUD
AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES
debuted liveOrigin, part of its cloud Media Services Live system, designed to deliver 24/7 live/linear online video capabilities for OTT video service providers and broadcasters.

Amagi CLOUDPORT 3.0 Cloud-Based Channel Playout Platform

AMAGI launched SKYLIGHT, a cloud-managed broadcast services platform that offers TV networks cloud-led, end-to-end services encompassing content preparation, channel playout, content delivery and monetization for both linear TV and OTT. The company also announced a new scheduling feature for its CLOUDPORT 3.0 Cloud-Based Channel Playout Platform.

ELEMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES announced its rebranding to AWS Elemental, finalizing its integration with Amazon Web Services and showcased several cloud-based video solutions for HDR, live channel playout for linear 24/7 broadcast channel creation, and the management of VOD libraries.

ASPERA demo-ed its new streaming platform service, which allows streaming providers to make modifications across a variety of clients using Aspera Files and Aspera Transfer Service SaaS platforms. Other pieces of the puzzle include Aspera FASPStream technology for transporting live broadcast quality-video and data feeds, Aspera Drive 3.0, Aspera Shares 2.0 and Aspera Orchestrator 3.0.

Dejero LIVE+ Control

BROADPEAK showcased its cloud PVR solution, which enables operators to launch multiple recordings on various channels simultaneously without constraint on the available bandwidth or number of tuners on their reception device.

Management up in the cloud was the name of the game for DEJERO, which highlighted LIVE+ Control cloud-based management system for managing transmitters, servers and content from a web browser.

FLORICAL debuted Acuitas Cloud, optimized for rapid OTT deployments; its Smart Central suite enables Acuitas IP operations in virtualized, private or traditional environments. Enhanced client apps Remote Air- Boss, Supervisory Monitor and Order Entry permit on-air control and oversight from any connected site. Flash Forward added Signiant and Isilon workflows for centralized ingest; enterprise-level AirBoss upped “channels managed” to 50.

HARMONIC introduced new techniques for transitioning broadcasters and OTT video providers to the cloud with the VOS Cloud software and VOS 360 SaaS solutions.

NETAPP showcased its App Cloud Media Services, including a NetApp Private Storage feature, which allows for data management across IT environments.

NET INSIGHT unveiled new cloud-based media services within its Connector Marketplace, which allows cloud-service providers to offer services such as transcoding and encoding, graphics insertion and live-streaming. The company also introduced Sye 360°, a live and synchronized 360-degree OTT streaming solution that offers broadcasters the ability to synchronize the live OTT feed with a linear broadcast.

Prime Focus Technologies DAX Production Cloud software

PRIME FOCUS TECHNOLOGIES launched DAX Production Cloud software, designed to improve workflow efficiency by centralizing assets into a single repository that can be accessed by authorized individuals throughout the content lifecycle. It enables editorial, creative agencies, VFX and localization vendors to collaborate, service and distribute media on the same software.

QUANTUM showcased how its StorNext solution supports an artificial intelligence platform from Veritone. Veritone’s aiWARE on-premise and cloud AI platform is now an integrated solution with the StorNext workflow storage system.

ROSS VIDEO introduced Inception. cloud, designed for live productions, and the Inception Discovery research tool. Inception Social, Inception Live and Inception News now include a new MOS gateway designed specifically for the cloud.

SIGNIANT showcased how its cloud-centric accelerated transport technology architecture is being used to deliver multi-Gbps throughput to cloud storage.

SQUARE BOX SYSTEMS launched the CatDV Archive to Cloud in response to customer demand for the ability to leverage cloud services in their MAM operations.

STREAMBOX showcased Streambox Cloud, which resides globally on Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure Cloud to deliver a broadcastcentric environment for newsgathering, live video contribution, video monitoring, internal/external video distribution, and live transcoding.

STREAMGUYS showcased new video features within its cloud-based SGrecast live stream repurposing platform at the show. The recording capabilities allow broadcasters to transform live, linear video streams into podcasts and side channels.

Video switching solutions provider THE SWITCH showcased its first cloud-based TV production service, Cumulus, at the show. The company demonstrated how a live television production environment can be set up and controlled via production control surfaces located anywhere in the world using Cumulus and the company’s FiveNines transmission network.

TERADEK announced a series of upgrades to its Core and Sharelink cloud platforms that are designed to expand the capabilities of their H.264 and H.265 codecs by introducing multiplatform delivery, transcoding, third-party encoder support and remote management of VidiU encoders.

VIDOVATION showed its advanced cloud-based live video IP mobile journalism solution—otherwise known as MOJO.

SERVERS AND RECORDERS
360 SYSTEMS
introduced the TSS Mini 2100 and 2200, which offer two channels of record or playout as well as encoding, decoding, up and down conversation, and remote control capability. Also new was the TSS-4000, a four-channel SD and HD playout server; VTH-2280, which offers two bidirectional HD and SD channels and up/down/cross conversion; TSS-3100, a three-channel SD and HD system with up to 8 TB of storage; and the new TSS-2470 Time Delay, a single-channel delay server that delays from 30 seconds to 40 hours in HD or 80 hours in SD.

AJA showcased its Ki Pro Ultra Plus, which offers either 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-channel simultaneous HD recording up to 1080 50/60p, and full HDMI 2.0 for 4K/UltraHD workflows.

Blackmagic Design UltraStudio HD Mini

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN debuted UltraStudio HD Mini, a portable Thunderbolt 3 broadcast-quality 10-bit YUV and 12-bit RGB capture and playback solution, specifically designed to enable customers to perform archive, edit, and monitor live broadcast graphics.

CHYRONHEGO introduced the Virtual Production Server (VPX) platform that can host end-to-end live production workflows, allowing broadcast news operations to run critical content creation and playout software in a virtualized, IT-based environment. This allows for the creation of highly efficient, cost-effective, and easy-to-manage live production workflows for news, sports, and other programs, all from virtual instances running on a single server.

DELL EMC ISILON showcased its Isilon All-Flash storage solution.

DIGITAL NIRVANA launched a new automated sports clipping service that analyzes sports broadcasts and creates publishable clips of game highlights.

Targeted toward smaller organizations like small telcos, educational organizations or houses of worship, the TV App Maker from DVEO allows users to create an OTT or IPTV private channel icon for Roku or Android set-top box and obtain a new channelized line-up of content that is served via the DVEO ATLAS packaging server.

EVS XT4K server

EDITSHARE unveiled the new XStream EFS 200 and XStream EFS 300, which offer scalable single node capability that includes the Flow Media Asset Management and Ark Media Archive applications.

EVS debuted the XT4K server, which offers four channels of uncompressed UHD-4K on a single 12G-SDI wire or 12 channels of HD/1080p as well as native IP integration.

Magewell USB Capture Plus

FOR-A showcased its MBP-500VS multichannel video server.

MAGEWELL unveiled new 4K models in its USB Capture Plus series of plug-and-play external video capture devices.

MEDIAPROXY featured its LogServer TSoIP software solution, designed for monitoring, multiviewing and capture of live video from broadcast and OTT sources.

QUANTUM launched StorNext 6, including new advanced data management features that encompasses flash, spinning disk, object storage, tape and the cloud.

ROHDE & SCHWARZ showcased a storage combination that includes the IBM Spectrum Scale file system solution alongside the R&S SpycerBox Cell and R&S SpycerBox Ultra TL storage options, a file system that enables users to more efficiently utilize different storage tiers based on their needs.

Ross Graphite

ROSS VIDEO launched Abekas Tria 2, a two-channel clip server with an input record channel, synchronous playback of key/fill pairs or independent playout of two separate video channels with audio. Abekas Mira now offers Mira Connect GigE networking, and Mira Express, a smaller integrated replay system that records video and audio from up to four cameras onto removable SSD media, with slow-motion replay from two PGM channels.

Ross also crossed into multifaceted territory with the introduction of Graphite, a solution that pulls together a two-channel clip server, capabilities from a production switcher, features found in a 3D motion graphics system and the capabilities of an audio engine in a single 4RU chassis.

SAM showcased its sQ Servers and its connection to VIBE, the company’s real-time news and sports production solution, as well as the company’s LiveTouch 4K highlight and replay system.

SONY featured multiple storage and recording options including the PWS-4500, a 4K/HD multiport AV storage unit that includes Sony’s NMI IP technology. Also new is the second generation of its Optical Disc Archive System, with support for new high-capacity optical media and introducing an 8-channel optical drive unit; and an expanding line of professional storage technologies, including new 4 TB and 6 TB RAID systems and two new G Series solid state drives.

SLOMO.TV premiered the Dominator AT/3G, a 10-channel 3G/HD/SD slow-motion and replay server that supports up to 10 3G/HD/SD recording channels, four playback channels and search capabilities on up to 10 channels. It also showed its Super Slo-mo bundle, which combines its Simple RII video server and Panasonic AKH5000 4X SuperMotion camera.

SUITCASETV showcased its MediaStor File System, which aggregates multiple storage servers into a single structure, providing tracking and auditing of file histories as well as metadata handling capabilities to empower even the most complex of workflows.

TEKTRONIX debuted Hydra Player, a video playback system with universal de-multiplexer and decoder engine.

XENDATA showcased its FX-Series, an all-in-one storage system that combines shared disk storage and archive in a single system.

Susan Ashworth

Susan Ashworth is the former editor of TV Technology. In addition to her work covering the broadcast television industry, she has served as editor of two housing finance magazines and written about topics as varied as education, radio, chess, music and sports. Outside of her life as a writer, she recently served as president of a local nonprofit organization supporting girls in baseball.