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This article is Part 2 of Gary Olson’s series on digital terminology. As promised, this article continues the explanation of the next series of terms that engineers, technicians and technical managers need to understand.
On demand TV is the core business. There is now a need to drive down the cost of producing and distributing content in a cross-platform way and to address emerging business models for monetising content. It is a reality of the media landscape today that supplier relationships, logistics networks, product design and customer service all live in a state of permanent flux. Hence, sustainable competitive advantage requires a high degree of operational adaptability. This in turn requires a new breed of technologies.
In Part 1 of this series on preserving taped resources and moving them to an archive, we reviewed the typical problems that may be encountered and the tools needed to resolve them. With those identified, let’s see how it is possible to automate the process to ensure maximum throughput and quality.
Ultra HD data rates get astronomical for uncompressed formats. Moving to IP, we look at building cost effective and sustainable infrastructure.
The broadcast industry is once again going through both business and technology changes. At the heart of these changes is the need to move to IP-based infrastructure. There are many different codecs and standards being proposed but one that is key to this transition is H.264/AVC. It’s a good fit for end-to-end IP workflows because it provides a full spectrum of video quality and resolutions including support for low to high bitrates, proxy to 4K or even 8K, Intra or GOP formats, 8- and 10–bit depth and 4:2:0 to 4:4:4 colour sampling. It is widely used in broadcast and A/V so interoperability and compatibility are no longer concerns.
When computers began replicating and replacing expensive electro-mechanical broadcast TV production and playback systems, the gravy train ended for some and started for others. Affordable digital TV production gear has slashed the ante for producers and is making mountains of television content with high technical integrity available for everyone.
The broadcast environment is evolving rapidly, driving broadcasters to look for innovative technologies that optimise the delivery of video content. Broadcasters today are handling an increasing number of feeds being delivered to a plethora of viewing devices. In addition, video content needs to be prepared in multiple formats to take into account regional preferences such as language or local advertising restrictions. To overcome these challenges, broadcasters require a playout strategy that is much more efficient and affordable than the traditional satellite- and fibre-based models.
_460_323_70.jpg "There remains confusion on where IP will first be applied in production and broadcast facilities. Image by Jordan Olson.")
At this IBC vendors pushed the Cloud and IP-related technologies. Terms including; SDN, SDVN, NFV, NTP, PTP and SDS have become the buzzwords du jour. What does all this mean to the guy needing to build a facility?
