Broadcasters are no longer faced with the binary choice of going down the SDI or IP routes. The hybrid method of using TDM (Time Domain Multiplexing) combines the advantages of distributed networks with IP and SDI to deliver a fully integrated solution that helps broadcasters working across multiple technologies.
IP is delivering new opportunities in terms of distributed processing and de-centralization. In the second part in this series, we look at the practicalities of using COTS hardware and the advantages it has for multiviewer monitoring over traditional SDI hardware solutions.
For most of its history, film and TV work has, by any sane measure, been incredibly complicated. Photochemical film was a nightmare of precision engineering and process control. Digital alternatives, intended to make things cheaper and simpler, involve some of our highest-performance electronics.
The conversion of monochrome TV to color was quite a trick, but it came at a cost.
IP is well known and appreciated for its flexibility, scalability, and resilience. But there are times when the learning curve and installation challenges a complete ST-2110 infrastructure provides are just too great.
IP and COTS infrastructure designs are giving us the opportunity to think about broadcast systems in an entirely different manner. Although broadcast engineers have been designing studio facilities to be flexible from the earliest days of television, the addition of IP and COTS takes this to a new level allowing us to continually reallocate infrastructure components to make the best use of expensive resource.
We live in fascinating times: increasingly, we live in the era of cloud-based broadcast operations.
Moving to IP is allowing broadcasters to explore new working practices and mindsets. Esports has grown from IT disciplines and is moving to broadcast and has the potential to show new methods of working.
