MediaHub Australia Executive Head of Technology, Simon Scott, explained, “We needed continuous video service monitoring of uncompressed and compressed audio and video feeds, including captions, triggers, audio at low latency and high quality with API based alarming. We also had specific goals including that the system had to run in a COTS and IP environment. I’m happy to report that the TAG solution does all of the above.”

At MediaHub Australia video feeds are available as uncompressed multicast streams or CDN delivered feeds to the TAG system, and the TAG software is able to decode the steams at low latency and with high quality. The output from TAG (Mosaics) is sent as SMPTE-2110 uncompressed streams back to the IP video network. On the network are AJA 2110 to HDMI decoders and these convert the TAG Mosaics back to HDMI to feed into the monitoring screens in the MCR area. TAG also outputs a compressed stream so MediaHub is able to see the Mosaics on standard PCs on-site or remotely when working from home.

Scott added, “TAG VS seem to have hit the industry at the right time and right place with the tools to fulfil all the needs of a traditional master control monitoring environment whilst also bringing it all up to the COTS and IP technology layer. One of their standout features is their ability to mix and match compressed, uncompressed and CDN-delivered source feeds into a single screen, to be able to monitor the full end-to-end delivery flow. This is a must for broadcasters as we are inevitably delivering to more and more endpoints.

He continued, “TAG has various alarms and penalty box monitoring configurations that meet the requirements of our MCR. It also has API support, so alarm data is able to be aggregated by our manager of managers for historical trending and AI-based alarm processing and prediction.

“As compute increases we are able to do more on a single server. For example, in 2018 we were able to test just 12 channels running on a single server output. Today we have a single COTS server, at lower purchase cost than a 2018 server that is running 40x uncompressed feeds and 96x compressed feeds with one UHD Mosaic output, one compressed HD Mosaic output, and one uncompressed HD Mosaic output. Today with the new https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/companies/entry/229/dell_technologies R650 Gen 15 server, which uses the high speed PCI4 bus, one TAG server can monitor over 100 uncompressed sources on multiple UHD mosaic outputs.”

In addition to the TAG solution, Magna Systems provided installation and design assistance, as well as support for the product locally and a key point of contact with TAG VS.

Magna Systems group sales and marketing manager, Paul Maroni, said, “MediaHub is an incredibly forward thinking company when it comes to technology. They only settle for the very best and it’s clear that they enjoy great synergies with the TAG monitoring solution. The TAG monitoring solution is one of the leading IP monitoring solutions of choice for customers across Australia and the globe. When you’re a company that focuses on one thing, you do it right. Magna Systems and Engineering are proud to partner with such a customer focused manufacturer as TAG.”