The new release continues arkona’s commitment to delivering agile, high-performance control across software-defined broadcast infrastructures, and will introduce several important enhancements that increase efficiency, interoperability, and creative flexibility. Chief amongst these changes is the introduction of a new licensing fee structure, designed to make user access simpler, easier and more cost effective.

BLADE//runner
Arkona’s BLADE//runner platform delivers a complete, software-defined ecosystem for real-time broadcast infrastructure, combining routing, processing, and conversion within a single, scalable framework. Built on powerful FPGA hardware such as the AT300, BLADE//runner enables broadcasters to perform demanding tasks like colour correction, HDR/SDR conversion, audio processing, and JPEG-XS compression with ultra-low latency and high channel density. Its modular architecture allows users to dynamically deploy and reconfigure processing APPs on demand, bridging SDI and IP domains with seamless interoperability through open standards such as ST 2110 and NMOS. By collapsing traditionally separate hardware functions into a unified, software-defined platform, BLADE//runner gives broadcasters, live production companies, and OB providers the flexibility to scale and adapt workflows in real time whether managing hybrid infrastructures or migrating fully to IP. The result is greater efficiency, reduced rack space and power use, and a future-proof production environment that responds instantly to changing operational needs.

Changed Licensing Structure
One of the most significant changes occurring under the 2.8 update is a restructuring of the underpinning licensing model, now overhauled to give users simple, comprehensive and flexible access to the functionality they need, when they need it, in a more cost-effective manner. Previously, users would purchase licenses for each of the various APP functions available on BLADE//runner. Now, with version 2.8, arkona simplifies access by offering a ‘buffet’ of functionality which users can access without unnecessary impediment or administrative barriers. Access is offered on two tiers: CORE and MAX. The former facilitates access to arkona’s primary applications; AVP, IPA, and JPEG-XS, allowing users the freedom to reconfigure their AT300 blades in accordance with their own workflow and need, while the MAX license unlocks advanced functionality such as DSPs and effect delays, colour correction and format conversion, video mixing and keying, and loudness metering across all applications. While JPEG-XS licensing stays as it was, the CORE and MAX licenses make it easier, cheaper, and more adaptable for broadcasters to access the full performance potential of arkona’s BLADE//runner ecosystem.

Improved functional enhancements
As well as a fundamental overhaul of the licensing structure, version 2.8 also significantly expands BLADE//runner’s capabilities while making it easier and more intuitive to use. A reorganized RTP memory subsystem makes previously underused audio packet memory available to video receivers, thus raising the latency differential ceiling for UHD-heavy uncompressed video workflows. As a side effect of this change, microburst absorption capabilities have improved, allowing the system to better handle bursty transmitters.

A new local loopback feature lets the system automatically forward locally generated media traffic from its transmitters to its receivers, which enables users to build non-blocking distributed routing matrices regardless of the network’s support for Multicast loopback.

Audio DSP improvements are another major focus of the 2.8 update, including but not limited to the introduction of reverb effects, a gain-sharing auto-mixer, and considerably extended GPI support.