BY JOSEPHINE TAN

LAS VEGAS – The media landscape appears to be changing at the blink of an eye ; the changes this brings can seem both unsettling and exciting , said NAB president and CEO Gordon Smith .

In his keynote address at the 2017 NAB Show , Smith highlighted : “ Many of the challenges and opportunities the industry faces are being driven by new technologies , and primarily the rise of IP distribution in its many forms . All these things are rapidly changing our business , and this leads us to choices .

“ And in this ever-changing world , we need to believe in the virtuous cycle — the idea that adopting new distribution platforms serves to build our overall audience and engagement with them .”

Snell Advanced Media ( SAM ), for instance , unveiled its IP Routing System portfolio , which comprises a unified control and monitoring system , IP gateway devices , IP processing and multi-viewers . Products in SAM ’ s IP Routing System include the IQMIX range of cards — available in 10GbE , 25GbE and 40GbE — the KudosPro IP family of format and frame-rate converters , as well as the IQEDGE processing platform .

Orbit , SAM ’ s new control , configuration and monitoring solution , has also been added into the portfolio . Incorporating support for IP within its existing control system technology , Orbit operates on a single interface that houses all of SAM ’ s control and monitoring applications to enable users to manage and view all of their control , configuration and monitoring functions .

Commenting on Asia ’ s transition to IP , Fork Yow Wai , director , business development , South-east Asia , SAM , said : “ Technologies like IP enable many possibilities , but creative content is still key in retaining eyeballs . Although IP took the industry by surprise , we see that Asia-Pacific is not a distant follower in this transition . This convergence between broadcast and IT is a natural progression , and it ’ s important for broadcasters to speed up and keep up with the changes taking place in the industry .”

When the SMPTE ST 2110 standard is fully ratified later this

year , it can potentially bring the industry another step towards IP interoperability .

One company who has integrated the support of SMPTE ST2110 in its solutions is AJA Video Systems . Its KONA IP firmware features support for SMPTE ST2110 up to HD rasters , and enables networking with separate essence flows during live production . With KONA IP , broadcasters will be able to synchronise production of audio , video and ancillary data elements .

AJA Video Systems also exhibited Ki Pro Ultra Plus , which supports HD recording up to 1080 50 / 60p , and full HDMI 2.0 for 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) workflows . The 2RU Ki Pro Ultra Plus is designed for recording multi-cam shoots in HD multi-channel mode , as well as 4K / UHD recording and playback in single-channel mode . It features connectivity options such as 3G- SDI , HDMI 2.0 and optional fibre connections .

For Cobalt Digital , it was fullspeed ahead as the company introduced the FAST-Stream system for both openGear and Cobalt BBG-1100 Series standalone units . Combining FAST ( frame-accurate SCTE 104 trigger ) insertion with enhanced HLS SCTE 35 streaming on a single platform , the FAST-Stream system provides HLS streams with “ frame-accurate ” boundary points , alongside the SCTE 35 metadata contained in the associated manifest file .

Besides the FAST-Stream system , Cobalt also highlighted the 9971-MV-4K-SH 4K / UHD hybrid HDMI 2.0 and 12G-SDI input and output multi-viewer . Designed for both openGear and BBG-1000 Series , the multiviewer modules are cascadable , allowing users to expand the system as 4K / UHD production and broadcast becomes more widely adopted .

Following the acquisition of Abekas at IBC 2016 , Ross Video continued the expansion of its live production solutions that now includes the Mira replay system . The company unveiled Mira Express , an 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 .

Another product Ross Video highlighted is Graphite , an allin-one production solution that combines the capabilities of its Carbonite production switcher and XPression 3D motion graphics . Graphite contains the features of a Carbonite switcher , including 2MEs with five keyers each , four MiniME processors with two keyers each , four floating DVEs , two UltraChrome chroma keyers , two advanced pattern generators per ME , and four channels of MediaStore .

“ In the midst of this IP transition , Ross Video is ready to support both IP and SDI workflows ,” declared Jac Kee , sales manager , ASEAN , Ross Video . “ We acquired Coveloz Technologies last year , which allows us to have access to core IP technologies required to plug and play . For broadcasters who prefer working on SDI workflows , we ’ ve also integrated 12G features into our Carbonite Black Plus switcher , which provides flexibility for signal format mixing and matching .”

ChyronHego , a company providing solutions for broadcast graphics creation , playout and data virtualisation , demonstrated the VPX virtual server platform . Designed to manage production operations for news , sports and other programmes , VPX enables broadcast news operations to run content creation and playout software in a virtualised , ITbased environment . Furthermore , Chyron Hego integrated NewTek ’ s Network Device Interface ( NDI ) video protocol in its products to enable video sharing .

ChyronHego also showcased Click Effects Prime , a turnkey graphics authoring solutions for live arena- and stadium-based A / V presentations . Click Effects Prime unites the advanced authoring , rendering , and data binding power of ChyronHego ’ s Prime graphics ecosystem with the arena graphics generation and custom digital display control of the Click Effects CrossFire and Blaze solutions .

At the GatesAir booth , the company expanded its Intraplex family of networking solutions with the introduction of IPConnect , a new software application designed to fortify data transport across IP networks . Available as an option in most Intraplex IP Link codecs , the

It ’ s business as usual for Ross Video , who unveiled Mira Express , an 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 .

IPConnect enhances data transport across complex networks by providing protection through packet encapsulation , which encloses the external IP data packets in a Gates- Air protocol wrapper as it moves across IP networks .

GatesAir also unveiled Maxiva VAXTE , an air-cooled transmitter series that is capable of covering the VHF ( very high frequency ) spectrum . Based on GatesAir ’ s PowerSmart Plus architecture with broadband amplification , the VAXTE improves delivery by simplifying channel tuning across the VHF spectrum .

Rich Redmond , chief product officer , GatesAir , said : “ Many broadcasters are expected to move to new VHF channels from UHF ( ultra high frequency ) or other channels on the VHF band as a result of spectrum repack . The VAXTE provides broadcasters that need a VHF repack solution today while delivering a path to the emerging revenue opportunities associated with ATSC 3.0 , thanks to its intrinsic IP capabilities .”

Aiming to lead the TV broadcast industry ’ s migration to audioover-IP ( AoIP ), the Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group , a new entity formed by the Telos Alliance , combines technologies and solutions from the broadcast industry and audio-centric companies .

John Schur , president , TV Solutions Group , said : “ The Telos Alliance TV Solutions Group encompasses the AoIP technologies and products specifically engineered for TV and production operations

under a single solutions umbrella . We offer comprehensive AoIP solutions available for any applications , ranging from islands of AoIP to enterprise-level system solutions that are all Livewire or Livewire + AES67-compliant to ensure smooth integration and scalability .”

TSL Products was also at the show to help broadcasters transition to IP with its Monitor Audio Plus ( MPA ) range , which provides users with an intuitive audio monitoring tool , allowing facilities to future-proof their workflows . Users can utilise the MPA family to check incoming feeds on an OB ( outside broadcast ), or create a custom monitoring mix for production staff . Featuring established I / O , such as MADI , SDI , AES-3 and analogue , the MPA family also embraces the industry ’ s move to AoIP workflows with support for Dante and Ravenna .

Riedel Communications , which is focusing on bringing more versatility to its MediorNet decentralised network approach to signal transport , routing and processing , debuted its MediorNet Multi- Viewer . The virtual multi-viewer app is based on MediorNet MicroN media distribution hardware , and designed to work within the Medior Net network . Each Medior- Net MultiViewer engine can access MediorNet input signals , processing up to 18 signals , said Riedel . These signals can be placed onto four physical screens or routed to any destination within the Medior- Net system and output at alternative locations .