InBroadcast
Virtualized integrated playout systems are enabling broadcasters to shift from the playout centre to the cloud without having to redeploy, retool or maintain expensive, underutilised systems.
Automation is vital for efficiency; it has to be entirely reliable; and it has to be in continuing development to meet the challenges of new formats, new platforms and new delivery requirements. Now technology has evolved to the point where it’s possible to deliver linear, non-linear and live content from the public cloud. Radical and continuing gains in off-the-shelf compute power coupled with rapidly evolving IP standards for video and audio streams is unleashing the potential of virtualisation.
Hardware devices have been completely replaced by software modules, with SDI transport replaced by IP streams. This means the complete playout chain can be virtualised and deployed in a private data centre or public cloud.
“This technological transformation opens up a world of possibilities,” says Ciarán Doran, Exec VP, Pixel Power. “For instance, using a pop-up broadcast channel you can test a new service for six months without incurring high initial start-up fees. With a virtualized platform you can make adjustments as you go and get to market faster than your rivals.”
Pixel Power Gallium Automation and StreamMaster Integrated Playout virtual machines can be spun up to play out content in sync with the main facility within 15 minutes from launch, he says.
As with all Pixel Power solutions, these are enterprise scale software ready to run on standard IT servers virtualized in a data centre or in the public cloud. Virtualised software-centric integrated systems make it possible, for example, for an automation system to master control sophisticated graphics, switching and server ports in a unified way through a single interface, helping to significantly reduce broadcasters' overall equipment costs.
“Your equipment options should not be constrained once you have committed to a particular automation platform,” Doran says. “The virtualised automation solution should give broadcasters the freedom to test, evaluate and execute business plans as and when needs dictate and without having to rip and replace bare metal.
Gallium FACTORY, for example, will fully automate the creation of promo versions as well as offer nonlinear, store-and-play content delivery operations such as IPTV, VOD, mobile and digital viewing applications.
“Free of the traditional signal chain, running on COTs and leveraging software modules to be configured and reconfigured on command, Gallium FACTORY consigns automation lock-in to history.”
Most vendors are launching integrated open automated playout systems with the flexibility to be deployed on-prem or in the cloud (or hybrids of the two). For example, Pebble Beach’s flagship automation system is Marina. Marina systems are built using modular services blocks, so the installation can be customised. Pebble Beach can provide constant synchronisation with disaster recovery applications and remote devices which protects the integrity and security of the system. Scalability is guaranteed with the ability to add an almost unlimited number of channels, operator positions and devices while the system remains live. Marina also uses a single system-wide database which allows for highly efficient media management.
Orca is the vendor’s virtualised IP channel solution. It’s a software-only implementation of Pebble’s Dolphin integrated channel device. Dolphin and Orca share the same underlying architecture and operate under the control of Marina, making it easy to mirror channel templates for simultaneous playout to SDI as well as IP.
Pebble Beach is also launching new cloud-based service-oriented technology platform, Oceans. This is intended to help broadcasters move or upgrade their broadcast workflows and services into the cloud and all from a single unified interface.
“Oceans is designed to enable broadcast teams to handle their complex workflows in simple and intuitive manners, thanks to common core services across multiple functional applications,” states the firm. “Oceans provides greater visibility and control of the playout infrastructure. Regardless of scale, Oceans will also enable broadcasters to expand deployment as new services are released and allow them to write and integrate their own functionality using open and secure APIs.”
Qvest Media’s cloud-based playout SaaS is called q.air. This combines cloud applications from various manufacturers for ingest, playout, automation, and graphics in one scalable package. These applications include HMS Media Solutions’ playout automation Makalu, Singular.Live’s graphics software Singular and the live video streaming application Wowza. Makalu also supports dynamic ad insertion into live OTT streams and digital broadcasts which helps generate additional advertising revenues.
Q.air is orchestrated with the multicloud management platform Qvest.Cloud and runs on the AWS cloud infrastructure. To complicate matters a little, Qvest.Cloud is now being rebranded as qibb, the development for which is being handed over to an independent but Qvest-owned company.
Peter Nöthen, group CEO, explains, “By transforming qibb into an independent company [called Techtriq], we can bundle resources better than before. The current focus is on products for content archiving, cloud playout and channel disaster recovery in the cloud. Further modules for content production and editing as required in fictional production or in live sports for instance will follow shortly.”
The qibb package offers an integrated cloud app store for clients looking for a simple way to gradually move their IT infrastructure, software applications and workflows to the cloud.
“With qibb ultimate, third-party software products can be efficiently orchestrated, managed, and analyzed either on-premise, with a single cloud provider, in a multicloud environment or in a hybrid model. System resources can be scaled according to demand as typical for the cloud while clients have the full control over running processes and user rights at all times.”
Belgian media company DPG Media’s daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) recently launched its new digital channel HLN Live using qibb ultimate.
Czech developer Aveco claims to be the industry’s largest independent automation provider This includes the ASTRA MCR, the “only” master control automation that handles on-premises as well as remote stream splicing and cloud playout all in the same user interface.
For master control on-premises and cloud-based hybrid playout, Aveco has teamed with Harmonic for integration of Harmonic’s VOS 360 end-to-end video cloud infrastructure as a service platform. ASTRA MCR manages hybrid on-premises and cloud-based playout using a single user interface enabling users to manage on-air operations in multiple locations.
“The ability to control on-premises, remote and cloud-based playout functions from a single interface brings new capabilities to broadcasters and media organizations who desire the best of all worlds,” says Pavel Potuzak, Aveco’s CEO. “For example, users can deploy SDI and 2110 playout on-premises, run remote stream-splicing ad insertion and handle cloud-based channel playout OTT, all managed from Aveco's automation screen. Media companies pick which operations happen where, based on their business model and services desired by their viewers.”
Another example is where broadcasters use their on-premises playout for their main TV channels, while using the cloud for disaster recovery, for temporary channels and for niche/low cost channels.
Softron says OnTheAir Video 4 “is probably one of our biggest releases ever with a host of new features to enhance both the user experience and the performance”. As an example, it is adding a built-in Character Generator for adding animated logos, tickers and lower thirds into a playlist.
OnTheAir Video, which is optimised for the Mac, can be used for automated playout using its own scheduler or it can serve as a clip store for live news operations, local broadcast or live shows.
“We have improved the built-in scheduler of OnTheAir Video for easy broadcast scheduling,” the company states. “We have also added features to be used by major broadcasters, such as a new integration with Wide Orbit Traffic software for advanced master control operation. OnTheAir Video can now be used as a playout automation solution with features that were until now available only with expensive solutions.”
BroadStream offers the OASYS Integrated Playout solution recently installed at public broadcast station KRSU, Claremore, Oklahoma. The timing for the launch wasn’t ideal given social distancing rules. According to Kevin Shoemaker, Chief Engineer at KRSU: “We know, moving forward, that if necessary that our OASYS system and staff can perform all necessary functions remotely and our ability to broadcast will never be in jeopardy. The change from traditional Master Control to OASYS is a huge step ahead for us.”
Based on a software model OASYS, run on consumer-off-the-shelf hardware, making it easier to support and maintain. The approach also reduces overall requirements for hardware, multiple support contracts and multiple manufacturers. Its software modules can be tailored around solutions for SDI, IP and UHD, ingest and recording, program preparation, captioning, scheduling and more.
PlayBox Technology has evolved its channel-in-a-box systems to the cloud under the brand name Cosmos. The company explains: “The distributive virtualised architecture of the playout engine from Cosmos provides a fast and trusted cloud-based playout solution enabling broadcasters and service providers to spin up both OTT and traditional TV channels in a few minutes thus lowering the cost of ownership.”
Channels can be hosted from data centres or from an MCR over a private or public cloud. It facilitates playout of file based and live services, supports AES67 along with the main SMPTE standards.
“Cosmos virtualises the process of channel management under control from a standard enterprise computer via a firewall-protected secure internet connection. Programme playout can be automated to any required extent while always retaining the freedom to insert live content.”
iTX is Grass Valley’s integrated playout offering. It is claimed to be the world’s most widely-deployed TV playout platform for broadcast television. Among its attributes is IP/SDI format flexibility and scalability for future readiness, along with workflow tools for greater process automation and lower OPEX.
For applications with live content that are “highly reactive”, Grass Valley’s Morpheus Automation is capable of scaling from small, single-channel systems to very large systems. Its scalability is a result of a modular architecture that allows users to tailor make a system based on the services and components required for the playout operation. Morpheus supports Grass Valley’s ICE Integrated Playout for SDI to IP and Masterpiece, the firm’s 12G-SDI master control switcher, along with a vast list of third-party devices.
GV has made a clutch of recent iTX sales into India including at news channels News J, in Chennai; Hindi-language broadcaster Swaraj Express; and Marathi language channel, Lokshahi News.
VEDA Automation is the playout platform from France’s SGT capable of managing local, thematic and premium channels as well as multi-channel playout centres. It features a fully redundant client-server architecture to run multi-playout systems in 24/7 operations. It is compatible with systems from Harmonic, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Evertz and more and works with traffic systems including MediaGenix and LORA.
The VEDA Automation client optimizes operations client-side by monitoring playlists and reducing clicks and popups. It’s possible to perform live automatic recording from a playlist and to set alerts for highlighting ad quota overruns, adapted to local regulations.
wTVision develops integrated solutions for MCRs offering scalable, flexible and customizable channel demands. Its playout automation setups, also available in the cloud, have ChannelMaker at heart and are extremely flexible. The product’s plug-in based architecture is adaptable to fit a client’s existing structure or to use wTVision’s suite of applications for Ingest and Trimming, asset management or 3D graphics. Its open architecture means ChannelMaker can be integrated with a wide range of third-party broadcast devices and solutions including Blackmagic Design, Grass Valley, Imagine, WideOrbit, Ross, Vizrt and Harmonic,
To keep its partners on air, wTVision developed a web-based playout automation solution, that makes it possible to monitor and broadcast all channels while keeping everyone safe.
“wTVision has provided us with a remote integrated broadcasting environment guaranteeing the safety of our staff while maintaining a high delivery capacity and a high-end quality broadcast capability, across our linear and digital platforms,” tated Jorge Pavão de Sousa, MD at Eleven Sports Portugal, one of the many channels to whom wTVision provided its safe playout solution.
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