Friday, 3 December 2021

Welcome to the Hyperconvergence

 copy written for Ross Video at FEED p42


The turmoil of the past two years has forced everyone to re-examine their business priorities and practices, supplier and end user alike. It has underlined a real desire for efficiency whether that’s using new compression schemes to reduce the overhead of data travelling over networks or using remote and distributed workflows to produce live events.

Equally important is that the quality of the final product remains undiminished. Streamlining inefficiencies out of systems and processes doesn’t have to mean any reduction in standards. Quite the opposite. Leaner more flexible software-defined production systems add value not just to the bottom line but offer a platform of rapid response to circumstance and opportunity that legacy hardware simply cannot provide.

We call this Hyperconvergence and it’s a concept that is core to our entire development and, we believe, to the industry’s future too.

The Ultrix is a prime example. Ross Video’s routing and AV processing platform was revolutionary on release in 2016 by delivering all the functionality of multiple units of hardware inside a single portable frame. Essentially, we took away racks of traditional infrastructure, collapsed it down into a far smaller unit and retained all the firepower. The physical advantage for customers alone was immediate even before factoring in the cooling and energy cost saved by eliminating bulk hardware.

We’ve since evolved the platform with Ultrix Acuity – a single-chassis production switcher and router – and Ultrix Carbonite, a new integrated solution that combines the routing and AV processing capabilities of Ultrix with the creative capabilities of the Carbonite switcher. 

These Hyperconverged solutions simplify system design, cabling and equipment installation. Combining the routing platform with the production switcher shrinks the number of inter-rack failure points and reduces maintenance requirements. The total cost of ownership is significantly less than using any similar hardware-based equivalent.

As beneficial as a smaller footprint and less power consumption is, Hyperconvergence means more than this. Ultrix is a software-defined solution and part of its value and appeal lies in the fact that we can add new features and functions without customers having to invest in additional hardware. The software defined architecture means you simply buy what you need, when you need it. No need to make critical and potentially costly design decisions upfront, simply add appropriate functions when they are required.

The Ultrix is versatile because it can provide video and audio routing, clean/quiet switching, Multiviewers, frame synchronizers and UHD gearboxing all from one unified software-defined package. It easily be configured for specific customer workflows via different software licenses with custom-designed DashBoard control panels that perfectly meet the individual requirements.

This multi-faceted approach extends to the very fabric of your system architecture. If you are planning to transition to SMPTE ST 2110 then Ultrix supports migration while keeping the power and performance required for your facility. If the most efficient workflow solution right now is to maintain SDI then Ultrix supports this goal too.

Whatever is the most efficient workflow for studios, OB vans, and flypacks across broadcast, the corporate enterprise or houses of worship the award-winning Ultrix is the ultimate hyperconverged routing, multiviewer, signal processing and production switching platform.

Further evidence that hyperconvergence is resonating with the market comes from ES Broadcast. Uniquely, it has added Ultrix to its extensive dry hire catalogue in response to growing demand for rented routing and infrastructure solutions from customers.

With customers forging ahead with their plans for 2022, the team at ES Broadcast has been receiving an increasing number of requests for dry hire solutions, with uncertainties around Capital Expenditure budgets the major driver.

“With Ultrix, we can rent one single product that can sit at different points in the production chain and in different production environments, and that’s a powerful proposition,” comments Jonathan Lyth, Group CTO of ES Broadcast. “It really has been one of our top performing solutions because of the flexibility it offers and the breadth of the feature set.”

We’re proud that Ultrix has enjoyed unprecedented levels of customer adoption but we’ve not stopped there. We’ll be adding news features and functionality to existing and new products all without the need for costly hardware replacement on the part of the customer. This ensures that the system can grow as customer needs and demands change.

The pandemic has shown us all that a willingness to change, adapt and innovate breeds a resilience to future shocks. Another thing is certain: the media and entertainment industry will emerge stronger out of the recent past than ever before.

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