Evertz Claims Leadership Position in Transition From SDI- to IP-Based Broadcast Operation
While others in the industry are talking about the pending transition from SDI- to IP-based infrastructure, Evertz (Booth N1502) believes that it has taken a leadership role as it is already delivering on-the-air working installations for broadcasters.
“What a year it has been!” said Mo Goyal, Evertz, director of product marketing, in Las Vegas. “Last year, we started to talk about SDVN (software-defined video networking) really as an educational effort, that journey from SDI to 10GigE infrastructure, and how to scale the facility. The response was ‘Wow! What is this and how do we use it?’
“In the last year,” he continued, ”we have delivered. Across the industry, the conversation is starting to pick up on how to migrate from SDI to IP across the marketplace, but we’ve gone out and delivered.
“Some relevant numbers in this regard,” he added. “Ten plus: that’s the number of EXE routers we have shipped and are on the air. Two hundred plus: the number of smaller IPX switching fabrics delivered. Five hundred plus: IPG media gateways from SDI to IP. Six hundred plus: Magnum channels from SDI to 10GigE, leveraging existing installs to introduce 10GigE into the facility.
“We’ve seen this activity across trucks, headends, and multichannel playout facilities,” he continued. “It’s here, it’s now. Globally, we have leadership in this space, leadership in the IP transition.
“We’re seeing real-life installations, with users facing the challenges as to what they need to migrate to SDVN 10GigE,” he added. “For the most part, the key is our Magnum software controller; that’s where the real magic happens. It’s a user-friendly interface, where the users can design their own dashboard. The key thing is, we don’t want to change how the operators use the system. We have to keep that simplicity.
“Users are wondering, ‘Where can SDVN take me?’ We’re starting to see virtualisation, the IP-based virtual facility. For remote venues, using 10GigE allows you to change how you work in that environment. You can stream camera feeds back into any production facility for a remote production, leveraging 10GigE to grab signals out of a pool back into the production facility. It all gets tied in with SDVN and Magnum.
“Magnum is really important,” continued Goyal, “as a key to avoiding the problem of operators’ having to learn new skill sets. They don’t have to learn how to set up a new IP router; they just assign a source, and Magnum handles the rest.”
The management and configuration of the various elements in Evertz’s SDVN solution is done through Magnum’s Web interface, called Vue-Web, which provides user-specific dashboards that expose only the user-required applications and widgets, whether they are configuration, operational, monitoring, or design elements. Vue-Web is not confined to Magnum configuration widgets but exposes additional widgets for operational, monitoring, and design applications.
Fruits of Evertz-Sony Collaboration
At NAB 2015, Evertz and Sony are highlighting IP interoperability as part of their continuing collaboration based on integrating Evertz’s SDVN solution with Sony’s IP Live Production System with Networked Media Interface. The combination offers an IP workflow from production to playout for HD and Ultra HD (4K and 8K).
Evertz and Sony are also planning to extend their collaboration beyond IP to provide turnkey solutions that use existing 3G/HD/SD-SDI products. “Our customers want real-time IP technologies that can lower system costs and deliver greater efficiency and easier configuration and operation,” said Alec Shapiro, president, Sony’s Professional Solutions America Group. “A combined Evertz-Sony solution can result in scalable and flexible IP-based solutions for a range of production and broadcast infrastructures.”
The NAB 2015 demonstrations include the Evertz SDVN and Sony IP Live Production System, Sony’s Networked Media Interface, and Sony’s IP Live System Manager Station software. The demonstrations leverage Evertz’s Magnum SDVN orchestration controller to move uncompressed HD and Ultra HD video sources using Sony Networked Media Interface across an Evertz 3080IPX 10GbE switching fabric to various destinations (including Evertz 3067VIP-10G multiviewer).
Evertz is also introducing its OvertureRT Live (OVRT-LIVE-2U) multichannel IP playout platform, which provides dual-channel integrated channel playout with an integrated master control and advanced branding capabilities. It is suited for applications that span from single-channel applications to large multichannel playout facilities.
To accommodate the rapidly growing IP architectures, OvertureRT Live supports multiple IP interfaces that include 1GE interfaces for compressed (MPEG-2/H.264) video and 10GE interfaces for uncompressed video. Leveraging OvertureRT Live and Evertz’s SDVN, multichannel playout facilities can quickly migrate to a 10/100GE infrastructure to lower overall capital and operating expenditures.
Evertz is also demonstrating Aspen, a robust format for encapsulation of uncompressed video-over-IP on its 570IPG Media IP Gateway module. Aspen allows video, audio, and ancillary data to be transported individually within and between facilities. It has been developed in conjunction with leading broadcasters to address needs of IP transport within a broadcast facility for live production and to other facilities.
DreamCatcher, Evertz’s advanced replay system and production suite, has new features, including support for three channels of Ultra HD (4K) in a single 3RU chassis and high-frame-rate cameras. Evertz is also introducing DreamCatcher advanced editing tools that streamline workflow for publishing content to the Web.
Leveraging a 10GE network, multiple DreamCatcher nodes can be networked together to form a cluster that can be scaled to meet the needs of any live event. The clustered DreamCatchers allow multiple operators and users to collaborate on the content simultaneously during the live event.