Live From IBC 2024: Sunday’s Latest From Amsterdam

The SVG Europe and SVG Americas teams are onsite in Amsterdam for IBC 2024. As the production and broadcast industry gathers to launch new products and reconnect, the SVG team is out in force in the exhibition halls of the RAI to gather and share the latest news with the SVG community. You’ll find all the key announcements and news here with daily updates through Monday.

Today’s issue features Arista Networks, Arqiva, Astro Design, Audinate, Black Box, Bridge Technologies, Broadcast Solutions, BT Media & Broadcast, Cerberus Tech, Clear-Com, Cobalt Digital, EditShare, Evertz, Fonn Group, Grabyo, Harmonic, Intelsat, Lama, Matrox Video, Media Links, Perfect Memory, Perifery, Roe, RT Software, Sencore, Sennheiser, Solid State Logic, Techex, Telestream, Telos Alliance, Telstra, Wohler.

Arista Networks (Stand 10.A25) is on hand at IBC with products and a technology that is increasingly critical: switching infrastructures. The company, says Albert Faust, media technology expert, Arista Networks,is  seeing more and more use of 800 Gig for large-scale infrastructures. “We don’t have cameras or devices running at 800 Gig,” he notes, “but we are seeing things like what would traditionally be a 25,000×25,000 router being brought into play. We are also seeing smaller, fanless routing for things like audio. So we are continuing to broaden our product line.” Faust also sees AI playing a role in Arista switching technology, most notably for things like security — by being able to detect nefarious activity on the switch by identifying odd connections (like a Polycom in North America to something in North Korea) — and risk validation. “When you have a large and complex network, relying on one person to make all the right configurations is hard. With AI, you can stop the conversation between two switches and make sure the operator wants to make the change. That protects the technician.”

Arqiva (Stand 8.M26) and Techex (Stand  3.B44) have revealed a partnership to offer seamless distribution of live event content from any source to any destination globally. The agreement, combining Arqiva’s managed services and live IP software solutions from Techex, aims to remove the complexities associated with distributing live content across multiple destinations and multiple distribution workflows. Designed with both flexibility and scalability in mind, the collaboration will deliver enhancements on Arqiva’s existing Arqade offering, removing the need for large capex investment while providing access to Arqiva’s 24/7 network oversight.

Astro Design (Stand 9.A11) is worth a stop for attendees seeking the ultimate in image extraction. The company is coupling its AB-4815 8K 120-Hz portable camera with the IP-4042 Realtime ROI Extractor. The extractor can pull four 1920x1080p cutouts simultaneously from an 8K image, and the extraction movements can be programmed to match the speed and touch of how a dedicated human operator would move or pan. It also can detect up to 50 people for extraction. According to Furuta Ryoji, executive officer, international sales, Astro Design, the system will be available next year.

Audinate (Stand 8.A95) is showcasing Dante Connect, its cloud-based audio-broadcast solution, in which multiple products work together for sports-broadcasting applications. A suite of software applications, Dante Connect facilitates cloud-based broadcast production and is a powerful platform for A1s and mixing engineers. “For sports broadcasters,” says Audinate Principal Product Manager Jim Kidwell, “there’s a lot of flexibility, especially for remote working. You can have a team based in one location and just send a flypack to an event. If you do it right, you can get cost savings as well.”

Black Box (Stand 10.C23) is spotlighting its Emerald Unified KVM-over-IP products built to offer secure, flexible, and scalable workflows with low IP bandwidth usage. Emerald devices facilitate easy integration with H.264/265 video feeds, media controllers, automation systems, and other systems and provide access to physical servers, the public and private cloud with PCoIP Ultra support, and collaborative virtual-machine (VM) sharing. Also on the stand, the company is presenting other features of the Emerald portfolio, including Emerald DESKVUE, Emerald DESKVUE PE, and Emerald AV WALL.

Bridge Technologies (Stand 1.A71) is demonstrating the recent integration of Cromorama’s leading colour-management system Orion-Convert into Bridge’s ST 2110 production probe, the VB440. According to the company, the integration will make it easier for broadcasters to ensure that their live sports productions maintain a consistent grade in both HDR and SDR, across all cameras in a single production or event. Another demo of interest to sports broadcasters features the VB440 and its range of production-monitoring features, which have been extended to include monitoring of ST 2110-31 and -41 sADM, enabling effective transmission of immersive audio in live, uncompressed production environments. The new capability follows on from incorporation of monitoring for Dolby’s full set of audio standards including Atmos.

Alongside a new OB truck for the Swiss Broadcasting Corp. and a radio truck for a Lithuanian broadcaster, systems integrator Broadcast Solutions (Stand O.A23) is discussing a new ST 2110 remote facility built for producing coverage of Danish Superliga football. Housed in a shopping mall in Copenhagen, the facility is part of the league’s move to produce all its 800 matches per year in-house. To do this, it partnered with DMC Production to form broadcast arm Matchday Production. Built around the Grass Valley Kahuna switcher, the facility houses four large-scale control rooms, with capacity for up to 40 cameras, and five smaller galleries. Broadcast Solutions also built four vehicles and four flypacks for the onsite facilities. The infrastructure, including Cisco IP switches and Riedel SDI routers, is managed by hi human interface, a control solution for media infrastructures developed by Broadcast Solutions.

Low latency is a major talking point for BT Media & Broadcast (Stand 0.A24). In a demo on its stand, a live camera feed of a Scaletric track is encoded and sent to the company’s London Switch, then beamed back to the stand in real time. The company is also showcasing its role in the IBC Accelerator project “Scalable Ultra-Low Latency Streaming for Premium Sports.” This POC project seeks to achieve 2-second latency and near-instant playback start via standard HTTP streaming technical stack and infrastructure. The company is also keen to talk about the benefits of Vena, its IP-native media platform for orchestration, monitoring, and control.

Despite not having a stand at the RAI Amsterdam, Cerberus Tech is still spreading the word on new changes to its product line, including a handful of upgrades planned for Livelink. First, users are now able to deploy Livelink provisioning, orchestration, and scheduling into their own cloud accounts. Second, Livelink now boasts motion-compensated frame-rate conversion. Third, Cerberus Tech has refined the Livelink user interface and improved the user experience to reduce unnecessary interactions, increase consistency across features and functions, and boost ease of use. Fourth, the company now supports custom mosaic support from TAG Video Systems.

Clear-Com (Stand 10.D29) is a must-stop for anyone looking to revamp intercom systems. As productions are increasingly decentralized, intercoms are more critical than ever, and a major upgrade to the Eclipse Version 14 matrix system is on exhibit. Says Kari Eythorsson, product manager, Clear-Com, “We can now do integrated SIP directly into the system and have interconnectivity to our intercom user station, key panels, and wireless beltpacks in one very slick package. We are the only ones who take SIP directly into the machine.” Also check out the Arcadia Central Station, a system allows flight packs or OB trucks in the field to connect to the central station and home as Arcadia connects to the main system at the production plant if needed. And Clear-Com’s Cloud service allows up to 384 users on apps on mobile devices, tablets, or computers to be connected via the cloud. The system can also connect to a ground-based system via Clear-Com’s LQ interfaces.

Cobalt Digital (Stand 10.B41) has an IP multiviewer with a 48-thread processor allowing up to 48 PIPS. “It makes use of both software and the Nvidia GPU,” explains Monte Variakojis, VP, software, Cobalt Digital, “so it has a good technology base.” Also a standard SDI router supports legacy and modern protocols as well as two types of control panels: the Wave CP78, which has membrane keypads that are already marked, or the CP84L. “The L stands for LCD screen, and the user can control what is on the LCDs,” adds Variakojis. “There is a 32×32 version and a 64×64 version, and both a 1RU and a 2RU version.”

EditShare (Stand 7.A35) has introduced the Ultimate EFS Series. Designed for scalability and flexibility, the next-gen storage platform offers collaborative workflows to sports teams and broadcasters. With 2RU, 3RU and 4RU form factors, plus a portable field unit, the Ultimate Series delivers the speed, security, and capacity crucial for the sports environment. Seamless integration with EditShare’s EFS, Flow, and MediaSilo tools ensures efficient content management, allowing sports-media professionals to focus on what they do best: telling compelling stories.

Evertz (Stand 2.B51) has plenty to offer the sports-production professional, starting with the further integration of DreamCatcher replay within the Bravo Studio. “It’s now a full-production area with both video and audio and all tied with not only a graphics interface but also a tactile interface,” says Mo Goyal, Evertz, senior director, international business development, Evertz. “And one of the things we are demonstrating is Motion Plus, where we’re using AI technology to help us derive up to 8X super-slo-mo from a single frame camera and in near real time. You can clip it, drop it in the bin, and have a version of ready to play out almost immediately. You can also use it live but with a couple frames of latency.” To solve issues around PTP timing, the MIO-PTP analog timing module takes the GPS timing from the home broadcast plant and extends it across the WAN to the remote-production facility to have both facilities on the same reliable clock. Adds Goyal, “You can reduce the need for frame syncs because everything is timed to the house timing.”

Cloud-native video-production and collaboration platform Mimir from Fonn Group (Stand 7.D05) now allows users to add frame-accurate comments in-flight to any asset. The whole workflow takes place inside the item page from a new comments tab, so users do not have to switch workflows to collaborate and comment. Also new to Mimir is intelligent, fully automatic scene-description capabilities to improve search and set speed-cutting records for its cloud video-production and collaboration solution. AI enables scenes in a video asset to be accurately, automatically, and instantly detected and described. Relying on semantic models, the scene descriptions are automated, detailed, and accurate. In addition, users of Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio can now enjoy single-click import of media assets from Mimir. In addition, it is possible to export a sequence from Mimir to Resolve with all subclips and to export finished edits back to Mimir.

AI-powered solutions for live highlights creation and live captioning are on show on the Grabyo stand (5.A20). Automating creation of highlights packages for up to 50 sports, the solution uses computer vision and AI to identify key moments and log them in the DVR of each live stream with video markers. Users can select markers for publishing clips instantly, and multiple clips are configured by the AI system, based on editorial guidelines, and automatically populated in a video-highlights project. All the automation workflows are designed to retain editorial control for users, curating content for faster editing and publishing. The automated-live-captions feature uses speech-to-text AI to generate closed captions, in real time, for live broadcast outputs in any supported format, including SRT, Zixi, RIST, RTMP, and RTP. Grabyo customers include Premier League, UFC, Mediapro, and the Professional Squash Association.

Centering sports discussions on live-streaming delivery and monetization, Harmonic (stand 1.B20) highlights how its product portfolio helps broadcasters enjoy success on both sides of the equation. Here, the company is showing the latest with its XOS Advanced Media Processor and Spectrum X Media Server. The next generation of XOS media processor, according to the company, enables 50% more channel encoding and transcoding than the previous generation, and the Spectrum X media server doubles channel density for most workflows. Harmonic is also exploring how AI supports dynamic ad insertion workflows. Interesting potentials exist in a world where AI can be trained on the “flow” of a sports event and can offer opportunities to unobtrusively deploy ad inventory and leverage low-action moments in a game and avoid disrupting key highlights or live moments with pre- or mid-roll spots.

Intelsat (Stand 1.C71) is promoting its next-generation solutions and how it ensures that customers get maximum value from its services. Among those solutions, the Intelsat Global Hybrid Video Distribution Network streamlines operations for users with integrated network connections to Intelsat’s global fleet of satellites, and IntelsatOne IP folds IP into the Intelsat Managed Media Network. Fully integrated into Intelsat’s hybrid terrestrial and satellite infrastructure, the workflow provides a new IP software video-management layer to an existing IP/MPLS network.

Lama (Stand 8.A76) is talking about the new Lama NDI Virtual Soundcard, which provides the real-time efficiencies of NDI to audio production. A free 16×16 AoIP software interface delivers low-latency multichannel audio over standard IP networks. The Virtual Soundcard, a technical collaboration with global VoIP connectivity standard NDI, emulates the functionality of a physical soundcard without the need for additional hardware.

Live broadcast’s shift to IP is, naturally, at the center of Matrox Video (Stand 7.B15) conversations. The most notable of the tools on display, the new Avio 2 IP KVM is the industry’s first open-standards–based IPMX/ST 2110 KVM solution and is here as a tech preview following the product’s announcement earlier this month. It offers uncompressed, real-time remote operation on 10GbE networks and support for 1G network with optional JPEG XS codec. Avio 2 is fully NMOS-compatible and supports image quality up to 4K and 4:4:4 color space. Additionally, the company’s Monarch EDGE encoder/decoder remains core to its live-sports offerings, especially on the industry’s REMI front. With an established legacy for ultra-low-latency, high-resolution (HDR 4:2:2 10-bit video) multistream sync, 4K/multi-HD support, and genlock, Monarch EDGE is now in version 2.08, adding reprogrammable I/O, encoder and decoder previews/thumbnails, SRT connection bonding, custom PIDs, and more.

Media Links (Stand 1.A37) is showing its complete IP ecosystem, including the ST 2110-enabled Xscend IP media platform. The technology is used to transport high-quality video, audio, and data signals over a managed and/or unmanaged IP network. Ideal for sports, the Xscend is designed for the network edge as a reconfigurable, evolvable, IP-migration gateway. It can support up to 128 contribution-quality media and data services in a 2RU footprint. The Media Links IP ecosystem also includes the ProMD-EMS network-management software, the MDX series of IP media switches, and MDP Series of IP media gateways. “We’re delivering carrier grade reliability and 100% IP standards compliancy,” says a Media Links spokesperson. Media Links technology was used by a major U.S. broadcaster during Paris 2024.

Perfect Memory (Stand 8.D25) has been extremely busy in the partnerships department, which attendees to its stand in the RAI can learn about. For the sports-video-production community in the U.S., the company is working closely with NASCAR to improve the fan experience by supporting the motorsports league with automation. In Europe, the company has assisted a major football club with its archival process and media management. Globally, the International Governing Body of Biathlon has tapped Perfect Memory to enhance its content visibility and collaboration. Perfect Memory is also making an impact on the broadcast front by helping two media entities with their respective responsibilities: RTL Belgium to improve and automate the media supply chain and France Televisions for global data governance and efficient access for all teams.

Perifery (Stand 7.D18) is showing its new Vision AI-enhanced asset-management tool, which allows object detection, facial recognition, speech-to-text, and video summarisation to be used to search media libraries. Video summarisation works in the same way users interact with ChatGBT in natural language. Says Jonathan Morgan, SVP, production and technology, Perifery, “You can request summarisations that match your organisation’s needs. As we reuse content in multiple ways and have content coming in from stadiums, broadcasts, and other sources, it’s clear the potential to monitise sports archives is greater than at any time previously. An organisation such as Perifery, who aims to make integrated workflows connected and easy to use, enables sports organisations to gain the maximum benefit in the shortest time.”

LED manufacturer Roe (Stand 7.B26) is showcasing how virtual-production technology and great content can deliver immersive storytelling, as BBC Sport’s Euros studio outside the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin die earlier this year. Roe Marketing Manager Marina Prak explains, “This type of experience is important to attract the younger generation to sport as well. A lot of people play FIFA, for instance; if you can create that feel in your live sports broadcast, it adds to the storytelling for the audience. Also, it gives the talent a variety of tools to bring that to life.”

RT Software (Stand 7.B26) is talking about Tactic v8.0. The new version of the telestrator incorporating AI to enhance the analysis system. Tactic Pro not only automatically detects players but — with Team ID, the latest addition to its range of AI enhancements — identifies which team they belong to. Says RT Software Commercial Director Mike Fredriksen, “We have re-engineered the rendering engine at the heart of our products to reduce its footprint. We’ve shrunk it down in size so it’s easy to deploy in AWS and the cloud. We now also have three engines in one, with Vulcan, Unreal Engine, and Chromium.”

Sencore (Stand 1.F72) is showing off how it is enhancing broadcast contribution, content distribution, and monitoring of broadcast-quality services. The company’s internet distribution solution is helping broadcasters and streamers use the public internet in lieu of fiber or satellite via SRT. The Centra Gateway platform — along with edge devices like the SCP 2110, Impulse, and Omnihub — enable end users to rapidly deploy systems using the internet as the main infrastructure. With that comes flexibility and efficiency at cost. There’s also no shortage of encoders at the stand. Sencore’s AFN-1000 is the company’s top flight encoder for 4K 4:2:2 10-bit–quality video. It pairs with the MRD 7000 decoder for broadcast contribution. Sencore’s VideoBridge provides engineers and operators with its finest monitoring tools. The company has also partnered with Showfer at this show, welcoming it to its stand to share content-management and -distribution solutions.

As a packed launch event at De Hallen Studios in Amsterdam on Friday 13 September, German audio giant Sennheiser (Stand 8.D50) unveiled Spectera, the world’s first wideband, bidirectional, digital wireless ecosystem. Introduced on stage by CEO Andreas Sennheiser, Spectera is the result of 12 years of spectrum lobbying, R&D, and customer feedback and represents a step change in digital-wireless technology. Based on the company’s Wireless Multichannel Audio Systems (WMAS) technology, Spectera reduces wireless-system complexity, increases capability, and simplifies setup — doing so with less equipment. It delivers full remote control and monitoring, including permanent spectrum sensing, and has bidirectional bodypacks that deal with digital IEM/IFB and mic/line signals simultaneously.

Solid State Logic (Stand 8.B73) is showcasing additions to its System T production platform. The new S400 range has the premium features of the larger S500 console in a more compact form factor of 32, 48, or 60 faders. “The displays and the metering on the faders are the premium features that operators are accustomed to from our S500, explains Berny Carpenter, broadcast product manager, SSL. “This is another surface option that sits between the S300 and the S500.” The S400, he adds, is suited to OB vans on which space is a consideration or to studios that have either space or budget considerations. With the same software feature set as the rest of the range, it can do all the things the larger console can do, the only difference being the hardware controls. “The control surface, the processing engine, and the IO devices,” Carpenter notes, “are all IP-connected and can be distributed wherever needed, including processing in the cloud.”

Telestream (Stand 7.B11) is showcasing the latest enhancements to its Live Capture Platform — both on-premises and in the cloud — and the release of SPG 4000 4.0, which is increasingly moving into the cloud. A range of AI-powered solutions have been engineered to transform how media professionals ingest, enhance, and deliver content: Automated Workflow Creation — Vantage Workflow Designer automates configuration of media-processing workflows by leveraging AI; Intelligent Quality Control — Telestream Qualify automates the process of ensuring consistent content quality across large volumes of media; and Efficient Captioning — Stanza’s new AI-powered speech-to-text captioning capabilities offer instant caption-file generation with built-in support for translations, comprehensive formatting, and flexible layout controls and is available as a cloud service or locally on a captioner’s machine. Telestream has also unveiled the VLS-300, the newest member of the Vantage Lightspeed server family. The advanced model is engineered to boost Vantage workflows with unparalleled speed and efficiency in high-volume transcoding and media processing. On moving its tools into the cloud, Dave Norman, VP, sales engineering, solutions, Telestream, says, “It’s a hybrid world. We’re making our tools easily accessible, on the cloud or on-prem, for sports broadcasters to be able to access anything they need from anywhere they want.”

Telos Alliance (Stand 8.D37) is reliving the Paris 2024 Olympics on its stand, talking about its work across the Games for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ production, which it supported with a tailored intercom system. “At the Olympics,” explains Martin Dyster, VP, business development, Telos Alliance, “our intercom system that we built with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Anthony Sachot [director, audio technology] was used. It’s the evolution of our cloud intercom product – Telos Infinity VIP, which we launched in 2021 – and a kernel of thought from Anthony, [evolving] from POCs to the real thing, the first proper use case being at the Olympics 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery deployed this virtual intercom platform in the cloud over 256 panels and 256 4-wires. It went well; we’ve had very positive messages from Warner’s audio people post Olympics.”

Telstra (Stand 5.C71) is highlighting continued growth not only of its core global premium media network but also the complementary internet delivery service, which continues to gain traction for sports events of all sizes. “We’ve now delivered many Tier 1 sporting events, often as a replacement for satellite, often as the primary delivery mechanism,” says Telstra CEO Karen Clark. “We’re also excited by our 5G solution for professional media.” She notes that events are also mixing the use of internet delivery and premium networks, using one or the other for the first leg of transport and switching to the other technology for the second (or third) leg: “It depends on the bandwidth required and the location or if there is already fiber rolled out at the venue.” Details about that solution will be offered in a presentation by Telstra , Portfolio Lead, Media Solutions, Angus Stewart on the Content Everywhere stage at 5 p.m. today.

Wohler (Stand 10.B12) is rolling out the iAM1-MIX8 multi-source mixing audio monitor, which offers the ability to sum, mute, and solo channels in eight mono or stereo cluster configurations for monitoring purposes and to create a mix as a new output with operator-adjusted cluster trim levels. “It has a 7-in. touchscreen as well as physical knobs,” notes Amol Natekar, VP, engineering, Wohler. “It’s great for non-technical operators who want to quickly use the unit.” This next-generation model comes MAVRIC-ready and standard with 3G-SDI and a pair of analog I/Os, with upgradable options that include support for SMPTE ST 2110, SMPTE ST 2022-6, AES3, and MADI. Additionally, multiple rear-panel option cards provide support for AES67, Dante, and RAVENNA (with hitless support), additional analog inputs, additional SFP inputs, and 12G-SDI (including support for remote video monitoring with MAVRIC).