Red Bee Media to provide software-only uncompressed playout from 2019

First showcased at IBC 2018 and designed to help the industry’s move to IP, Red Bee Media has created what it considers to be the world’s first software-only uncompressed playout deployment. 

Research and development work for the new solution has taken place over a period of two years and the solution will go live with several thus-far unnamed broadcasters during 2019.

Red Bee Media’s software-only uncompressed playout deployment

Red Bee claims the solution is the first in the world to allow the transfer of uncompressed video over IP without the need for dedicated infrastructure.

With systems running on private cloud deployments across multiple data centres, it will be able to deliver “unmatched quality and flexibility” to Tier 1 public and commercial broadcasters, the company said.

The broadcasting and media industry is steadily moving towards IP and software-centric environments for playout deployment, yet Red Bee said current solutions are also relying on either compressed video feeds or single task hardware that are costly to acquire and maintain, and that can only provide flexibility with unused capacity available.

To answer the need for flexibility, agility and cost reduction for tier one broadcasters who need to maintain premium video quality with low latency, Red Bee Media has created a completely IP and software-based playout deployment for uncompressed video streams. The platform eliminates the need for any special purpose hardware or additional infrastructure that corrects issues in the video feeds.

“Going software only and enabling a consumption-based commercial model has been a strict ambition for us. Previous IP centric playout deployments have relied on compressed video streams or bespoke hardware to make it work. This was not an option for either us or our customers. After dedicated R&D efforts we can now offer a solution with uncompressed video streams of the highest quality, combined with the flexible commercial models and agility that only an IP and software-based system can offer, all running on our newly deployed hybrid cloud,” said David Travis, chief portfolio officer, video services, Red Bee Media.

The company stated a completely IP and software-based playout system will fundamentally change how playout services are delivered in the future. With a multivendor software only playout stack, Red Bee Media is not only reducing costs and adding agility to existing projects, but is also creating opportunities for launching new projects and channels at a predictable cost with significantly reduced implementation times.

Added Steve Nylund, CEO Red Bee Media: “Launching an IP and software-only playout deployment solution is really showing the core value we provide as a managed service provider. We have tied together technologies from multiple vendors and leveraged the combined features and functions of them all. We have created something truly new and unique that will not only make current playout ventures more agile and cost-effective but will also create new possibilities for playout deployment in the future.”

The new solution will go live with several tier one broadcasters in Europe during 2019.