NAB 2013: Orad To Showcase Broadcast Graphics, HDVG4 Platform

Orad, a leader in award-winning, real-time 3D graphics, video server, and media asset management solutions will be presenting its newest product line-up at the upcoming 2013 NAB Show in booth SL5709. Orad’s professionals will be on site to provide attendees with informative demonstrations and presentations of its on-air, studio, MAM, sports and video server solutions.

“This NAB, Orad will be demonstrating our wide variety of unique broadcasting solutions. Visitors to our booth will enjoy exciting interactive demos for the feel of endless possibilities Orad’s solutions can offer,” comments Avi Sharir, president and CEO of Orad.

Orad’s VJ production server provides a tapeless workflow from ingest to playout. Ideal for news, live events, soaps, talk shows and other studio productions, VJ’s flexible design supports up to eight channels that can be arranged in different in/out configurations. VJ ingests feeds from a wide range of sources including satellite, VTRs, and cameras, and stores them as video clips. These clips are seamlessly exported to industry-standard Non Linear and Craft Editors, and once edited, the clips are imported back to VJ for immediate playout. VJ supports commonly used codecs for fast turnaround productions and post-production workflows, including Panasonic’s DVCPRO, DVCPRO-HD, Avid’s DNxHD, and major wrappers such as QuickTime and MXF.

Blend is Orad’s file-based channel-in-a-box solution that provides HD/SD video playout coupled with 3D real-time graphics. Blend is a high-quality cost-effective solution that is set to address today’s broadcasting challenges. By providing a full solution for playout and branded graphics, Blend eliminates workflow complexity, making it ideal for MCRs, playout facilities and disaster recovery.

PowerPlay is a turnkey, fast turnaround sport-production solution for managing live sports productions. Capabilities include ingest and instant highlight editing integrated through a dedicated sports media asset management platform. PowerPlay is designed to provide a complete solution for large-scale sporting events, offering fast turnaround of content and advanced data management tools.

PlayMaker, Orad’s next generation sports replay server, provides up to eight I/O channels of high-quality ingest in multiple video formats, with synchronized slow-motion replay and powerful yet simple editing tools. PlayMaker facilitates file sharing between multiple servers and instant file export to Avid, FCP, Adobe Premiere, and others via standard Ethernet. New features for NAB include: enhanced events tagging and support for Avid’s DNxHD codec and a dedicated work mode for highlight editing of multiple playlists from various incoming feeds.

Emmy Award-winning MVP provides fast preparation of captivating sports highlight clips to better visualize critical plays, the flow of the game, and post-game analysis. New enhancement features include: virtual camera flights between two real cameras, erasing players from the field while the video is still running; viewing a play as it is drawn on the coach’s drawing board comparing the position and technique of individual athletes; drawing a specific player in color on top of a black and white background; breaking down a play into a sequence of frames to better analyze the players’ movements, and more.

iFind is an easy-to-use, cost-effective and scalable browser-based management solution for all assets wherever and whatever they are – video, audio, graphics, etc. Powerful new configuration and workflow management modules put customers in control, making it easy to configure and manage users, metadata sets and workflows. Graphics management capabilities continue to be expanded with powerful integration with Maestro and newsroom systems, new work-order management features and the ability to manage the complex structures of graphic content during production.

RadioTV is a complete solution that visualizes radio programming by broadcasting the radio talent, real-time 3D graphics and promos as a multi-camera production. RadioTV automated solution relies on unique audio detection software to identify the talent’s voice and determine which cameras should be on air. New for NAB is RadioTV’s clickable video, a unique feature that enables URL links to be embedded as hotspots inside the scene.

Maestro addresses all of broadcasters’ graphic needs for real-time, pre- and post-production environments. Maestro’s new features for NAB include: new graphics MAM system support, connection to social networks, integration to Quantel NLE, 3D transitions, support for MOS 2.8, videoEngine control, and SceneEdit2 to edit graphics during playout. Maestro offers a modular and scalable architecture and a flexible, easy and intuitive interface.

This NAB, Orad will be presenting a solution enabling viewers at home to watch a sports broadcast on their TV, get additional information that was not displayed on TV on their iPad, and with the Companion Application, interact with the broadcaster by sending feedback via his iPhone/iPad or Twitter and Facebook. The broadcaster can display the viewer’s feedback during the broadcast.

3DPlay, Orad’s advanced channel-branding solution, offers stunning 3D graphics for promo over credits, multiple tickers, video clips playback, etc. 3DPlay covers the entire workflow from integration with traffic, scheduling and automation, to frame-accurate graphic playout. 3DPlay offers user management, customized metadata, and logic-based scripting-free graphics.

Morpho is a real-time 3D character generator that offers unparalleled creation and playout capabilities from a single user interface. Powerful 3D real-time graphics rendering, smart graphic design tools and flexible playout capabilities are all packed together, offering an efficient and easy workflow. Some of Morpho’s new features for NAB include: dual channel (PGM/PGM) option, 3D transitions, custom effect creation, support for object grouping inside pages, single character text effects, and connection to social networks.

Designed for technical directors/switcher operators, TD Control streamlines video box production workflows by consolidating video sources and graphics, delivering a single composited image to the switcher. The breakthrough TD Control technology provides tremendous flexibility, including the ability to switch, while on air, from six video sources to six completely different video sources with one click of a button. Users have access to an assortment of video box layouts as well as the ability to create their own video box layouts and store them as a preset for fast recall.

Interact enables presenters to control graphical content directly on their touch screens, video walls and other input devices. The latest new feature includes interacting with live web content from within the interactive graphics. Its dedicated OradTouch application enables presenters to interact with the graphics using their iPad and control the content and flow of production while moving around the production space freely.

ProSet, Orad’s high-end virtual studio solution, provides a powerful dimension to any virtual studio production. ProSet can utilize any of Orad’s many tracking solutions, including its high-end Xync infrared tracking system with 360-degree of free camera movement. New for NAB are material shaders that can be used to define realistic surfaces for virtual studio set objects and can be used in many different styles of productions. The shaders are available in multiple material categories including: brick, ceramic, glass, metallic, mosaic, plastic, stone and wood, which offers a total of 100 different styles of material.

PowerWall is a turnkey system for video walls based on Orad’s HDVG4 platform that provides up to 16k resolution output from a single four-rack unit system. Whether the productions are news, entertainment, sports or elections, Orad’s PowerWall can be integrated into the video wall production workflow easily.

Video Graphics Platform
Orad will also debut its next generation video graphics platform, the HDVG4. Powered  by a  64-bit operating system and a  native 64-bit rendering engine, the HDVG4 platform is a landmark solution offering broadcasters  unrivalled graphics and video capabilities.

In addition to supporting all HD and SD formats, HDVG4 offers native support for 3G / 1080p signals, with flexible, multiple video output configurations. “HDVG4 sets new standards in terms of real-time graphics performance and capabilities,” commented Avi Sharir President and CEO of Orad. “The HDVG4 is a flexible platform that supports Orad’s entire range of real-time graphics solutions. For example, the HDVG4 could be configured for up to 8 1080p outputs or up to 16 1080i outputs. This is an ideal setup for video wall presentations, generating an extremely high resolution image from a single box.”

The high-performance HDVG4 solution can manage the most demanding image requirements with flawless output results without any  tearing or pixelization.

“HDVG4 is the 3rd generation of our rendering platform. During the extensive, 3-year R&D period, we paid a lot of attention to our customer’s requirements and addressed them in the design,“ adds Sharir.  “One such request was to address the growing need to support IP-based workflows.  Therefore, in addition to supporting standard SDI signal, we designed the HDVG4 to produce an IP stream output that could be distributed to websites, tablets and other devices.”

Another major feature of the HDVG4 is its multi-channel output configuration. It is common for broadcasters to distribute content in multiple formats and resolutions. The HDVG4 is designed to meet this challenge. For example, a single HDVG4 box can generate 4K signal as well as HD 1080i, SD, and IP stream output, automatically taking into account the different aspect ratios and formats.

Based on a completely new design of Orad’s I/O board, the HDVG4 can handle up to 16 live HD video inputs, retaining a constant 2 frame delay regardless of the number of video inputs used. The HDVG4′s built-in clip store facilitates multiple video clips playback supporting all commonly used video codecs.

Like its predecessor, the HDVG4 is designed to meet the specific needs of the broadcast market. As such it offers a highly stable rendering environment that runs on the virus-free Linux operating system. For redundancy, HDVG4 offers hot swappable dual power supply, mechanical and software bypass, and a RAID based system disk, SNMP monitoring and more.