Client News
M for Media installs GB Labs FastNAS intelligent storage
Aldermaston, UK, 10 February 2020 - GB Labs, innovators of powerful and intelligent storage solutions for the media and entertainment industries, today announced that M for Media, an Abu Dhabi-based media production house that produces TV shows and adapts international formats for the GCC and MENA region, has installed GB Labs’ FastNAS shared storage system.
M for Media’s Andre Aouad said, “I first heard about GB Labs from the creator of MIMIQ for Avid systems, who forwarded some information that he thought would interest me.
“It did, particularly because, at the time, we had no existing storage and it was rapidly becoming a problem because of the volume of work we were taking in. You can’t keep running back and forth with arms full of hard disks. It’s unproductive, and it was beginning to show. However, GB Labs soon came up with the ideal solution.”
Supplied and installed by partner, MediaCast, the GB Labs FastNAS F-16 Nitro system installed at M for Media can be accessed by up to 10 users of Avid Media Composer, simultaneously if required.
As leaders in intelligent storage solutions, GB Labs recently introduced even more acceleration for FastNAS storage systems with the introduction of new 25 GbE connectivity.
GB Labs CEO-CTO Dominic Harland said, “Ultimately, the engine of the newly 25 GbE-enabled FastNAS is our powerful CORE.4 OS, an ultra-high-performance operating system that serves media files with intelligence layers that deliver high stability and unparalleled quality of service. We are delighted to have been referred to M for Media by acknowledged experts, which is further evidence of our growing reputation for excellence.”
According to Aouad, “Recognising that we needed to make a change, we had made numerous enquiries for recommendations for a shared storage system and felt that GB Labs offered the best value and highest performance ratio versus any other solution on the market. Once we had taken the decision, we were up and running with FastNAS very quickly and the benefits we expected were almost instantly felt.
“We have had a very positive experience with FastNAS and are already looking forward to working with GB Labs on future projects.”
FastNAS media production storage systems are available in a range of configurations, including FastNAS F-8 Nitro Studio; FastNAS F-8 Nitro; FastNAS F-16; FastNAS F.16 Nitro and FastNAS F-16 Nitro MAX.
For more information, visit www.gblabs.com
Intinor joins SRT Alliance
Umea, Sweden, 16 January 2020: Intinor, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over internet, has joined the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) Alliance.
SRT is an open source video transport protocol that optimizes streaming performance across unpredictable networks, enabling the best quality live video to be transported over even the most questionable networks. The SRT Open Source project, which is spearheaded by the SRT Alliance, is a collaborative community of industry leaders and developers striving to achieve lower latency internet video transport by continuously improving open-source SRT.
As part of its participation in the alliance, Intinor has added support for SRT’s “Listener” delivery mode, soon to be followed by SRT’s “Caller” and “Rendezvous” mode to the entire Intinor Direkt Router range. Intinor has also used the opportunity to add support for NDI® connectivity.
Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “The industry has embraced SRT, which has proven to be a truly collaborative and beneficial way of working together to establish a streaming protocol that mitigates or resolves issues that still surround video transport latency without having to resort to resourcing expensive alternatives.
“We are proud to not only be a member of this cross-industry initiative, but to have an official portal through which to offer our expertise as well to learn from others in the alliance.”
Intinor’s Direkt Router Lite is the world’s smallest streaming router, designed specifically for delivering high quality video over IP networks. However, like any applicable router, even Direkt can encounter obstacles when dealing with extremely flaky networks.
Axelsson adds, “Our Direkt routers not only buffer and redistribute compressed video over IP networks, they also analyse incoming IP streams and redistribute them with no added delay. However, if delays are already part of the stream, it can cause issues upstream. Through membership in SRT, we can collaborate and further develop our existing, proprietary, low latency “Bifrost Reliable Transport” (BRT™) in way that will benefit all of our customers.”
BRT™ uses highly efficient forward error correction that increases the amount of redundant data to make a transmission more robust.
Jointly founded by Wowza Media Systems and video streaming technology leader, Haivision, SRT enables an ever-increasing number of new applications while simultaneously improving the performance of existing ones.
Presteigne Goes for Gold
Crawley, West Sussex, 06 February 2020 – Multi-location production solution provider, Presteigne Broadcast Hire, has joined Sports Video Group (SVG) Europe as a Gold level member.
For nearly 15 years, SVG has provided support for all professionals who rely on video, audio, and broadband technologies to produce and distribute sports content. In addition to its mission to advance the creation, production, and distribution of sports content, it also strives to enable service providers such as Presteigne to access new business opportunities by providing a contemporary, informed understanding of the current state of the sports production marketplace.
Presteigne Broadcast Hire CEO Adrian Young explained, “SVG Europe is an invaluable platform for sharing insight into the latest workflows, applications of technology, and emerging developments in the delivery of content across multiple channels.
“Presteigne has a nearly 30-year track record as a service provider to the live sports market, and it has never been more important that we not only listen to the requirements of our customers and partners, but share the depth of our practical, hands-on experience. Being an SVG Europe Gold member enables us to do this through participation in regular summits, seminars, and roundtables in parallel with SVG Europe’s robust, year-round digital marketing programme.”
SVG Europe Editorial Director Fergal Ringrose said, “Gold Membership provides a wide range of benefits, including attendance at European and regional SVG Europe summits that have proven to be the most advanced, and talked about, professional exchange and development events in the sports production industry. We are delighted to welcome Presteigne to our team of industry-wide manufacturers, suppliers and technology developers who continuously work to improve the quality and profitability of sports programming.”
DigiBox highlights pro-AV partners at ISE 2020
ISE 2020, 11-14 February, Stand 10.K165 — DigiBox, the UK’s leading distributor of technologies for the pro-AV and Broadcast industry, will participate in ISE 2020, the world’s largest pro-AV show, taking place at the RAI Amsterdam alongside partners Haivision, SNS and BirdDog.
In conjunction with partner Haivision, a market-leader in video streaming solutions, DigiBox will showcase the many benefits of Haivision’s award-winning Makito X4 video encoder, a highly-secure, ultra-low latency HEVC and H.264 video encoder that delivers exceptional video quality, next-gen performance, SRT streaming, and best-of-breed 4K UHD and HD encoding density. Also featured will be the newly launched Haivision Play Pro, an iOS App which offers a quick and easy way to watch and monitor SRT video streams from anywhere on a mobile device.
Haivision will also demonstrate the benefits of SRT, the open-source protocol that optimises streaming performance over unpredictable networks to deliver high quality, low latency media. SRT will feature on a continuous showreel of highlights and applications.
SNS (Studio Network Solutions) leaders in media storage will be showing how EVO shared storage works with your favourite NLE with the latest updates to ShareBrowser, including AI Autotagging that eliminates hours of manual metadata logging, extended file support for previews, and new integrations for Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X and After Effects. Get hands-on with EVO DPX, their highest performance EVO system yet.
In addition to this, DigiBox will be exhibiting alongside BirdDog also in Hall 10 on Stand K160. Anticipating the launch of some exciting new products specifically designed for the AV market, BirdDog will be featuring products from its PTZ range of cameras which are equipped with BirdDog’s proprietary silicon chip developed internally specifically to encode and decode full NDI.
DigiBox CEO Mike Heaney said, “We are dedicated to providing the best technical solutions our dedicated partners and internal team have to offer. Our experience in content distribution, digital conversion, and systems integration offers unrivalled benefits for new and long-term professionals in a wide range of pro-AV markets, virtually all of which will be represented at ISE 2020.”
DigiBox representatives will be available on attending partner stands including Adder Technologies, Stand 10.P180; AJA on Stand 8.G110; Gefen, Stand 1.N50, and Theatrixx on Stand 14.K130 as well as canvassing the ISE show floor for opportunities to establish new, complementary partnerships.
ESL chooses Intinor for flagship esports events
Stand 14.D10, IBC 2019, RAI, Amsterdam
Intinor Technology, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high quality video over IP networks, has announced that ESL, the world's largest esports company, has deployed a combination of Intinor’s Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units to cover its linear broadcasting needs.
ESL wanted to move away from a rigid managed service model for traditional linear broadcasting and expand its internal distribution workflows for the web and, for the first time, take care of linear broadcasts internally.
ESL Director of Streaming, Steven Jalicy, said, “We wanted a solution that could dynamically scale and deliver high quality and high reliability without generating out of control service costs and technology bottlenecks. Furthermore, we wanted the future capacity and potential to merge our online and linear workflows into a single ecosystem.
“To achieve this, we needed a hardware system that was protocol and service agnostic. Something we could build into our own infrastructure and workflows to deliver traditional linear content to traditional linear takers, but deploy it using the same concepts that have been so successful for ESL when it comes to delivering content to our core audience on online platforms. Intinor was the perfect partner for this project.”
Intinor’s solution for ESL was to use a combination of Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units. The receiver units enable ESL’s takers to receive content via IP transport, which then breaks out to an SDI output that conforms to the respective traditional broadcast standards required. The routers enable ESL to contribute and distribute content from live events directly to takers worldwide and are the backbone of the deployment as they handle SDI source inputs onsite; perform live video encoding; process IP contributions; and ensure content distribution across the vast ESL network.
With the Direkt system, ESL can now directly manage and operate its own linear content distribution network without an expensive managed service, and without investing in the traditional infrastructure and hardware that would normally be required for linear content delivery.
Additional benefits include the ability to use Intinor’s proprietary Bifrost Reliable Transport (BRT™) protocol for 100 percent redundant transport over the public internet while also staying flexible and agnostic with options for RTP, HLS, RTMP and SRT protocols. Owning the hardware also enables ESL to integrate Intinor technology with ESL’s own workflows, which can then deliver key functionality for innovative broadcast concepts without increased costs for services and development.
Jalicy added, “Set against a backdrop of an almost impossible deadline - we had to go from fundamental design, through proof of concept and then onto a full scale deployment in less than four weeks - Intinor has been a great partner throughout this process and we will soon deliver our first live event using the new Intinor system, which takes place 28th-29th September 2019, live from the Barclays Center, New York. This represents just the beginning of our plans and we are confident that Intinor technology is going to play a crucial role in ESL’s continued innovation in the live broadcast space.”
Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “We are delighted to have delivered such a robust and well-received Direkt system for ESL that eliminated their need for an external, restrictive, and expensive managed service provider. Having freed them from such hold-ups, we very much look forward to even more exciting applications and deployments for both companies.”
ESL will feature prominently in The IBC Esports Showcase on Tuesday 17 September, which will include information and discussions on entry into esports and managing the complexity of production through to the seamless technical delivery of an esports broadcast. Intinor will feature the Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver on Stand 14.D10 during IBC 2019.
Hitomi and Broadcast Wireless Systems will demo sync and alignment for remote production at IBC 2019
IBC 2019, 13-17 September, Stand 2.C11
Hitomi Broadcast, manufacturer of MatchBox, the industry’s leading audio video alignment toolbox, is partnering with Broadcast Wireless Systems (BWS), manufacturer of the ultra-low latency BWS NanoPRO TX camera-back transmitter, to showcase remote production capabilities featuring Hitomi’s new ‘Matchbox Glass®’ iOS app at IBC 2019.
Using a Sony PXW 500 camera on loan from Presteigne Broadcast Hire and two of Hitomi’s own, fixed cameras, Hitomi will deploy BWS’s NanoPRO TX and associated RF receiver to demonstrate MatchBox Glass’s real-world ability to instantly measure latency and provide fast, accurate lip-sync and alignment of multiple cameras.
Hitomi Broadcast Director Russell Johnson said, “This is not just a demonstration of how to save time and money with MatchBox Glass, we’re highlighting how the latest remote production techniques and technologies can provide numerous advantages for reporters in the field.
“As broadcasters need simple and reliable RF transmitters to move content, they similarly need a quick and accurate way in the field to ensure sync, including for multicamera productions. So long as they have a MatchBox Glass-equipped iPhone or iPad, production teams can now easily measure and correct for latency differences between cameras on site, which is especially useful for remote productions.”
BWS Director Stuart Brown added, “We have an excellent and ongoing working relationship with Hitomi and are delighted to have this additional opportunity to demonstrate the various benefits of what BWS NanoPRO TX offers to the production community.
“Many aspects of technology are rapidly converging to enable remote productions to get faster, more economic and, ultimately, more exciting for consumers. What we are demonstrating with Hitomi are extremely versatile systems that can be readily deployed by broadcasters worldwide to ensure quality transmission of live news, sports, and events, guaranteed by fast, high-quality synchronisation, all of which are essential for modern productions.”
MatchBox Glass and its companion, MatchBox Analyser, are being introduced along with the remote production demonstration at IBC 2019 on Stand 2.C11 in Amsterdam from 13-17 September.
Pixel Power adds Software Defined Uncompressed IP Capability to established StreamMaster Integrated Playout
IBC2019, 13-17 September, Stand 7.A05
Pixel Power has today announced it will be adding uncompressed IP playout capability, based on the SMPTE ST 2110 family of standards, to its already well established StreamMaster playout technology.
The development comes as a natural progression of incorporating new standards within its software defined technology platforms: StreamMaster Media Processing and Gallium Workflow Orchestration. Like all StreamMaster and Gallium functionality, SMTPE ST 2110 will be supported as software solutions whether on-premise or virtualized in a data centre.
“While we believe SMPTE ST 2110 is certainly the right long term direction, there is still mileage in standards such as ST 2022-6, since broadcasters like the similarity to existing SDI architectures,” said James Gilbert, CEO, Pixel Power. “Our new generation of playout and delivery products, including automation, graphics and branding are based on the StreamMaster Media Processing technology platform that can be easily updated using only software. The flexibility of IP-based, software defined playout and automation platforms are really showing their worth – that’s why we are currently deploying them with major national broadcasters around the globe.”
The SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards is a major contributing factor in the movement towards one common IP-based connectivity protocol for the professional media industries. The foundation for the SMPTE ST 2110 standards is Video Services Forum (VSF) Technical Recommendation for Transport of Uncompressed Elementary Stream Media Over IP (TR-03). The SMPTE ST 2110 standards suite specifies the carriage, synchronization and description of separate elementary essence streams over IP for realtime production, playout, and other professional media applications.
Pixel Power has a history of breaking new ground and was responsible thirty years ago for taking broadcasters into the world of PC-based graphics systems as they rapidly grew their channel count. As a first to market with live virtualized playout in the cloud in 2015, Pixel Power also took the first steps in showing broadcasters the power and convenience of workflows based on IP transport streams and application virtualization. At IBC2019, Pixel Power will show how broadcasters can benefit from moving to fully software defined solutions for production, playout, automation, branding and graphics.
Pixel Power can be found at IBC2019 (Amsterdam, 13 – 17 September) in its regular position in Hall 7, Stand 7.A05.
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