Pixel Power: Rock Solid

By James Gilbert | Pixel Power | Published 5th June 2020

It is almost compulsory to start any blog at the moment by saying these are difficult times. What I mean is that we are having to review so many things to work with isolation and social distancing, while ensuring a minimal impact on what we have always been proud to call broadcast quality and production values. But ‘luck’ is when preparation meets opportunity and in the last few years we have been in the fortunate position to help our customers prepare well.

We have had to quickly find ways to work remotely, whether that is in production or in delivery. Remote control of playout automation is an obvious requirement, and that has focused a very harsh light on legacy systems, many of which simply cannot be managed at a distance. Virtualised, software-centric technology is capable of control from anywhere, by its very nature, from a remote facility or a home office.

Broadcasters need new interstitials, promoting new programming created in lockdown, and offering public service information. With on-screen talent working from less than ideal environments at home, good graphics are more important than ever. An ideal system would see an editor working from home create a template which an automated production platform could then populate into all the different versions required.

Obviously I am talking about the technology for which Pixel Power is famous. But the same ideas apply across the board. Broadcasters have to find new ways of working. To succeed, that depends upon two linked factors.
First and most obvious, they need this technology now. We don’t have the luxury of six months research and extensive meetings at NAB or IBC (we didn’t have NAB and no longer have IBC!). We want something that works now – today – that may not work the way we used to, but which will deliver the goods.

That in turn leads to the second point, which is that you have to be able to rely on the vendors supplying this kit. If you are not going to spend months in discussions and developing proof of concept solutions, you have to have 100% faith that what is proposed will do what you want.

You need a vendor that understands your business. We started Pixel Power in 1987 to develop broadcast graphics systems then moving on to master control, automation and playout. 33 years later the company still has a rock solid dedication to solely broadcast solutions. To ensure we really understand what broadcasters and content companies need, we recruit key staff from them: people like Toria Farrell, a former transmission controller and Malorie Delaporte, a former head of systems engineering.

For more than 30 years Pixel Power was a thriving independent business that in 2018 became part of Rohde & Schwarz – another privately owned, engineering led organisation. We share the same values of always working to understand our customers’ businesses and delivering the best engineered solutions whether software or hardware. The combined result of engineering stability allows us to serve our customers with the right technology that helps them move forward: creatively, technically and commercially.

It is too early today to say what the new normal will be. But it is clear that, for broadcasting and media streaming to recover, it will need to be more agile and able to respond rapidly to change. It will rely much more heavily on automation, remote operation in the first instance and later virtualization. Preparing for that new world of opportunity will demand software defined solutions and ever stronger bonds of trust between vendor and customer, to implement effective solutions quickly and accurately.

We understand that, and we are here. Whether you need a quick fix or a long-term strategy, talk to Pixel Power.

FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE HERE