In Broadcast - March 2016 - 54

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 3 | March 2016

InStudio

Demanding Migration To IP
Systems Integration - Part II

In the second examination of systems integration, Contributing Editor Adrian Pennington turns
to migrating the industry to IP and finds that an SI's combined IT and engineering skills are more
in demand than ever...

ver the years, broadcasters
have had to cope with huge
technological change - the shift to
colour, digital and high definition to
name just a few. So why should the
move to IP based technology be any
more problematic? While IP is perhaps
not the obvious format for video
signals, the sheer power of computer
hardware and equally powerful data
compression can deliver advantages
that mean that the transition to IP is
inevitable.
According to leading systems
integrators, the broadcast industry
is in a state of confusion, hype and
hesitancy around the direction of
technology. It is clear that on many
levels, such as engineering and
operational aspects, new complex
skill sets have to be adopted to move
forward with the change to IP.
"SIs have to transform," warns Tom
Swan, Sales & Marketing Director
at dB Broadcast. "The industry is
undergoing fundamental changes and
its boundaries are rapidly eroding,
however it will still require deeply
skilled media IT specialists to elicit
business requirements, and transform
these into solutions."

"...The industry is
undergoing fundamental
changes and its boundaries
are rapidly eroding"
Tom Swan
dB Broadcast

While coaxial is 'plug and play',
IP is the exact opposite. Broadcast
engineers need to work closely with
IT experts to design futureproof
infrastructures - and that's where the
SI comes into their own.
"SIs necessarily work at the cutting
edge of broadcast technology," says
Swan. "Ensuring that they remain well
informed, and able to incorporate
the latest thinking and techniques is
naturally important."
According to Swan, there is no 'ready
to work' solution for broadcast IP.
In order to switch to IP, companies
need to work with professionals with
both media and IT expertise in order
to configure any piece of IT hardware
with any broadcast and production
platform.
"If a typical broadcast facility
wants to migrate away from existing,
industry-specific SDI and reference
distribution infrastructure, then the
industry still doesn't have all of the
standards in place that it needs to
support an open stream exchange,
control, and architecture," he asserts.
"Most broadcasters aren't interested
in the level of vendor lock-in current
solutions entail."
The likely order of IP migration
will see post begin the charge,
followed by studios, playout, and
then live production. According to
David Phillips, Business Development
Director - Systems Integration,
Gearhouse Broadcast, there are
a number of full IP systems now
operating,
with
post-production
leading the way.
"End users and SIs are learning from

A temporary studio at Al Jazeera in Qatar (Gearhouse)

Broadcast presentation facility at TBN UK in London,
designed and equipped by ATG Danmon UK

these in the way that they have been
implemented. These early adopters
need to be able to demonstrate
robustness and reliability of their
IP systems, and that the economic
aspects of them were achieved, before
we see widespread migration from
others."
Using IP infrastructure for broadcast
applications has many potential
advantages, such as using standard
IP hardware and software, though
customised broadcast applications
and configurations are still required.
Gearhouse says the rate of IP/IT
development means SIs are required
to constantly re-evaluate designs
for broadcast systems, though the
industry is still some way from having
a full IP integrated infrastructure
available end-to-end for all broadcast
applications. "SDI continues to have
its place, though the expected rate of
adoption of UHD/4K systems will likely
accelerate the migration to a full IP
infrastructure," explains Phillips.
Working Proof
'Does it really work?' is a common
question from customers regarding
IP-based solutions. Therefore SI's
are stressing the importance of
demonstrating the stability of IP
infrastructures.
Broadcasting
Center
Europe's
(BCE) broadcast and IT engineers
teamed up in order to run several
proof of concepts for TV and radio
broadcasting, as well as studio and live

production (the first being a demo at
IBC2014 with Level 3 and Sony). "This
step is paramount to identifying any
flaws in these infrastructures and to
gain trust from the market," says BCE,
Marketing Manager, Laurent Seve.
Recently the SI has been working
with its suppliers, partners and
customers to develop 'over IP'
solutions. At the same time it is
building
new
headquarters
in
Luxembourg and is planning to
integrate an IP infrastructure to ensure
"perfect communication" between
the
production,
post-production,
broadcast, telecom, transmissions and
IT areas.
"Showing a platform which runs
smoothly will not automatically
trigger new projects," observes Seve.
"Customers need to be sure that
the integrator has access to both
the knowledge and the technology.
For BCE, IT and broadcast engineers
have
always
worked
together
since the development of tapeless
infrastructures. Both worlds have
the complete know-how for this type
of workflow. For other SIs, there
will be an obligation to team up
with IT providers and to form strong
partnerships."
For clients to gain total confidence in
IP/IT networking of systems it is also
imperative that the major industry
manufacturers start working together.
"This is a huge paradigm shift and,
with that, a huge mind-set and skills
shift for the industry," says Swan.

http://www.inbroadcast.com https://youtu.be/lUqi3LLSsgw http://www.gearhousebroadcast.com/uk/videos

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