In Broadcast - July 2017 - 22

22

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 7 - Issue 6

InForm

Broadcast Test
& Measurement
The shift to OTT has created an increasing need for flexible, scalable measurement tools which can
address the new reality of video delivery both from a business and technical perspective, writes
Contributing Editor Adrian Pennington...

W

hen it comes to video test and
monitoring users are seeking
solutions that ensure content quality,
signal integrity, and regulatory
compliance right the way across
the chain and while the industry
is embracing the challenges of
transitioning to IP.
"There's never been a time like
this in the broadcast industry with
so many fundamental changes in
technology and workflows coming
together at the same time," says
Charlie Dunn, General Manager, Video
Product Line, Tektronix. "An industry
driven by rapid change requires more
than technical evolution. It requires
what we call 'Revolutioneering'. This
means we're doing more than just
accommodating change and new
technologies - we're helping to lead
the charge."

"The challenge for the video
engineer is to understand IT
technologies and impact of
an IT infrastructure
on the video"
Mike Waidson, Tektronix

IP introduces new technical and
skills challenges. These include jitter,
latency and the risk of dropped
packets and network asymmetry
that results in different path delays
upstream and downstream.
"Deploying IP for video production
applications is effectively the collision
of the two worlds of video and
network engineering," says Mike
Waidson, Application Engineer within
Tektronix Video Business Division.
"Video engineers are comfortable with
the use of SDI, coaxial cable, patch
panels, black burst and tri-level sync
for timing and above all, monitoring
signal quality. The challenge for the
video engineer is to understand IT
technologies and impact of an IT
infrastructure on the video."
On the other hand, network
engineers are familiar and comfortable
with IP flows, protocols, network
traffic, router configuration, Precision
Time Protocol (PTP) and Network Time
Protocol (NTP) for timing.
"The biggest difference is that in
most data centre applications, lost
data can be re-sent - this is not the
case with high-bitrate video," says
Waidson. "The challenge for the

IP Stream Analysis: Tektronix PRISM

network engineer lies in understanding
video technology and its impact on IT
infrastructure."
Tektronix offers PRISM for broadcast
engineers and IT professionals to
monitor and analyse IP streams and
the associated content in real-time,
enabling early identification and
diagnosis of network or content issues
including intermittent loss of video,
audio, or data content.
The latest capabilities in this product
include analysis of PTP synchronisation
timing, support for SMPTE ST 2022-7
redundancy, IGMP V3 and new API
support for easy system integration
into network management systems,
and IP stream capture for deep dive
analysis.
"An all IP infrastructure is the vision
for most broadcasters around the
world and is already starting to happen
in many facilities," says Waidson. "The
reality is however that the transition
won't happen overnight leading to
the need to manage hybrid SDI and IP
infrastructures, and thus a need for IP
and video engineers to work closely
together to ensure seamless operation
and quickly track down faults."
Leader LV5490 with SER10 noise
measurement option

4K UHD Content
Added to this complexity is the
increasing amount of 4K UHD content
being put through the chain with
requirements to ensure compliance
with new colour and dynamic range
attributes.
New
software
for
Leader
Instruments'
LV5490
waveform
monitor is claimed as the world's first
direct-digital 4K noise measurement
processor. The LV5490SER10 module
measures noise in luminance or RGB
component chroma channels. "Camera
noise measurement is a complicated
and long-winded operation requiring
digital to analogue conversion of
signals which could also introduce
noise to the signal," said Leader's
Kevin Salvidge. "Now camera owners
can simply connect the SDI output of
their camera directly into the LV5490
and measure the noise levels."
The LV5490 4K is the company's
flagship waveform monitor which
can be twinned with the LV7390 4K
upgradeable rasteriser for productions
to reap the full benefits of cameras
operating in UHD and HDR. The
LV7390 which can be used to measure
up to four 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI
sources simultaneously.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.tek.com/datasheet/prism-media-analysis-solution-hybrid-ip-sdi-infrastructure-datasheet-0 http://www.leaderamerica.com/product/lv5490/ http://www.leaderamerica.com/product/lv5490/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - July 2017
