In Broadcast - December 2015 - 54


54

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 12 | December 2015

InTech

Video Quality Control
Managing the quality of broadcast content and service is increasingly vital.
Contributing Editor Jim Evans reports on recent developments...

A

s has so often been observed, the
broadcast signal chain is a long
and complex path involving electroacoustic transducers, mixers, storage
media, interface channels, signal
processing and more.
Each process within this path can
induce distortions upon the original
audio signal, even when working
correctly. These distortions can
become intolerable when devices
fail or are incorrectly configured or
interfaced, and should therefore be
analysed both at the installation stage
and also during ongoing use.
Although the main motivation
for ensuring acceptable audio
performance is to ensure that
the audience experience is not
compromised, audio specifications
often form part of contractual
obligations
between
network
regulators and providers, thus
reaffirming the need to continually
analyse broadcast quality.
Specialist manufacturers/developers
of relevant analysis tools and software
continue to address the ever-changing
and increasingly complex technologies
employed by broadcasters faced with
a constantly changing world that now
embraces so much. Punters, viewers,
and listeners now expect the highest
quality of picture and audio, whether
tuned into a top of the range home
cinema system or a budget tablet and
everything in between.
At IBC 2015, Interra Systems
showcased the latest version of its
products for quality control, real-

time monitoring and video analysis.
The products demonstrated included
Baton, an automated file-based QC
system with new features, such as
audio language detection, new video
checks including analogue noise,
option for EBU codes for test plan
checks,
enhanced
conformance
checks for Apple ProRes video.
The update also includes usability
enhancements in smart folders, test
plan management etc. Baton Content
Corrector and Baton Media Player have
also been updated with powerful new
features to offer robust and seamless
QC.
Baton 6.x is a major revamp
with many new features including
additional subtitling and closed
caption format support, enhanced
4K and HEVC support, better visual
checking, multi-language support for
QC reports, cloud storage, and multiseverity quality checks, a feature
that is unique to Baton. The product
offers an expanded Baton integration
support with third-party technology
partners and extended new smart
folder functionality.
Prism Sound's dScope Series
III audio analyser is an industrial
strength audio test and measurement
system, comprising a Windows PC
software application, coupled with an
external high-precision audio interface
processor
for
equipment-undertest (EUT) connections. The dScope
Series III architecture makes the most
of the ever-increasing processing
and multi-tasking capabilities of

Interra Systems Baton QC, real-time monitoring and video analysis

Prism Sound's dScope
Series III audio
analyser

the Windows platform to allow the
system to measure many parameters
simultaneously - and that means
faster, says the company. The external
interface processor connects to the PC
via a standard USB connection making
it easy to use with a wide range of PCs,
including laptops
Earlier this year, SAM introduced the
SigMA Media Assurance application,
the latest addition to the Media
Biometrics intelligent monitoring
technology suite, bringing human-like
intelligent monitoring to every stage
of the media production chain. Media
Biometrics enables media operations
to scale without increasing headcount.
Media Biometrics does this by
taking
signal
monitoring
and
assurance to a whole new level; it
is a unique technology that allows
media to be identified, analysed and
compared at multiple stages in the
production chain. Media Biometrics
creates lightweight signatures from
signal, stream or file-based media.
Comparison and analysis of these
enable media organisations to
automatically ensure the integrity
of signals through to delivery, that
the media is the 'right' media and
that attributes such as lip-sync are
maintained after processing has taken
place. Traditionally this has largely
relied on human eyes; as the number
of signals grows, monitoring this way

has required an equivalent increase
is monitoring staff. Media Biometrics
at a stroke eliminates this barrier to
growth.
"Media Biometrics is a truly
revolutionary technology that brings
media organisations the massive
efficiency gains they need without
scaling costs as they continue to
launch more and more services," says
Neil Maycock, SAM EVP Marketing.
"Media Biometrics is human-like
intelligence without the humans."
SintecMedia reports that Australia's
Seven West Media has successfully
launched
the
IBMS
broadcast
management system for its Free to Air
properties.
Seven West Media, Australia's
largest
diversified
multimedia
business, is utilising the complete
IBMS platform to manage advertising
sales, programming content and
rights management in one centralised
system. Seven West Media is not only
using the new system to manage the
entire broadcast operations but is also
using the IBMS Business Intelligence
solution to manage their revenue and
sales management reporting.
Trevor Bird, CTO at Seven West
Media stated, "The future is firmly
in our hands with SintecMedia who
implemented the entire system on
time and on-budget. With a single
repository including rights
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoD3Zwg8HqQ http://www.interrasystems.com/file-based-qc.php
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