In Broadcast - February 2016 - 26


26

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 2 | February 2016

InStudio

Systems Integration
- Part I
cont'd...

Gravity Media Group founder and
CEO John Newton said: "Gravity
Media Group works with Hyperactive
and similar companies to deliver
best-in-class equipment, people and
projects to our customers. By bringing
more of these skills in house, we will
significantly enhance our proposition.
Historically Hyperactive has focused
mainly on the UK, so they'll benefit
from
our
scale,
international
experience and large inventory to
support their existing UK customers."
Cambridge-based Megahertz, was
busy recently moving South African
broadcaster e.tv to its new home. e.tv
has been based in Longkloof Studios
since its foundation in 1998, but
moved to a purpose-built facility five
kilometres away across Cape Town,
and at the same time moved to an allHD operation.
Its core facilities also include
programme ingest, editing and
graphics, a busy newsroom and three
production studios. The challenge
for MHz was to move the complete
operation to the new facility without
impacting day-to-day operations.
"We've been working with e.tv on the
move right from the start - advising
on civil engineering issues like studio
floor construction and soundproofing,"
explains Project Manager, Don Wilson.
"We also catalogued all the existing
equipment, advising what could be
upgraded to HD and moved, and where
we need to plan for new hardware."
The Megahertz team developed
the new system design, and oversaw
the install of a substantial amount of
infrastructure, including two Grass
Valley Miranda 8000 routers: one
for lines traffic and a larger router

"...The move from
panel-per-product
hardware to softwarebased solutions running
on enterprise servers
has now become an
established fact"
Russell Peirson-Hagger
MD ATG Danmon

for all the transmission traffic. Much
of the modular infrastructure comes
from Axon, including synchronisers,
converters,
multi-viewers
and
transmission switchers. The new
facility features a central control and
monitoring system, also from Axon.
The project also involves updated
Marina, Neptune and Anchor systems
from the company to meet the
extended profile.
After-Sales Support
Many broadcast companies are
aware of the advantages of using a
system integrator (SI) at the outset of
a new build or refurbishment project
to review requirements, develop
specifications and to manage the
selected vendors through to delivery
of the project. But perhaps fewer are
aware of the advantages that an SI can
bring after commission and during the
routine maintenance and upkeep of
mission critical systems.
Tom Swan, Sales and Marketing
Director of dB Broadcast stresses the
importance of offering customised
support packages which may be
needed during training, go-live and on
an ongoing basis for both the supplied
hardware and installed cabling.
"An important feature is being
able to fix problems and to provide
technical
support
and
project
enhancements for the lifetime of the
system," he says. "The first advantage
of a support agreement is that the
client has a single contract to manage,
taking some of the management
burden away from the client's internal
team, providing greater productivity
and reducing costs. dB keeps track of
the various hardware vendor support
contracts, expiry dates and what they
cover - a sometimes complex task."
An alternative is remote diagnostics
and monitoring of the system via a
VPN. This will allow engineers to dial
in and run remote diagnostics and
checks, and in this manner, many
simple faults can be quickly resolved.
Confidence is further achieved through
preventative visits, perhaps involving
a scheduled annual service review
attended by the SI and the customer.
Among dB's recent projects was
the design, build and test of a studio
in Jaipur, India for TV retailer The
Genuine Gemstone Company. By

implementing a prefabrication stage
at its headquarters near Cambridge
prior to dismantling and shipping
the hardware to its final overseas
destination, dB was able to install, test
and commission the studio, gallery
and associated technical area in only
two weeks. The approach also ensured
a high degree of reliability in the
finished design, as well as allowing for
system configuration and production
of the 'as-built' documentation that
was used in training prior to shipping.
The HD studio is based on Sony
HXC-D70 cameras, Vitec pedestals, a
Snell Kahuna vision mixer and Pyxis
router, Pixel Power graphics and
Grass Valley servers. Constructed as a
four-camera studio, the control room
has been designed for operation by
three to five people. dB has previously
carried out projects in India for the
Parliament and BBC World Service.
Operational Efficiency
Recent projects delivered by
Scandinavian-headquartered
ATG
Danmon include provision of filedelivery QC for Bristol post house Big
Bang Post Production.
The facility selected a Vidcheck
Vidchecker-post automated quality
control solution from ATG Danmon
UK. This will be used to ensure that
files leaving the facility match up to
the technical standard specified by the
Digital Production Partnership.

Vidcheck Vidchecker-post GUI

The SI also completed an upgrade
to the voiceover facilities at sports
producer Input Media. The eight
suites, each incorporate an Ikegami
HD display, Jünger audio processors
and Axon's Cerebrum multi-device
control and monitoring software.
Danmon also has a substantial
international presence with offices in
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany,
Spain, Vietnam and Dubai, and reports
growing demand for software-centric
virtualised systems. "The move from
panel-per-product
hardware
to
software-based solutions running on
enterprise servers has now become an
established fact of systems integration
life," says MD, Russell Peirson-Hagger.
"Technology has progressed to the
point where multiple devices can be
virtualised within a single server.
"In our role as systems integrators,
we
will
include
virtualisation
whenever it offers clear operational
and cost-efficiency advantages to our
customers. The key technical challenge
today is to ensure that software from
multiple vendors operates efficiently
when combined into a single operating
environment,
whilst
retaining
the flexibility and reliability that
broadcasters quite rightly insist on."
This topic will be elaborated upon
in InBroadcast's second look at the
SI market in the next issue.

ATG Danmon UK reports a rise in virtualised system
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.vidcheck.com/products/vidchecker-post.php http://www.e.tv http://www.e.tv http://www.e.tv https://youtu.be/YXb6Oit_U3Q
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - February 2016
