In Broadcast - March 2021 - 48

48

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 11 - Issue 3 | March 2021

InForm

Zero Friction and
The True Promise of IP

Media organisations can now capitalise on the groundwork laid by IP with the
operational and business agility of zero friction, says TAG Video Systems...

T

he transition to IP has been widely
and rightly heralded as a gamechanger for the broadcast industry.
The technical work for which SMPTE
and organisations including the VSF,
EBU and AMWA have been awarded a
Technical Emmy is well deserved.
But we have not reached the
end game. In fact, the operational
changes that IP workflows offer media
companies have barely begun. IP has
been accepted as a technical overhaul
of the solid but inflexible infrastructure
of SDI but what it has actually done is
flipped on its head the whole concept
of workflow.
When media organisations have
moved systems to software and
solutions can be deployed in the cloud
or on common of the shelf (COTS)
hardware it can start to introduce the
operational flexibility that will pay
dividends.
Today, there is too much friction
impeding businesses from realising
the promise of IP. TAG Video Systems
believe there is a way out of the
impasse.
" With IP, broadcasters should
be able to do anything they
want, " says Paul Briscoe, TAG's
Chief Architect. " Rather than
pushing work linearly from
source to consumption, we
can build dynamic systems
to perform one function one day and
a different or multiple functions the
next. IP is no longer just a technology
revolution. The industry is now at a
turning point where it can capitalise on
the workflow revolution. "

How did we get here?
Prior to IP, the industry's workflows
were
largely
unchanged
since
the 1950s. Content moved from
acquisition to production and onward
to distribution.
Legacy systems
built on SDI began to hinder systems
installation and business growth.
Trying to change a facility's purpose
involved physical uplift and fixing of
patch panels. The versatility needed
to be a successful studio business
responsive to demand was sorely
lacking.
The primary broadcast applications
of live production, playout, delivery
and OTT tended not to be housed in
the same facility. They were likely
to be operated by different teams.
A multiviewer operated by live
production couldn't be operated by
someone in QC or delivery. Siloed
black boxes performed siloed functions
within siloed divisions.
IP liberates this entire approach.
The premise of ST 2110 was to consign
the proprietary nature of black box
development to history. It replaced
arcane point to point signal
transport with an entirely new
essence-based mechanism to
frees the media business from
the chains of hardware.
This has the additional
benefit of providing a common
'backbone' for the facility. Instead
of having to worry about running
the correct type of cable and signal
to various locations, engineering
personnel can easily configure and
control network switches and routers

remotely, allowing them to work from
wherever they are.
Suddenly, any format and any
combination of audio, video and
metadata can flow bidirectionally
across a facility or between facilities
using the same protocols, the same
switchers, the same common IT
architectures.
Complete operational agility
Suddenly, it is possible for a product
such as a multiviewer to serve the
needs of any and all broadcast
applications. It follows that it
should also be possible to manage
the product's licences so that it is
optimised at all times. The client can
pick and choose where it is used,
when it is used, and so maximise asset
utilisation.
TAG describes this ability to move
quickly from application to application
as 'zero friction'. The concept
forms the backbone of its 100 per
cent software based integrated IP
Multiviewer, Probing and Monitoring
solution.
" Bringing everything to
a single point in terms of
monitoring and multiviewing
has
several
advantages
beyond operational flexibility, "
explains Kevin Joyce, Chief
Commercial
Officer,
TAG
Video Systems. " You have one
instance of software which means
you are distributing your training
and support costs across the entire
application base of the product.

You have licensing that offers the
flexibility of deploying on physical
premises or in the cloud. You can move
your licences around from instance
to instance as demand requires. In
addition, to which, all formats can be
accommodated whether compressed
or uncompressed. This is a Swiss Army
Knife for you to grab the tool you
need. "
Zero friction business model
Another step is needed for this
concept to be truly zero friction.
Vendors, including TAG, would
previously charge one price for
licences that worked with compressed
media and a premium for licences that
worked uncompressed.
" If we really want to enable our
clients to work in a zero friction world
we felt we needed to allow them to
use our product for the same price
in either capex or opex models,
regardless of the application, " says
Joyce.
Imagine an opex model where the
broadcaster only pays for the time
its products are in use. As a
production facility in London
comes offline, for example,
its product licences can be
switched off or reassigned
to its OTT or playout division
anywhere around the world
without incurring any penalty for doing
so.
" Asset utilisation is notoriously low
in the broadcast industry, " Briscoe
says. " It's astonishing when you
https://www.tagvs.com/news/tags-new-webinar-line-up-to-concentrate-on-mapping-a-simplified-path-to-the-cloud/ http://www.inbroadcast.com
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