In Broadcast - July 2021 - 34

34
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 11 - Issue 7 | July 2021
InStudio
InBroadcast explores Remote Production Technology
Game changed
R
emote production has been a
game-changer for live events
but it's actually a subset of the larger
trend toward distributed production.
Finding the right distributed
production model is a challenge. It
differs from on company to another,
from one job to another, necessitating
different cameras, different networks
and different workflows. However,
two critical issues will always need
addressing:
the
demand
for
high
quality images and the demand for low
latency networks.
" These will only increase as the
industry seeks to differentiate itself, "
says Norbert Paquet, Head of Live
Production,
Sony Professional
Europe. " Technically speaking, the
latency challenge comes with different
constraints which technology can
resolve either by better quality links or
use of low latency compression. "
This is where Sony and Nevion
joined forces to look at network
environments, such as LAN, WAN, 5G
and cloud uplinks/downlinks, " so that
we can propose the most suitable
solution delivering reliable, secured
transport and processing. "
Sony points to " decades " of building
solutions for remote and distributed
production. Its Media Backbone
Hive news production system can be
deployed on prem, in cloud or as a
hybrid architecture and was recently
chosen by Reuters for its international
operations.
" Our latest Media Solutions Toolkit
is built around a modular approach
which allows businesses to choose and
combine a number of cloud-native,
specialised services, each addressing
a particular function, like import or
workflow management, " Paquet says.
In
a
cloud
Live Production,
native
Sony's
solution
offers
enabling
a production to bring any content
from anywhere in the cloud, produce
live and distribute to multiple web
platforms or CDN.
This was adopted by Viacom CBS for
the production of some events during
the pandemic.
Grass Valley
philosophy
arguing
elaborates
that
on
the
this
most
important aspects of the tech stack
are handling timing, latency, and
bandwidth. Each of these can be very
different depending on the topology of
remote production being used.
" On
one
end
of
the
spectrum,
you may have all the production
equipment at the venue/event
while your operations team control
the equipment remotely, " explains
Marco Lopez, General Manager, Live
Production. " In this case, latency is of
critical importance because the team
need to make real-time production
decisions thousands of miles away
from the equipment. Timing is no
different than when a truck rolls to
the event. Bandwidth is manageable
as
control
and
monitoring
signals
typically use very low bandwidth.
" The other end of the spectrum is
where both equipment and operators
are centralized in a remote centre.
Here, timing is of greater concern
because of the sheer number of
signals that must be hauled back to the
production centre. Depending on the
distance travelled, it could take more
than 24 hours to get the timing right
on international feeds along with the
telco service provider. "
Moreover, high-quality, low latency
compression like JPEG-XS is needed
to cut down on data bandwidth costs,
especially when working with 1080p or
4K-UHD formats.
Grass Valley's answer is to use
Grass Valley's SaaS version of its
K-Frame production switcher engine runs
on cloud-based GV AMPP, while connected to familiar physical hardware panels
cloud-based technology, such as
GV AMPP. This is built on a series
of microservices, with " innate
low-latency and intelligent timing
management capabilities. "
Lopez says, " AMPP marries
broadcast-quality production tools
with the agility and elasticity of
deploying cloud compute, memory,
and storage. It is a collection of many
production applications that can be
used in a wide variety of different
workflows and spun up and down as
required in a matter of seconds - ideal
for the expanding demands of live.
Moreover, GV AMPP supports a wide
range of compression technologies,
starting from proxy quality for
monitoring all the way to contribution
and distribution, enabling the creation
and delivery of must-watch content. "
Since remote production
environments depend on maintaining
the timing relationship of various feeds
(via IP multiplexing) LTN is developing
a codec-agnostic network. This
enables customers to migrate over
LTN's IP network and achieve reliable
low-latency
transport,
multi-point
delivery, unique monitoring tools, and
IP visibility, according to Mike Burk,
General Manager, LTN Create.
" One option provides a managed
interface to the LTN Network, allowing
broadcasters to use their existing
hardware investments in encoders,
decoders, and multiplexers, and we
can add dedicated, reasonably priced
hardware if they need it, " he says.
" We also offer a turnkey solution that
includes all hardware. "
Net Insight views time
synchronisation
as critical when
deploying remote workflows. Video,
audio, and graphics from several
different remote sources need to be
synchronised, says CTO Per Lindgren.
Packet loss, latency, and jitter can
destroy the content and the ability
to remotely manage and control
the
production.
Synchronization
techniques can be used to smooth out
jitter and wander across IP networks
and ensure frame alignment in multicamera
productions.
" Remote production
workflows
need to set and manage time-stamps
accurately and require an accurate
time
source
at
both
ends
of
the
remote production, " says Lindgren.
" For ST2110 workflows then PTP
(IEEE1588v2) is used to provide this
timing.
" For broadcast-quality production,
many use GPS receivers but preferably
the network is capable to distribute
high-precision time (PTP) to the
end-points.
When
moving
to
new
The Riedel Remote Operations Center (ROC)
IP workflows, security aspects are
becoming key, especially when running
over public telco networks. "
Net Insight introduced the Media
Pro App at the beginning of this year
to enhance the security and scalability
of remote IP workflows. Lindgren says,
" With its ultra-low latency 100 Gbps
IP Trust Boundary, it addresses the
security challenges while ensuring the
quality and performance required. The
Nimbra products also includes support
to distribute PTP transparently over
the IP network, without requiring full
timing support in every hop. "
Remote production is now a permanent fixture for live events
with new technologies coming on stream fast to improve
management of synchronisation, latency & bandwidth...
By Adrian Pennington
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.grassvalley.com/products/cloud-based-workflows/gv-ampp/ https://inbroadcast.com/news/riedels-all-ip-intercom-solution-up-to-the-challenge
In Broadcast - July 2021

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