InBroadcast - June 2022 - 46

46
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 12 - Issue 6 | June 2022
InMedia
Flexible, modular and hybrid:
Cloud playout solutions cont'd...
a high-quality
viewing experience
however they watch. "
Aviator is designed to be hosted
in the public cloud, either as a SaaS
managed by Imagine or running in
the broadcaster's own public cloud
account. Aviator software licensing is
OpEx-based, with costs directly tied
to usage, outputs and revenues.
PlayBox
complete cloud playout
Imagine Aviator was introduced at NAB 2022 Inset: Imagine Communications' Andy Warman
true cloud native playout solutions
provide the needed efficiency and
economy. TAG is a critical part of
these solutions that enable media
companies to confidently migrate to
cloud playout.
TAG assures the performance of
these playout systems and end-toend
integrity of the playout signals
from live feed
ingest
encrypted
OTT and
through
broadcast
delivery. TAG's deep inspection and
analysis of these signals at every
point
problems in realtime and
of the workflow identifies
gives
operators the ability to visualize in
full quality the signals at each of
these points providing rapid recovery
from errors. From packet errors and
jitter to ad-insertion monitoring, TAG
probing provides insights that enable
performant
cloud
playout.
TAG
supports all of the needed formats in
these playout applications including
AWS CDI, JPEG XS, Zixi and SRT, and
forward-looking capabilities such as
Dolby Atmos audio.
TAG also provides operators with
realtime, full-quality, ultra-low
latency
multiviewers
to monitor
these signals, including hybrid
cloud, multi-region, and
multicloud
playout sources. With TAG's
Bridge
Technology, systems
can
be deployed while integrating all
the desired signals on a single
multiviewer screen from any of these
points of origin anywhere around the
globe.
TAG's
cloud-native architecture
minimizes the cloud footprint and
cost
with right-sized
distributed
monitoring that
utilisation by
instances,
architecture, adaptive
reduces
dynamic OPEX and hourly
cloud
up to 80%, and
pricing
that minimizes the cost of highly
resilient multi-cloud
deployments.
The breadth of capabilities and cloud
cost savings have made TAG the
leading cloud monitoring solution for
media companies, whether it's a few
or several hundred channels.
" The idea that
playout
infrastructure should be standalone,
whether in traditional hardware or
virtualized, is falling from favour, "
says Andy Warman, SVP playout
products, Imagine Communications.
" For a media enterprise to succeed
in reaching audiences in any way
they may choose to watch, it needs
to adapt to a new way of thinking,
from planning channels and brands,
through acquiring and managing
content, delivering it
to audiences,
and - most important - monetizing
the process. "
That
is
the
thinking behind
Imagine Aviator, a new unified
management platform running in
the public
cloud. Aviator binds
together the critical capabilities of
scheduling, rights
management,
playout, live events, VOD, ad sales,
ad placement, ad serving, campaign
management and more into a single,
cloud-native platform. It
Neo's Cloud2TV is
solution,
now in its third year of refinement.
Designed for standalone operation
or to extend both the capacity
and
systems, it
functionality
is
of
server-based
available on a
subscription basis and offers many
advantages over traditional modes of
playout.
Cloud2TV allows new transmission
services to be launched at very short
notice, ranging from event-specific
projects such as sports tournaments
to permanent channels. Playout staff
retain the full
freedom to update
schedules or switch to live feeds for
late-breaking news.
Cloud2TV
can be operated
any desired scale,
assigned
to
on
virtual, cloudconnected
or in any desired hybrid
combination. Specific applications
are
content
graphic
and
ingest,
editing, media browsing
with metadata handling and clip
trimming, QC
verification,
transcoding, playlist management
and audit
logging. These can be
coordinated to provide a full set of
broadcast resources supporting the
workflow of an entire TV network.
Cloud2TV
is
enables
media companies to deliver linear
programming and video-on-demand
content with ads and triggers for
local
and
dynamic
ad
insertion.
Most important, it ensures they can
successfully
monetize broadcast,
OTT, FAST, pop-up and VOD content
on a single platform.
" It builds on Imagine's expertise
in media technology, ad fulfilment
and
campaign management,
as well as playout and media
management, " Warman explains.
" Reflecting the growing trend
for consumers to choose to view
programs and channel brands on any
device, Aviator ensures that media
companies can efficiently plan and
deliver content across all available
platforms, and audiences
receive
configurable for
terrestrial, satellite or CDN-based
playout under full IP control. It also
forms a robust platform for secure
media asset management
and
archiving, accessible by accredited
staff anywhere in the world. Software
updates and PlayBox Neo 24/7 global
support are standard.
Cloud2TV is
available in three
forms:
* Platform-as-a-Service deployed
on a private cloud with CDN for global
reach.
* Software-as-a-Service deployed
on public clouds such as Amazon
AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google.
* As an on-prem turnkey system
for deployment by a broadcaster or
service-provider.
" Our strategy has long been to
offer network managers the greatest
possible
freedom in the way they
choose to work, " comments Pavlin
Rahnev, CEO. " Our products and
services continue to be the preferred
choice of TV channel
operators,
telco service providers and playout
facility companies around the world.
PlayBox Neo customers also have
complete freedom in how, when and
where they migrate from SD to HD
and/or 4K-UHD transmission. "
nxtedition is an integrated playout
solution, designed from scratch to
use virtualisation. The nxt|cloud is a
logical and relatively easy to realise
step. It is already widely in use, both
for primary playout and for business
continuity, ensuring that channels
stay on air and users can access all
the functionality from any location.
" We have implemented a new
replication feature to mirror an
on-premise implementation of
nxtedition in the cloud, which can
take over automatically and virtually
instantaneously in the event of any
disruption to the main output, like
a power cut, " says Creative Director,
Adam Leah.
Its
most
source
recent
broadcast
significant
development is to add a virtualised
CasparCG, the widely
open
platform (nxtedition's CTO led the
development team on the original
CasparCG project for SVT in Sweden).
This has been converted from
used
graphics
Cloud2TV is PlayBox Neo's complete cloud playout solution Inset: PlayBox Neo, CEO, Pavlin Rahnev

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