InReview 2019 - 20

20

www.inbroadcast.com | InReview 2019

Collaboration Drives Success
of IP and Remote Production
Tim Banks, VP sales, EMEA, Grass Valley,
considers the collaborative roles of IP and
remote production...

B

roadcasters and media companies
are driving to deliver bigger and
better viewing experiences than ever
before, by leveraging the flexibility and
speed of live production environments.
As consumers continue to place a
high value on live content, today's
audiences want the next best thing to
being there, or even better. This has
been the driving force behind the main
technology trends in 2019.
IP for the next generation
In practical terms, meeting consumer
demand for more compelling viewing
experiences requires next generation
production formats combining higher
resolution, dynamic range and colour
gamut (e.g. UHD, HDR and WCG) to
create the 'wow' factor. For operators,
broadcasters and content owners,
this means deploying equipment and
workflows that are flexible, scalable,
reconfigurable and future-ready.
IP is increasingly seen as the answer.
Thanks to work by industry bodies
like SMPTE - such as the recent JT-NM
SMPTE ST 2110 initiative - and efforts
by interoperability advocates like
AIMS, the industry has experienced
a significant step-change in the drive
towards IP migration. The open
standards approach is driving down
uncertainty, pricing and complexity;
IP is now more relevant, attractive
and accessible across a wide range of
applications. During 2019 we've seen
a growing number of live productions,
especially large premier sports and
entertainment events, becoming IPcentric - and more specifically, open
standards-based.
For instance, NEP (UK) have deployed
their smart integration of mobile and
fly-pack IP infrastructure for mass
audience coverage of the Wimbledon
Championships and the Rugby World

Smart integration:
NEP (UK) at Wimbledon

Remote production - 2019 FIS Alpine
World Ski Championships

Cup. Gravity Media have expanded
their GV-IP-equipped fly-pack live
production solution throughout 2019
to cover the UEFA Champions League
Final, the UEFA Europa League Final
and forthcoming Grand Slam and ATP
tennis tournaments.
Additionally,
IMG Studios, which is responsible for
delivering multiple 24-hour sports
channels and providing coverage of
some of the world's biggest sporting
events from soccer to rugby, identified
scalability as its primary driver for
migrating from SDI to Grass Valleyequipped open-standards-based IP
routing this summer.
As an industry, we're reaching a
tipping point where IP is no longer
seen as a straight replacement for
SDI. As well as supporting stunning
image quality and captivating viewing
experiences, IP enables customers to
work in new and innovative ways. Fast,
agile infrastructures are central to
building successful media businesses,
and IP empowers broadcasters and
content producers to work smarter,
creating new service models that meet
the needs of today's and tomorrow's
mediascape.
Remote production proves its worth
A prime example of how IP is
changing the face of live production
workflows is remote / at-home

production. 2019 was the year that
underscored this approach - where
the majority of the live sports and
event
production
infrastructure
and workflows are brought back
to the central (home) facility - as
a complementary approach to
conventional on-location models.
As they face tightening budgets and
strive to meet consumer demand for
more live content, broadcasters and
production teams must find ways to
cover more live events cost-effectively.
At-home or remote production
capabilities are gaining popularity at
an increasing rate, allowing production
teams to work smarter and with
greater agility and flexibility. As well
as the obvious time and cost savings
it delivers, remote / at-home models
allow production teams to support
more live events in a day and promote
a more sustainable working and
ecological environment. Centralising
production also allows broadcasters
and production companies to loop-in
the best operators and editors to keep
production values consistently high.
The 2019 FIS Alpine World Ski
Championships in Åre, Sweden,
produced
by
SVT,
clearly
demonstrated that remote / at-home
production workflows can handle
a large volume of uncompressed
signals and cope with long distances.
The event saw the highest volume
of remote signals transmitted to
date from a live location to the home
studio (video, audio and data). For the
duration of the championship, SVT
deployed a support team of around
150 camera operators and technicians
in Åre, with the rest of the production
workflow and staff based in Stockholm,

over 600 kilometres away. In the final
analysis, the broadcaster was able
to reduce costs on the project by ten
percent without compromising on
production values or image quality.
The project's success was the result
of our close collaboration with Net
Insight and SVT to build a workflow
around the DirectIP capability of Grass
Valley's LDX 86 Series cameras and
Net Insight's Nimbra 600 JPEG2000
platform.
Collaboration gives
customers confidence
The 2019 Alpine World Ski
Championship clearly underlines how
Grass Valley shows leadership through
collaboration to deliver real benefits
to customers. Tighter collaboration is
good for the vendor community and
benefits customers, so it's a win-win
for all of us. This was the thinking
behind the launch of the Grass Valley
Technology Alliance (GVTA) in April
2019; an initiative designed to give
broadcasters and media companies
access to a wider range of proven,
best-of-breed solutions comprising
Grass Valley workflow components
integrated with complementary thirdparty systems.
Close
cooperation
with
our
customers and partners allows us to
share our experiences, expectations
and vision and better enables us
respectively to anticipate and meet the
demands of the new mediascape.
Through continued investment in
areas like IP, remote production and
driving interoperability during 2019,
Grass Valley has strengthened its
leadership position in the industry.
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InReview 2019

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