Omneon to unveil MediaGrid upgrades, file transport engine at NAB Show

Omneon at NAB will be highlighting ProCast, a file transport engine employing unique acceleration technology that allows for high-speed file transfers over a wide area network (WAN). With ProCast, users can move large media files over great distances as fast and simply as if it were a local transfer. The core technology behind this system was obtained by Omneon in the acquisition of Castify in December 2007. File transfer speeds achieved with ProCast are orders of magnitude greater than FTP transfers and are not affected by distance. For example, a one hour DV25 file sent from Los Angeles to New York on a 450 Mb/s connection would take 30 hours via FTP, but takes only three minutes with ProCast. The same file sent from Beijing to New York would take 69 hours via FTP, but still takes just three minutes with ProCast.

ProCast is fully integrated with all Omneon server and storage products (MediaGrid, Spectrum, and MediaDeck). It allows for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transfers of content between systems. Typical media applications for ProCast include transport of contributions from regional offices of large broadcasters, transfers between affiliates, transfers from post productions houses to clients and broadcasters, etc.

ProXchange is a high-performance transcoding system designed for high-volume, multiformat media environments. It is the first media processing application specifically designed to run on the Omneon MediaGrid active storage system, taking advantage of the combined storage and processing architecture offered by MediaGrid to deliver scalable and efficient grid-based transcoding.

ProXchange performs conversion between a wide variety of video and audio formats, including all formats supported by the Omneon Spectrum media server, as well as conversion to the low-resolution H.264 format, and now with version 1.1, Windows Media VC-1 and Flash video. Conversion and re-wrapping between wrapper formats also is supported (QuickTime and MXF), with preservation and accurate placement of all metadata through all conversions.

As media files move from acquisition to production to playout, these files often need to be converted in order to be in the proper format for each application in the workflow. ProXchange streamlines the process of converting files to the appropriate format for each application, making workflows faster, more efficient, and more consistent. The combination of MediaGrid and ProXchange also simplifies the process of repurposing media. For example, ProXchange can take MPEG-2 50 Mb/s I-Frame content, automatically create a transmission copy in MPEG Long GOP, and concurrently create an H.264 or Flash video clip for distribution to IPTV or the Web.

ProXchange works by harnessing the unique combined storage and processing architecture of the MediaGrid, and hence brings a fundamental change to the workflow, helping to eliminate separate application islands and allowing all parts of a facility to function as a cohesive whole.

Omneon MediaGrid active storage system is the content storage system that plays an active part in the broadcast workflow. Now with version 2.1, Omneon has enabled a smaller, more affordable, entry level system configuration suitable for a wider range of facilities, such as local broadcast stations, post production facilities, and corporate A/V departments.

Among the new features in MediaGrid 2.1 are the ability to create storage reservations so that individual users are guaranteed a minimum amount of storage, tail-mode FTP to support active workflows in conjunction with third-party servers, and more robust system monitoring and reporting.