SVG@NAB Perspectives: Evertz’s Goyal Discusses AIMS and ASPEN Plus New IP and UHD Products

At NAB 2016, Evertz is focused on developments around IP in the facility; 4K HDR; cloud services; and the Facility 2020. Director of Product Marketing Mo Goyal provides an update on the ASPEN Community and why founder Evertz has now joined the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS).

“The ASPEN Community has grown significantly since launch at IBC2015,” he explains. “Two key achievements made since then have been the SMPTE Digital Library open format published in March and also interoperability. Those deploying in IP can now see interoperability across multiple vendors. Customers expect that. We have an ASPEN booth in the North Hall here at NAB, where members are showing interoperability demos. Among the vendors participating are Abekas, Hitachi, Ross Video, Sony, and Vizrt.

“We are a member of various different groups,” Goyal continues, “including AMWA, SMPTE, and VSF. There’s also IP Live Alliance, NDI, and now AIMS. The industry is looking for harmonization. That’s why we joined AIMS.

“Integration is the key,” he adds. “We want to make sure our customers are comfortable, where they have deployed in ASPEN and are able to migrate. Customers can now make business decisions, where openness and interoperability are the key drivers. We can bring our experience in ASPEN into the AIMS environment, in order to leverage IP across the facility.”

Asked when smaller broadcast stations might consider moving from SDI to IP, Goyal says, “It’s not going to happen overnight. But, gradually, as new deployments come into play and costs fall, the business case will make more sense to move to IP — in two to three years’ time for smaller stations or clusters of stations. This change is going to take a couple of years,” he notes.

With more than 40 global installations of its Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) solutions, Evertz claims a leadership position in the transition to IP. Evertz SDVN has been deployed in production, playout, and cloud applications and at major events, including Super Bowl 50, 2016 NAB All-Star Game, and 2016 Masters golf tournament.

At NAB 2016, Evertz is introducing the evEDGE, a software-defined compute and routing platform designed to meet the needs of smaller facilities looking for a cost-effective way to migrate to IP, while enabling larger facilities to build using a distributed environment. The evEDGE supports bulk-processing modules that unify IP and modular functions: media gateways (for such formats as ASPEN, SMPTE-2022-6, NewTek NDI, RFC 4175, and AES67), multiviewing, and video/audio conversion and processing.

Evertz is also introducing inSITE, a distributed Big Data logging and analytics platform for real-time centralized operational intelligence for video broadcasters. Described by Goyal as “our biggest announcement” at the show, inSITE provides a window into any SDVN solution, a capability the company says is unmatched in the industry.

Evertz SDVN provides the foundation for Facility 2020, a software-defined data center for broadcasters. With Evertz SDVN and evEDGE, broadcasters can enable virtualization of processes and services within a facility to create a heterogeneous infrastructure. Facility 2020 leverages ASPEN, on- and off-premises cloud-based compute for virtualization, path finding, resource management, and analytics to create and deliver content more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Evertz is also highlighting new developments for DreamCatcher, its IP-based replay and production platform for live 4K/UHD productions. As demonstrated and deployed at Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl 50, Evertz’s 3RU double-density DreamCatcher 458D is a three-channel 4K replay platform that can scale to any size production while minimizing physical footprint and cost.

DreamCatcher’s 10GbE networking architecture connects multiple DC-458D nodes to create a system that scales easily for any 4K production while creating efficient workflows that enable operators to share and edit highlights. DC-458D adds new support for both high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rate (HFR), allowing immersive 4K replays and adding another dimension to 4K production.

Among product introductions is UHD integrated channel-playout product, OvertureRT LIVE UHD (OVRT-LIVE-UHD), which enables customers to quickly launch UHD channels with HDR. Evertz UHD with HDR provides the consumer with an immersive experience.

OVRT-LIVE-UHD is the complete UHD integrated channel playout engine, supporting the elements of traditional master-control video and audio transition, internal multichannel playout server, advanced audio processing, and advanced channel branding. For live programming, it supports quad-link 3G-SDI to switch sources into the engine.

Also being demonstrated is Mediator-X, OVRT-LIVE-VM, and Render-X-VM running on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances on the AWS Cloud. When it’s coupled with Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Glacier storage, broadcasters can implement a virtual playout facility running on the cloud. Evertz’s virtualized solution takes advantage of the multi-region and multiple Availability Zone (AZ) capabilities in AWS and the new Mediator-X clustered-core architecture to deliver a high-availability solution.