NAB 2016: EVS Makes IP Advances, Intros Referee Replay System
EVS hits NAB 2016 with continued advances in its IP 4 Live program, the company’s efforts to help customers transition from baseband to IP operations.
“The first part is to protect our customers’ past investment,” says Muriel De Lathouwer, managing director/CEO, EVS. “An investment in infrastructure is amortized over five to seven years ,and we don’t want to reduce that time.
“Second,” she continues, “is the hybrid approach: unless a new facility is built from scratch, you need to take SDI into account and help customers evolve step by step, in a really smooth way, from SDI to IP. And, finally, we need to have the best workflow, best-of-breed solutions, and embrace open standards and interoperability.”
Along those lines, EVS has joined the AIMS Alliance.
“It’s important to have open standards, and the success the Alliance is getting helps the industry move to IP in an efficient way,” she adds.
“IP at the heart of live production is becoming a reality, and, at NAB, we’ll show just how it’s being done,” says Johan Vounckx, SVP, innovation and technology, EVS. “Fully interoperable, IP-based solutions are critical to making all parts of the live-production workflow as efficient as possible and to making live media delivered to today’s wide range of media platforms.”
The EVS Xeebra referee system made its debut at Super Bowl 50 for CBS Sports.
Among the IP-based product offerings on display at the EVS booth is EVS’s XiP media gateway, which expands the EVS XT3 and XS3 media-production servers into an IP-based facility. Fully 4K/UHD- enabled with an easy-to-use interface, the DYVI next-generation IT switcher unlocks new creative abilities with scalability and flexibility.
Also at NAB 2016 is a new replay system, appropriately named Xeebra, designed to help those involved in official replay review or analysts in the broadcast booth have easier access to replay functionality via touchscreen. Xeebra made its debut at Super Bowl 50, where it was used by officiating expert Mike Carey in the official broadcast booth.
“Xeebra’s functionality is superb,” says Carey. “I can go frame-by-frame or slow motion, backward or forward. It has all the manipulations I could ever need. It took me from the stone age to supersonic speed, and speed is the most important thing in this game.”
The key to the system is the touchscreen, which enables multiple screen views of continually synchronized content from up to 16 HD cameras for instant action recalls. Users can narrow views from all 16 to four, two, or full-screen views through simple touches to make immediate decisions. A dedicated controller provides extended operations for direct access to actions, tactile jog dial, and the ability to manage marked reviews at any time.
“I need to see more in a short period of time, about 25 seconds,” adds Carey. “With the multiscreen view, I can do that.”
Xeebra also has a distributed server architecture and GigE link, allowing officials to sit wherever they want within the stadium while server equipment stays tucked out of sight. Xeebra also supports SuperMotion cameras for better views on critical decisions and pinch and zoom capabilities for easy review, and its server-based design provides scalability along with legendary EVS reliability.
“Now leagues looking to bring instant multicamera video review to their sports, service providers that want to support this new demand, and broadcasters seeking a simple, isolated review system can have it, with one, easy tool,” says Laurent Petit, VP, product, EVS.
Other highlights at the booth include XT Channel Max, providing the ability to have up to 12 channels and more, depending on the type of super-motion system being used.
The XS Platform, meanwhile, is a next-generation ingest-playout and content-management system for studio operations.
“It’s focused on reliability, speed, and access to media and flexibility,” says Nicholas Bourdon, SVP, marketing, EVS. “It is available in four-, six-, eight-, 10-, or 12-channel configurations.”