NAB 2023: GV Announces Major AMPP Advances and Innovations Across the Entire Portfolio 

Grass Valley has announced new hardware and software tools that open new operation and collaboration models.

“We have invested heavily in new product innovation and pushed the boundaries of capability for software-defined media production,” said Marek Kielczewski, CTO, Grass Valley. ‘’The result is a GV Media Universe (GVMU) that is stronger and more feature-rich than ever.’’

GV Media Universe is a collaborative ecosystem of purpose-built software and hardware solutions designed for broadcast and media production. It is built on AMPP which is a software-based platform that provides all the features needed for the most demanding media production applications.

GVMU supports workflows that bring together new technology innovation and industry leading products from Grass Valley as well as apps contributed by its Alliance Partners. The combined solution is designed in a way that ensures that customers can adapt to changing conditions easily – and make those changes in the context of the technology they already have.

“GVMU isn’t just about the cloud. It’s about flexibility and producing amazing content at an affordable price,” continued Kielczewski. ‘’There is a range of topologies that are available including hosting equipment and media on premise. GVMU provides a flexible path to the cloud, and migration to more complete cloud workflows as they fit our customers’ needs. It really can be unique to every customer. That’s what you are going to see at NAB.”

In addition to the innovative technology from Grass Valley featured at NAB, 16 third-party vendors from the GV Alliance will demonstrate how their validated solutions expand the capabilities in the GV Media Universe for contribution, distribution, intercom, graphics, audio mixing, commentary and more.

New solutions launching at NAB 2023 include AMPP Local, which provides a new option for a SaaS platform that is entirely on-premises. When you need to be completely disconnected from the internet whether in-venue or in mobile units, AMPP Local hosts the entire AMPP platform both control plane and data plane,using on premise infrastructure.

Also showing for the first time is the AMPP Streaming SDK. The SDK makes it easy for third-party devices to plug into the internet and appear as a source on a global router without any kind of hub, tunnelling, setting IP ports, or any other specialised procedure to stream 10-bit HDR and UHD signals to and from the cloud over a WAN with a quality and responsiveness that is specifically designed for live performance.

AMPP Grid provides data centre scalability by allowing multiple nodes to work in unison as a single pool of compute. The total I/O of the system grows as more AMPP Edge devices are added. Systems connected with AMPP Grid can grow incrementally, adding a node at a time to effectively manage cost. Nodes can also be connected to provide high availability backup for the technology stack.

Also new is the LDX C135 compact camera for easy positioning and remote operation. The LDX C135 offers all the award-winning features of the full-size UHD HDR native LDX 135 camera in a compact housing. It integrates with robotics and Creative Grading X remote shading to provide new options for rich storytelling from all those hard to reach, unmanned places. The camera is a fully SMPTE 2110 IP camera with optional JPEG XS for bandwidth-constrained environments.

Saving production resources without sacrificing storytelling, Framelight X asset management can automatically gather and repurpose content using deep integration with LiveTouch X replay, HTML5 graphics, craft editors, transcoders, and AI services. Playlists are assembled from replay highlights, local files may be uploaded by any operator, and federated rendering brings together the work of a distributed creative team in a single project that may be published to a wide variety of formats and channels.

Ignite production automation now controls AMPP applications and connected devices in the cloud, on-prem, or mixture of both. The integration means a production system can be adapted to meet the needs of the moment by temporarily spinning up any number of Densité X Clip Player HD channels as required, populate them from Framelight X or an on-prem MAM, and then trigger playback and production switching as part of a newsroom rundown. Ignite X preserves existing investment with a natural pathway to the next generation of production automation.

A new Kayenne switcher panel affords TDs comfort in a recognized layout combined with additional flexibility in a touchscreen within the transition module. Also new is a software update that allows custom assignment of M/E keyers for optimized usage of all available keyers.

GV Playout X will also be demonstrating new HTML5 graphics options that allow graphics operators to contribute from anywhere. GV Playout X also continues to simplify transition to cloud-enhanced workflows from existing playout systems.

Highlighting the ability of software-defined processing to continuously evolve, both the Densité XIP-3911 and Kudos Pro series will demonstrate new functionality along with new MV-Flex and KIP-X240 multiviewers.

“We recognize that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution,” said Ian Fletcher, Senior VP, Enterprise Product Strategy Grass Valley. “That’s why attendees at NAB will see how Grass Valley technology allows them to efficiently create and distribute content with examples from many different applications – both local and remote. We’ll be demonstrating systems that use elements of SDI, IP, and cloud to create the best solution for their circumstances. For every production challenge, we are part of the answer.”