TVS, a regional TV broadcaster based in on the Island of Borneo, has selected cloud and broadcast systems integration company Ideal Systems to design and build its next generation News Studios and Newsroom Computer Systems (NRCS) in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

In a first of its kind, the state-of-the-art News Studios and MCR (Master Control Room) will run on a redundant hybrid SDI/ NDI (IP) infrastructure designed by Ideal Systems as part of a larger system that will deliver TVS’ vision of creating a new digital media hub in Sarawak. The cloud enabled NDI infrastructure includes Newtek TC1 and TC2 Elite NDI integrated switchers for the news studio and multi-purpose studio, with Kiloview NDI converters. The baseband infrastructure, signal processing and routing will utilize the latest state of art software defined Ultrix routing and multi-viewing solution from Ross Video.

On the cutting-edge solution design, Updesh Singh, Director of Technology at Ideal Systems said: “Our robust hybrid system architecture has a NDI signal for every signal baseband path. All signals are active, and TVS can use any signal they want when they want it. All signals can be used as stand-by to each other, or even for different purposes in the signal chain. The idea was to incorporate change management into the solution so engineers and operators who are used to SDI baseband can start using IP signals by actually understanding the differences and advantages of using either. Some unique workflows are being created that combine best of both worlds. Our hybrid SDI/NDI design is incredibly robust and creates a newfound confidence in operators who are free to unleash their creativity on the content without any fear as the system is highly flexible and offers unrivalled redundancy. The future roadmap will add Cloud based broadcast infrastructure and signal processing hence using NDI was a vital foundation for system futureproofing. This will allow TVS to quickly and easily add and manage more content, more signals, more channels, and new media platforms by leveraging the elasticity of their IP architecture.”

Chief Executive Officer of TVS, Suhaimi Sulaiman, added: “For TVS, the most important thing is the quality of our production. Of course, we also want glitch free broadcast and a reliable system.”

The studios will be equipped with the latest 4K ready Ikegami cameras with HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) mode for highest quality HDR (High Dynamic Range) picture output. The studios will use VizRT’s advanced on-air computer graphics capabilities including VR (Virtual Reality) and camera tracking systems to support AR (Augmented Reality) for immersive storytelling and news coverage and are also NDI enabled.

The solution from Ideal will integrate the NRCS and key systems including MAM (Media Asset Management) PAM (Production Asset Management) Playout and automated quality control into seamless hybrid NDI workflows for the newsroom operators. The NRCS, MCR playout, Studio Playout, PAM systems are all software based and are provided by SI-Media to support over forty news journalists. The software runs on SI-Media’s latest YES platform which is a micro service architecture with docker applications running on HTML clients all of which can be cloud enabled.