IBC Show Previews R – S
Rohde & Schwarz – Stand 7.B21
Rohde & Schwarz, a global leader in broadcast distribution and a trusted partner in media solutions, will be demonstrating how network operators and content providers can leverage 5G Broadcast technology for new business opportunities. Addressing the media production and playout industry Rohde & Schwarz will exhibit how their state-of-the-art media solutions provide speed, security, and scalability in an increasingly complex environment.
“Over the past years we have proven that 5G Broadcast is ideal to transmit any kind of data to large audiences, complementing existing terrestrial and mobile network distribution. Various application scenarios have been validated in field tests using our equipment,” said Manfred Reitmeier, Vice President Broadcast and Amplifier Systems at Rohde & Schwarz. “Now it is time to enter the next phase, developing business cases and preparing network plannings.”
Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate the latest technology developments and provide answers on how network operators and content distributors can increase their reach and target new customer groups. Technology and value chain partners will join the R&S experts’ team on the booth and give insights into the future of 5G Broadcast.
As a global leader in broadcast distribution, Rohde & Schwarz is committed to continuously developing its offering to address broadcasters’ needs today and into the future. R&S® TH1, the latest software-defined transmitter, will be on display and showcase its agile support across a wide range of formats, including the rapidly emerging 5G Broadcast. Engineered with performance, sustainability, resilience and efficiency in mind, the R&S® TH1 provides lower energy consumption and shapes a more sustainable future.
“The media industry is confronted with significant challenges in audience behavior and technological transformation,” highlighted Thorsten Sauer, Vice President Media Solutions at Rohde & Schwarz. “This is why our portfolio is focused on flexible solutions providing the highest degree of operational resilience and security.”
Rohde & Schwarz will exhibit their entire product line addressing these real business and technical challenges faced by the media industry. Being part of a large, privately-owned technology provider, and having its own network and cyber security unit, the broadcast and media division has stable and secure operation of its products engrained in the DNA.
“From our Gallium StreamMaster Playout solutions which power the most complex workflows of national broadcasters to the award-winning R&S®SpycerNode2 media storage solution, leveraging HPC (High Performance Computing) technology and VSA (Virtual Storage Access) – the most demanding and leading broadcasters and studios rely on the performance and reliability of our media solutions,” Thorsten Sauer concluded.
######
SDVI – Stand 5.H76
At IBC2023, SDVI will demonstrate how its Rally media supply chain management platform enables media companies to optimize every step of their supply chains, from content receipt to delivery, giving them true business agility, operational efficiency, and increased intelligence about their media operations. Since last year’s IBC, SDVI has released 23 Rally updates, encompassing more than 140 net new features and capabilities to its media supply chain management platform. At this year’s show, SDVI will highlight many of these new capabilities and showcase the wide variety of Rally use cases that boost value for media operations.
Highlights for SDVI at IBC2023
Rally Media Supply Chain Optimization PlatformThe SDVI Rally media supply chain platform enables optimization from ingest through delivery, empowering media organizations to provide the entertainment experiences audiences demand — faster, more economically, and more sustainably. Rally not only deploys all the applications and infrastructure needed to create a dynamic, responsive, cloud-enabled media supply chain but also orchestrates all supply chain actions. From content receipt to content distribution, Rally gives companies a uniquely comprehensive management platform for driving agility, efficiency, and intelligence in their media operations. Through its Net-Zero Supply Chains initiative, SDVI eliminates the carbon footprint for media operations that run on Rally supply chains, including all associated third-party applications.
In IBC2023, SDVI will focus on the breadth and depth of the Rally platform, including its ability to deliver supply chain optimization to a wide variety of customers including commercial media companies, public-service broadcasters, and movie studios. Some of the more than 140 new features added to Rally since last IBC include support for 4K, HDR, and IMF, which major studios need for their content delivery supply chains, as well as delivery rules governing pacing, concurrency, and “wait-until” settings to match destination requirements. SDVI has also added new asset hierarchies to Rally, enabling support for MovieLabs 2030 Vision and its Ontology for Media Creation and/or any other ontology that an organization wishes to use.
Rally in the AWS StandIn addition to being showcased in the SDVI stand, Rally is also serving as the official workflow orchestration and business logic platform for the media supply chain demonstrations in the AWS Stand (5.C90). The AWS demonstrations will highlight three workflows that utilize Rally as a central connection between multiple vendors, orchestrating media analysis and processing as content flows from ingest through distribution.
“At this year’s IBC Show, we look forward to showcasing the many innovations we’ve brought to the Rally platform over the past year, all to help media organizations derive maximum value and optimize across all stages of content preparation. We’re excited to share our successes in helping a wide range of media organizations optimize every step of their media supply chains across multiple use cases. It’s clear that the Rally platform is bringing greater efficiency, agility, and intelligence to media workflows for these organizations and giving them an advantage in the dynamic media market,” said Geoff Stedman, CMO, SDVI
######
Sennheiser – Stand 8.D50
Audio at its best: at IBC, Sennheiser, Neumann, Dear Reality and Merging Technologies will demonstrate state-of-the art immersive production workflows as well as exciting solutions for audio capture, monitoring and processing. Creators and audio professionals of all levels are welcomed to stand D50 in Hall 8.
Four spaces invite IBC visitors to explore state-of-the-art solutions for today’s content production: (1) the immersive presentation zone, (2) active and passive product islands, (3) a Neumann area and (4) a separate Wireless Multichannel Audio Systems (WMAS) zone.
(1) The immersive zone
In the immersive presentation zone, which is powered by a 5.1.4 Neumann monitor set-up with nine KH 150 monitor loudspeakers and two KH 750 DSP subwoofers, guests will be able to get hands-on with the Dolby Atmos/immersive broadcast workflows facilitated by the products of Merging Technologies, the latest member to join the Sennheiser Group. The company shows their Anubis, Hapi, Pyramix and Ovation solutions integrated in typical broadcast workflows. In addition to their new Dolby Atmos certified monitoring package, Merging Technologies will show a brand-new interpretation solution.
In the same space, visitors are invited to experience Dear Reality’s dearVR SPATIAL CONNECT for Wwise. The software is previewed at IBC for the first time – and enables game designers to develop the audio directly in the VR or AR gaming environment, instead of having to switch between systems. The in-game mixing workflow will provide a revolutionary in-headset control of Wwise audio middleware sessions and will improve the workflow for next-generation XR productions.
Other presentations in this area include AMBEO 2-Channel Spatial Audio for live production, using an Anubis to create an enhanced immersive stereo feed from an immersive audio production source, and information sessions on WMAS, Sennheiser’s broadband wireless technology.
(2) Audio in focus: product islands
Product islands across the stand highlight various aspects of the audio production workflow, such as location-independent monitoring of multichannel formats, which is facilitated through Dear Reality’s dearVR PRO spatializer and dearVR MONITOR with any set of good monitoring headphones.
Sennheiser wireless audio solutions centre around the Evolution Wireless Digital family and its Smart Asist app and WSM software. A special focus is on the new EW-DP series for broadcasters (ENG), videographers and filmmakers, and the series’ plug-on transmitter with recording functionality that will be available at the end of October. For ENG work, Sennheiser’s 1.9 GHz solution AVX will be on display, too, while EW-DX and Digital 6000 wireless microphone systems cater to live audio productions and broadcast studio applications.
Whether recording music in the studio, shooting an interview for an ENG job or recording the sounds of earth’s most remote places, the Sennheiser MKH 8000 RF condenser microphone series has become a firm favourite with sound engineers, broadcasters and field recordists. Sennheiser will showcase the new MZF 8000 II broadcast filter, and also preview another addition to the series.
Part of the creators’ offer, the Sennheiser Mobile Kits (e.g. the MKE 400 mini shotgun microphone) are a great choice for content creation with DSLRs and mobile phones, while the Profile USB microphone provides an ideal entry into podcasting. Professional broadcast headsets for cameramen and commentators, as well as monitoring headphones for the studio and ENG work, round off the product offer.
(3) The Neumann.Berlin area
On active display are the company’s new MT 48 audio interface and a wide variety of its classical studio microphones, including the BCM 104 and BCM 705 broadcast microphones, the M 49 V, the TLM 102, the revered U 87 Ai and the KU 100 binaural head. Visitors can also try out the Neumann NDH 20 and NDH 30 with music from their own smartphones – including the brand-new black version of the NDH 30 that will start shipping from September.
For live audio applications, Neumann’s KM small-diaphragm mics and the MCM Miniature Clip Mic System are on display, including the many dedicated mounting accessories that make MCM such a great choice for close-miking instruments.
(4) WMAS: Experience the future of wireless transmission today
In a separate, closed-to-the-public experience space just across the aisle (8C47), VIP customers will get demonstrations and first-hand information on WMAS, the game-changing broadband wireless technology currently developed by Sennheiser. At the main stand, presentations of the technology will be given on the Friday afternoon and Saturday of the show.
######
Shotoku – Stand 11.c10
Shotoku Broadcast Systems, international manufacturer of high-quality, easy-to-use, robust and reliable robotic and manual camera support systems, is heading to IBC 2023 with the latest version of its TR-XT Touchscreen control system. The v3 retains all its predecessors’ popular features but incorporates a significant software upgrade that adds numerous capabilities and built-in functionalities. The TR-XT will be demonstrated on Stand 11.C10 with highlights of Shotoku’s extensive product portfolio including SmartPed, Shotoku’s flagship fully robotic pedestal shown with AN-S Absolute Navigation, the TI-11X elevator pedestal paired with the Company’s advanced TG-18i pan/tilt head, the latest Orchestra CMS control system designed to address the growing demands of today’s televised legislature proceedings, and the intuitive AutoFrame face tracking system.
“The TR-XT Touchscreen control system has always kept pace with the changing customer requirements that come with our ever-evolving broadcast industry” said James Eddershaw, Managing Director of Shotoku Ltd. “We’re excited to publicly launch the latest version to the European market at IBC and discuss its new features and capabilities with existing customers and visitors.”
TR-XT Version 3 Makes European Debut The latest version of TR-XT builds upon all the proven capabilities of Shotoku’s flagship control system with a fresh Windows-based GUI featuring a crisp new layout and easier to read icons. The system preserves all the core power, flexibility and resilience users have come to expect from a Shotoku control system. A back-up link provides a separate network connection for the control panel and TR-XT computer, and there are no single points of failure that can affect the entire system. Numerous functionalities are included as standard, such as key-frame sequences (essential for those impressive show openers or beauty shots), on-air tally interfacing and preview router control.
The highly flexible design allows any number of cameras to be connected to the system. Camera maps can be saved and assigned to any show and loaded instantly. Multiple TR-XTs can access a common database of shows and maps allowing any connected system to run any studio on the network whether they are next door, or across the country.
TR-XT v3 is already deployed and on-air at several European sites but this is the first opportunity to showcase its capabilities to a wider audience at IBC.
SmartPed Fully Robotic Pedestal with AN-S Absolute Navigation System SmartPed, Shotoku’s high-performance fully robotic pedestal, will be shown with AN-S, the Absolute Navigation System with integrated MoSys StarTracker™ optical tracking system. AN-S provides a fully integrated solution, including the optical tracking system for situations where customers do not already have installed optical tracking. It offers the perfect option for those applications where referencing the is inconvenient or the design of the studio leaves no scope for a floor tile reference position.
TI-11X Elevator Pedestal In another first for the IBC show Shotoku will show the TI-11X elevator pedestal. The TI-11X is based on Shotoku’s new X-Height elevator column and offers a greater range of travel and increased speed over the existing TI-11 elevator pedestal. The completely new design of the pedestal’s base makes cable management simpler with self-contained power and network connectivity incorporated within the unit. The TI-11X is compatible with the TG-18/18i or TG-47 PT heads.
TG-18i PT Pan/Tilt Head The TG-18i, the latest version of the hugely successful TG-18 studio pan/tilt head, is ideal as either a standalone PT head, or paired with one of Shotoku’s elevator solutions. The head is fully integrated featuring a high payload and simple connectivity. All the key features which have made the TG-18 so successful remain – such as perfect motion and full manual override with fluid damping – all in a self-contained package. At IBC the head will be demonstrated with the TI-12 high-performance height drive for manual pedestals. Seamlessly adding remote elevation control to an otherwise fully-manual studio pedestal, such as Shotoku’s own TP-200.
TG-47 Pan and Tilt Head The latest addition to the Shotoku range of pan and tilt heads, the TG-47 sits between the well-established TG-27 and TG-18i heads in terms of payload. Like all Shotoku heads the TG-47 moves with fine control and smoothness for perfect on-air moves. With a payload of 22kg it can support a wide range of cameras and accessories, including typical 17-19” teleprompters. Being compact and lightweight, it can be used in smaller studios and on SmartRail ceiling systems too.
AutoFrame face tracking Shotoku takes automation to another level with AutoFrame – a powerful system allowing any Shotoku robotic camera to be controlled smoothly and intelligently through automatic face tracking algorithms developed specifically for the application. With AutoFrame, multiple cameras will automatically maintain correct framing of a presenter and/or guest. Framing is held according to easily definable parameters and always makes on-air appropriate adjustments, so there is no longer any need to have an operator dedicated to reframing during live broadcasts. AutoFrame is tightly integrated with the TR-XT control system and can be applied to new or existing installations with ease.
Orchestra CMS – Taking control of the Legislature Shotoku’s latest version of its Orchestra CMS control system software is Ideally suited for use in legislative, conference and corporate facilities of any size and type, Orchestra CMS features an enhanced user interface that makes operation simpler and more intuitive than ever. Fully automated and with live video touch-screen operation, Shotoku’s world-leading system can rapidly position multiple cameras to precisely defined positions in response to either an operator command or an external automated trigger. Advanced setup features increase operational flexibility and include a live video spotter camera, floor plan graphic, and/or automated microphone selection triggers.
######
Sofia Digital – Stand 1.D98
Sofia Digital and Twise have worked together again to enrich the CIPlus 2.0 USB Conditional Access Module experience by triggering the services list installation from the CAM. Come and visit us to discuss the solution at Sofia Digital’s booth 1.D98 at IBC Amsterdam 2023!
DVB-I (Internet) is a new addition to the DVB family. DVB-I delivers services over the Internet to devices with broadband access. It can be combined with DVB-T (2), DVB-S and DVB-C, maintaining a similar user experience. The DVB-I Pilot running in Germany has successfully proven this. One of the outcomes of this Proof of Concept was related to the importance of flawless services list discovery.
By bringing a CIPlus 2.0 USB CAM into the equation, it can improve this requirement. An Operator Profile resource from the CAM IP service discovery can be used, linking to a DVB-I service list instead of a traditional OSDT. The TV will then perform a DVB SI-driven broadcast scan, and will then be able to use the DVB-I service list signaled by the CAM to create and install the hybrid service list of the operator or broadcaster.
Both Sofia Digital and Twise are working closely with the various stakeholders of the ecosystem to ensure that this solution will be deployed in the near future.
The DVB-I implementation, native or via an HbbTV App, combined with a USB CAM, will allow operators to provide their customers with a hybrid “set-top box like” user experience without the need for a separate set-top box device. With this approach, the operators will be able to save money and offer broadband and broadcast services, giving users the best of both worlds.
Xavier Teil, Twise co-founder, reports: “Sofia Digital and Twise are always trying to innovate and bring values to the current eco-system. Traditional Conditional Access remain predominant and require a hardware anchor. The CIPlus 2.0 USB CAM is a natural way to customize operator need (DVB-I and Pay-TV access) in the TV set.”
Juho Mäyränpää, Sales Director at Sofia Digital states: “Sofia Digital has been putting continuous effort on services for large operators and conditional access is a big part of those solutions. At IBC 2023, Sofia Digital demonstrates Application for Premium Operators, which includes CI+ and XCA conditional access solutions, among many other interesting features.”
######
Sony – Stand 13.A10
At IBC 2023, Sony will showcase innovative solutions for the Media Industry under the theme of Creativity Connected. It rests on long-term commitment to customers around core technologies allowing them to be ever more creative and efficient, bearing in mind an environmentally responsible strategy.
Sony’s complete ecosystem of solutions, products and services reflect four strategic areas of focus which are shaping the media industry, namely:
- Networked Live, an evolving platform enabling the optimization of people, locations, and processing for each and every live production environment, whether they be on the ground or in the cloud.
- Creators’ Cloud, Sony’s cloud platform dedicated to efficient media production, sharing and distribution.
- Imaging, with colour science, flexibility and ease of operation at the heart of Sony’s cameras and lenses, in particular its Cinema Line range, including CineAlta cameras and reference monitors, and the added benefit of SDK-based remote control.
- Virtual Production, for film production that combines the Virtual Production Toolset software with Crystal LED displays for high brightness and contrast 3D set background images and rich colour reproduction, and the VENICE camera series, for soft and delicate depictions, smooth skin tones, and beautiful colour reproduction. Sony will be sharing more about its Virtual Production solutions at the IBC Innovation Stage on September 16th September at 10am.
“We look forward not only to meeting many of our long-term partners, friends and customers,“ said Olivier Bovis, Head of Media Solutions, “but also to showcase our most recent announcements. We know that value creation, remote and distributed production, platforms and workflows efficiencies are the cornerstones of any broadcaster or media industry business in the next few years and we will be shaping the future with them to bring production at any scale, anywhere.”
As Sony believes that every member of the media industry has a responsibility to behave ethically and reduce their environmental impact, its booth will highlight the latest initiatives from Sony in this regard.
######