[14 September]
Companies to demonstrate integration of Versio software and Huawei hardware at IBC2017
Imagine Communications, empowering the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation, is working closely with Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology solutions provider, to integrate Imagine’s Versio™ playout software with datacenter compute and networking equipment from Huawei. The collaboration between Imagine and Huawei, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is intended to provide media companies with an expansion of options for transitioning their playout operations to software-based, virtualized environments running on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware.
“This collaboration underscores our ongoing commitment to the evolution of the media industry to a technology foundation that injects new levels of agility, flexibility and responsiveness into traditional operations by moving them to pure software running on powerful COTS equipment,” said Charlie Vogt, CEO of Imagine Communications. “The strategic partnership unites two of the most innovative players in the broadcast and IT industries to provide media companies in the Asia Pacific region — and around the world — with a greater palette of hardware choices for deploying origination and other playout operations in a datacenter environment.”
The collaboration will initially focus on Versio, Imagine Communications’ cloud-native, microservices-based playout solution designed for pure-IP, geo-dispersed environments. Versio, a 100-percent software solution that supports both cloud and premises-based deployment models, enables media companies to build highly customized media workflows that evolve with market demand.
Imagine and Huawei are currently testing the integrated solution in a joint-lab facility and expect to initiate a commercial deployment before the end of the year. Additional solutions from the Imagine portfolio are scheduled for integration with Huawei equipment in the future.
Huawei will be demonstrating the delivery of IP workflows using Versio in its stand (Hall 13, A06) at IBC2017, which begins September 15 in Amsterdam. The demonstration will also include Imagine’s Selenio™ Media Convergence Platform (MCP) with Uncompressed over IP (UCIP) modules to support both ingress and egress traffic based on the SMPTE ST 2022-6 standard in a hybrid SDI-IP environment.
“Huawei aspires to become an enabler and preferred partner of media digital transformation,” said Xu Huangcheng, CTO of Huawei media industry solutions. “By jointly innovating with Imagine, Huawei offers Media Cloud Solutions featuring an open, flexible and secure platform to enable a new ecosystem to empower our partners to be leading providers of new ICT technologies for the media industry.”
Versio and additional playout, live production, OTT and ad management functionality will also be demonstrated at the Imagine Communications stand (4.A01).
For more information, please visit www.imaginecommunications.com.
Practical application of visually lossless compression delivers high-quality, high-efficiency live sports connectivity
Imagine Communications, empowering the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation, is collaborating with BT’s Media & Broadcast division on an industry-first demonstration at IBC2017 (Amsterdam RAI, 15 – 19 September). The two companies will show how visually lossless, low-overhead TICO compression can be used to increase the efficiency of contribution (backhaul) circuits for demanding live UHD content.
TICO lightweight compression, developed by IntoPix and now supported by the industrywide TICO Alliance, offers visually lossless performance at up to 4:1 compression with extremely robust performance. The compact nature of its algorithms make TICO ideal for implementation in software. Imagine Communications was an early supporter of TICO and other lightweight compression schemes for UHD on its Selenio™ media processing platform, including full support for 4K and HDR UHD.
At IBC2017 BT will be demonstrating a typical use case for the technology, using the Imagine Selenio implementation. It will show how multiple live UHD feeds from English Premier League stadiums can be transported over fibre to production hubs with no compromise in image or audio quality. This allows broadcasters to add production value, such as multiple feeds, commentary cameras and on-site studios, and more, while retaining the sparkling clarity of the UHD signal. The demonstration, hosted on the BT stand (O.D02) in the outdoor exhibits, incorporates Imagine Communications’ Selenio MCP solution into a bespoke fibre cabinet developed by BT for remote broadcast applications over its next-generation terabit fibre network.
Mark Wilson-Dunn, Vice President of BT Media & Broadcast, said: “We’re constantly innovating with partners to deliver a world-leading service to our clients. Our high-capacity fibre network, controlled remotely at the touch of a button, and combined with Imagine’s Selenio MCP solution, will allow production studios an unparalleled level of flexibility with their broadcasts.
“I’m looking forward to showcasing our work to the rest of the broadcast industry at IBC this year.”
Mark Senecal, VP of product management at Imagine Communications, added: “This is a hugely important demonstration. The lightweight, low-latency nature of TICO makes it ideal for live broadcasting when you cannot compromise either quality or reliability. Imagine is leading the industry in implementing both compressed and uncompressed UHD solutions, and our collaboration with BT Media & Broadcast has validated our approach so we are now ready to deliver into mission-critical applications. This demonstration is a game changer for the live remote broadcast industry.”
Imagine Communications will be demonstrating several products from its Selenio portfolio at IBC2017 (stand A.401), including the Selenio Network Processor, an all-IP-capable processing solution optimized for handling uncompressed UHD signals based on the SMPTE ST-2110 specification.
Additional information about these solutions and Imagine Communications can be found at www.imaginecommunications.com.
For more details on BT Media & Broadcast at IBC, visit www.mediaandbroadcast.bt.com/ibc2017
