Spotlight on Sebastian Richter, Vice President Media Systems at Rohde & Schwarz.

We are currently in the middle of a transition phase with migration to several new technologies, from the move to IP-based infrastructure and the shift from linear to video-on-demand (VOD).
The question for all of us is how long that transition phase will last; it is going to be faster for some customers then for others – national broadcasters, for example – it will be a slower process.

Over the next eight years we are going to be in transition, and within that there will be vastly different rates of change among content owners and media organisations. As a technology provider the onus is on us to be flexible and adaptable to meet this wide range of requirements from our customers.

How has the role of Professional Services evolved in recent years and what vision do you have of the broadcast technology business? Covering new opportunities that the move to remote brings, new technologies such as 5G broadcast & the impact on the broadcast industry, and the challenges for broadcasters and how can they overcome them.

Now that OTT and VOD have become more mainstream, many commentators talk about traditional broadcast methods, like terrestrial transmission, being a thing of the past. With so many new platforms and non-traditional content services carving out a growing slice of the market, you can be forgiven for thinking that linear over-the-air television is on its way out. The reality is that the industry must strike a balance between meeting consumers’ shifting habits and the business and operational needs of content providers.

One of the major changes for broadcasters during the pandemic has been the shift towards remote production; by no means a new phenomenon in an IP environment, yet accelerated under lockdown to accommodate travel and gathering restrictions. A 2021 report found that almost 40% of broadcast professionals now employ remote production, up 9% on the previous year.

Rohde & Schwarz SpycerNode storage & VENICE ingest are perfect partners for Adobe workflows

In 2017 we saw the introduction of SMPTE 2110 and since then, the transition to IP has emerged as a priority for broadcasters looking to streamline their operations, decrease their footprint and effectively integrate with an industry in a rapid state of flux. A 2020 survey by Devoncroft found that almost 20% of broadcasters had already deployed SMPTE 2110, and over 25% were planning to do so. Then came the pandemic, precipitating the need for on-the-fly collaboration and accelerating the transition to remote, virtual and cloud production.

With the buzz of ‘cloud’ everywhere in our industry it would be natural to think that cloud is the only game in town. Isn’t it time to step back and consider very carefully how, or whether, you make that journey to the cloud?

A good technical specification will detail precisely what is required, from the equipment to the cables connecting it. Many specifications will give  particular manufacturers and model numbers. On many occasions, this makes tendering simple and gives vendors a secure and fair way to bid.

Rohde & Schwarz is the perfect ingest partner to build flexible workflows with Avid.

Sennheiser have just released two products aimed at simplifying audio on the move, the MKE400 shotgun microphone and the XS Lav Mic, in this review we’re looking at the MKE400.

The word “microservices” has been creeping into the conversation about software-centric systems recently. Is it really a different approach, what does it mean, and what are the advantages?

The word streaming can relate to different technologies from different manufacturers in different scenarios and in this short article we are going to take a little tour of what it all means. 

Built by Hollyland and costing around £600 the Mars 400S is an easy-to-use wireless video transmitter/receiver system – it will be right up the alley of anyone who, like me, considers an instruction manual to be nothing more than box padding.

Read Phils Full review here, and link to the video review.

The exponential growth of video supercharged a technological revolution that began in the early noughties with the advent of DSLR cameras.
The cinematic-style shallow depth of field image video quality from DSLRs was a revelation, but, back then audio was the big drawback. As demand has grown so the technology has improved and today’s one-man-band small rig set ups can capture pretty good sound into a DSLR style camera.

Phil Vinter reviews the latest release from HOLLYLAND and it's a thumbs up from us.

Perhaps you wouldn't expect an auctioneer to tell you this - but yes, there are risks to buying equipment at auction; just probably not the risks that you think.

So what are the real risks to buying at auction, and how can they be managed?

To watch the interview with Dan please click here

This purpose-built hub for broadcasters, facility houses and production companies was created when redevelopment of the old Salford Quays docks area began in 2007. UoS was among the first institutions to consider moving to MCUK, along with the BBC, which had already committed to transfer many of its departments from London.

The buzz around virtualised playout is exponentially growing with increased deployments. But questions remain about the economic, logistical and technical benefits to the end user.

Conversation has shifted and amplified, with the debate around the private/public cloud escalating and new cloud-native solutions entering the market. So, what do you need to consider today if you are thinking about virtualising?

A fundamental issue with control surfaces in modern broadcast operations is that they are, for the most part, old fashioned.

The ease, responsiveness, and functionality of touchscreens, especially in Smartphones are now commonplace. Attributes that are largely absent from touchscreens are typically buttons, sliders, and dials found on many control devices associated with human machine interaction.

Founded in London in the early 70s, Densitron was – as many companies are in the beginning - a small, specialist provider of an emerging range of thoughtfully assembled display technology products.

But that was 45 years ago. Although still London-based, it is no longer accurate to refer to Densitron as ‘small’. Consistent growth through the decades - coupled with recently becoming part of Quixant, the global gaming and broadcast technology group - has seen Densitron expand as part of a much larger, publicly traded company with offices in Europe, Asia, and America comprised of more than 200 employees generating annual turnover in excess of $100m.

Those that cannot do, teach… I did not enjoy typing those words, and for the most part, I do not believe it to be true.

There again, I’m am now a teacher, so perhaps you would expect me to say that? I am sure many believe it to be true, that if you really cannot cut it in the ‘real world’, there might instead be a career in teaching. The following is for those of you that have ever considered changing careers and going into education to provide teaching and learning, or for those of you that think most teachers teach because they cannot do anything else. I hope it provides a little bit of an insight.