PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a large-scale playout system for 24-hour TV news broadcaster N1 at the network's headquarters in Belgrade. CNN's exclusive regional news partner, N1 broadcasts via cable, direct-to-home satellite and on the Net TV Plus OTT platform. The project was commissioned via PlayBox Neo distribution partner PBT Adria which supervised the design, installation and operator training.

Commemorating United Nations recent annual World Television Day, PlayBox Neo (www.playboxneo.com) reports an ongoing increase in global demand for broadcast channels, both online and on-air. “Mobile viewing devices have become very popular over the years but the number of households with television sets continues to increase around the world,” says PlayBox Neo CEO Pavlin Rahnev. “Broadcast media have played a valuable role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by providing information and diversionary entertainment. Electronic connectivity throughout much of the developed world allowed many people to work from home, not least our own customers who were able to make full use of secure IP remote control to operate their PlayBox Neo broadcast production, scheduling and playout systems from any internet-connected PC.”

PlayBox Neo (www.playboxneo.com) announces the completion of an AirBox Neo-20 Channel-in-a-Box TV playout system for PSI Broadcasting, one of Thailand's leading suppliers of broadcast playout facilities. It will be assigned to tvN Thai which PSI transmits on behalf of Korean partner CJ ENM.

Televízia Arena Sport has chosen multiformat servers from PlayBox Neo. These will power an expansion to the channel branding and playout facilities at the broadcaster's production and transmission headquarters in Nitra, Slovakia. Three new sports channels will each be assigned an AirBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box system, delivering 1080i/50 high-definition with simultaneous internal transcoding to 625-line SD. The project was negotiated and supervised by Bratlislava-based systems integrator Centron Slovakia sro.

PBS39/WLVT-TV, part of Lehigh Valley Public Media based in Pennsylvania, has chosen a dual channel PlayBox Neo playout system for the third phase of the infrastructure expansion project which it commenced in Q4 2017. This latest phase includes the integration of an AirBox Neo platform with TitleBox Neo software which will be used for graphics and channel branding.

"PlayBox Neo has partnered closely with us so that we can operate five separate broadcast channels with the greatest possible efficiency," comments Andrea Cummis, Chief Technology Officer. "Phase 1 solved our requirement for a dependable and user-friendly core playout system which replaced legacy third-party servers. Phase 2, completed in Q3 2019, added a second ProductionAirBox Neo and two extra channels of CaptureBox Neo. Phase 3 continues our modernization program with an additional dual channel AirBox Neo server operating within a framework that gives our production staff fast access to the TitleBox Neo graphics creation and text manipulation toolset without having to move outside the main PlayBox Neo user interface. Our engineering staff continue to be impressed by the system's robust build, effective software integration and future-proof expandability.”

Spectra Logic, a leader in data storage and management solutions, today announced that it has established a collaborative relationship with Dalet, a global leader in media workflows. Dalet joins Spectra’s certification program to deliver a fully integrated solution that combines Dalet Galaxy five with Spectra’s BlackPearl^® Object Storage platform, providing a unique media asset management platform that extends from content creation to asset preservation. Bringing greater efficiencies and ease of use to users in media and entertainment, the joint solution encompasses production, asset management, orchestration, storage tiering and intelligent lifecycle management, and delivers the following:

PlayBox Neo marks the 21st anniversary of the AirBox broadcast playout system with the latest enhancements to its 1U and 3U Neo servers and IP-based Cloud2TV. These bring additional operating features and increased connectivity.

Production automation specialists nxtedition recently installed, commissioned, trained and handed over a four-studio newsroom system for Stockholm-based Expressen TV. Because of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, nxtedition was forced to achieve all this remotely, yet still got the new system on-air, on-time and on-budget.

PlayBox Neo announces a major addition to its product line with the introduction of Capture Suite, an ingest solution designed to increase the efficiency of television networks, post-production facilities and playout centers. Easy to integrate into any broadcast media environment, Capture Suite employs a client-server architecture which can be scaled to accommodate a practically unlimited number of channels.

Primestream, a leading provider of asset management and automation software solutions for media production, today announced that one of the world's largest-valuation technology companies has joined the Primestream enterprise client roster. As one of the technology industry's best-known brands, the new customer has made an initial purchase in excess of $1 million of Primestream's Xchange™ media asset management (MAM) platform, Media IO™ recording and playout solution, and related software and services.

Three Media, a specialist technology company, today announced it has joined the DPP, the media industry’s business network, with the aim of expanding its exposure and bringing its distinctive perspective to the forum.

Originally founded by UK broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, to standardise tapeless programme delivery, the DPP has broadened its scope to become a business hub for the media industry, solving their problems and creating new opportunities.

PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a high definition parliamentary broadcast playout system for the National Assembly of Thailand in Bangkok. The new installation is a complete end-to-end solution including ProductionAirBox Neo, TitleBox Neo and CaptureBox Neo. PlayBox Neo partnered in the project with Thai system integrator Broadcast Audio Service Company Limited and Bangkok-based distributor Mahajak Development Company Limited.

"The Thai government required a solution that would be reliable, operator friendly, space-efficient and future-proof," comments Banjongsak Wonggawee, BASC Project Engineer. "This is a complete new-install which gives the production team full control over the entire workflow from ingest right through to transmission. PlayBox Neo was the logical choice on every count. It was also easy to integrate with third-party devices which is crucial in the design of any system. The system we recommended is based on six production servers. Three of these are configured to capture, schedule and transmit proceedings from the 500-seat Chandra voting chamber in the Thai Senate plus three for the Surian chamber in the House of Representatives."

PlayBox Neo announces the completion of an expanded playout system at the Bangkok headquarters of Thai broadcaster TV Direct. The installation doubles the network's capacity from three to six channels, transmitted in high definition via direct-to-home satellite and online.

"PlayBox Neo's Channel-in-a-Box system has the fourfold advantage of being installer-friendly, efficient to operate, easy to expand and highly reliable," says TV Direct's MCR Manager Akarachai Tobsin. "This new investment comprises three additional AirBox Neo-19 servers, each configured with the resources we need to schedule programs, commercials and promos as far in advance as the production team chooses to work. AirBox Neo-19 also allows us to make near-to-air changes in playout running order or to transmit live whenever we choose. In operational terms, the control GUIs go beyond intuitive by being relaxing on the eyes rather than imposing a lot of glare. Content can be accessed quickly, trimmed and finessed, all within the Neo-19 environment. That saves staff time and ensures maximum confidence. The servers are located at our satellite uplink service provider, PSI Broadcasting, here in the same city, and operated via secure IP links which carry complete program files as well as control data."

Minacord Media, founded and owned by composer, songwriter, singer and instrumentalist Zeljko Joksimovic, has chosen PlayBox Neo Version 19 Channel-in-a-Box systems to power three new television channels: Kazbuka, K1 and TV Doctor. All three will be transmitted via cable and IPTV in Serbia, and on the Go4TV mobile-TV platform across Croatia, Slovenia, Austria plus the wider European Union, Switzerland, Canada and the USA. The project was negotiated and completed by PlayBox Neo distribution partner PBT Adria, from initial design and cabling through to on-site integration, configuration and testing.

"PlayBox Neo was the obvious choice for channel branding and playout as it gives us full control over the entire process from scheduling, titling and interstitials management right through to delivery," Zeljko Joksimovic comments. "A key requirement was the ability to automate as much as possible while keeping our production options open to accommodate live inserts or last-minute changes in running order. Efficient expandability and easy third-party device integration were also important so that we are free to add extra channels easily at any time in the future. PlayBox Neo answers at every level."

Trailer Park Group, the award-winning global entertainment marketing company, which counts many of the world’s most prestigious and successful companies, brands, media properties and film franchises among its clients, is the newest customer of IPV and will be using its latest release—CuratorNow—to allow their editors and producers to continue to produce video from home. IPV is delighted to welcome them aboard.

As global events force a change in the way people have to work, CuratorNow gives Trailer Park Group the functionality they need to seamlessly continue to produce secure, high-level content for their clients at full capacity from home.

IPV CEO Mark Fagan said, “As the world headed into temporary lockdown, Trailer Park Group realised that they needed a robust solution to enable their editorial team to continue to deliver new material for their clients under these unprecedented circumstances.

“The nature of their work required a rapid deployment solution that would both scale to meet their urgent needs but also give major studios the assurance that their content was secure even in the current, highly disruptive environment.”

Trailer Park Group CEO, Rick Eiserman, said, “Video editing brings a unique set of challenges to working from home so finding a robust, cloud editing solution was absolutely critical for Trailer Park Group. With over 300 creatives working on projects for the world’s top media and entertainment clients, we required a state-of-the-art product that both we and our clients can trust.