11th August saw Calrec light up its historic Nutclough Mill building in red at night to help raise the alarm for the live events and entertainment sector as part of the #WeMakeEvents campaign.

Backed by a wide range industry bodies and companies, a series of events was held on Tuesday across the UK to highlight the plight of those struggling for work as a result of the pandemic. The live entertainment sector has been particularly badly hit, with calls to the government to step in and provide more assistance. The sector is in critical condition.

Calrec continues to expand its global coverage with the appointment of Wild & Marr in South Africa who will supply and service Calrec’s TV and radio product range across the region and install them in its forthcoming Experience Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Calrec has created a new position to further cement its reputation as a market leader in IP technology. Dave Sampson has taken on the role of Network Specialist to provide in-house expertise that strengthens Calrec’s ability to support customers in the move to IP.

A Calrec team member for seven years, Sampson previously held the role of Product Test Engineer where he was responsible for compliance testing of Calrec’s AoIP products to industry standards including ST2110, AES67, NMOS and more.

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Recognising the extraordinary circumstances in which the world finds itself, Calrec is working closely with its newly expanded dealer network to provide information and technical assistance to help overcome current working restrictions.

Dave Letson, VP of Sales, Calrec, says, “We are reaching out to provide as much assistance as we can and working alongside our expanding dealer network to advise customers as to how Calrec’s technology can help, especially in the short term.”

Calrec is undertaking a series of partner web events to educate its community on IP, virtual working and at-home production techniques. Using a combination of webinar content and Q&As with product management, Calrec aims to develop its network of global partners on product introductions including enhanced IP core redundancy and a closer alignment with NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 in all IP-enabled Calrec technology.

The company is also rolling out a series of Calrec Assist demos to partners and customers to illustrating how this technology can be used to mix live broadcasts remotely. Calrec Assist is a web application which provides the ability to mix a show over an IP network from anywhere in the world. It works with Calrec’s VP2 and Type R virtual consoles and is currently being used by a UK broadcaster to mix news bulletins while homeworking.

“Our customers are using a combination of Calrec equipment to enable them to continue to broadcast whilst working from home,” adds Letson. “We’re encouraging our distributors and partners to keep across new Calrec developments so that they are able to help broadcasters to maximise their output in these difficult circumstances.”

Building on the success of its Type R for Radio Calrec has launched Type R for TV — a virtual mixing console that lets customers take advantage of virtual workflows. Its flexible and integrated native IP core integrates with station automation systems, rewarding customers with the benefits of virtual working practices.

Type R for TV fulfills the rising demand for automated audio consoles in smaller news operations, which is becoming more prevalent according to Calrec’s Director of Product Management, Henry Goodman. “More often we’re seeing the console surface not used at all, which is driving the demand for broadcast-level virtual consoles,” he said.

Type R for TV is compatible with popular station automation systems including Ross Overdrive, Sony ELC and Grass Valley Ignite. Furthermore, it provides fully automated programming with real-time adjustment of unpredictable external factors via a standard web browser.

Type R’s small, adaptable and highly portable hardware elements can be easily added if desired.Powered by standard POE switches, Type R has three different panel options. If broadcasters prefer a physical surface then banks of 6 x faders can be added, or adaptable soft panels like Calrec’s Large Soft Panel (LSP) and Small Soft Panel (SSP) can be used.

Calrec’s Assist web UI makes it easy to access the virtual desk on almost any device, wherever in the world a user is. Assist works over TCP/IP and has minimal control lag, which makes minor adjustments easy and quick to do.

Goodman continued, “The move towards virtual mixing is gaining momentum, particularly in the US market. Calrec’s Serial Control Protocol (CSCP) has already provided a very successful transition to this model. It allows the audio console to be configured and driven entirely from the production control room’s vision switcher and remote fader panel, and Type R for TV builds on that legacy while maintaining our reputation for resilience and redundancy.”

Type R for TV will be on show at NAB 2020 at Central Hall t stand C8008.

Appear TV, a leading provider of next-generation high-quality video processing platforms for broadcast and streaming, has launched Zixi input and output support on the X platform.

The Appear TV X platform is a dedicated solution for high speed video networking, enhanced IP security, video distribution and contribution. Designed for near limitless capacity, extensive video awareness, enhanced security, operational simplicity and exceptionally high reliability, the platform redefines video delivery.

“We see an increased demand for modular video transport solutions over IP, providing the flexibility broadcasters and operators require, whilst maintaining ease of use, power efficiency and density,” says Thomas Lind, product management director, Appear TV. “Our partnership with Zixi allows our customers to tap into the Zixi cloud service for broadcast-quality video delivery over public IP networks, presenting a natural extension to our X platform.”

The X platform consists of a compact 1RU - X10 as well as a capacious 2RU - X20 option. The products can both be fitted with a range of input, processing and output modules that enable bridging between commonly used legacy video platforms and an all-IP infrastructure. With support for MPEG TS multiplexing, DVB scrambling/descrambling and high-density/low-latency AVC/HEVC encoding/decoding, the X platform is ideal for video processing in legacy DVB network such as cable, satellite, terrestrial and IPTV, as well as OTT. The dual IP IO modules provide native 10G uni- and bi-directional port connectivity, and the software-defined hardware allows for a variety of software features to run on identical hardware modules. All modules, power supplies and fans are of course hot-swappable.

The one-day event is free of charge and will be packed with information on new products, future technologies, hands-on demos, lectures and exhibits and will show current projects under production based in the halls of one of Europe’s biggest system integrators. The company established the Broadcast Innovation Days as a series to inform visitors about the latest innovations and trends in broadcasting. Already 15 Innovation Days took place all over the world with more than 1.500 visitors attending.

Argosy, a leading international supplier of broadcast cables and infrastructure products, has announced a strategic partnership with networking specialist, Allied Telesis. The collaboration brings a new range of intelligent switching equipment to the broadcast industry, promising to simplify and better control networks through automation, in a world where network management has become increasingly critical and complex.

Imagine Communications has appointed Tom Gittins as its new senior director of sales UK, Ireland and South Africa (UKISA), for its playout and networking business. Gittins has been tasked with expanding Imagine Communications’ presence across these markets and supporting broadcasters and media companies as they migrate to IP, cloud and virtualization.

Argosy, a leading international supplier of broadcast cables and infrastructure products, is demonstrating a full range of signal distribution and intelligent networking solutions at BVE (stand C60). Their aim is to help broadcasters create more efficient, greener networks that support the ever increasing power and resource demands driven by data hungry online applications, streaming video, social media and customer interaction.