News Insider: Broadcast Equipment Sale, Object Storage Solutions and many more

Christmas Message from the CEO

Dear Customers, Vendors, Partners and Friends

I trust like Techtel, you have all enjoyed a successful 2018 and are looking forward to creating more impact in 2019 and beyond.

2018 saw Techtel achieve some meaningful milestones. This included the establishment of a new division of valuable sales and support team members in our Singapore branch, helping the company serve the South East Asian market on a local level.

Although our core business has been systems integration, this year we have launched our own IPTV offering – a professional grade IPTV solution, designed to serve the specific streaming needs of enterprises, sport, live events and remote workers’ industries.

This year also saw the delivery of some exciting global projects including the first operational remote broadcast centre in Australia for the Australian Open, where together with Gearhouse Broadcast we created the infrastructure that would enable the domestic broadcaster to match what they traditionally did on-site, at a much lower cost. This work was recognised by a Content & Technology Award at the ABE Show, awarded to Gearhouse Broadcast for their excellent work at Australian Open 2018.

We were also proud to expand our expertise into the South Pacific by commissioning a transmitter system for Digital Terrestrial TV in Papua New Guinea for the country’s largest ICT provider Digicel, enabling the delivery of more than 30 additional services for its subscribers in Port Moresby, over two newly added transport streams.

We are pleased to conclude the year with the launch of seven studios at the ABC throughout Australia with Techtel’s comprehensive broadcast automation solution, including their first HD news studio. Today, Australia’s flagship news programs such as the 7.30 Report, News 24 Channel, Behind the News, local 7PM bulletins and many others are now being broadcast from brand new studio and control rooms, featuring fully automated broadcast technology, widespread use of robotic camera systems, integrated with the latest software solutions.

Right now, we’re preparing towards the completion of ABC’s national rollout of the AP ENPS newsroom system, a key component of their new Integrated Media System (IMS) which will be fully commissioned and live once Darwin cut over in early 2019.  This was a multi-year project which involved Techtel connecting approximately 70 TV and Radio sites in capital and regional cities to one central ENPS server. As a result, ABC News production teams throughout the country can easily collaborate on and share content produced for their TV, Radio and Digital News platforms.

In 2019, our continued focus will remain on consultancy, project engineering and support excellence, helping our customers grow their customer base and continuing to strengthen our strategic partnerships with technology vendors.

On behalf of the Techtel team worldwide, I wish you all safe and happy holidays!

Mal Chandler

Techtel CEO

Techtel helps Brightside Live cut the cord for delivery of West Coast’s largest Sports and Corporate Events

(Sydney, Australia, 27 November 2018) Techtel, Australia’s leading broadcast systems integrator has deployed an industry-leading, robust wireless broadcast system from AbonAir for Brightside Live, the live production company of choice for a number of Australia’s West Coast flagship sporting and corporate events. This comes as Brightside Live continues to expand into larger arenas and more complex projects requiring longer wireless range and uncompromised stability and robustness of a wireless system in a live environment.

With Brightside’s over 200 live production projects per year and almost 30 years’ experience, organisations with broadcasting needs such as Perth Wildcats, Western Force, West Coast Fever, Chevron, BHP and Bankwest are relying on them to deliver their critical events - be it production for a nightly live stadium sporting event or regular real-time streaming services for corporate stakeholders. As their projects expanded into more complex events and larger arenas, Brightside Live required a new robust wireless broadcast camera system with a larger area coverage, more reliable transmission and minimal latency.

In response to Brightside’s distinctive specifications, Techtel supplied, and tested ABonAir’s Wireless Broadcast system, consisting of a transmitter, receiver and an antenna system based on Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) design to enhance performance and ensure coverage even in extreme radio signal environments. The ABonAir AB507 enables video transmission of up to 1,000 meters, making it suitable for use at any stadium in Australia, and has an unprecedented delay of 7 milliseconds between shooting the content from Brightside’s roving camera and having it available at their control room ready for broadcasting.

Today, Brightside Live is actively using the AbonAir system for both corporate and sporting events including the Western Force, Perth Wildcats and Westcoast Fever games, BHP, CBH and Chevron Town Hall Meetings, various high profile gala dinners and many others, often multiple events at a time. David Salt, Managing Director at Brightside Live said: “Our customers want a high-quality, broadcast-like experience for their streaming & live viewers. Second to human expertise is the technology that drives this experience, and it is the wireless broadcast camera system provided to us by Techtel that enables us to deliver a robust and reliable service for an event of any scale, shape or size”.

“After the rigorous selection process conducted by Brightside Live we were thrilled to be selected to provide them with the ABonAir wireless camera system. The reliability and coverage range of the AbonAir AB507 wireless camera system is exceptional, which I am sure will translate into more brilliant productions and projects for Brightside live in the future”, commented Mal Chandler, CEO at Techtel.

About Brightside Live

The team at Brightside Live boasts nearly 30 years’ experience in live technical production of corporate and sporting events. Combining wide ranging technical knowledge, eye-catching show creativity, venue acquaintance, industry expertise and precise execution the company benchmarks events to unrivalled standards. Brightside Live is based in Perth, Western Australia with customer base in both corporate & sporting industries. Some of their customers include Tennis Australia, Perth Wildcats, Western Force, West Coast Fever BHP, Chevron, CBH & Bankwest. For more information, visit www.brightsidelive.net.au  

Techtel and Thoroughbred Racing Productions Enhance the Broadcasting of South Australia’s racing with a leading wireless camera system

(Sydney, Australia, 9 October 2018) Techtel, Australia’s leading broadcast systems integrator has supplied an industry-leading, robust wireless broadcast system from AbonAir for Thoroughbred Racing Productions (“TRP”), the live production company of choice for Thoroughbred Racing South Australia (“TRSA”).

Producing over 3500 hours of High Definition live thoroughbred racing outside broadcasts each year, and covering 535 meetings per year with up to 7 meetings in one day, TRP is Australia’s largest live production company in Thoroughbred broadcasting. Earlier this year, TRP won a tender to become TRSA’s live production partner of choice for all of their outdoor racing events. This comes as the South Australian state is gaining more attention and coverage from Racing.com. As a part of this multi-year contract, TRP will be supplying two of their Outside Broadcasting (OB) trucks equipped with the latest innovations to make the viewing of South Australia’s thoroughbred racing compelling and comprehensive for all audiences.

As a part of this complex solution, Techtel supplied, and tested ABonAir’s Wireless Broadcast system, consisting of a transmitter, receiver and a fibre coverage extender, which enables the system to connect multiple receive sites via fiber cables exponentially increasing wireless coverage. The ABonAir AB512 has an unprecedented delay of 7 milliseconds between shooting the content from TRP’s roving camera and having it available at the OB Truck ready for broadcast.

Charles Cole, Engineering & Technical Operations Manager at TRP said “We were very honoured when TRSA chose us for this project, given the nature and scale of their events. We immediately turned to Techtel as our long-term partner in broadcast systems, knowing their expertise with major live events and their ability to provide end-to-end integration of any technology. We needed to deliver a reliable, predictable high end service, which could be rapidly integrated at the race tracks with the camera for full control, and were delighted to have exceeded these expectations”.

 “We are very happy to have been offered the chance to partner with TRP to provide a wireless camera link without compromise. As an exclusive provider of ABonAir’s technology in Australia, we are very pleased with the results it was able to achieve for TRP and we look forward to seeing TRP continue to win more business as a result of their excellence in OB production”, commented Mal Chandler, Techtel CEO.

The 7.30 Report goes on air at ABC's first live HD studio

The 7:30 report, ABC’s flagship news and current affairs program, has gone live to air in what is the ABC’s first Live HD Studio, featuring brand new studio and control rooms with widespread use of automation and robotic systems, integrated with the latest software solutions. This transformation comes as the next step of a multi-year project - integrated, managed and supported by Techtel, covering ABC news studios nationwide and involving a global range of strategically chosen software and hardware technology partners, including Telemetrics, Cuescript, Apantac, Vizrt, TV Logic, Yamaha, Panasonic and others.

Techtel enables delivery of Digital TV channels in PNG via a new DVB-T2 Transmitter

Techtel, Australia’s leading broadcast systems integrator has commissioned a transmitter system for Digital Terrestrial TV in Papua New Guinea for a local service provider, enabling the delivery of more than 30 additional services for its subscribers in Port Moresby, over two newly added transport streams.

The DVB-T2 system itself incorporates power amplifiers based on LDMOS transistors technology characterized by high power density, allowing very high efficiency. Furthermore, it integrates a modulator that covers the main TV and Radio spectrums, equipped with the latest technology in signal processing allowing Digital TV signal broadcasting with the highest quality and reliability. The integrated transmitter is compatible with both single frequency (SFN) and multiple frequency (MFN) networks, a result of Egatel’s system’s configuration flexibility. In addition, the new DVB-T2 system features integrated digital adaptive pre-correction for easy commissioning and testing requirements; and flexible configurations accommodating various redundancy scenarios.

As a part of its integrated offering, Techtel supplied, installed, commissioned and tested a new 600Wrms (2+1) DVB-T2 transmitter system by Egatel, as well as seamlessly integrating the platform into Port Moresby’s existing transmission facilities by adding a new RF combiner with two narrow-band and one wide-band inputs. The combiner and its internal filters have been custom designed and fine-tuned to accommodate for four adjacent RF channels compliant with PNG RF spectrum allocations for broadcasting of DTV services. After comprehensive testing, Techtel’s integration team were able to achieve exceptional RF signal performance with shoulder value measured over 49dB, and MER value of higher than 35dB. 

Mal Chandler, CEO of Techtel says: “We are proud to enable PNG’s largest service provider deliver a state of the art DVB-T2 Digital Terrestrial Television System resulting in the expansion of broadcast network coverage citywide.  Egatel is continuing to demonstrate to the market that they are a reliable and trustworthy partner who together with Techtel will offer the region a better value option for many years to come.”

Techtel is an established provider of digital TV broadcasting transmitters with many other channels powered by Egatel in service in the Australian market.

Techtel kicks off Integrate 2018 with a demonstration of the latest Stadia LED board show control from Click Effects over Retop’s high performance LED screen

ChyronHego’s latest version of Click Effects, PRIME is a highly integrated, turnkey graphics authoring solution for live arena and stadium-based A/V presentations to maximize fan engagement and drive commercial opportunities.  With Click Effects, fans can experience many of the same visual elements, such as enhanced graphics & play-by-play analysis that they’re used to seeing on live TV. Come and see this for yourself at Techtel’s Stand L52, Integrate Show, ICC 22-24 August.  The Click Effects platform is complimented with the image processing from 7thSense Design’s award winning Delta Media Server.

In addition, Techtel will be showing a range of Retop's high performance indoor and outdoor LED screens. These have a wide foot print in Asia, Europe and USA, and are now building on their years of global success in Australia. Don't miss this first-time ever showcase of Retop's high performance indoor screens at Integrate, and come and talk to us about our various buying options and flexible contract terms.

Both ChyronHego and Retop representatives, as well as Techtel’s system integrators will be available to answer any of your questions at the Integrate Show.

NEP Selects Techtel to Provide Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Solution for Fox Sports in its Premier Remote Production Facility

(Sydney, Australia, 31 July 2018) NEP Group (“NEP”), the outsourced production partner supporting world’s most-watched events chooses Techtel to provide an end-to-end disaster recovery solution for Fox Sports to protect their content and preserve business continuity of the leading sports broadcaster, as the production industry moves towards remote production.

Throughout the course of the partnership Techtel is providing terminal equipment consisting of Net Insight VA 225 encoders and decoders at two newly established remote production centers, connecting to 11 OB Trucks via a secured private IP network.  The solution also includes a comprehensive Network Management System (NMS) and a set of professional services consisting of commissioning, testing and training. The robustness of this design allows for efficient backup of up to 3 concurrent events across 29 sporting venues throughout Australia.

“Techtel is excited to contribute to NEP’s HUB remote production facility with the leading contribution over the internet platform from Net Insight.  This novel combination of coding, decoding and transmission processes are powering the creation of a highly robust network the entire production can depend on”, said Mal Chandler, CEO of Techtel.  

“In a remote production environment for sports broadcasting, where tolerance for content and data loss is zero, it is imperative that a robust, reliable and efficient disaster recovery plan is in place. We are confident that Techtel is the ideal broadcast systems specialist to provide a comprehensive back-up service to protect vital content and enable reliable remote production for our customer”, said Marc Segar, Director of Technology at NEP.

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About Techtel

Techtel is a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Asia Pacific broadcast and telecommunications industries. Techtel’s expertise extends from consulting and systems integration through to the supply, installation and support of solutions from an elite class of worldwide partners. The Techtel Group has regional offices in Sydney and Singapore with branches in Auckland and Melbourne. Visit www.techtel.com.au

Contact:
Katia Gryadunova
0414422371
kgryadunova@techtel.com.au

About NEP Group

For over 30 years, NEP has been a worldwide outsourced technical production partner supporting premier content producers of live sports, entertainment, music and corporate events. Our services include remote production, studio production, audio visual solutions, host broadcast support, premium playout, post production and innovative software-based media management solutions. NEP’s 3,000+ employees are driven by a passion for superior service and a focus on technical innovation. Together, we have supported productions in over 85 countries on all seven continents. NEP is headquartered in the United States and has offices in 24 countries.

Channel 9 Chooses Techtel to Transform their Digital Preservation Practices and Leverage Genetic Diversity in Storage

(Sydney, Australia, 18 June 2018) Nine Network (“Channel 9”), Australia’s largest commercial free-to-air television network selected Techtel as the systems integrator of choice to develop a seamless interface between their Media Asset Management (MAM) platforms and deep storage across their news and production studios and playout centre at two different locations.  This transition will make Channel 9 the first Australian broadcaster to switch from a traditional HSM (Hierarchical Storage Manager) architecture to an on-premise Spectra Logic object storage solution, enabling the company to significantly reduce asset restoration times, utilise genetically diverse media and separate their storage geographically – all via one purpose-built and highly flexible solution.

Developed by Spectra Logic, the BlackPearl® Converged Storage System allows for data storage on multiple targets, including Spectra LTO tape libraries and disk, and multi-site replication for data protection and MAM redundancy. Coupled with a new and seamless integration with Imagine Communications’ Nexio® Motion™ workflow and media management system, as well as combining with Avid Interplay’s existing BlackPearl client, the Spectra Logic system provides a new, long-term storage solution to preserve Channel 9’s persistent data, which is growing from 5PB.

In addition, the newly integrated content management system is expected to lower storage costs by reducing the overhead of multiple software and hardware systems running independently, as well as cutting out the need for multiple vendors and middleware.

“Living in the age of highly sophisticated cyber threats and where digital content outlasts its storage technology, it is critical to have a failsafe storage solution in place, which is also scalable across its capacities, technologies and interfaces. We are confident that Techtel is the ideal broadcast technology systems specialist to provide the optimal mix of hardware, software and integration expertise to serve this purpose,” said David Bowers, CTO Channel 9.

Mal Chandler, CEO of Techtel says: “By entrusting Techtel, Channel 9 can store their data with a greater sense of confidence knowing that their solution is growth-enabling, redundant and genetically diverse.  This project illustrates our unique position to independently choose strategic partners and their technology, and deliver the critical project management, commissioning and support that our customers expect.”

Media Contact:
Katia Gryadunova
0414422371
kgryadunova@techtel.com.au

Techtel Announces ABC Melbourne and Perth News Studios On-Air

(Sydney, Australia, 10 May 2018) Australian broadcast systems integrator, Techtel, is pleased to announce that one of ABC News busiest studios (Studio 38) went live this week in Melbourne with Techtel’s comprehensive broadcast automation solution. This comes as the next step of a multi-year project - integrated, managed and supported by Techtel, covering ABC news studios nationwide and involving a global range of strategically chosen software and hardware technology partners.

The Melbourne studio features Telemetrics cameras with both a manual and automatic capability, which can be quickly switched between manual and automatic modes by the same operator, making Studio 38 the first Australian newsroom to employ this cutting-edge technology. ABC News is also the first ever news broadcaster to benefit from CueScript’s on screen timer within the prompter monitor, which enables operators to add in messages, clocks and timers without disrupting the prompting script.

Studio 38 is one of ABC’s largest and busiest, news studios producing local and national programs including News Breakfast, Melbourne 7PM News and The World and News Tonight. Therefore, it was imperative for Techtel to implement a fast and seamless transition.

“33 years of experience in a fast-paced news environment have allowed us to complete the entire transition with zero impact to on-air broadcasting. We’ve accomplished the changeover on Sunday night, and the 6am News Breakfast Show on Monday morning aired from the brand new, enhanced system”, said Matt Feeney, Director of Projects at Techtel.

 “We continue to invest in our vendor partnerships to ensure that we can support the technological growth for our customers, such as ABC News, who are now at the forefront of automation in news broadcasting”, added Mal Chandler, Techtel CEO.

Studio 38 is ABC’s 5th studio to go live using the latest, fully automated broadcast technology commissioned, integrated and supported by Techtel.   Techtel also commissioned the Perth news studio (Studio 62) in the same week as Melbourne making it a big week for the ABC and Techtel! Other sites already using the new systems include studios in Canberra, Brisbane and Hobart that are already on air from 2017.

For More Information Contact:
Katia Gryadunova
0414422371
kgryadunova@techtel.com.au

Techtel Facilitates Remote Production for Seven Network During Australian Open

Techtel partners up with Gearhouse Broadcast and Net Insight to create the first operational remote broadcast centre in Australia for the Australian Open.

Read the full coverage by BroadcastPRO Middle East

Techtel pioneers Australian legislative VOD market

The Telemetrics Clerk control panel is designed for non-technical users and provides the necessary tools to enable or disable the various output signals when necessary.

Sydney, Australia – Techtel was recently selected by an Australian state government (end user details withheld) to build the country’s first digital, file-based video-on-demand service for parliamentary proceedings. Techtel’s solution was based on the pioneering design from consultancy firm Australian Systems Integration and installed midway through 2017, giving rise to a new front runner in legislative broadcasting in Australia.

Parliament members, broadcasters and journalists from around the globe are now able to remotely log in to a secure online portal from Actus Digital, where they can view the live feed of proceedings or search for past material, then transcode and download the footage from either house of parliament in both high and low resolution. Prior to the installation of the new system, the state parliament had no in-house video recording capability so it represents a vast improvement for those requiring access to content.

Adding to the system’s ease-of-access, journalists can search for material based on a range of metadata fields such as the speaker’s name, date range, bill subject matter, party and electorate. By comparison, journalists interstate are either required to record the parliamentary material themselves or request specific content if they know exactly what time the material they require was recorded.

“They have managed to do what no other Australian parliamentary facility has done, in their deployment of a video-on-demand system that is truly customer driven", commented Mal Chandler, Techtel CEO. “We are excited at the potential this system has for other parliaments across Asia and Oceania and we look forward to seeing more and more similar facilities embrace the same system”.

Techtel’s parliamentary broadcast solution is based largely around the Telemetrics suite of camera control solutions, including custom development by the US-manufacturer that gives the in-chamber clerk unprecedented control over the live-to-air output. The purpose-built Telemetrics Clerk control panel is designed for non-technical users and provides the clerk with the necessary tools to enable or disable the various output signals when necessary, as well as providing them with visual monitoring of the final live program output on the panel. In the control room, the Telemetrics RCCP-1 panel gives the director the ability to control a number of Panasonic AWHE130 HD PTZ cameras which were painted custom colours to match the building interior, ensuring compliance with building regulations in the 134-year-old heritage-listed building. The Telemetrics system is also responsible for triggering graphics that it automatically generates and updates on-the-fly as a result of full integration with the parliamentary Hansard reporting system. The project also represents the first time that Telemetrics has controlled audio levels as they are received over IP into the BSS virtual audio mixer.

The cameras, vision mixer, and lower-third graphics can operate in three different modes; fully automatic, semi-automatic or manual, which can be adjusted based on operator availability and house mode, whether it be question time, estimates, and so on.
The parliament’s production systems have been designed and deployed in a fully redundant configuration so that either house can be controlled from any of the control rooms, while the controls themselves can be seamlessly swapped between rooms in case of failure in either signal path. All failover processes are actioned automatically via the central automation system.

The new broadcast facility also features TVLogic monitors, LYNX Technik’s yellobrik DAs and converters, Spectra Logic Verde NAS storage, Apantac signal processing equipment, Panasonic’s AVHS450E vision switcher and highly-customised desks from TBC Consoles.

The install is now complete following technical handover of the system and training of staff. Techtel will provide ongoing support for the parliament’s production systems.

Fremantle Football Club builds first-class multimedia facility with Techtel

Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe takes Channel Seven on a tour of Freo's new facility at Cockburn.

Sydney, Australia, 27th September 2017 – Techtel was selected by the Fremantle Dockers Football Club (FDFC) to build a state-of-the-art multimedia centre to be used by both the AFL club and wider sporting community for interviews, media conferences, post-game analysis and to produce more innovative training tools. The AFL is leading other sports for their use of technology and it is becoming increasingly common for clubs to utilise these means to gain a competitive advantage and allow for greater exposure of their sponsors. FDFC’s Perth facility is part of the new Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre (Cockburn ARC), a fully integrated sporting complex that caters for a full range of aquatic, indoor and outdoor sports for the Cockburn community and surrounding areas of Perth.

Through a tender process, Techtel was selected to build FDFC’s new TV studio, control room, multiple edit suites, interview rooms and a theatrette. Drawing on both their technical and production consultancy capabilities, Techtel was responsible for the detailed design, system build and configuration, and then ultimately the final installation.

The FDFC studio features a Panasonic AJ-PX380G HD camera with Fujinon lens, CueScript EMCP15M prompting system and lighting from Lumos, while in the control room there is a Panasonic AV-HS6000 2ME vision switcher and a turnkey VidiGo graphics system from ChyronHego. Storage is provided by the Verde Enterprise NAS from Spectra Logic, monitoring by TVLogic and video terminal gear by LYNX Technik, as well as a number of converters from Apantac.

Those attending sessions in the new theatrette will enjoy 7.1 channel surround sound and a 140” deluxe screen wall. The Medialon Showmaster LE Embedded Show Controller will automate and synchronise dimmers, lighting desks, video projectors, video servers and sound processors within the lecture theatre to allow for a seamless transition between the various presentation tools available. Players will also benefit from post-game analysis and strategy sessions in the theatrette with ChyronHego’s Coach Paint, an easy-to-use visualisation tool helping coaches improve their players’ technique. 

"Working with Techtel has been a great experience”, commented Adrian Lacquiere, Strategic Projects & Facilities Manager at the Fremantle Football Club. “They had to work within our building programme over a 9 month period to deliver the final solution and the feedback of the end result from the coaching and playing group has been positive. The club saw the need to significantly invest in multimedia due to the exponential growth of the industry as well as the increasing amount of content being delivered by the club. As a result, we now have state-of-the-art facilities that have set the benchmark for the next generation of elite sporting facilities. We continue to develop new ways to use the system all the time and we're working closely with Techtel to draw from their experience in the media business”.

”Fremantle’s new facility has really put them up there as a team that embraces technology to improve their fans’ engagement and involvement with the club, said Techtel’s CEO, Mal Chandler. “The added benefit of all this technology also affords the players easier access to coaching aids and analysis.  Techtel was thrilled to have the chance to work with the club and we’ll be cheering them on in the years to come”.

The install is now complete following technical handover of the system and training of staff. Techtel will provide ongoing support for the facility.

SMPTE 17: Techtel Booth Preview

There will be plenty to get excited about on Techtel booth C40 at SMPTE 2017, with a range of new products and new releases from some of our long standing business partners. We will have three key areas of focus on our booth at the new International Convention Centre in Sydney:

Techtel’s IPTV partners will exhibit plenty of new tools and new ideas to improve efficiency and maximise returns for service providers and platform operators. We’ll be showing compressed video monitoring solutions from Bridge Technologies, while media networks and scheduling expert Net Insight will be on hand to show off their latest turnkey remote production solutions. Edgeware returns to challenge the Content Delivery Network providers by offering a means to build your own CDN. Techtel has developed a custom Appear TV integrated Amino STB solution for a turnkey campus-based IPTV platform with options for integrated Conditional Access from Verimatrix – ask to take a look when you visit the booth!

File-based workflows are fast becoming the dominant means for content distribution, so we’ll be showing Vidispine’s media discovery tools, designed to be part of a true open-stack media architecture. Aligning with Vidispine will be complimentary software micro-services like Venera Technologies who make Pulsar™ for file-based quality control. Spectra will be showing their cloud-friendly BlackPearl object storage platform which uniquely allows for either cost-effective LTO tape or disc architectures. Masstech Innovations will be on hand with their storage & archive solutions for news and GrayMeta return to exhibit IRIS™, a true end-to-end production collaboration solution for TV or feature films. Etere, loved for their TV automation, sales and traffic software will also show off their latest MAM and production workflow tools. 

Live Production also plays a key role on the booth, with Techtel showing the collection of studio software and hardware elements that formed part of the latest national ABC News technology refresh, including the AP ENPS newsroom software, CueScript teleprompting, Telemetrics robotics, Apantac multiviewers, Lynx Technik terminal gear and Viz Mosart studio automation.

LYNX Technik Launches H.264 Streaming & Recording yellobrik at NAB 2017

April 11, 2017 – Weiterstadt, Germany -- LYNX Technik AG, provider of modular interfaces for broadcast and professional AV signal processing applications, today announces a new yellobrik, an SDI/HDMI to H.264 encoder for live streaming & recording. LYNX Technik will showcase the new yellobrik at NAB 2017 on booth SL10321.

The PEC 1864 H.264 encoder provides a solution for users to simultaneously stream content while recording it, an ideal solution for delivering, streaming and archiving content efficiently and affordably. The module houses two independent encoders; a stream encoder and a record encoder. Users can stream content with simultaneous recording, stream-only, or record-only. The independent encoders support different quality settings for the streamer and the recorder. For example: a user may wish to simultaneously stream content directly to the web in lower quality due to limited bandwidth, and record at a higher master quality for further editing or archiving.

The yellobrik accepts either an SDI or an HDMI input supporting up to 3G (1080p @60 Hz) and compresses it using the H.264 encoding standard. It supports a variety of popular streaming outputs including RTMP for streaming to Content Delivery Networks. Using this streaming format, a user enters their CDN log-in credentials into the yellobrik’s web-browser based GUI, and streams the content live on their CDN Channel; e.g. Wowza, YouTube, Facebook.

The PEC 1864 also supports RTP/RTSP streaming, TS over UDP and TS over RTP. These three steaming formats can be configured as unicast or multicast. A forward error correction (FEC) can be activated for the TS over RTP stream. In addition, the PEC 1864 supports the HLS (HTTP Live) streaming protocol.

The module records to a micro SD memory card or USB stick as a .mp4 or .ts.

Two channels of audio are deembedded from the incoming video signal, which can then be embedded into the streamed and/or recorded video signal. An alternative audio source is provided via the stereo audio input.

Each video encoder includes a region of interest (ROI) scaler, enabling the user to crop the image and stream/record only that portion of the image. Users can even insert a logo into the content stream, ideal for branding & copywriting content and when the Content Delivery Network provider doesn’t provide a logo insertion tool.

The new yellobrik fits the needs of broadcast-quality streaming applications, for example: electronic news gathering, head-end encoding for TV stations and lower budget broadcast streaming. It is also suitable for a wide variety of ProAV applications including: live event streaming and media delivery over the Internet using a Content Delivery Network provider (e.g. Wowza, YouTube, Facebook), corporate or enterprise broadcast/streaming of media assets, presentation and conferencing, digital signage, houses of worship proceedings streaming, AV system monitoring, security camera streaming for monitoring and so many more.

As with all yellobriks, the PEC 1864 comes in a portable brick form factor and is easy to use with all instructions printed directly on the module. Users can configure it remotely via a web GUI on any computer or mobile device with a web browser. Recording can also be controlled using the push buttons on the unit.

About LYNX Technik:

LYNX Technik AG is an industry leader and technology provider of modular interface solutions for broadcast and professional use. LYNX Technik AG is an independent privately owned company with its headquarters, research and manufacturing facilities based in Weiterstadt, Germany. Sales and Support is covered through secondary distribution channels managed from its headquarters in Germany, USA (California), and Asia (Singapore).

Product brands include: Series 5000 rack and card based series, APPolo control system, yellobrik standalone plug-and play modules, the Testor | lite 3G digital test signal generator and the new greenMachine.

Products include: audio / video / fiber conversion, audio / video distribution, fiber splitters, CWDM mux/demux, audio embedding / de-embedding, audio delay, image processing, frame synchronizers, test generators, 4K transmission solutions, as well as a line of rack frames and accessories.

LYNX Technik launches 12G capable yellobriks

WEITERSTADT, GERMANY — LYNX Technik AG announced that it enhanced its yellobrik series with three new single link SDI 12G capable modules. A fiber transmitter (OTX 1410), fiber receiver (ORX 1400) and fiber transceiver (OTR 1410). 

LYNX Technik’s line-up of fiber-optic transport platforms are now augmented with three new technologies that provide error-free transmitting and receiving of 12G (4096 x 2160 @60 Hz), plus 6G, and 3G signals if required, all with full uncompressed video quality. All modules provide support for a maximum distance of approximately 10 Km (6.2 miles) using LC single-mode fiber. 

The complete video payload, (including any embedded audio and metadata) is converted and transmitted transparently over fiber. No settings are needed as the modules auto detect the video standard (12G, 6G or 3G) and adapt accordingly for complete plug and play functionality. 

As with all yellobriks, they are intuitive and easy to use with all connections clearly indicated on the module. They are fully compatible with the unique yellobrik rack frame and all standard yellobrik accessories. 

The 12G capable yellobriks help facilitate and support 4K infrastructure applications that send and receive content with exceptionally high data rates. They are perfect additions to the LYNX Technik 4K yellobrik portfolio, which also includes the self-contained quad link 4K fiber transmission kits that support 4x SDI signals (12G uncompressed).

Contact Techtel for more information and pricing for the new 12G capable yellobriks. 

Techtel to install for nationwide news and current affairs replacement project for the ABC

Sydney, Australia – Techtel today announced that it has been selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to replace their legacy newsroom automation systems with a brand new technology solution from a consortium of vendor partners led by Techtel.

The new solution is a turnkey systems integration project, employing VizRT Mosart live production automation software, Telemetrics camera robotics, CueScript teleprompters, Panasonic cameras, Canon lenses, Apantac multiviewers, Yamaha audio mixers, TVLogic broadcast monitors and LYNX Technik terminal equipment.

Techtel, a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, was chosen by the ABC after an exhaustive selection process. The Techtel solutions implementation includes the provision of a zero downtime migration from the old legacy system onto the new VizRT Mosart automation. The Mosart automation system chosen has a simple interface and proven interoperability.

Techtel CEO Mal Chandler said “We are very excited to be working closely with the ABC on this important new project. Our solution seamlessly integrates Mosart with other best-of-breed products to create an elegant and user friendly environment for news creation”.

The solution features widespread use of Telemetrics camera robotics. The Telemetrics RCCP-1 control panel with studio software provides a flexible architecture for studio automation and provides an integrated and intuitive robotics control surface. This control system is mated with a number of Telemetrics PT-LP-S5 robotic heads, EP6-600 elevating pedestals and TG4 TeleGlide tracks.

Panasonic AJ-PX5000G ENG camcorders comprehensively feature. The camcorders combine excellent image quality with cost-efficient operation while offering the flexibility for varied use in the news environment. The camcorders support comprehensive remote control operation under the Telemetrics control panels while also providing contemporary network workflows such as media card recording, automatic FTP transmission and on-air streaming. The camcorders are equipped with Canon HJ24EX7.5B IASE S lenses, CueScript CSP17L on-camera prompters and CSTM19 19" talent monitors. 

A Grass Valley Karrera K-Frame switcher features at each studio as does a Yamaha CL5 or QL5 audio mixing console. The Yamaha audio consoles offer all-in-one mixing, processing, and routing capability, making them idea for the application.  All audio connections and cabling will use the revolutionary Dante standard that leverages the network fabric for maximum flexibility for routing and transporting audio throughout the facility.

Interfacing comes courtesy of Apantac and LYNX Technik equipment. There is extensive use of Apantac T# (T-sharp) multiviewers, including the T# 64x8 which is capable of accepting 64 inputs and displaying any input to any one of up to 8 monitors. Also widely used are various products from the LYNX Technik stable, such as the DVD 5820 3Gbit dual channel SDI/ASI distribution amplifier and the PDM 5280 3G/HD/SD 16 Channel AES audio embedder/de-embedder.

TVLogic monitors also feature widely. In programme preview roles the LVM-245W HD broadcast monitor utilises a state-of-art high definition TFT-LCD panel with 10bit colour depth, while the TVLogic VFM-058W 5.5” full HD monitor does duty in viewfinder roles.

The project commenced in Canberra at the end of 2016 and will continue to roll out across the nation over a period of 18 months.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation selects AP ENPS for nationwide news system

Sydney, Australia – Techtel today announced that it has been selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to supply and support the AP ENPS multi-platform newsroom computer system as part of one of the largest single system technology upgrades ever undertaken in Australia. ENPS will drive nationwide collaboration between radio, TV and online news production through its seamless integration with Grass Valley’s STRATUS video production and Nétia’s Radio-Assist 8 radio automation, and will revolutionise workflows with the ability for journalists to access scripts, wires, media and messaging from the desktop or in the field.

As the authorised representative for ENPS in the region, Techtel was chosen after an exhaustive selection process. “The tender procedure was designed to evaluate all available technology and vendors, followed by rigorous testing and proof of concept phases”, commented David Elsmore, Managing Director at Techtel. “This is truly a milestone event for ENPS and for Techtel as we work closely with other partners and prime contractor Grass Valley on the project”.

Following a detailed design phase, ENPS will be rolled out at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's major news and current affairs facilities throughout the country with over 3000 staff to be trained on the system across News, Radio and Regional divisions. The new roll out will include ENPS 8, ENPS Mobile 3 and ENPS Open API, providing the ABC with the ability to create and deliver content efficiently and across all platforms. “We are excited to be at the heart of the ABC’s news production, connecting the reporter in the field to the newsroom, to the online output, to the presenter in front of camera – delivering on our ‘ENPS anywhere’ promise,” said Paddy Payne, Director of International Business Development for AP ENPS.

AP ENPS 8 enables journalists and content makers throughout the enterprise and across various divisions to easily share and gather content needed to produce compelling news and other programs. The system allows text and media to be combined into stories from the field or newsroom using any device, offering greater flexibility to improve operational efficiency. Real-time updates allow the team to see news wires and amendments to the running order or script changes instantaneously. The ENPS Open API further extends the power and reach of ENPS by providing an easy method to create and deploy custom applications that leverage the data stored in AP ENPS.

ENPS will be deployed alongside Grass Valley and Nétia systems, beginning in August 2016 and will continue to be rolled out across all metropolitan and regional ABC sites over the next couple of years.

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About Techtel
Techtel is a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Asia Pacific broadcast and telecommunications industries. Techtel’s expertise extends from consulting and systems integration through to the supply, installation and support of solutions from an elite class of worldwide partners. The Techtel Group has regional offices in Sydney and Singapore with branches in Auckland and Melbourne. Visit www.techtel.tv.

About AP ENPS
AP ENPS is the world’s leading news production system, used by over 65,000 news professionals in 900 newsrooms globally.

About AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP. On the web: www.ap.org 

NAB SHOW: Spectra Logic Announces BlackPearl Enhancements and BlackPearl Certification Program

LAS VEGAS, NAB SHOW, Booth SL11816 – Spectra Logic, the deep storage experts, today announced several feature enhancements to its BlackPearl™ Deep Storage Gateway and Client Certification Program. Spectra BlackPearl, which provides a single interface to tape and disk using cloud protocols, has gained traction across multiple vertical markets since its introduction in 2013. The BlackPearl ecosystem is rapidly becoming a popular choice for end users and resellers alike, as content and data management continue to play an increasingly pivotal role in our digital age.

Three key BlackPearl features now available include:

• Public Cloud Storage: BlackPearl can now automatically send a copy of data to the public cloud for customers who seek content distribution with a cloud initiative, or who use cloud for disaster recovery.
• Replication: BlackPearl now has the ability to automatically replicate from one BlackPearl system to another, allowing an active/active geographical separation of data.
• Access Content Faster: BlackPearl now delivers online archive expansion, which enables nearly instant access to content, and accelerates the overall workflow and system response time. Less frequently accessed content can be stored on Spectra ArcticBlue™ nearline disk, and rarely accessed content can be archived indefinitely on Spectra’s tape library family. This feature includes an automatic time-based delete feature that can be customized by the storage administrator.

The BlackPearl Certification Program was created to ensure the clients created by our partners and customers are robust and reliable. The program includes comprehensive testing of all key features and any optional features needed to support the use of BlackPearl in a customer environment. Testing is conducted at Spectra’s dedicated certification test lab located at its global headquarters, to offer partners and customers an option for fast, cost-effective client testing and certification.

“Because Spectra customers often trust multiple vendors in their workflows, it is critical that products from multiple vendors work together seamlessly. Our Certification Program ensures this seamless integration,” said Matt Starr, Spectra Logic’s CTO. “Additionally, in BlackPearl’s latest version, customers will benefit from increased throughput, simplified workflows and an improved overall user experience.”

Spectra’s BlackPearl is deployed across a wide range of private and public sectors in markets as diverse as genomics and healthcare, general IT management, high-performance computing, media and entertainment, research and education and video surveillance. Some current BlackPearl customers include The British Film Institute, the Imperial War Museum, Pacific Biosciences, The University of Chicago and WCBS, the flagship station of the CBS Television Network.

“Marquis’s Project Parking allows Avid users to archive their projects into BlackPearl. The solution provides an easy-to-use archiving system which is scalable and resilient while remaining very cost effective. Customers of all sizes can benefit from this simple archive solution that seamlessly uploads and restores both project and media files between BlackPearl and Avid,” said Simon Fearn, product manager at Marquis.

“CatDV’s clients come from a range of sectors including broadcast and production, commerce, education, house of worship, historic archives and libraries, as well as retail and sports. All of our customers need to organize and secure their valuable content, typically across collaborating teams, at reasonable cost. Content creators using CatDV with BlackPearl can quickly and efficiently search off line content—including previewing lower resolution proxies—then find, retrieve and repurpose original material. CatDV’s latest integration with BlackPearl provides fast and intuitive web, desktop, mobile and embedded NLE tools that save time, money and stress as new content is made,” said Dave Clack CEO of Square Box Systems Ltd., developer of the CatDV media asset management system.

“The integration with Spectra’s BlackPearl with Tiger Series shared storage solutions provides an easy to operate and transparent system for media, and volume management and backup. The direct connection between BlackPearl and Tiger Replication & Tiering gives our customers working in media and entertainment, security and surveillance, and STEM markets an easy and complete solution for storing and securing their high-resolution digital media files,” said Angus Mackay, marketing director at Tiger Technology.

“IPV and Spectra offer an intelligent archive solution for media and entertainment customers looking to integrate an archiving system or migrate legacy HSM systems. The system’s built-in intelligence and BlackPearl ensure that assets reside on the most appropriate storage media from on premise systems to the cloud. Aligned with this intelligent storage is predictive retrieval, which provides a number of facilities to different scenarios: in a dynamic news-based environment, IPV’s Curator allows easy re-use of media assets, thereby increasing their value in these fast-turnaround workflows. Retrospectively, Curator enables the easy re-use/re-purposing of media assets on the web and within other programs or advertising campaigns,” said Nigel Booth EVP sales and marketing at IPV.

“Spectra’s BlackPearl plays a crucial role in the delivery of our solution. Broadcast footage that is delivered to Empress Media Asset Management is automatically archived on the BlackPearl. The BlackPearl is extremely user friendly and is an ideal product to archive broadcast data and to manage that across multiple locations,” said Chuck Buelow, vice president of business development at Empress Media Asset Management.

VISIT US AT #NABSHOW THIS WEEK

ArcticBlue, a part of the BlackPearl ecosystem, has been shortlisted as an IABM Game Changer Awards Finalist 2016 in the Storage category. Winners will be announced during the IABM Awards Reception on Tuesday 19th April at 5:00 p.m. at #NABShow.

To learn more about BlackPearl, visit Spectra Logic and its partners at the following booth numbers this week at #NABShow: Spectra (SL11816), Marquis (SL8730), IPV (N4520), CatDV (SL5025), Tiger Technology (SL13613) and Empress (SL13010).