Miranda Open Days: ‘Be Ready for Tomorrow’

Under the slogan 'Be ready for tomorrow' Miranda has presented in Madrid its most recent monitoring and signal processing solutions for studios and mobile units, as well as its integrated playout proposal, demonstrating how it is possible to reduce the complexity of the audiovisual business, and migrate to more sustainable workflows, as the number of services increases and the quality of all management improves.

Miranda has organized this Wednesday and Thursday in Madrid some open days that under the slogan 'Be ready for tomorrow' have served for professionals to learn up close about the most recent monitoring and signal processing solutions for studios and mobile units, as well as its innovative integrated playout proposal.

Miranda has shown how it is possible to reduce the complexity of the audiovisual business, and migrate to more sustainable workflows, as the number of services increases and the quality of all management is improved.

Óscar Juste, commercial director of Western Europe at Miranda, opened the conference by ensuring that the new multi-channel, multi-device and multi-platform environments as well as non-linear distribution platforms imply the need to have a workflow that allows us to repackage content, transcode multi-format material, according to each distribution channel, and be able to easily and quickly carry out several versions for each channel or platform.

According to Juste, the challenges we face are expansion into more channels and platforms and the need to increase audiences (hence the importance of branding for cross-channel promotion). All of this, from an approach that ensures the quality of the channels and the reduction of operating costs.

"Miranda proposes a solution to simplify this entire flow with fewer moving components and equipment... reducing additional risk, the need to have different operators, and with less investment and maintenance. The flagship of Miranda's playout is iTX, which integrates automation, playout and advanced branding," Juste assured.

One of the strong pillars of iTX is the reduction of risk in critical operations, so that before the playout everything is ready in terms of versions and formats for any multiplatform output.

Below, the intrastructure layer of matrices and interfacing together with an advanced monitoring system such as Kaleido ensures a single environment with all interconnected equipment.

Jesús Ruiz, technical director of Crosspoint (importer in Spain of Miranda and one of the world's integrators with the most experience in these systems), commented that “iTX is an automated linear playout capable of combining video server, graphics, branding, subtitling and audio processing, all in a simplified system architecture.”

In terms of graphics, iTX includes enriched graphics with the popular Vertigo system. But it also allows integration with After Effects, allowing you to import projects directly, which speeds up the use of graphic templates along with DVE effects. The possibility of integrating After Effects in iTX allows you to create graphics in a very short time through the use of a very widespread tool known to operators with the advantage of being able to validate the graphic from any browser.

The audience is fragmented, so it is very important to build loyalty with a powerful brand image, cross-channel promotion and empowerment of social networks for a more immersive experience. To achieve this, Vertigo

In a way, it can be said that Miranda combines traditional continuity and multicontinuity systems with the world of IT playout with the iTX Master Control. It integrates a video matrix, playout and automation server, master control and graphics processor. Thus it is possible to combine the robustness of traditional master control with the scalability offered by iTX.

On the other hand, it should also be noted that iTX allows a dual channel configuration, in a rack unit, putting two channels on the air with a video server in a single chassis. In addition, it offers other possibilities such as Dolby Digital and E encoding and decoding, multi-language playout or watermark printing...

At the user interface level, iTX offers two web client models: a LAN-connected configuration (Full Desktop Client) or a LAN or WAN-connected configuration (Smart Web Client). In the first case, we would have total control and management of the content and playlists. In the second, we would manipulate proxies in a typical environment for production and pre-production, which could be in a remote location far from central storage.

Trends in TV production

Jesús Ruiz, technical director of Crosspoint, has started the session dedicated to trends in production, stating that "the concern of broadcasters is non-linear TV and over-the-top (OTT) services. Currently, the trend is towards a greater number of live shows and reality shows, a boom in 3D and the need to have more elaborate productions capable of facing greater competition. The objective, in any case, will always be to improve profitability with a larger audience or reduce costs... with equipment that occupies and consumes less, that they are easier to operate, and that they serve more channels.”

This new approach in production entails significant complexity in the infrastructure (matrices, multi-screens, audio and video production mixers...), in totally new environments such as 3D and 3G signals.

Given the increase in the number of sources (both camera and external) and graphic elements and animations to enrich video production, it is essential that all equipment, both Miranda and third parties, can interconnect.

In this area, Miranda proposes solutions such as Kaleido (multi-screen), matrices such as the NV 8500, numerous systems for video and audio processing, and modular interfaces (Densité). All this with a single integrator and with teams that intercommunicate and share databases.

At the matrix level, Miranda has the extensive Enterprise family that ranges from 144×144 (mod 8144) to 1152×1152 (8576+). It is noteworthy that this manufacturer offers rectangular arrays that have a greater number of outputs to meet growing monitoring needs.

In hybrid matrix, NV8500 systems simplify the production environment in both audio and video cabling. A traditional solution that would require between 3 and 5 racks (embedders, de-embedders, video routers, audio...), would occupy a single rack in a hybrid matrix, with an energy saving of 42%. Eliminates processor delays (latency) and inconveniences generated by system re-entries...

The secret: multiplex AV at very low latency. With external multiplexers and independent audio and video matrices, a delay of about 25 pixels is obtained in video while in Nvsion Hybrid matrices it would be only 20 pixels. The audio delay would be reduced from between 40-80 lines to just 1 line with the Miranda hybrids. Thus, we would achieve a delay of 0.03 microseconds of lip lag no matter how many reentries are given to the signal.

It should be noted that other manufacturers offer the appearance of a hybrid matrix when they are still audio and video matrices inside a box. In the case of Miranda, it is truly hybrid, also offering total redundancy of both video and audio.

As for multi-screens, to get an idea of ​​Miranda's power in this market, it is enough to say that more than 4,400 monitors around the world are powered by Kaleido systems. Last year alone, Miranda served 40,000 SDI inputs, which would mean a market share of around 27%.

Kaleido is a family that ranges from 16×2, 32×4, 194×12 to 1152×288, now appearing modular cards (8×1 or 8×2 stackable) and Kaleido Solo (only one input and only one output, supporting signals up to 3 Gbps/HD or SD to HDMI or DVI with EBU and A85 loudness monitoring).

In a 3RU box with ten modular cards with a consumption of 300w, we could present up to 80 3 Gbps signals on twenty monitors.

“The benefits of Kaleido are clear: greater processing speed, ease of operation and maintenance, flexibility and low consumption,” said Jesús Ruiz.

As a culmination of these sessions, Miranda has sent two of its product specialists to Madrid, Steve Brownsil and Peter Jarret, who have had an exchange of impressions with the professionals who have attended the sessions and have shown them live all the peculiarities of this powerful workflow.

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