NTV migrates its nine HD channels to IP-based playout

The COTS-based uncompressed IP broadcast platform, powered by Imagine, provides the foundation for the future growth of this Russian broadcaster.

He broadcaster ruso NTV has migrated to a scalable, next-generation emission system based on Imagine Communications. With the aim of expanding its operations to support new channels, NTV decided to take advantage of the opportunity to move to a IP infrastructure for the distribution of its channels in high definition.

The new NTV playout center has been designed and implemented by the systems integrator WINDOW-TV, based in Moscow, in collaboration with engineers from NTV and Imagine Communications. Completely software based, the new issuance platform runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and uses the SMPTE ST 2022-6 standard to transport media such as uncompressed video signals.

The platform currently offers nine HD channels, with additional channels reserved for previewing content. The software approach ensures a much higher channel density than a traditional installation, and future expansion - which NTV is already planning - can be carried out easily and quickly. Full redundancy guarantees a high level of broadcast security.

Andrey Drukker, CTO of NTV, acknowledges that they are delighted to be "one of the industry pioneers in implementing uncompressed IP playout at this level and proud to work with partners such as OKNO-TV and Imagine, who are recognized for their innovative solutions. By adopting a virtualized software approach and using the industry standard SMPTE ST 2022-6, we have achieved a highly scalable and flexible operation that is as reliable and efficient as a traditional broadcast system."

Virtualized Playout

The NTV installation uses the Versio virtualized integrated playout and the IOX SAN Versio storage, which allows storage and bandwidth to be scaled without impacting existing media or disrupting live operations. The ADC, Nexio Ingest and Nexio Motion automation They ensure a streamlined content management environment. Signals from NTV's legacy sources are encapsulated for the new system using uncompressed multichannel MCP modules over IP, while hybrid IP MV and UHD-ready multi-display modules are used for system monitoring.

The entire SDI/IP hybrid solution works seamlessly under the guidance of the software control system Imagine Magellan SDN Orchestrator.

Versio and EPIC MV are equipped with Zenium, Imagine's microservices-based software platform, which enables media companies to easily upgrade formats and features without replacing hardware or disrupting mission-critical services, and reduce OpEx by deploying only what they need, when they need it.

Denis Stolnikov, Systems Architect at OKNO-TV, adds that "Designing and implementing an uncompressed IP multi-channel broadcast system for such an important client as NTV has been an honor and has required considerable effort and trust on all sides. The key to the success of this project was our ability to demonstrate the flexibility and security of Imagine's Zenium-based software and its ability to provide broadcast-quality broadcast performance from the industry standard uncompressed HD over IP."