Sony expands its IP-based remote integration solutions

Visitors to IBC 2019 will be able to enjoy a demonstration of advanced end-to-end live IP production that connects multiple remote locations and highlights the enormous potential of IP.

Sony has revealed in the prelude to IBC 2019 its latest range of innovative live IP production solutions, including two new IP extension adapters, one for cameras and one for camera control units (CCU). The manufacturer has also presented two remote control honeycombs to Live Element Orchestrator, as well as an SMPTE ST 2110 interface card for your 4K/HD live production server PWS-4500.

In June 2019, Sony formed a strategic partnership with Nevion, a leading provider of virtualized multimedia production solutions; The two companies together will showcase the next level of IP-based production environments.

This new partnership and product range enables Sony to continue helping customers realize the unique benefits of IP for remote production and efficient resource sharing. Sony has worked with broadcasters around the world to create advanced live IP production solutions and has provisioned more than 60 live IP studios and mobile units to date. These include Euro Media Group, NEP Australia y SIC Portugal.

Norbert Paquet, head of product management at Sony Solutions Europe, highlights that "organizations in the audiovisual sector are focused on how to become more efficient and achieve a higher return on investment from the production systems they implement. Sony has worked closely with existing and potential customers to develop products, services and solutions that meet those expectations, and our latest range of live IP production solutions does just that."

"At Sony, we help companies in the sector embrace the changes that IP can bring to their organizations. The transition to IP requires a change in mindset and skills, as well as in workflows. Therefore, we are committed to working with our clients and partners in the sector to implement their projects on time and on budget," he adds.

Remote integration solutions

The new addition to the range of live production solutions now includes two new IP extension adapters that transform the current HDC series of SDI system cameras into IP cameras with a interfaz SMPTE ST 2110. Thanks to their compact rack size, at one third of the standard width, the new IP extension adapters enable live IP production and resource sharing, implementing new workflow patterns for the existing series of HDC system cameras.

The new solution HDCE-TX30 Enables direct remote production with any of the HDC-2500, HDC-3100 and HDC-3500 camera heads, offering instant SMPTE ST2110 live IP network connectivity (as of April 2020), which includes all necessary production features such as IP Tally and remote control capability.

For its part, HDCE-RX30 is a solution that complements the HDCE-TX30, offering native SMPTE ST2110 live IP connectivity. Allows users to route any camera head to any HDCU-2500, HDCU-3100 or HDCU-3500 CCU. It also provides mixed SDI and IP system configurations, as well as mixed 4K/HD and SDI-based HDR/SDR operation. This helps users manage their equipment across multiple studios, control rooms and engine rooms centrally. The solutions enable the use of IP technology in traditional SDI environments, offering greater benefits by sharing the use of resources.

Sony will also introduce two remote control panels that will reinforce the reliability, speed and precision of commands through Live Element Orchestrator. On the one hand, MKS-R4020, a remote control panel with 40 assignable LCD buttons that allow users to change settings such as monitor input, remote control panel (RCP) mapping, and multi-viewer layout. In addition to supporting Live Element Orchestrator, you can also control routing in IP Live System Manager. On the other hand, MKS-E1620, a remote control panel with 16 encoders that allows you to adjust various live equipment parameters, including system camera HDR contrast and color, for exclusive use with Live Element Orchestrator.

Sony is also going to introduce a card PWSK-4509 optical interface which offers SMPTE ST 2110 support for the PWS-4500 4K/HD live production server. The addition of the interface card allows the server to seamlessly connect to a live IP production environment, and receive and transmit multiple video and audio signals with 25GbE (SFP28) over an IP network.

Sony and Nevion

Earlier this year, Sony and Nevion AS, a provider of virtualized multimedia production solutions, entered into a strategic partnership. Together, Nevion and Sony aim to provide customers with the expertise and products (both equipment and systems) necessary to create customized solutions for modern, forward-thinking live production operations. These solutions will take full advantage of workflow transformation through virtualization and IP technologies, while minimizing the risks involved in moving production infrastructure and operations to IP. These advantages include the use of shared resources for operations across multiple studios, networking for backbone systems in-house, and effective remote production that connects facilities in different areas.

Together with United Broadcast, a subsidiary of Euro Media Group (EMG), and CenturyLink, Sony will offer a demonstration of the comprehensive IP live production solutionor connecting the Sony stand (A10/hall 13) with the Nevion stand (B79/hall 1) and a remote IP production studio in Hilversum. CenturyLink (B61/Hall 5), a technology leader offering network connectivity, cloud connectivity and security solutions, will provide a 10 Gbps network link to the Hilversum studio. Nevion Virtuoso, the software-defined media node, will be used to encode video signals with JPEG XS, the new ultra-low latency compression technology that is beneficial in live productions with limited bandwidth. The demonstration will highlight the enormous potential that resource sharing and IP-based remote productions can have for organizations in the audiovisual sector.

Sony will show its products from September 13 to 17 at stand A10 in Hall 13 of the RAI center in Amsterdam.