Broadcast & Management Systems – Broadcast Technology

Cloud Based Broadcasting- No Boundaries

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 29, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Content Delivery, Transmission And Distribution

Broadcasters do have a challenge approaching: how to get their content available to end users as fast as possible in the most efficient way. But then that problem is made worse by the sudden increase in the use of multiple devices.

Consumers today are not stuck just to their desks, chairs or sofas. So, broadcasters who have distributed content through closed, terrestrial networks are now facing challenges of extending their infrastructure, workflows and processes to push that content over Internet Protocol.

Broadcasters must evolve the way that they make content available. Delivering quality content will alone not be sufficient anymore. Being able to deliver them quickly and efficiently will become crucial with time. Numerous elements of content publishing workflows are now being offered as cloud-based services thus enabling broadcasters as well as media companies to be able to publish from anywhere.

Avid announced the AvidEverywhere as the most “fluid, end-to-end, distributed media production environment in the industry; a comprehensive ecosystem that encompasses every aspect of the new digital media value chain” But Avid is not alone. AP, Ericson, Verizon Digital Media Services, Microsoft Azure Media Services and many others have a well-structured cloud based platform for media publishing too.

These kind of services promise to enhance and liberate the content publishing just the way as multi-device has liberated the consumption of content. Broadcasters and media houses are no longer restricted to expensive equipment or desktop based software. Cloud based content allows to acquire, edit, and publish content from anywhere that the web can be accessed.

That is one half of the entire story. Even if you have the best content in the world, it will be futile if you fail to provide it to viewers on their choice of device and place. The IBC floor showcased new innovations in the field of presenting content. Content needs to be converted into desired formats quickly so as to be able to distribute it to various end points over an internet that is becoming increasingly congested.

The Limelight Orchestrate for Media and Broadcasters solution takes care of that exact problem: transforming and delivering content across cloud based platforms.

Combined together, these cloud based media production workflows re-create that were once known as software/hardware ecosystems for creation of content, its publishing and distribution.

The system is not perfect yet. A lot of integration needs to be done in this field for a seamless overall experience.IBC 2014 showed the future that we had only dreamt of till date. With it, content will become more fluid and more available to viewers.

WISER – New Technology that Effortlessly Identifies ‘White Space’ Spectrum Indoors

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 20, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Content & Asset Management, Content Delivery, Transmission And Distribution, Wireless Trasmission

WISER – New Technology that effortlessly identifies ‘White Space’ spectrum indoors’ Radio frequency spectrum, the airwaves over which wireless devices communicate, is in increasing demand throughout the world. Access to spectrum is currently regulated by strict licensing systems that limit the users and the applications of any given set of frequencies.

The unfortunate result is that a significant amount of spectrum goes unused at any given time or place. In most places, radio spectrum is allocated by strict licensing to different wireless applications in a way that is highly inefficient. Some spectrum frequencies are highly congested while some are idle. A growing number of countries have thus begun to allow users to get access to certain spectrum frequencies on a license-exempt basis, which is similar to Wi-Fi.

A Google Earth map shows where TV white space spectrum is currently available in the U.S.

Image: Google Spectrum Database

Given the rapid growth of worldwide demand for radio spectrum in wireless communication, TV white spaces, the unused portions of TV spectrum, offer the first and promising opportunity to provide additional spectrum for users. Microsoft Research published a new paper in partnership with The Chinese University of Hong Kong proposing a new system for improving indoor use of wireless technologies in cities.

Based on measurements taken from more than 30 diverse locations in a typical city, the study found that more than 50 to 70 percent of spectrum in the TV band alone goes unused. These vacant frequencies are called TV white spaces, or just white spaces. White spaces are the first frontier for forward-thinking regulators throughout the world, who are increasingly recognizing just how inefficient our current methods of spectrum allocation are, and moving toward new approaches.

In order to make use of unlicensed access to white spaces, wireless devices must somehow detect what frequencies are available for use in their location using dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technologies. While spectrum sensing technology is available, it can be expensive and difficult to implement. It also has to tread a very fine line between identifying as much unused spectrum as possible and avoiding interference with other users.

Therefore, most regulation on white spaces has turned to geo-location databases to direct traffic in license-exempt bands of spectrum While they work well to limit interference and don’t pose the same cost issues as sensors, geo-location databases provide a very conservative appraisal of which frequencies are unused. Particularly in cities where the wireless environment is complex, there are often far more white spaces available for use than a geo-location database might indicate. There is also the added complication of indoor versus outdoor use.

Even though 70 percent of demand for spectrum is in indoor environments and significantly more spectrum is left unused indoors, the majority of trials and studies of white space technology have focused on outdoor applications. What’s more, the study found that white spaces are often available in bigger chunks indoors, making them easier to use for high-bandwidth communication. “TV white spaces have the potential to provide a significant amount of additional spectrum that is needed for wireless applications,” said Ranveer Chandra, senior researcher at Microsoft.

“Although 70 per cent of the demand for spectrum comes from indoor environment and significantly more TV band spectrum is left unused indoors than outdoors, most trials and studies of white spaces done before have focused on outdoor scenarios.”

A six-month analysis of white space spectrum in Hong Kong locations found that there is about 40% more white space spectrum available indoors than outdoors. Here comes in WISER- (White-space Indoor Spectrum Enhancer). WISER uses spectrum sensing technology but – unlike previous approaches – optimizes the position of a limited number of sensors. This control costs and maximizes effectiveness, without losing out on accuracy. WISER improves indoor access to radio frequency spectrum that can improve reception performance of wireless technologies.

WISER was developed by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Microsoft Corp. The researchers claim WISER can identify 30 percent to 50 percent more white space spectrum than alternative methods, most of which have been designed for outdoor use. The project focused on analyzing indoor white spaces, a phrase for vacant VHF and UHF TV channels. They used algorithms and software, coupled with RF sensors, to create a system to identify and track this indoor spectrum. Some of that spectrum is congested, while some frequencies are idle.

According to the WISER research paper, the most commonly used method is the geo-location database, in part because spectrum sensing is costly; and at low thresholds, it’s difficult to do accurately with off-the-shelf hardware. The geo-location method doesn’t need hardware and it’s easier to deploy. But it has “inherent inefficiency,” according to the researchers. That’s because it uses propagation modeling rather than direct measurements to identify available spectrum “and hence, is very conservative in the channels it returns for a given location.”

A cluster of RF sensors in a building sample the airwaves to identify and assess indoor white spaces. That data, along with the locations of wireless access points and of self-reporting clients, is stored in geo-location database. According to the research, some of the WISER algorithms deal with profiling the building, others with where to place the sensors. Although 70 percent of the demand for spectrum comes from the indoor environment and significantly more TV band spectrum is left unused indoors than outdoors, most trials and studies of white spaces done before have focused on outdoor scenarios.”

For the prototype sensors, the researchers used Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices, which are computer-hosted software radios, but they could have been “any spectrum analyzer with a low noise floor — there are a few available in the market,” Chandra, one of the authors of the research paper says. In this case, the sensors ran simple software to talk via HTTP with the geo-location database. One key advance with WISER is that a wireless client device doesn’t have to do the white space spectrum sensing itself.

It simply determines its location using any indoor location technique, via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for example, and then reports its position to the geo-location database. In response, the database returns the set of white space channels available at that location, and the client uses one of them to connect to the Internet, Ranveer Chandra, says. WISER itself could be embedded in future Wi-Fi access points, “which would make it very simple to deploy,” Chandra added. Alternatively, a building owner could deploy small WISER sensors that could be plugged into wall outlets, scan the white space spectrum and report their findings to the database over the interior electrical wiring by Powerline or via Wi-Fi.

While there are several interesting directions that could be taken in future research on WISER, this development is an important step forward toward better spectrum sensing techniques and, ultimately, greater spectrum abundance and improved wireless communication. With a combination of technical innovation such as the development of WISER, and the regulatory progress on dynamic spectrum access that we’re seeing throughout the world, it’s a bright future for wireless technology. Microsoft Research has been working with CUHK academics since 2010 on these issues, including research aimed at showing how to use this extra spectrum.

Among other conclusions, the prototype deployment found that “it suffices to identify strong channels via long-time sensing and then focus resources to track the slow-varying white space availability of weak-to-normal channels.” The study also found that for a given white space channel there is a “strong correlation in signal strengths and white space availability across different locations. This suggests that we can infer the channel vacancies of multiple correlated locations from those of one or a few representative locations.”

The research also found that the “indoor white spaces have different characteristics from the outdoor ones. For example, there are more contiguous unutilized TV channels indoors, which are able to support high bandwidth communication.” In essence, WISER is designed to draw on the strengths of both approaches and sidestep their weaknesses.

Low-cost spectrum sensors make for accurate identification of indoor channels and to do so cost-effectively; the use of a local geo-location database relieves the clients from having to do their own scanning.

What’s to Come for TV?

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 18, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Content & Asset Management, Content Delivery, Television Broadcast, Traffic & Scheduling Systems, Transmission And Distribution

What’s to come for TV is here. It’s simply not uniformly appropriated.

In the event that it doesn’t, it would appear that the American TV industry is amidst an emotional change,that is basically in light of the fact that the pieces are scattered everywhere. Anyhow they are beginning to meet up.

One transformative piece arrived not long ago, when Dish Network secured the rights to incorporate ABC, ESPN, and other mainstream stations possessed by Disney in a TV administration conveyed completely over the web. Arranging arrangements like that one has for the most part been the greatest hindrance to web TV in the United States.

Others aren’t far behind. Directv is prone to hit a comparative arrangement with Disney. Sony has web rights to Viacom’s channels, which incorporate MTV and Nickelodeon. Verizon as of late purchased essential innovation from Intel. Also innovation organizations like Apple and Amazon are in the mix, as well.

Dish will supposedly charge between $20 and $30 a month for its arranged offering, which its calling a “particular membership benefit.” That doesn’t sound like customary pay TV. Rich Greenfield, an expert who is normally right about these things, figures Dish’s turn will speak to “a watershed minute for the media business,” with Comcast and other substantial adversaries doing something comparative.

What precisely that, still remains vague, however, is that there’s sufficient confirmation drifting around to make a solid expectation. Also alongside other late advancements, we can begin to see what the not so distant fate of TV will look like.

It will be less expensive

At $20 to $30—short of what a large portion of what most American families pay for TV—Dish’s web TV administration will target adolescent mature people who recoil from the expense of most TV memberships. They are less averse to wipe out their link administration or never sign up for it whatsoever. “We think there is a gathering of people, 18-to-34-year-olds, who might love to have a more level expense item with a portion of the top substance out there,” Dave Shull, Dish’s head business officer, told Bloomberg.

The spread of web TV ought to additionally build rivalry. Although link organizations have a tendency to have close syndications in their particular areas of the US, the web isn’t bound by neighborhood markets. Anybody ought to have the capacity to pick around any of these web TV administrations, and that ought to push costs down.

Constrained channel lineup

Anyhow recognize Shull said “a percentage of the top content,” not every last bit of it. Dish figures it doesn’t bring to the table each channel out there. The administration might just need the absolute most alluring customizing to pull in its intended interest group. ESPN (prevalent around youthful men) and the Disney Channel (junior folks) are a solid begin.

Partially, Dish is curving to the handy substances of the TV business. Transactions with the huge substance organizations might be torturous, and Dish may well need to go without, say, prevalent channels claimed by 21st Century Fox, in the event that they can’t achieve an arrangement. In any case numerous TV clients couldn’t care less about having several channels—truth be told, they take umbrage at needing to pay for a heap of channels they don’t watch.

Fruit a year ago seemed, by all accounts, to be seeking after a comparable methodology in its journey to launch a TV set and web TV administration, looking for arrangements with some not all substance organizations. Directv has additionally discussed offering more diminutive TV packages over the web, pointed at particular crowds like Hispanics or kids.

Sorted out by subject

Stations are clearly an antiquated approach to arrange TV. They aren’t going without end, however the knowledge of skimming TV is still quickly making strides.

Comcast has another link box that individuals would prefer really not to toss out the window. Its electronic interface gives you a chance to effectively hunt down “films” when you need to watch a film a long-past due and welcome change. Why remember the channel number of NBC Sports Network when you can simply click “sports”?

Surprisingly better are Time Warner Cable’s applications for cell phones and set-top boxes, which clearly show how staring at the TV gets simpler when it moves to the web. Here’s a showing by Greenfield:

Individual memberships

TV is as of now sold to family units, yet the stating of Dish’s “close to home membership administration” proposes that it will be sold to people. It could take after cellphone administration plans, with rebates for families. In any occasion, offering singular TV memberships takes into consideration more adaptable valuing and more stupendous personalization—of the decision of substance, the interface, and perhaps the publicizing.

Visible on any screen

Particular memberships additionally make it less demanding to let individuals utilize more than one gadget. “TV” probably won’t alludes to the extra large screen in your front room; that is only one screen of a lot of people. You may like to utilize your telephone or tablet or PC. They are all simply “glass-secured web machines.”

Some pay-TV benefits recently let you watch on cell phones inside your home. Correct web TV administration might broaden anyplace, depending on quick cell associations when you aren’t joined with Wi-Fi. More to the point, taking the accentuation off your TV set and link box takes into account loads of innovative potential outcomes. The most clear is putting your “DVR” in the cloud, so you can timetable and perspective recordings from anyplace.

A finer remote

Telephones and tablets aren’t only for viewing feature; they can control feature, too. A lot of existing cases recommend that your telephone greatly improves the situation TV remote than what’s on foot stools in most front rooms today. The versatile remote can adjust to particular connections, chopping down the amount of catches or offering you a console when it bodes well. Also exchanging between screens gets to be easier, as well.

Now all the more exchanging inputs

The vast majority of the enhancement in web TV has formerly been found in hardware that connect to TV sets, in the same way as Apple TV, Roku gadgets, and Google’s Chromecast. “Set-top box” is an antiquated term for them.) But utilizing them alongside a customary link box is harder than it ought to be. Most individuals think that it awkward to switch between one gadget for viewing Netflix and an alternate for live TV.

The up and coming era of TV administrations should fathom that by completely coordinating streaming feature administrations like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Instant Video. Clients won’t need to switch inputs on their TV sets, which may sound like a little change however could help make web TV more standard.

Netflix as of late consented to pay Comcast for better conveyance of its substance. A few experts accept that, as a component of the arrangement, Comcast will put Netflix on future variants of its link box. That might be an enormous venture for the digital TV industry, which has for the most part been careful about web conveyed contenders.

Netflix is only one more channel

In that situation, you can begin to consider Netflix only one more TV channel like AMC or HBO. Netflix as of recently respects those correlations and has begun alluding to itself as a “motion picture and TV arrangement system.”

At the same time, obviously, Netflix isn’t similar to different systems. It doesn’t have any idea of broadcast appointment. Everything is played on interest. So you may think about that as a model for what different systems could wind up looking like, also.

HBO gets more available

You don’t need to envision what on-interest HBO may look like in light of the fact that it recently exists as HBO Go, the system’s site and application for supporters of the link administration. Numerous have contended that Time Warner ought to offer HBO Go on its own, without obliging a pay TV membership, however that isn’t yet monetary for the organization.

Nonetheless, a particular TV membership valued as low as $20 a month might begin to make additional items like HBO, for an alternate $10 to $15, appear to be more engaging. HBO may then achieve clients outside of the about 100 million US families that at present pay for digital TV administration. Somebody may pay month to month charges of $20 for an essential individual membership, $10 for HBO, $8 for Netflix, and $2 for some unique Youtube channel—a situation that is closer to an individually media menu.

On-request that is not dreadful

Individuals need less demanding and more particular access to feature, which is restricted to demonstrate the achievement of Hulu. Much of Hulu’s substance is additionally accessible to pay TV supporters through on-interest menus, however those interfaces are so inadequately planned that individuals keep away from them or don’t even realize what’s accessible. Hulu is not difficult to utilize. HBO Go is not difficult to utilize. Netflix is not difficult to utilize. What’s more individuals are eager to pay for that comfort.

A web TV “channel” could take after an on-interest menu with better outline. On the other hand the whole web TV administration could take that approach, accentuating viewer control over what happens to be airing right now.

New channels rising constantly

When you’re supposing thusly, its less demanding to see what other web TV “channels” may look like—and, as critically, where they might hail from. Think about a couple of late advancements:

WWE, the heading American wrestling promoter, offers its own particular streaming feature system with access to live occasions that could at one time be obtained just as additional items to digital TV.

Apple TV added a Beatles channel to praise the 50th commemoration of the band’s American debut.

Gopro, apparently a Polaroid producer, is propelling a Xbox channel.

The PBS application for Apple TV is getting rave audits for blending a profound file of substance with new scenes of shows like Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and Newshour.

Different varieties of organizations, from games groups to film studios, are in a position to structure their own particular channels and offer content all the more specifically if their permitting assentions permitted it. That will take longer than some different improvements and may not bode well for some substance managers, however the chance is there.

Not as solid

Be that as it may, for all the guarantee of web TV, there’s still the issue of conveying it without hiccups. US web base, from one end to the next, simply is bad enough to flawlessly stream feature to everybody. The innovation will enhance, however, and dependability will probably turn into an offering point for administrations like Netflix.

Not so shoddy

Keeping in mind web TV administration takes a gander at the outset much less expensive than universal pay TV, in any case it obliges an association with the web and loads of transmission capacity. That will undoubtedly cost individuals more. Some network access suppliers are around those liable to offer web TV, so it will be fascinating to perceive how they set their valuing to beat contenders. Individuals may wind up feeling as enclosed by link organizations as they do today.

image source:http://blog.svconline.com

Digital Broadcast Technology – A Primer

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 18, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Broadcast Gadgets, Content & Asset Management, Content Delivery, Desktop Production, Transmission And Distribution

It’s no wonder that most companies are switching over to digital production methods, and have been doing so for the past decade or more. Being able to assemble a neat edit or a fantastic audio setup running through several computers rather than a suite of more archaic (but still reliable and high-quality, to be fair) tech is a great step forward for those who want an easier way to interface with the digital realm.

But what about the actual investment and training process? Switching from one set of technology to another can be a difficult adjustment period, but the benefits are clear – entire radio setups can be rendered down to a mic, some good software, and a capable computer. Television can be put together on a tablet. The future of broadcasting about anything from sports to the latest O2 technology has become brighter, faster and more efficient.

It’s worth looking into a more powerful computer, too – it’s no longer just a tool used for communication, or research. It can compose, edit, shoot, animate, and construct virtual products and services faster than any previous process. What it means for broadcasting companies is better, faster-made and higher-quality content, which in turn will allow for higher audience numbers and fund the required technology.

But what if you’re moving over to digital after years of analogue broadcasts? Not much has changed – production still has the same objectives and output – the process has just shifted slightly, and production software is nothing new in the industry. As far as hardware is concerned, however, things are shifting, and we aim to help you keep track of the best possible equipment and hardware to use in order to stay at the forefront of broadcasting evolution. It’s an exciting time to be involved, so don’t fall behind.

Software Defined Networking- A New Networking Technology

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 11, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Broadcasting Networks, Content & Asset Management, Content Delivery, Network Management, Transmission And Distribution

As the industry moves towards towards an IP-centric facility, Evertz’ Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) will make a niche and shall require content providers to make the transition to IP without bargain. Using Evertz’ MAGNUM for control and the versatile 3080IPX, SDVN can be applied throughout the facility in production, playout, and WAN distribution.

Sofware Defined Networking (SDN) has emerged from just a new technology that only could be understood only by the highly technical to a new ingredient for making network configuration and service management more efficient.SDN controllers, the main nerve centre of such emerging networks were earlier attributed to OpenFlow- the network control protocol that manages central traffic. The role of SDN controllers have evolved from low-level data switching and routing to to an integrated management of security policies, application settings and physical and virtual network configuration.

SDN is also a foundation stone for building up cloud infrastructure and a software data-center. The SDN has become the face of either a big strategic architectural change to networking from the time Ethernet came into the picture, or a bogus hype of sorts trying to belittle existing patterns of operational networking. There is a level of confusion though, in the SDN architecture like any other new phenomenon that grasps technological evolutions.

SDN as an architectural model is indeed groundbreaking, however for enterprises the most compelling SDN features don’t involve low level manipulation of traffic patterns, but rather operational automation, service orchestration and network programmability. In contrast, the SDN is bunk, “still does nothing”, crowd view the term as synonymous with OpenFlow and see little value in replacing perfectly useful network fabrics, whether using the alphabet soup of alternative standards like MLAG, SPB, TRILL or a proprietary equivalent, with dumb OpenFlow switches and flow controllers.

“The industry has moved past the SDN equals OpenFlow debate. “SDN has gained a more expansive meaning: It’s now about creating platforms for applications and gaining configuration control that enhances network automation and agility, hopefully lowering operational costs.” Indeed, at last fall’s Open Networking User Group (ONUG) meeting, attendees prioritized topics for proposed vendor RFIs or RFQs in the coming year. The top three were: integrated layer 4-7 network services, virtual network overlays, and branch software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs). Others areas identified for work included traffic monitoring and visibility, white box networking, automated network segmentation, Linux-based automation, an abstract policy to define applications and IT Infrastructure dependencies. Outside of white box hardware, none of these had anything to do with software control over physical layer network flows, the raison d’etre for OpenFlow and the first wave of SDN controllers.”

So what new will SDN mean for the businesses is yet to see.

Global Broadcast and Standardisation

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on May 3, 2016 in Broadcast & Management Systems, Digital Broadcasting, Wireless Trasmission

The International Standardization of broadcasting: transition to digital, on-demand content services and the like are markers of gradual developments that the media sector have been witnessing for quite some time now, more rapidly so in developing countries where cutting-edge technology has seeped in post the onset of the millennium.

Digitization continues to open up myriad opportunities for newer types of services, business models, collaborative synergies and consumer relationships for organizations across the whole industry sector. Due to continual innovation in devices, delivery methods and pricing, there have been rapid advances in the TV advertising sector and the way broadcast takes place.

Developing nations, especially like India, with its new Information Technology regulations, have begun exploring technologies that have penetrated in the developed nations long back. The immense rate of growth in television advertising, rise in disposable incomes, need for better media software, etc have been significant worldwide in posing opportunities for transnational media corporations to invest.

Global TV advertising expenditure will reach $219 billion in 2018 much ahead of 2012’s $53 billion mark. Global Broadcasting and Cable TV market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.28 percent over the period 2012-2016.Also, television advertising brings in new customers as young adults are less likely to avoid an ad on TV than on the social media: these are all set to boost overall broadcasting equipment consumption and also that enables broadcast on a single device like antennas & transmission equipment for access to terrestrial broadcast.

Information Retrieval in Broadcasting – What’s Lacking?

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on April 25, 2016 in Archiving & Storage, Broadcast & Management Systems, Content & Asset Management

What you see is as good as what you hear in broadcasting. Well, almost!

Digitization has given broadcasting a home run. Almost everything you see, is bound to be archived somewhere. And a portion of that is aired as news, fiction or made into a video documentary.

Broadcasting companies such as PBS and BBC have made radio programs available and various types of public records have also been archived. Furthermore, research indicates that such records are extremely valuable.

Despite the potential importance of such speech archives, they are relatively under-utilized due to the lack of useful tools for accessing and browsing such speech archives.

One natural starting point for identifying techniques for speech access is in the information retrieval literature. Current information retrieval techniques do not support other types of information seeking behavior that require users to find local information i.e. extracting facts from within a document. Consistent with this focus on search, user interfaces to information retrieval systems present a relevant ranked set of documents in response to a user query.

They assume that for more detailed information, users can easily visually scan and browse through textual documents when they are looking for information contained within a document.

Given the sequential nature of speech, it is difficult for one to quickly scan through long speech stories to obtain an overview of the speech.

It is therefore, both inefficient and inappropriate to listen to multiple lengthy stories in their entirety, when relevant information may be located in one part of an extremely lengthy story.

This indicates that in addition to search, interfaces for accessing speech need to support local navigation specifically: story navigation and information extraction.

The solution to this is simply to transcribe.

All things considered, transcription helps the user interface support a new principle that lets them decide exactly what they want to see or hear. By depicting speech in the form of text, we allow visual scanning that lets the user decide and filter what part of the discourse he wants to focus on, and skip to that part saving lot of time and patience.

Improving the user experience on the whole is what every business ultimately sets out to do. For a satisfied consumer is a returning consumer.

Understanding what the buyer wants, is as good as selling a product. Broadcast technology today needs to focus on such important tools that are oft overlooked, to create a wholesome experience for the buyer and to keep them coming back for more.

Broadcast Filters and Combiners

Posted by Michael Gonzalez on April 1, 2016 in Antennas Masts & Towers, Articles, Broadcast & Management Systems, Broadcasting Networks, Cable, Connectors & Conductor Machineries, Content & Asset Management, Studio Production, Transmission And Distribution

Broadcast sector is a very wide and dynamic industry. Not only in terms of delivering or broadcasting information through different media, but also the technical infrastructure behind the screen plays a very vital role for its successful deliverance. Filters and Combiners are the components that connect the technical infrastructure at studios, stations and even at domestic broadcast equipment like video, audio, data transformation service systems, etc.

In the recent years a lot of innovations evolved and came in availability to the industry. One of the major technical advancements in combiner and filters for broadcast industry is through the entrance of the modules. The combiner units forms the backbone of media set network. Shively Labs, a broadcast equipment designing and manufacturing company came up with balanced combiner modules that allow any number of stations to be combined into a common antenna. Systems have been designed to handle up to 21 analog stations, along with their digital counterparts. The frequency spacings as close as 0.8 MHz are routine, even on large systems and the design allows stations to be added in any frequency order without the need to reconfigure the existing combiner chain – making them ideal for sites where future expansion is planned.

Many industry events like NABSHOW are venues for companies to showcase and introduce their new products. Filters and combiners presented at NABSHOW 2012 attracted attention of the market. Radio Frequency Systems has added technology innovations and new models to its line of filters and combiners with the introduction of PeakPower+ at the event.

Trend of Combining Units

A lot of scope is recognized by the manufacturers for the combiners and filters. The evidence is the evolution ofCombining Units, which is a replacement for lot of technical material surrounded by the broadcast equipment.

The PeakPower+ line of filters and combiners is specifically aimed at safely sustaining the very high peak power of digital television, and represents a major breakthrough in coaxial filter technology.

By removing the peak power handling limitations imposed on digital transmitter filter & combiner systems, PeakPower+ TM allows broadcast operators to safely run their systems without fear of interruptions, and boost revenues by adding digital channels and services to their existing infrastructure, without having to upgrade to waveguide technology.

Features

Very compact for easy integration into equipment.
Very low insertion loss for filter size, (lowest IL for each size).
Highest power rating for size/class of filter.
Tunable over full UHF band (470 – 862 MHz)
Adjustable bandwidth, available for 6, 7 & 8 MHz channels for ALL global applications.
Symmetrical response characteristics.
External, non-invasive coupling adjustment
Tunable for both ETSI and ISDB-T critical and non-critical, and ATSC applications.
-5 to 55 degree ambient temperature operation.

DSL line combiners are from Pace plc that subscribers get “splittered” service, where DSL and telephone service are terminated into the home on separate lines. This has 2 types. Line Inline Filter with Giveback Jack and Line Inline Filter with Giveback Jack are the types available in this product.

Bandpass filters and Transmitting Combiners from Com-Tech Italia SpA are 4 types each.

UHF TV Filters / Combiners
VHF B.III TV Filters / Combiners
VHF B.I-II TV Filters / Combiners
VHF B.III DAB Filters / Combiners

The Bandpass Filter is a terrestrial broadcasting of the television signal for Analog TV (ATV) and Digital TV: DVB-T, DVB-H, ATSC (DTV), needs a high degree of linearity by the output amplifiers. So, the more an amplifier is pushed in power, the more it generates products from distortion within and outside the transmitted channel.

The Com-Tech Transmitting Combiners and Multiplexers are devices that can able to sum various inputs with different frequencies on a single output and this is a suitable application in television broadcasting as transmission of various channels take place on a single broadband antenna.

AISG/3GPP- compatible DC connections of Spinner Atlanta’s is a model that allows the transfer of control signals and power supply to antenna pre-amplifiers. The core advantage is that all the frequency combiners are suitable for indoor and outdoor installation.

While, in broadcast applications multi-channel combiners are used to combine the signals of two or several channels on to one antenna. Depending on the channel spacing Spinner has solutions for combining.

When the channels are close together or when retuning is required filter combiners are used mainly.
The starpoint and manifold combiners are usually designed as 2- or 3-way combiners.
The strechline combiners are 2-way combiners when spacing is larger than three channels.

The broadcast industry market scope and demand is there at every corner of the globe. The quality and robustness of its products and services from the industry players would build up an enviable reputation for the manufacturers.