was designed with I/Os that allowed it to be repurposed for different events or productions – it could be used in a small OB van, or at a live event for fixing big screens on stages. Over time, the FGPAs we used got bigger, more powerful and more flexible; and we started to progress from SD to HD (a big leap), and from HD to 4K UHD. So, we started looking at new FPGA types, new designs and embracing higher data rates. We built some things early on as 4K UHD came on to the scene, including our routing switcher, Ultrix – one of the first 12G/4K UHD internal products. Because it was a programmable, easily configurable device, it allowed us to do things you couldn’t previously do in live productions – even in HD – like MultiViewers and audio, where normally you’d need separate devices. Soon, our EMEA customers working in sports and live events were keen to upgrade to 4K UHD, which meant they needed production switchers requiring four times the bandwidth and signal power. From a design and engineering point of view, we had two choices. The first was to invest time and money in a new version of the product, to cater for this small, but growing market. Or look at what we had already achieved with the Ultrix platform, which relies on essentially the same simple properties – signals go in and signals go out – with some sort of management structure internally. We concluded that by producing a purely 4K UHD-focused switcher, we would be duplicating what we already had. Instead, we utilised these new flexible FPGA-types we could plug into other platforms, and programme into whatever they needed to be as far as the signal processor was concerned. This idea was essentially the same as it’s always been at Ross – use the latest technology to put the decision- making with the operator and not the manufacturer. We can do all sorts of really cool and smart things with this
technology, but unless it’s relevant to a customer ’s daily operation as a professional producer or production company, what’s the point? TAKING CONTROL In a medium-sized live production, you’ve got a production vehicle or fixed gallery installation, then ten or 15 people, each with their own responsibilities. And most of these are connected to kit requirements with individual tasks. Typically, big productions are very manual, because in a sporting event, you don’t know what’s going to happen next – and it can be hard to automate many tasks. But you can make it so that operators don’t have to be expertly skilled to use every single product. We figured out that by consolidating the control panel and physical hardware, customers can have whatever control servers they want to use for a particular task. Many of them are now building different control-panel interfaces for different shows. Our American universities sports production customer uses a very simplified version of an interface to perform a sports production that a sole director is fully capable of running. We built a software application in our DashBoard system (which we call ViewControl in our switcher products), so they use it via a touchscreen without big, complex operating panels. This year, we further evolved that system so it’s capable of operating remotely using NDI, so the GUI can be accessed anywhere that receives NDI access over internet. The direct control system can now connect directly to any of our other production systems (routing, audio, graphics) through this single control interface, allowing people to produce from anywhere. LET’S GET REAL The trend of working from home and moving to the cloud – something that
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has been accelerated by Covid – has meant enabling customers to access these control systems remotely, but making it look to the operator as if they’re still operating just as they were on-site, with the same feeds and control information. The pandemic has made people rethink how they do some things – and virtualisation is at the front of everyone’s minds. A big question now is around the virtualisation of hardware – to either put it into your own system, or in the cloud. Right now, the truth is that 95% of systems operate in SDI. However (connectivity and bandwidth issues notwithstanding), everyone is talking about how to get to a new cloud- enabled place, as well as how their business models transition from CapEx to OpEx. The answers around how to invest over the next three to five years are going to be highly specific to individual use cases and business models. But customers need to ask what core things they produce for their business – and how they are planning to make their money. Wherever they invest, there’s got to be a return. If there’s something new they want to try, they need to be sure the advice they’re getting is reliable and truthful, and then do a proof of concept, with plenty of solid testing built in. There are lots of different broadcast technology suppliers – some are big companies, while others are cottage industries that have suddenly popped up to meet an urgent need. At Ross Video, we do things steadily. When we bring out equipment, it will work beautifully and customers will love it, because we’ve always been about solving problems – no matter where companies are on their technology roadmap.
THE ANSWERS AROUND HOW TO INVEST OVER THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS ARE GOING TO BE HIGHLY SPECIFIC TO INDIVIDUAL USE CASES AND BUSINESSMODELS
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