LAS VEGAS—Tackling one of the biggest themes at the 2016 NAB Show—the transition to IP—Grass Valley will introduce a series of IP connectivity solutions that touch on all areas of its product line.
The company is also making 4K a priority.
“Two trends are driving much of the activity in the industry this year: the transition to IP and the increasing demand for UHD/4K,” said Mike Cronk, senior vice president of strategic marketing for the company.
Grass is embracing IP in all of its products, enabling connectivity that makes the movement of content more efficient. IP has proven itself in delivering high data rates and serving as a system that’s both format agnostic and scalable. “Broadcasters are all looking at IP technology to see how they can leverage the flexibility and agility to improve workflows and exploit new business opportunities,” said Marco Lopez, president of Grass Valley.
Grass Valley will mark the NAB debut of its GV Node IP processing and edge routing platform.BROADCAST PLANT OF THE FUTURE
At its booth this year, Grass Valley will demonstrate these IP benefits to broadcasters via its “Broadcast Data Center” model, which the company says is its vision of the broadcast plant of the future. “It employs IP and adds vertically accurate switching, extremely low latency and, most important, supports live production,” Lopez said.
Within this model, the company will showcase its GV Node IP processing and edge routing platform and its GV Convergent IP router control and configuration system.
In addition to IP, Grass Valley will demonstrate its newest solutions for capture, replay, switching, graphics processing, playout and automated production. For Grass, 4K technology is playing an ever-larger role, and the company plans to showcase the newest members of its LDX 86 camera family, which handles super-slow-motion and 4K and offers features such as extended color gamut and 15 f-stops of high dynamic range.
4K makes a play in the K2 Dyno replay family as well as within the Kayenne and Karrera switchers, which offer increased 4K functionality and IP connectivity. Grass Valley will also show off its 4K over 1-wire solution, which uses TICO 4:1 visually lossless compression from intoPIX to carry a high-quality signal across a single wire.
The company is also addressing the reality of multichannel production—be it broadcast, OTT or video-on-demand—and will show members of its digital media solutions, including the GV Stratus video production and content management system. GV Stratus has been installed in more than 200 locations worldwide, offering users a full set of production tools in a single application to help broadcasters better manage entertainment, on-air operations and production media workflows. Grass will also show off the latest version of its iTX playout solution, which offers IT-based integrated control, cloud-enabled control, and server and automation capabilities.
Other production solutions on display will include K2 servers, Edius nonlinear editing software and the Vertigo graphics automation system.
The business of signal processing remains a core piece of Grass Valley’s core solutions, and the company plans to showcase the newest versions of its Nvision routers, Kaleido multiviewers and Densité signal processing frames.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Lopez says that the NAB Show offers a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the latest technologies in person to keep broadcasters and related media companies up-to-date and inform of them of where the industry is going.
“It’s important at these events to not only show off what’s new, but also to help attendees find the solutions they need today to keep their businesses running smoothly while laying the groundwork for changes that are on the horizon,” he said.
Grass executives believe attendees to their NAB Show booth will come away with three key realizations: “that our latest products and solutions make it easy to tell better stories because we offer true format flexibility; that we are taking a lead role in enabling a smart IP transition by embracing open standards and a Broadcast Data Center model; and that our digital media solutions make it easier to stay competitive and capture new business with multiplatform delivery and virtualized applications,” Cronk said. “It’s all about making sure our customers are ‘future ready.’”
Grass Valley is in Booth SL106.
