INDUSTRY TELEVISION, FILM PRODUCTION & BROADCAST BRIEF

Transcription

1 INDUSTRY TELEVISION, FILM PRODUCTION & BROADCAST BRIEF Fiber optics delivers a single integrated infrastructure that provides secure, high bandwidth transmission of video and data throughout a facility When coupled with state-of-the-art routing and extension solutions, you can create a topology that merges creative desktops and broadcast systems into a single optical infrastructure, providing more efficient workflow and use of computer resources, as well as cost savings in capital and maintenance tm

2 This brief provides readers with a basic understanding of fiber optic infrastructure, and identifies the short and long term benefits fiber optics provides The following content focuses on the physical infrastructure of the production and broadcast environment only, and does not investigate or make recommendations regarding the applications, storage, or content production or content management aspects of the business After reading this brief, readers will have a set of guidelines to assist in developing a long term strategy, and a set of tools that can be used to assess and prioritize infrastructure investments Building a foundation for the new world Local and national production and broadcasting companies are investing a significant part of their budgets into upgrading infrastructure, workflow systems, edit suites, and storage and retrieval systems in order to meet demand for broader program options However, effectively transitioning these environments requires balanced focus, proper planning, and a clear view of short and long term goals By looking at the production and broadcast environments holistically, companies can approach network investments as a single expense by following a common direction whenever possible Until recently, broadcasting companies viewed the production and broadcast environments as two separate and independent worlds The production environment focused on improving workflow and programming quality, while the broadcast environment focused primarily on content delivery While there are many aspects of the production and broadcast environments that are different, a number of common attributes do exist, including: 1) Ability to control the retrieval and display of programming to one or more video terminals simultaneously 2) Secure access to video assets by job function 3) Support of old and new SMPTE video resolution standards 4) An infrastructure that s easy to access and manage 5) Solutions must meet high availability standards page 2

3 Laser clarity Advances in computing power have allowed companies to transition a relatively small number of dedicated hardware-based edit suites to software-enabled creative desktops These systems require high-resolution computer displays, and need to be available where the creative work is being done Building an infrastructure that supports this type of workflow is a challenge using copper networks, and traditional video routing products cannot support the high resolution computer displays Wired for the future Almost all pre-production, post-production, and broadcasting organizations have common connectivity requirements that enable and support: 1) Filming and production of programming 2) Storage and retrieval of audio and video assets 3) Distribution and broadcasting of programs Fiber optic infrastructure provides the best solution to meet current and future capacity and performance requirements while providing an infrastructure that supports a broad range of SMPTE standards The increasing demand for HD and 3D programming, plus consumer demand to access content from a broader range of devices, has driven companies to make additional investments in their production, broadcast, and distribution infrastructure Investments range from a new cable plant, to 3D capable cameras and storage devices, to content management systems, to name a few When considering physical cable plant requirements, bandwidth and distance become key factors Fiber optics provides an environment with high bandwidth capacity while connecting end points over longer distances page 3

4 page 4 Broadcast and post production facilities have traditionally used copper cabling to transport video and audio data Uncompressed SDI video requires a bandwidth of about 270 Mbps which allows most facilities to be built within the 350 meter cable run constraint With the requirement to support HDTV and 60 Hz, the data rates in facilities and machine rooms have increased dramatically A 3G signal sent over copper cable has a practical distance limit of about 60 meters In the majority of installations this is a serious limiting factor; hence, the need to use a technology without the bandwidth and distance constraints of copper fiber optics The following chart provides a comparison of common cabling standards that are used in production and broadcast networks Commonly used cable specifications Cable type Speed Distance Copper coaxial: Thin coax (10base2) 10 Mbps 185 meters Cat 3/4/5 UTP 100 Mbps 100 meters Cat 5e 1 Gbps 100 meters Multi-mode fiber 10 Gbps 550 meters Single-mode fiber 40 Gbps 10 kilometers Selecting the right cable infrastructure is critical to meeting short term needs However, deciding which cable type to deploy must also anticipate long term needs For example, as new video standards emerge, will the production and broadcast environment also need to support these new standards? To effectively determine in which cable plant to invest, bandwidth demands must anticipate usage of current and future video standards: Common video resolutions using 24 bit RGB color space: 1280 x 60 Hz 324 Gbps 1920 x 60 Hz 446 Gbps 1920 x 60 Hz 462 Gbps 2048 x 60 Hz 470 Gbps 1600 x 60 Hz 486 Gbps Aside from ensuring your infrastructure has enough capacity, the equipment used to interconnect the infrastructure and provide transport for video images must be able to take full advantage of the capacity of the cable plant Without an end-to-end solution that matches the performance demands of the source with the receiver, the ability to ensure high quality video transmission is compromised For example, physical cabling with the capacity to support single link DVI video resolution of 2048 x 1152 (470 Gbps) has limited value if the images are transmitted, switched, and received through platforms capable of supporting only 3 Gbps or 425 Gbps of video

5 While an end-to-end solution supporting a maximum of 425 Gbps capacity may be considered good enough for some environments, it does not provide the investment protection needed to support a longer term direction as video standards emerge and higher resolution devices, such as dual-link DVI and 3D, are used throughout the facility Fiber optics is the only technology with the bandwidth necessary to transport all video signal standards at their native data rates Therefore, it is critical that optical routing and extension solutions are deployed in order to leverage the fiber infrastructure Using optical routing and extension technology gives multi-platform and multi-user environments added levels of efficiency and flexibility that simply cannot be achieved with copper based solutions Unlike conventional copper, fiber does not suffer bandwidth limitations over distance Thus you are assured of the level of performance and quality associated with a broadcast facility, without the need for amplification, equalization, or repeating The ins & outs of the infrastructure A fundamental requirement of the production and broadcast infrastructure is to provide immediate and secure access to video and audio content with the resolution and quality needed to create a finished product (production) and meet consumer quality expectations (broadcast) Therefore the ability to provide access to video and audio content, regardless of location, is as critical as the quality of the video and audio input and output Various products are available that provide the on-ramp (transmitters) and off-ramp (receivers) to the network and enable the any-to-any access (matrix switches and routers) between source video/audio content and destination endpoints A well-engineered infrastructure ensures the end-to-end solution does not introduce any (or minimal) delay or latency (or retransmission of lost frames) during the transmission of the video and audio content Pre-production environments provide access to video and audio content using KMASS (keyboard /mouse/audio/serial) technology The KMASS network allows single or multiple workstations to access source video and audio files from either central or remote locations, and enables access, control, and management of the content as if the source information was local Similarly, the broadcast environment demands the same level of quality, performance, and resiliency in an environment capable of transmitting and broadcasting SDI, HD-SDI, dual-link SDI, and 3G video When evaluating KMASS or broadcast video extension transmitters and receivers, be careful to consider the performance demands of the applications, the capacity of the underlying infrastructure, and the speed and capacity of the egress (transmitter) and ingress (receiver) interfaces It is also important to identify and match the physical port requirements of the source input device with the ports available on the transmitter, and the physical port requirements of the endpoints to those available with the receivers Lastly, special attention should be applied to the capabilities of each platform and what functions can operate at full capacity, as well as what can and cannot be switched in a multipoint access configuration page 5

6 For example, many transmitter and receiver products support USB 20 interfaces; however, few allow operations at the full 480 MB capacity Additionally, systems supporting USB 20 often do not allow switched access, thereby constraining deployments to point-to-point configurations only Is the glass half empty? Fiber Based Matrix Routing The basic principle is that electrical signals (usually connected via short run copper cables) are converted by a transmitter into laser light pulses that are then sent over long distances via a fiber optical cable These light pulses are decoded by a receiver back into electrical signals for connection via short copper cables to the appropriate destination equipment This basic transmitter/receiver concept can form the basis of point to point connections, or using a switch can allow for distribution and routing of signals A new generation of fiber based matrix routing solutions are now available that simultaneously support KMASS, DVI, and SDI video signals By utilizing this new routing platform, source content can be located in multiple locations with access provided to endpoints spread throughout the production and broadcast domains Fiber based matrix routing can increase the capacity and speed of your infrastructure, particularly in environments where video output needs to be simultaneously transmitted from multiple sources to multiple endpoints This diagram provides a basic view for how interconnection is provided between input sources and output devices (endpoints) via an optical matrix router As you would imagine, not all matrix routers are the same The architecture, performance, capacity, and resiliency of the matrix router can vary greatly 8 Blocking and non-blocking architectures Performance of a fiber based router is directly impacted by whether the router is designed with a blocking or non-blocking architecture Blocking is realized when the router is unable to establish a direct path between the input source and output destination For example, a router that has a 576 x 576 design allows 576 input sources to route to 576 output recipients Since there are an equal number of input and output paths available, the router is able to provide non-blocking routing and will support the maximum speed allowed by each port Alternative architecture designs have emerged over the years to incorporate concepts such as tiering, which use a form of multiplexing to enable A non-blocking architecture requires multiple output recipients to share a single physical output an equal number of input sources port in the router and output destinations with no tiering or multiplexing input optical fibers sources switch module output optical fibers destinations page 6

7 While tiering allows routing to multiple output recipients through a single port, the performance loss that results from multiplexing can cause dramatic effects when high resolution or real-time communication is essential Supporting SMPTE standards As video standards have evolved, a number of matrix routers have been unable to support a broader range of video standards within a single router Ideally, the solutions selected should be protocol agnostic to allow any video standard to be transmitted and switched across the environment Unfortunately, as new SMPTE standards have emerged, many manufacturers have isolated interfaces (SDI) into separate systems or peripheral devices Although the performance of routing for these discrete interfaces (SDI) is not affected by this design, the trade-off is the consumption of additional power, use of additional rack space and a requirement to manage more discrete systems Conserving electric use and rack space translates into reduced expenses, while the ability to support legacy, current, and future input sources provides a future proofed architecture to meet the long term demands Redundancy and fault tolerance Unlike many other industries, the production and broadcast environment must provide a level of redundancy and fault tolerance that eliminates the risk of downtime Losing access to video content or failure in the broadcast circuits is simply not acceptable, and results in a drop in ratings or a decrease in consumer retention A variety of redundancy models exist in the industry; however, platforms that meet the demands of mission critical deployments require a redundancy and fault tolerance design that ensures failover at multiple levels within the switch design Ideally, optical matrix routing platforms should provide redundancy and fault tolerance across the power system, fans, and control plane, as well as at an interface and port level As a general guideline, the mean time between failure (MTBF) of the elements on the production and broadcast network should meet a minimum level of: Device MTBF Transmitters 106,000 hours Receivers 106,000 hours Matrix Router 201,000 hours In a broadcast environment, performance, capacity, and reliability are all critical factors that must be considered when comparing optical matrix switch solutions 1) The performance of your network will have a direct effect on the quality of the video being broadcast 2) The capacity of your system affects which current and future video standards can be supported and what level of end-to-end performance can be achieved 3) The resiliency has a direct effect on service uptime and the ability to quickly address service disruption page 7

8 Management and control There are two aspects of the control system that must be considered when deploying or evolving a production or broadcast environment The first deals with the management interface that is used for configuring the solution and managing changes to the environment The second deals with the control interface used by the production and broadcast personnel in performing their daily job function In the first case, the management platform must allow network engineers to easily set up and change the configuration of the matrix switch Ideally, the system should provide a means to integrate material developed during the planning process (for example, spreadsheets and graphic files, etc) to ensure naming conventions, port mapping, and source/destination pairing remain consistent as the end-to-end environment is deployed Additionally, the platform should be accessible from anywhere across the production and broadcast domains and based on an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) engineers can utilize to quickly identify source and destination devices and pinpoint areas for change when needed Lastly, the platform should provide integration with management and control systems already in place to minimize retraining of employees and limit changes to downstream management systems The control system, used by pre-production, post-production, and broadcast personnel, is also a critical aspect of a well-engineered network and has a direct effect on the productivity of operations Most broadcast companies have deployed separate control interfaces for their pre-production, post-production, and broadcast domains When evaluating fiber optic switching solutions, be especially thorough in the evaluation of the management and control platform and its interfaces The production environment utilizes a control system that allows users in edit suites to easily identify and access video and audio sources These environments utilize an interface that is accessible through a computer, touch pad, or panel display, or via a dedicated switch button device The broadcast environment supports a similar access model, but relies on system interfaces that can quickly bring new sources on-line and switch between video resources with no need for KMASS control of the incoming source These platforms must easily integrate with solutions currently in place to avoid extra costs in retraining and loss in productivity from production and broadcast personnel The management and control solutions must support the same level of redundancy as the infrastructure to avoid single points of failure, and to allow integration with planning tools so that future changes to the environment can be properly modeled outside of the production environment page 8

9 Summary When considering additional investment in the production and broadcast infrastructure, companies should focus on designing an environment that is easy to use and manage, provides the highest level of video quality possible, and avoids the risk of service disruption or service outage To meet these basic goals, engineers should pay close attention to: 1) What are the capacity and performance requirements of the network, and are there long term considerations that should be taken into account? 2) Can the environment support current and future video standards? 3) Does the infrastructure provide the level of redundancy and fault tolerance that meets company objectives? 4) Can the system be easily accessed by users and managed by the engineering team using a common set of tools and interfaces? 5) Can the solution address the needs of the production and distribution environments from a common platform? 6) Potential areas where the production and distribution networks can be integrated include: a Structured cable plant b Transmitters and receivers c Routing and switching platforms d Control systems e Network and device management Over the last decade, the television, film production, and broadcast industries have seen significant changes Consumers are demanding more for less in an environment where the number and type of competitors have increased With the ever increasing production challenges placed on facilities in the industry today, a fiber optic infrastructure coupled with fiber based system solutions are instrumental in handling signal capability, workflow demands, and future proofing requirements In the pursuit of continued success in this industry, companies need to make intelligent decisions that address today s needs, but also have the foresight to predict what customers will demand tomorrow tm 100 Washington Street Contact a Thinklogical Sales Representative at Milford, CT USA sales@thinklogicalcom or (203) July 2011