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Tag: IBC2024

  • Double Award Success at IBC2024 for nxtedition

    Double Award Success at IBC2024 for nxtedition

    nxtedition is proud to announce its remarkable success at IBC2024, having been recognised with two industry awards. The company received the IABM BaM Award in the Create category and was also named a TVBEurope Best of Show winner for its XR/Mixed Reality Studio Gallery Control. These accolades highlight nxtedition’s ongoing commitment to innovation and evolution in the broadcast industry.

    The IABM BaM Award, known as a ‘#BaMMY’, celebrates innovation and creative solutions in media technology. nxtedition’s achievement in the Create category was praised by the IABM judges, who remarked:

    “The word ‘groundbreaking’ appears in a lot of submissions for awards, but this truly is a groundbreaking product”

    “For many years people have tried to reduce a control room to the size of a piece of paper. Is this the product that finally does it?”

    “This is a really astonishing piece of kit, which I think is an outstanding and radical development.”

    nxtedition also received the TVBEurope Best of Show award for its XR/Mixed Reality Studio Gallery Control. These awards recognise outstanding products and solutions that were exhibited at IBC2024. They are judged by an independent panel of experts, including industry professionals and TVBEurope editorial staff, based on criteria such as innovation, performance, and cost-effectiveness. nxtedition’s recognition in this category reflects its dedication to delivering advanced broadcast solutions that meet the evolving needs of the industry.

    nxtedition played a key role in developing the XR/MR Studio Gallery Control as part of the IBC Accelerator project, “Evolution of the Control Room – Leveraging XR, Voice, AI & HTML-Based Graphics Solutions.” This project was a collaboration with Al Jazeera, BBC, ITN, Transmixer, Cuez, Loopic, SPX Graphics and many more. The accelerator perfectly aligned with nxtedition’s consolidated approach, showcasing how emerging technologies can reshape broadcast control. During the presentation, Adam Leah, Creative Director at nxtedition demonstrated the system live, remotely controlling a studio in Sweden using just a Meta Quest 3 and an iPad, which was met with great enthusiasm and praise.

    IBC2024 was a resounding success for the company, marked not only by these award wins but also by a record number of visitors to the stand. Roger Persson of nxtedition commented, “IBC2024 allowed us to showcase how our single, unified platform can genuinely change the way newsrooms work. The level of interest we received confirms that the industry is looking for more integrated, efficient solutions like ours.” 

  • Cobalt Digital’s new IP focused products awarded at IBC2024  

    Cobalt Digital’s new IP focused products awarded at IBC2024  

    AMSTERDAM: Cobalt Digital, the designer and manufacturer of award-winning edge devices for live video production and master control, and a founding partner in the openGear® initiative brought innovative solutions to IBC designed to streamline a path to IP and was rewarded with two best of show awards.

    The two winners were tapped as exceptional standouts in Cobalt’s stand that was crowded with ground-breaking, IP focused products. The Cobalt UltraBlue IP-MV multiviewer won best of show in the TVB Europe category, and the Indigo OG-21100-Bidi4-Gateway took home the same honour in the TV Tech one. 
     
    The awards recognise the very best media and broadcast technology products and solutions on display at IBC2024, with hundreds of products and solutions considered. All entries were reviewed by a panel of industry experts and editors at the Rai. Factors taken into account include how diverse and comprehensive the product’s features are; how easy it is to use and how it integrates with other products; how well it solves a problem for the user; and how innovative and unique it is within the market.
     
    The new Cobalt UltraBlue IP-MV multiviewer can be provided as a turnkey solution with four HDMI heads, or as a software package to run on customer-supplied dedicated hardware, delivering maximum flexibility.  Features include support for receiving audio/video content over IP across a variety of protocols and formats with very flexible audio routing, bringing a multitude of options to suit every application.
     
    Winner in the TV Tech category and a member of the company’s Indigo platform, the Cobalt ® Indigo OG-2110-Bidi4-Gateway has native SMPTE ST 2110 support in an openGear® format card with dual 25G ethernet interfaces for ST 2022-7 support. The card is a bidirectional quad channel native ST 2110 interface to SDI I/O, and the transmit and receive paths of the gateway can operate simultaneously. The gateway  also includes support for IS-04/IS-05 NMOS for automatic discovery and configuration.
     
    “We are so grateful to both TVB Europe and TV Tech for these enormous honors,” said Cobalt Digital senior vice-president of worldwide sales & marketing Suzana Brady. “Our products are all developed to accommodate the requirements of our customers, and IP is a predominant factor during all our conversations, so we know we hit the mark with our lineup. But it is also reassuring to know that the journalists and judges that review and evaluate all the new technology in the industry acknowledged our products as some of the best on the entire show floor.”
     
    The awards’ editorial team said that “IBC2024 has been busier than ever this year, with over 1,300 companies showcasing their latest innovations. Our awards followed suit with this popularity and more were entered than ever before.. judging and winner selections were extremely difficult this year, feedback from our judges confirmed that the standard across the board was incredible. To all those companies who have won, you can be truly proud of your company’s achievements in standing out amongst the crowd at IBC2024.”
     

  • Indian media and entertainment techies flock to IBC2024

    Indian media and entertainment techies flock to IBC2024

    AMSTERDAM: IBC which is held at the Rai exhibition centre in Amsterdam in September every year is considered a very important stop in every leading broadcaster, systems integrator, OTT platform, technology provider, equipment manufacturer’s  calendar. 2024 saw its importance rise even further as a record number of executives, journalists, sales folks, students descended from their planes in the famed Schipol airport and made their way to the south of the city between 13 and 16 September.  

    The constant refrain amongst most attendees was that IBC2024 had outscored the other famous exhibition which is held in Las Vegas – the NAB show -which until now was considered a bigger trade show. The final day is an indicator of a trade show’s success. At the Rai, stands were packed as meetings continued till post lunch and some booths had conversations continuing till as late as 3:30 pm when the exhibition was supposed to close at 4pm on 16 September.

    Amongst the Indian companies which had taken up booths included: Tata Elxsi, Tata Communications, PlanetCast, Magnifi, Amagi, Canara Lighting, Ali Corp, Tabsons, UTO Solutions, Prime Focus Technologies, Workflow Labs, and Magnaquest.

    The aisles were bustling with Indians as systems integrators, distributors, resellers, technology executives, engineers scoured the booths to get abreast of the latest in solutions. Techies from Disney Star India, Whistling Woods, Sun TV, Zee5, GTPL Hatway, Hathway, Prasar Bharti, Hoichoi, Jio Platforms, NDTV, among many others kept busy over the duration of the exhibition.

    With the  rise of streaming, mergers and acquisitions amongst media majors, cord cutting continuing, explosion in free to air, automation of work processes, the uptake of generative AI and AI as a whole, increase in adoption of the cloud, Indian industry is grappling with which way they should direct their investments in tech so that they can get an efficient return on their investments and be future ready as well. Hence, the rush to tech shows such as IBC.

     

  • IBC2024 grows across the board as AI Takes centre stage

    IBC2024 grows across the board as AI Takes centre stage

    AMSTERDAM: It has been a record breaking year at IBC2024 with the Amsterdam confab attracting 45,085 visitors from 170 countries – a jump of more than 2,000 as compared to the previous year. On top of that 100 additional exhibitors put up their stands in the 14 halls covering 46,000 square metres of space (as against 44,500 square metres in 2023) in Amsterdam’s RAI with their count adding up to 1,350 Many participants opined that IBC2024 was the busiest four days they have had this year as execuitves from the global media, entertainment and technology community came together to connect, showcase and discover innovations, tackle pressing industry challenges, and explore new opportunities. 

    Across a bustling show floor and packed theatres, IBC2024 addressed critical trends and issues driving change across the media landscape, such as combatting false information and fake news, while offering new show features, such as the AI Tech Zone, and IBC Talent Programme.

    “IBC continued on an upward trajectory in 2024, with tremendous turnout across the entire IBC community as people gathered in Amsterdam to explore the technological advances and market dynamics redefining our industry,” said IBC CEO Michael Crimp.. “In a year marked by major events such as the Olympics and national elections, there was an extremely positive buzz at IBC2024. This year’s show addressed soaring interest in trends such as AI’s leap from theory to real-world applications, how the industry is fighting disinformation in news, and the need to foster talent and diversity across media, entertainment and technology.”

    Other themes that took centre stage at IBC2024 included sustainability, 5G, cloud, esports, immersive experiences, over-the-top (OTT) and streaming, adtech, metaverse, edge computing, and connected technologies. Many of these were addressed in the three-day IBC Conference, relocated to the Auditorium Complex at the RAI, as well as in the various show floor theatres and by many of the exhibitors themselves on their stands.

    A number of IBC2024’s defining themes were also focuses of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, which this year included another IBC first: the AI Media Production Lab, exploring a series of projects in which some of the industry’s most inventive innovators collaborated on specific AI concepts. One of the hottest Accelerator projects – also addressed in the IBC Conference – was ‘Design Your Weapons in the Fight Against Disinformation’, which aimed to develop an industry-wide?understanding?of the challenges and abuses being faced today by all media outlets in helping audiences identify trustworthy news and information.

    The new AI Tech Zone, powered by EBU, was packed with visitors engaging with leading innovators on practical applications ranging from automated video editing and music-audio separation to content provenance tracking and fast and secure cloud storage. Then Zone stage featured AI pioneers sharing insights into how the technology will impact the future and how it is already transforming media in areas such as discoverability, news verification, and creating immersive experiences.

    Another exciting new feature at IBC2024 was the Audio Visual (AV) buyers’ event on the eve of the show. Working with the AV User Group, media technology companies at the show were able to actively engage with major AV purchasers such as Arup, AstraZeneca, Bank of America, Barclays, Deliveroo, Direct Line Group, KPMG, Schroders, Sopra Steria, UBS, and WPP.

    The inaugural, free-to-attend IBC Talent Programme featured lively and engaged discussions on mentoring the industry’s next generation, recruitment challenges, and the importance of diverse perspectives for driving innovation. The programme was preceded by the World Skills Café, run by Global Media and Entertainment Manifesto, which took place at the RAI the day before the show.

    Leading global media technology brands exhibiting at IBC2024 included Arabsat, Arri, Avid, AWS, Blackmagic, BT Media, Canon, Comcast, Eutelsat, Evertz, EVS, Google, Grass Valley, Harmonic, Huawei, Imagine Communications, LG, Lawo, LTN, Mediakind, Microsoft, Nagra, Panasonic, Riedel, Ross Video, Samsung, SES, Sony, Tata Comms Media, Telestream, Zero Density, Zixi, and ZTE. There were also 150+ new exhibitors at the show, including 5G Broadcast Collective, CDN Alliance, Datacamp, Eosos, Frequency Networks, Medianet Berlin, Strada, SwXch IO, and Vubiquity, while Benro, Insta360, Robe, The Weather Company, Vecima – plus Yamaha returned to the show for the first time since 2019.

    “In the last few years, IBC has gone from strength to strength, with exhibitors continuing to find more ways to make the most of the show as we add new features and grow its scope and reach,” said IBC Director Steve Connolly. “The feedback we get is incredibly positive, with many seeing IBC evolving as an increasingly important incubator of media tech innovation, as well as maintaining our status as an essential networking destination and source of intelligence on new industry trends and developments.”

  • Planetcast Media Services to showcase NexC at IBC2024

    Planetcast Media Services to showcase NexC at IBC2024

    Mumbai: Planetcast Media Services, the global broadcast technology and media services provider, will be demonstrating its new end-to-end, single-window media management and delivery offering at IBC2024 (RAI Amsterdam, 13-16 September, Booth 5.H59). The event will witness the public EMEA debut of Planetcast’s cloud-first NexC architecture. NexC empowers media companies to overcome the complexity challenge of today’s distribution landscape, enabling frictionless movement of content assets across each stage of post-production, content management, distribution, and monetisation.

    “We are showcasing NexC’s capability to solve the complexity challenge faced by media companies today as they deal with even more formats, markets, devices, and distribution points than ever,” said Planetcast Media Services CEO Sanjay Duda. “Media organisations find it increasingly cumbersome and costly to navigate the various stages of post-production, content delivery and monetisation. Our in-house development team of over 250 professionals are meticulously building and upgrading NexC to offer a seamless integration of media asset management, cloud playout, over-the-top (OTT), and IP distribution. In addition to developing the NEXC product roadmap, the team also provides bespoke solutions tailored to specific customer needs, significantly reducing time and cost compared to outsourcing.”

    NexC: A game-changer for the media industry

    As a comprehensive, cloud-based service suite, NexC offers a unique platform as a service (PaaS) proposition. It integrates content supply chain management with upstream services like post-production and content prep as well as downstream services like cloud playout, digital delivery, FAST and OTT into a single system, streamlining operations and enabling clients to meet the complexity challenge of today’s media industry.

    “NexC pairs flexible workflows with product-level customization, providing the best of both worlds,” Duda explained. “Its ability to scale and deploy solutions at significantly lower cost is highly popular among CTOs & CFOs with tight budgets.”

    By integrating content supply chain management, content preparation, metadata enrichment, tagging, subtitling, dubbing, editing, playout, OTT platforms, and FAST channels into a single, cohesive system, NexC stands out as a comprehensive solution for media companies. The platform’s architecture is built on several core components, each accessible through Planetcast’s unified customer user interface (UI) and dashboard:

    . Contido – content supply chain orchestration and media asset management.

    . Content preparation and localisation services – a full suite of core technical post-production services from quality control, technical and compliance checks to subtitling, dubbing, editing, and re-scoring.

    .  RECASTER – a dynamic and robust IP transport solution, which delivers a secure internet stream from anywhere to anywhere, be it a linear channel or a live sports stream.

    .  Scheduling, playout and distribution through Cloud BATS scheduler, Cloud.X playout and RECASTER digital delivery platforms.

    .  MediaHQ – a white-labelled OTT solution for non-linear content distribution that has delivered complex, multi-award-winning online streaming solutions, from ingest to delivery, for major brands and live events worldwide, including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and Formula 1 for customers such as Foxtel Australia and Media Prima Malaysia.

    .  FAST channel services – provided by Planetcast across the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, in tandem with established ad-tech partners in USA, Europe and Asia.

    In addition to the core components of NexC, Planetcast’s team will also talk about the company’s other services, including:

    .  Post-production – a software and cloud-curated ecosystem of services with a high degree of process automation, plus AI-enabled capabilities to provide best-of-class services at impressive turnaround times and competitive rates.

    .  Playout disaster recovery – cloud-based DR solution that provides incredibly cost-effective protection against broadcast service disruption.

    Demonstrating innovation and strategic investments

    “Our acquisition of Switch Media earlier this year highlights our drive to expand our solutions portfolio to provide customers with proven world-class OTT capabilities,” noted Duda. “As audiences become more reachable, we recognise that there is a growing need to leverage technology that will empower media companies to open new markets and broaden their audience base. Switch Media’s modular and flexible solutions and versatile workflow engine, Planetcast ensures that its customers can power exceptional online content for viewers and drive OTT monetisation.”

    Planetcast’s in-house development of intellectual property provides a significant competitive advantage for its customers. This agility allows for rapid deployment of new solutions, enabling quick response to market demands and client needs.

    “The seamless integration of individual solutions into our NexC unified platform simplifies user workflows and enhances content management efficiency,” Duda noted. “Our focus on innovation and strategic investments, particularly in multi-cloud-based solutions, is crucial as the industry moves towards more personalized and integrated viewing experiences, enabled by advanced analytics and AI-driven technologies.”

  • IBC2024 to champion real-world AI applications for the global media industry

    IBC2024 to champion real-world AI applications for the global media industry

    Mumbai: IBC2024 has unveiled a host of exciting new show features and speaking sessions to showcase real-world artificial intelligence (AI) advances across the IBC Conference, the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme and the show itself, including the new AI Tech Zone, powered by EBU. AI innovators and media and entertainment (M&E) companies will be able to learn, network, collaborate and unlock business opportunities driven by new AI use cases throughout the event, which takes place in the RAI Amsterdam on 13-16 September.

    “The media industry is ready to look beyond the AI hype and focus on real-world applications that deliver tangible benefits for businesses and consumers,” said IBC CEO  Mike Crimp.”IBC2024 will showcase an array of hands-on demos and use-case-driven discussions — reflecting M&E’s demand for a grounded conversation on how AI is impacting our sector today and in the long term.”

    “AI spend in media is set to reach $13 billion by 2028. It is influencing every element of the content value chain but businesses need more clarity around where and how it can be harnessed most effectively,” said Maria Rua Aguete, Omdia’s Senior Research Director, Media and Entertainment. “Spotlighting high-impact use cases and collaborating to overcome adoption challenges will be key to unlocking AI’s transformative potential for the media industry.”

    The new AI Tech Zone, powered by EBU, brings together emerging AI providers, established producers, content creators and innovators looking past the tried and true to re-imagine media creation and operations from the ground up. The zone will be presented by headline sponsor AWS and partner, NVIDIA, fueling hands-on AI demonstrations. Dell Technologies has been announced as a platinum sponsor with partner, NVIDIA. The AI Tech Zone Stage will be sponsored by Wasabi Technologies, while the AI networking zone – sponsored by DOT Group and IBM – will empower the IBC community to engage directly with some of the most innovative players pioneering AI for M&E.

    EBU head of media fundamentals and production Hans Hoffman said: “The AI Tech Zone is a must-attend for show attendees. We are now moving on from ‘future potential’ discussions to seeing how practical AI applications in the workflow can enable public service operators, broadcasters and other media organisations to generate real value. Visitors to the AI Tech Zone will witness firsthand how AI is shaping a smarter, more efficient media world.”

    An array of sessions on the AI Tech Zone Stage will spotlight groundbreaking AI advances across areas including content authenticity, intelligent media storage, accessibility, mixed reality and creativity in production while sharing critical insight into regulation and policy developments. AI thought-leaders taking to the stage include zone sponsors and representatives from AI Caramba!, BBC Studios, Eluvio, EPFL, Fraunhofer, IBM Aspera, Ina, KBS, Liverpool Football Club, PacGenesis, RTVE, Univeristy of Seoul, VIDEO.TAXI, and YLE News Lab. The full AI Tech Zone Stage schedule is available here.

    Alongside sponsors, AI Tech Zone exhibitors will showcase pioneering AI technologies ranging from automated video editing and music-audio separation to advanced data analytics and business optimization to content provenance tracking and fast and secure cloud storage. Exhibiting companies include AI4ME, AudioShake, Blu Digital Group, Brai, CheckSub, Deepdub, Eleven Labs, Eluvio, EU Project X Reco, Globant, HP (Z by HP), Imaginaro.ai, ITTIAM, Magnifi, Media Monks, MobiusLabs, PacGenesis, Scenery, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Seagate Technology, Tabsons, The Weather Company, V-Nova, Vera.AI, Video.Taxi, Videolinq.ai, VionLabs, and Zaibr.

    AI-focused sessions and thought-leaders will feature across all show floor theatres and at the IBC Conference, where AI will be one of the primary themes explored — with keynotes from industry visionaries charting the evolution of AI in media and presenting new strategies to harness AI for creative workflows. The conference will also spotlight a number of AI in Action case studies, unveiling how generative AI and new data frameworks are already transforming live sports fan experiences and enhancing business operations for major broadcasters including ITV, Olympic Channel, and Sky. The full IBC Conference agenda is available here.

    Meanwhile, a number of companies across other exhibition halls will showcase new AI product launches and technologies for the first time at IBC2024, including Ateliere Creative Technologies, Backlight, Cinegy, Evergent, farmerswife, HAND, IMAX, InSync, ioMoVo, Media Excel, MediaKind, nxtedition, Operative, Periphery, Pixotope, Profuz Digital, Telestream, Telos Alliance, and Vubiquity.

    Another IBC-first is the introduction of the AI Media Production Lab within the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, exploring a series of specific AI concepts to improve creativity in storytelling, deepen non-biased audience feedback and engagement, and power real-time predictive analytics to personalise live sports viewing. The three project strands, ‘Generative AI in Action’, ‘AI Audience Validation Assistant (AAVA), and ‘Changing the Game: Predictive Generative AI’ are being driven by Champions including Al Jazeera, BNNVARA, Channel 4, EBU, Evangelische Omroep (EO), IET, ITV, Paramount Global, Rai, Verizon Business, Vodafone, World Freestyle Football Association, Yle, and Zwart. Technology participants include Magnifi, Plan 9 Labs, Pluxbox, Respeecher, RKG Creative, Somersault, and Xansr Media.

    Each project strand will be showcased with proof-of-concept demonstrations in Hall 3 at the Accelerator Zone and on the Innovation Stage.

    Find out more about AI at IBC2024 here: