IBC 2011: Harris To Build on NAB Momentum With Selenio, NEXIO Offerings

Harris will hit the floor in Amsterdam looking to build on the momentum it built in the production, transmission, and contribution markets at April’s NAB. Chief among Harris’s offerings at IBC 2011 (Booth 7.G20) will be its Selenio media-convergence platform and the NEXIO server and storage solutions.

“We will have three main [themes] at IBC: improving on how we deliver workflow efficiencies, how we increase ease of use, and how we lower total cost of ownership,” says Glodina Connan, senior manager, strategic marketing, Broadcast Communications Division, Harris Corp. “It all comes down to simplifying the workflow and making it easier, which is especially important in a sports environment.”

Selenio Makes Euro Debut
Harris’s Selenio media-convergence platform created a fair amount of buzz in Las Vegas last April, promising to package traditional baseband video and audio processing, compression, and IP networking technology within a single, 3RU platform. At IBC, Harris will introduce hardware and software enhancements for Selenio.

“We believe that we now have the most complete encoding portfolio on the market with the Selenio platform,” says Connan. “You are creating flexibility and future-proofing [your operation] by allowing this platform to be used for any application that you might need.”

In Amsterdam, Harris will release a new 10-bit, H.264 4:2:2-capable contribution encoder integrated within Selenio at IBC. According to Connan, the encoder delivers lower latency and multiple-generation encoding without signal degradation. Selenio already supports MPEG-2 and H.264 compression standards for SD, HD, 3G, and mobile, as well as most advanced audio standards.

Harris will also unveil Selenio features that increase its support for the rising DVB-T2 digital-transmission standard. It will demo how Selenio can help broadcasters establish a cost-effective, compact DVB-T/T2 video headend in a single box using the built-in DVB-T2 Gateway.

The Gateway features an integrated single-frequency network (SFN) adapter, allowing Harris to supply a complete DVB-T2 solution with DTV transmitters, the video headend, and Harris Videotek test and measurement equipment.

In addition, Harris has added linear frame-rate conversion for baseband applications to the Selenio platform.

Target: The Production Side
Also debuting at IBC will be the latest version of Harris’s NEXIO AMP advanced media platform, the NEXIO Farad online storage system (introduced at NAB last spring), and the Velocity 2.5 non-linear editing system. This trio of server, storage, and editing products can be used separately or together as a single solution.

“In the sports-production environment, it is all about fast turnarounds and shorter time to air, so this is a big addition to our portfolio,” says Connan. “When you combine these [products] together, it makes for a very strong production solution that caters to [sports newsrooms]. When you have mass-storage requirements and fast-turnaround playout requirements, this is perfect.”

The latest version of NEXIO AMP features Automatic Input Detection, which immediately recognizes changing video resolutions of signals coming into the server inputs. This eliminates the need for an operator to reconfigure server inputs during production or insert additional conversion equipment between sources and the server.

NEXIO Farad is designed for large-scale ingest, editing, and playout for production, sports, news, and live-event applications. Farad allows broadcasters to scale storage and bandwidth requirements to fit their needs.

Harris will also demonstrate new workflows that tie NEXIO and Velocity solutions to its Invenio digital-asset-management systems. This includes a common user interface across all workstations in the newsroom system.

Also on display will be a new, unified ActiveX control application that ties to Invenio. It allows production personnel to quickly determine where graphic elements, video clips, and other assets fit into specific programs and news stories. It also enables rundown changes and preview capabilities inside the ActiveX control window from a single user interface.

Additionally at IBC, Harris will highlight new features for its Inscriber G-series solutions, demonstrating how its graphics systems are being used in live production environments, including stadiums and arenas for live sports.

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