Live From NAB: Harris Corporation Feeds the Drive for Live

On the eve of the 2012 NAB Show, second screen seems destined to be a recurring theme throughout the week. Using mobile devices and tablets to complement the first-screen experience is expected; whether two, or more, screens should be synchronous remains a topic of debate.

Speaking at a pre-NAB press release, Harris Corporation President Harris Morris discussed the need to bridge the gap between the traditional broadcast and the digital realm, and continually feed the need for live content.

“There’s a drive for live,” says Morris. “There’s this notion of an appetite for live content that’s literally insatiable. Any network, from the individual college level, [devotes] countless hours of network [to live content, from the smallest productions] all the way to the biggest events.”

In order to bridge the gap, Morris stressed the need to exploit every clip and master the multiplatform approach. To do so requires content management at the most basic level.

At NAB, Harris Corporation is unveiling Magellan Network Management System, a complete network monitoring and control solution that manages the individual components of broadcast from creation, through aggregation, and on to delivery.

Based on technology from Skyline Communications, Magellan NMS offers one consolidated user interface for the monitoring and control of multiple channels or facilities, and the flexibility to interface with Harris equipment and any third-party device. The uncomplicated design simplifies systems integration and troubleshooting, enabling swift response that minimizes performance issues that affect revenue and human resources.

With Harris’ open architecture, users are streamlining the multiplatform distribution process, says Brian Cabeceiras, CTO, Harris Corporation. “Broadcasters are no longer just broadcasters.”

This summer, Harris will be providing the backbone for the BBC’s Olympics Production Centre, as integrated by UK-based Dega Broadcast Systems. Harris will supply a range of technology for the BBC Production Centre onsite at the London Olympics, including the Selenio media convergence platform and the new Harris HView SX Pro multi-display management solution.

Selenio will handle all video and audio processing requirements from a single, highly integrated platform that simplifies deployment and maximizes ease of use. The new HView SX Pro multiviewer will live within a Harris Platinum integrated routing solution to enable signal monitoring with top-grade picture quality and control options. Harris 6800+ core processing and Videotek test and measurement products will complete the installation.

“If you’ve ever been involved in live production events, it’s a crucible to the activity,” says Morris. “If you look at any big event going on, it’s chaotic, it’s kinetic, it’s fast and it has to be delivered in real time with absolutely perfect quality. And so one of the places were really focused on is the Olympics.”