Imagine Communications to show Next-Gen and Hybrid Solutions at CABSAT 2018

“The move towards IP-connected, software-defined architectures is unstoppable, and the MENA region is enthusiastically embracing it,” said Anas Hantash, director of sales for the MENA region at Imagine Communications. “CABSAT is a great opportunity to showcase the real solutions we are delivering around the world, addressing head-on the issues in today’s hugely competitive market.”

Maximising revenue from all delivery platforms is now a key requirement for media companies. The next-gen and highly flexible xG Schedule™, a cloud-based planning and scheduling solution, will be featured alongside Landmark™ ad management, traffic and billing software solutions. The demonstration will focus on the power of integration in sales, scheduling and analytics for linear and non-linear monetisation. It will show how intelligent software meets the real needs of broadcasters, delivering audiences to advertisers while maximising revenues through the best use of inventory.

Versio™ integrated playout provides sophisticated control and management of every aspect of content control, from ingest and storage through to multi-channel playout and including automation, and the addition of branding graphics. The software is readily integrated into larger workflow solutions, and is designed to be cloud-native, giving broadcasters the freedom to select on-premises, cloud and hybrid solutions. Imagine Communications will show how major broadcasters are already moving from cloud playout as a disaster recovery solution to primary playout in the cloud.

Imagine Communications will show how its core technologies, like the Selenio™ Network Processor (SNP) – the industry’s first pure-IP and hybrid platform supporting SMPTE ST2110 – and the Zenium™ cloud-native microservices platform allow powerful solutions to be tailored to the precise needs of each user. These technologies deliver powerful live production solutions, and their software foundation allows seamless transitions towards new formats like 4k and high dynamic range (HDR) Ultra High Definition (UHD), while continuing to support legacy SDI systems.

In addition to the Imagine SNP, featured live production solutions include the hybrid SDI-IP Platinum™ IP3 router and UHD-ready EPIC™ MV multiviewer. Imagine solutions empower media companies to transform sports, in-venue and other live production operations by leveraging standard IT equipment without squandering investments in traditional broadcast technology or sacrificing performance. Imagine Communications’ production and contribution portfolio provides ultra-low latency encoding and decoding and the delivery of standards-based uncompressed media over IP for HD and UHD, as well as third-party lightweight compression technologies. Imagine’s live production portfolio also supports the most recent UHD processing technologies, including up/down conversion, HDR image quality and precision timing. 

The same platforms are now revolutionising the design, implementation and management of workflows and networks. They provide for unified distribution across all platforms, while supporting just-in-time packaging for on-demand services allowing timely and targeted advertising to be dynamically inserted into individual streams. Imagine Communications will demonstrate at CABSAT end-to-end solutions for OTT services, including maximisation of revenues.

“The Zenium platform is a genuinely disruptive technological change,” explained Hantash. “Cloud-native solutions depend upon microservices for efficiency, so that only the functionality required at any moment is called up. Imagine has gone one step further by creating a microservices environment in which highly efficient, highly tailored solutions can be created from our functionality but also using microservices developed by third parties and even by the end users themselves.

“This is a collaborative, agile and extraordinarily powerful solution, and is without doubt the way forward to fully realise the benefits of the move to software-centric, IP connected technology in the media world,” Hantash concluded. “The industry in the Middle East has always been at the cutting edge, and we look forward to showcasing these potential game-changers at CABSAT 2018.”

About Imagine Communications

Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimised, future-proof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry.