Rohde & Schwarz introduces new generation of ingest, live production & channel playout platform that bridges hybrid SDI and IP operations at IBC2017

Exhibited for the first time worldwide at IBC, the new generation of R&S VENICE media server represents a radically different approach to media processing and channel playout within transformational broadcast environments. It enables immediate application within existing SDI baseband architectures whilst also future-proofing them by offering the flexibility and sustainability of IP-based broadcast infrastructure and workflows.

Rohde & Schwarz has developed R&S VENICE with interoperability in mind. The company is committed to using open standards that offer new features, functionality and services rather than being locked in devices and products. R&S VENICE allows communication and integration via the framework for interoperable media services (FIMS) standard. Also, incorporating open standards rather than proprietary APIs grants interoperability with a wide range of third party vendor equipment.

“An open communication standard such as FIMS is an absolute requirement in today’s multi-vendor broadcast environment – by using IT and internet friendly communications technology we have developed R&S VENICE into a production and channel playout platform that is open to adoption and integration with the broadest range of media companies and industry suppliers,” commented Michael Hackl, Product Management, File-based Media Solutions at Rohde & Schwarz. “R&S VENICE empowers broadcasters to make the migration to IP whenever and however they wish. It bridges the technology gap between today’s baseband SDI video and future IP workflows, delivering any I/O from SD to UHD. Thanks to its advanced architecture and codec performance it supports HDR workflows today.”

Best in class channel playout reliability and reduced workflow complexity

In developing R&S VENICE, Rohde & Schwarz has created a new standard in on-air reliability. The system’s implementation of Rohde & Schwarz’s proprietary virtual storage access technology enables uninterrupted broadcast operations with no performance degradation in the event of single or multiple simultaneous failures. When combined with R&S SpycerBox Cell storage systems supported by IBM Spectrum Scale file system, the virtual storage access technology provides multiple layers of data redundancy from low-cost to enterprise-scale configurations capable of covering multiple system failures seamlessly.

Rohde & Schwarz’s modular storage approach enables users to select from different bandwidth, capacity and redundancy levels and for these levels to be modified in the future.
The advanced UHD capabilities of R&S VENICE with parallel 1080 down-conversion functionality enables users to quickly and easily establish high resolution services whilst still maintaining the simple infrastructures used within existing HD workflows. The system’s integrated toolset – which includes features such as data de-interlacing, closed caption extraction and insertion, DolbyE decoding and many more – makes many additional hardware and software products redundant whilst helping customers to reduce the complexity of their production workflows and infrastructures.

R&S VENICE offers a new and radically different approach to the traditional media processing and channel playout challenge. Its architecture is open and it is format agnostic. It meets the need for upcoming high efficiency codecs by delivering purely software-based codec decoding and encoding rather than relying on proprietary hardware acceleration.

André Vent, Sales Manager File Based Media Solutions adds: "The new Rohde & Schwarz broadcast channel playout solution – with R&S VENICE and R&S Spycer Box Cell at its core - offers a new standard in reliability, scalability, and sustainability needed for today’s and tomorrow’s workflow challenges.”