The NAB show floor will probably see a great deal of energy devoted to the provision of technology to facilitate remote production workflows for live sports. Given the extent of vendor and media focus on the topic it is easy to assume that everything is remote these days – but the reality is a more mixed picture. There are a number of different live sports production models being deployed; classic OB, full remote and various hybrids of the two. What works and is therefore deployed on any given production depends on a wide range of factors, not least of which being the availability of reliable connectivity. Regardless of the approach taken, getting content from the venue to the viewer means encoding, multiplexing and transporting essence streams and metadata between the on-site production team and the operations center. Achieving this reliably remains one of the key challenges of live production.

Media organizations are looking for new methods to transport content in the most flexible and cost-effective way. That means delivering multiplexed streams from the field using managed transport services over satellite, fiber, cloud, and IP networked infrastructures, and increasingly the public Internet. ARQ-based streaming protocols like SRT (Secure Reliable Transport), RIST (Reliable Internet Stream Transport), and Zixi are all being deployed in the field for transport/backhaul, as these protocols offer a balance of reliability, security, and efficiency.

Compression is widely deployed to reduce overall bandwidth requirements (even with less bandwidth intensive classic OB workflows) and in most instances, remote contribution is not achievable without compression. AVC/HEVC is still widely used for contribution for good reason, but increasingly JPEG XS compression is being deployed. The JPEG XS standard (ISO/IEC 21122) is relatively easy to deploy and results in “visually lossless” image quality and exceedingly low latency measured in lines of video – rather than full frames or seconds. It facilitates hardware implementations that do not require external memory, allowing for efficient implementation on various platforms such as FPGAs, ASICs, CPUs and GPUs.

Most vendors we spoke to agree that customers are looking for solutions that offer high efficiency, density and flexibility. At NAB attendees will also see low-latency encoders and decoders that support the increased speed and capacity of 100 Gigabit Ethernet networking.

Surveying The Show Floor

AlvaLinks (Booth W 1361) continue to develop their suite of clever tools for real time monitoring of video networks. Their innovative approach focuses on streams rather than hardware and brings end-to-end stream health insight across private and public networks. At NAB they will showcase their new SRT Probe. They say ‘The AlvaLinks’ supercharged AI-powered SRT Inflight Probe is more than observability. It is an essential tool for broadcasters relying on SRT, which now powers over 70% of contribution links. SRT traffic is notoriously complex to analyze. However, AlvaLinks SRT inflight probe instantly delivers real-time visibility, pinpointing sender, receiver, and session disconnection vs path issues, eliminating guesswork and enabling flawless, reliable contribution over unpredictable networks.

Appear (Booth W 2042).  Appear’s meteoric growth in the remote contribution arena does not seem to be slowing down. The proposition of their X platform of hardware encoders is deceptively simple; provide extremely dense processing capacity, with best-in-class latency and enhanced security. The level of industry adoption is testament to the elegance and reliability with which they seem to exceed these goals. At NAB they introduce the X5 which is a slimmed down even-smaller footprint version of the X20 and X10 hardware encoders, bringing access to the platform to smaller and more nimble productions.

The bigger picture story for the evolution of Appear though is their introduction of the VX software and the APX solutions suite – both signs of their vision for the power of software-first infrastructures and a standards driven approach to them. VX is a powerful configuration and control application to help system designers and operators create dynamic and flexible infrastructures. APX takes this a step deeper with the addition of production services and integrations with third party vendors. The focus at NAB is on the VX Media Gateway which they describe as the first major addition to their continually evolving VX software-based media processing platform. Designed to enable hybrid cloud/on-premise workflows, the VX Media Gateway simplifies seamless, scalable media transport for broadcasters and service providers embracing software-defined architectures.

“As the industry shifts toward flexible, software-driven workflows, VX is setting the standard for future-proofed media processing,” added Andy Rayner CTO at Appear. “VX gives our customers the ability to scale, adapt, and maximize efficiency across cloud and hardware environments.”

Cobalt Digital (Booth SL 5123) will feature its full line of RIST-enabled products. They are one of the pioneers of remote contribution technologies and one of the most respected brands in broadcast and the perfect destination to explore and evaluate the benefits of the RIST approach. Cobalt produce an extensive range of encoders and decoders that includes stand-alone hardware devices, cards and software. 

At NAB they will show a new update to the PACIFIC 9992-ENC, their OpenGear card format MPEG-2/AVC/HEVC encoder, capable of handling up to four signals up to 1080p60, or one 4K signal. New for NAB 2025, PACIFIC now offers full support for ST 2110-20 (baseband) and an ST 2110-22 option for JPEG-XS video. Each of the four channels can be individually selected between SDI and ST 2110. In addition, support is included for full asynchronous operation (IPMX-compatible) or IPMX operation in the INDIGO 2110-DC-02 factory-installed option for SMPTE ST 2110.

PACIFIC now offers support for up to two essences of ST 2110-30 (audio); each essence can have up to 16 channels of audio, and the product offers the ability to mix and match channels. Support for asynchronous audio/video operation has been added as has support for ST 2110-40 (ancillary data). Dual SFP cages for ST 2022-7 seamless switching, supporting both 10Gb/s and 25Gb/s interfaces.

Evertz (Booth N 915). As you might expect from a company that has been in broadcast since 1966 Evertz have a very wide and deep technology portfolio. Focusing on the latest news releases from Evertz runs the risk of missing the point of what they do. They are a solid port of call if you are looking for robust technology and expert advice on most aspects of broadcast infrastructure.

At NAB they will introduce new JPEG XS capabilities on the RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO and across both the NEXX and SCORPION platforms. The Evertz RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO is a powerful, flexible platform that is an ideal solution for bulk signal acquisition and high-density encode/decode applications. The RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO can function as a multi-path transcode platform for signal acquisition and normalization. The RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO can also function as a bulk contribution encoder that can support JPEG XS encoded UHD outputs coupled with parallel HEVC SRT output to deliver 4K content with low bandwidth and latency. This multi-format application caters to primary contribution backhaul while also providing an SRT path for unreliable networks, making it ideal for a parallel backup contribution. The RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO can alternatively provide an HLS or RTMP output, catering to additional transport backhaul applications. The RFK-ITXE-HW-DUO also supports SMPTE ST 2110 (up to UHD) and offers SDR and HDR support, ensuring compatibility with expanding color space normalization requirements.

Matrox (Booth SL 4511).  Matrox Video will showcase its growing portfolio of solutions, including Monarch EDGE, ConvertIP, Vion, Avio 2, and Matrox ORIGIN - each engineered to streamline live production workflows. Monarch EDGE is a high-performance, low-latency IP-based encoder and decoder pair that supports 4K and multi-HD workflows. At NAB, Matrox Video will demonstrate its low-latency SRT encode and decode capabilities, including the latest ancillary data transport features for remote production and contribution workflows.

5G Wireless Contribution

The global roll out of telco core infrastructure to support 5G cellular services is gradually changing the landscape of consumer internet provision. It is increasingly the case that in some areas there is greater bandwidth available via wireless (4G or 5G) internet services than through copper cable services, so in areas where fiber hasn’t been laid consumers are switching. It is a topic and trend that is relevant for remote contribution – especially roaming contribution & bonded services. Standard 5G services offer significantly better bandwidth than 4G… private 5G services potentially offer bandwidth to rival cable connectivity in some locations.

The latest generation of mobile transmitters (many camera-mounted) to be shown on the show floor at NAB this year support 5G’s increased bandwidth and allow users to encode and transmit one 4K UHD source or four simultaneous HD sources - leveraging bonded cellular technology to aggregate multiple mobile network connections for maximum reliability. Some portable systems now include six embedded cellular modems, four frame-synced HD inputs, genlock support, and 4G/5G cellular modems paired with high-efficiency internal antennas. These cellular modems help deliver live and recorded content within milliseconds while receiving bi-directional audio and real-time video return feeds. Vendors to investigate include Haivision, Live-U, Dejero and Vislink. 

Other articles in this NAB 2025 'Show Focus' series:

The Broadcast Bridge will be at the NAB Show – in the West Hall on booth W 3932. Please come and see us and share your thoughts on what we do and what you would like to see from us in the coming year.