20
MANAGEMENT
July 2016
Ross Video ready to support all
technology transitions in Asia
Founded in 1974, at a time when
analogue TV still ruled the roost, Ross
Video has continued to support the
transition to digital TV. And as the
broadcast industry stands on the
cusp of the next wave of technology
transformations, Ross Video fully intends
to be part of the next evolution phase of
broadcast technologies.
“We are ready to support any
technology transitions,” said Andrew Tan,
director of sales, Asia-Pacific, Ross Video.
Speaking with APB, he elaborated: “4K/
UHD and IP are going to be adopted
sooner rather than later, although, today,
these technologies are in a state of flux
because the industry is still uncertain
about which standards to use.”
Ross Video, therefore, has chosen to
adopt a pragmatic approach to certain
emerging technologies. Tan explained:
“Are we actively pushing for 4K/UHD,
8K or higher resolution? No, not really.
Ross Video is not going to be one of
the companies that leads the charge
that broadcasters should go to 4K/UHD,
8K or higher, or say which IP standard
customers should stick with.
“We are adopting an open approach
and we support our customers. For
example, if they want to go 4K/UHD
today, we are ready and have solutions to
support them. The same goes for IP.”
Having assumed his new position in
April this year, Tan is also keen to build
on Ross Video’s position of strength in
Asia-Pacific. The company has reported
year-to-year global growth for the past
24 years, with Asia being a key region of
growth.
One key initiative that Tan will be
overseeing is the planning of a new office
in Singapore, which will allow for product
demonstrations, for business partners
to conduct training, and to allow Ross
Video to provide the necessary support
for customers in South-east Asia.
“We started operations in Asia-Pacific
in 2007/08, and there has not been a
year where we have gone backwards in
terms of growth. The Singapore office
represents a wider strategy to better
support our business partners and our
customers in Asia-Pacific, and we will also
look to expand our presence in countries
such as Australia and China,” he added.
One product range that has proved
especially popular in the region has
been Ross Video’s Carbonite mid-sized
switcher range, Tan reported. At last
month’s BroadcastAsia2016, Ross Video
introduced the latest members of the
Carbonite family — the Carbonite Black
Solo and the Carbonite Black Plus.
One product range that has been particularly popular for Ross Video in Asia-Pacific has been
the Carbonite mid-sized switcher range, which Andrew Tan, director of sales, Asia-Pacific, Ross
Video, and his team highlighted at BroadcastAsia2016.
Ross Video’s new ACID camera offers 4:4:4 chroma key, the only camera in the market today
offering this feature, according to the company.
The Carbonite Black Solo is the
smallest member of the Carbonite
family, and is equipped with six SD/
HD-SDI connections and three HDMI
inputs. Six floating frame synchronisers
with format converters can be assigned
to any input, and Carbonite Black Solo
also comes with five SDI and one HDMI
ouputs. It also features a single M/E with
four full-featured keyers, a transition
keyer for DVE and media wipes, as well
as an UltraChrome chroma key.
Described as a more powerful
version of the original Carbonite Black
by Ross Video, the Carbonite Black
Plus’ inputs are all equipped with frame
synchronisers, format converters, colour
correction and processing amplifers.
Other products that have been well
received in Asia-Pacific include the Furio
family of robotic camera systems, which
enjoys a “very high rate of penetration
in China”, and the XPression line of
real-time motion graphics systems,
clip servers, workflow tools, and
purpose-built software applications are
particularly popular in Hong Kong and
Our role as a technology leader in the industry is to help broadcasters
make the smartest decisions that are best for them along the way. There
are many ways to get from Points A to B, and Ross Video is here to get
them there in a smarter, easier and more cost-efficient way.
Taiwan, Tan informed.
One prevailing trend that he
observes across Asia-Pacific, or at least
where many countries in the region are
still placing priority over, is a successful
transition from SD to HD. This, Tan
believes, puts high dynamic range
(HDR) firmly in the spotlight. “HDR can
happen now without huge investments
or big changes in existing broadcast
infrastructures. HDR makes HD look
better without the need to go to higher
resolutions.
“In the interim, it allows end-users
to get a better image quality without
having to invest in 4K/UHD and IP, and
can also ease the gradual transition to
these technologies. We already have
products that are HDR-ready, including
the ACID camera.”
Introduced at the 2016 NAB Show,
and displayed for the first time in Asia
at BroadcastAsia2016, the ACID camera
represents Ross Video’s first foray into
the camera business. While eyebrows
may have raised with its introduction,
Tan was quick to point out: “We are
not coming in to compete with the
Sonys, the Panasonics, the Ikegamis
and etc, and we are not targeting the
entire spectrum of camera users. I don’t
think the big boys are viewing us as
competition as well!”
Instead, the ACID camera is
targeting a very niche market, and in
particular, to fill the gaps in chroma
keying. “In today’s camera market, when
you talk about chroma key, when you
want very good and clean chroma key,
it’s not available,” Tan explained. “Even if
you look at the 4K/UHD and 8K cameras
in the market today, chroma key is only
available at half-resolution.”
The key selling point of the ACID
camera, thus, is its offering of 4:4:4
chroma key. A new signal format
developed by Ross Video outputs
standard SMPTE 4:2:2 video signals
and also outputs a special 0:4:4 full
bandwidth colour signal.
Combined with the primary output
within the Carbonite UltrachromeHR
system, the ACID camera gene rates
a full-resolution 4:4:4 signal for the
development of high-resolution key
edges, the “first-of-its-kind” in the
industry.
At BroadcastAsia2016, Ross Video
highlighted the ACID camera with both
the Furio RC and SolidTrack systems, in
line with the company’s Smart Production
theme for 2016. “Customers are rarely
looking at just a single product. They
are looking for solutions and we are
able to integrate a number of products,
whether they are from our extensive
product line, or with third-party vendors,
to create a smart solution for them.
For example, at BroadcastAsia2016, we
combined some of our products not only
to demonstrate the capabilities of the
ACID camera, but also to show that we
have a robotics system that is suitable
for live production. And with SolidTrack,
our latest tracking solution, customers
are able to do augmented reality (AR)
virtually anywhere, even on a handheld
camera,” Tan added.
He also stressed the importance of
Ross Video continuing to evolve as a
technology partner for broadcasters.
“The broadcast landscape is changing
but I believe the role of a broadcaster
remains the same, that is, distributing
content and information to wide
audiences — whether on a free-to-air
(FTA) or paid basis.
“It could be a traditional broadcaster
doing FTA transmission, it could be a
cable operator, it could be Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
— you name it. Can all of them be
considered broadcasters? Yes, they can;
they are just broadcasting on different
platforms. The definition of broadcast
doesn’t change; it is the platforms that
are changing.
“Our role as a technology leader
in the industry is to help broadcasters
make the smartest decisions that are
best for them along the way. There are
many ways to get from Points A to B, and
Ross Video is here to get them there in
a smarter, easier and more cost-efficient
way,” he concluded. ❑