Broadcasting
Transition
BY RUSH BEESLEY
Onward and Outward:
Broadcasting’s Transition to All-Digital Workflow
The simple truth is that it’s human nature to resist and even avoid fundamental change.
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With the evolution from “Big Iron” broadcasting infrastructures to “Channel in a Box” configurations, accomplishing more with less has been the current trend for several years. On the hardware side, this evolution has been exponential in terms of computing power, memory allocation and management, buss speed, process and thread interaction, and networking capability. All this translates into support for hardware/software multitasking at virtually every level.
For many years the ‘prevailing perception’ determined that various automation-related tasks needed to be segregated, running various applications and functions on separate computers, and controlling outboard devices to provide the necessary elements in order for total automation to function. These disparate tasks included traffic import, file ‘prep’, automation software, independent playback servers, graphic overlay devices, inventory management systems, and more.
In the broadcast world, computers can now perform most if not all of the tasks previously relegated to outboard devices that included switchers, keyers, character generators, standalone video file servers and more. The operational efficiency gained by aggregating these functions into one or two systems translates into significant reduction in capital expenditures, and the ability to do the same amount of work with fewer operators. This distills to the bottom line, where return on investment can be dramatically increased. (Continued on next page)
Broadcast Beat Magazine / Sep-Dec, 2014