Best Show Ever at IBC 2008 for PlayBox Technology

Best Show Ever at IBC 2008 for PlayBox Technology

 

Don Ash – Director, Sales PlayBox Technology

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

This year, PlayBox Technology had its best show ever at IBC 2008. There were a record number of visitors to the stand, ranging from big broadcasters to new start-up channels. For many, the current global market conditions must be awkward. Budgets are getting squeezed as revenues come under pressure and everyone is looking even more carefully at their expenditure. This may be bad news for the higher priced suppliers but for PlayBox Technology it is very good news. The increase in numbers and diversity of prospective clients visiting the PlayBox Technology stand proved the point. So what’s the attraction?

 

A quick zap through an EPG shows a huge variety of TV stations that are not just separated by content but also by presentation, style and more. Graphics plays a big part for some with live ‘tickers’ or text from mobiles displayed, besides the usual station ID, commercials and promos. There is also growth in video-on-demand, Web TV and IPTV where the number of channels is already huge. Different numbers of channels per broadcaster, presentation styles, delivery platforms, video formats, languages and budgets mean that supplying playout solutions is definitely not a one-box-fits-all market. It is highly diverse and requires a well-developed suite of modules that can work together to provide a custom solution to fit each need.

 

The market for PlayBox playout solutions was initially in the area of the smaller broadcasters who were looking for an affordable way to get their programs and associated material on air. While this business continues, the customer profile now includes a much wider range of broadcasters extending all the way up to international channels. Over nine years the company has worked to expand its offerings to provide for the diverse needs of each customer’s automation and playout solutions.

 

If required, PlayBox Technology can provide a one-box solution but most customers now require more flexibility and choice of features and performance. Despite the wonders of the technology, the business still involves a traditional approach; working closely with customers to provide the solutions that they want at the price they can afford. In the area of playout there are a million-and-one possible combinations of requirements for program replay, back-up, remote playout, graphics presentation, storage, text, ingest, compliance, metadata handling, SMS-to-screen, database-to-screen, interactivity, logging, etc… not to mention SD, HD, mixed formats, DVB, ASI and increasingly, IP delivery. The technology is huge and can be very confusing for those who simply want to put their program ideas on-air, cost-effectively and reliably. Building one machine that could do all this to suite everyone obviously would be too expensive and over complex and so PlayBox has adopted a modular approach.

 

Nearly all of the playout solutions include at least one AirBox playout server. Designed for 24/7 operation this includes the core technology that has allowed it to grow to accommodate new requirements such as HD and to run playlists that include mixed SD and HD formats. The user interface wins praise for being easy to learn and to use, with tools such as ‘clip trimmer’ allowing last minute edits without having to go back to post. TitleBox is another popular module that provides on-screen text as well as the presentation of interactive graphics. Text can be driven from RSS feeds or databases for the automated presentation of up-to-date information. SubtitleBox works in many languages. CaptureBox ingests new video material... and so on. SafeBox works across the whole workflow, interpreting playout schedules and orchestrating the flow of media into CaptureBox, via an optional central store, through to AirBox in good time for playout, and eventually removes it when it’s no longer needed. DataBox is a metadata server that allows searches across the whole workflow. There are more modules that can be added as required. Whilst it is possible for customers to build their own workflows, PlayBox Technology usually supplies the whole working system, with all the modules talking to each other, as they should in the customer’s finished playout solution. Solutions are supplied in baseband SD and HD and DVB/ASI as well as for IPTV, where PlayBox already has considerable experience. Today, these power more than 6,000 channels in over 100 countries. With new channels being delivered at between 100 and 200 per month, the numbers crowding the PlayBox stand at IBC are explained.