Pixel Power is a premium technology partner specializing in virtualized, software-defined solutions for multiviewing, monitoring and playout automation. We spoke with James Gilbert, SVP Sales & Marketing, Pixel Power – a Rohde & Schwarz Company – about why R&S®PRISMON was developed.

Visit Pixel Power in booth 944

Tell me about R&S®PRISMON. What challenges does it solve?
All of the key developments in media centers – remote production, multi-format delivery, ever-increasing numbers of sources, high usage of the technology and facilities, and more – drive the need to monitor and display large numbers of streams, in multiple locations, and with the ability to rapidly change layouts as each workstation changes function.

It has become too complex for the traditional multiviewer, which is why R&S®PRISMON was developed. This takes a completely fresh, software-defined approach. All processing is on COTS hardware, networked for scale. The design ensures ultra-low latency, vital for critical viewing applications.

Smart software means that each signal – SDI or IP; HD or 4k – is only processed once, with each PiP available across the network. That means any layout can be created at any location, instantly, without the user being constrained by processing power. With monitoring and measurement tools built in, it becomes the ideal multiviewer infrastructure for even the largest facilities.

What kind of feedback have you heard from customers?
The best sort of feedback is the reliance of major players in the industry on PRISMON in their mission-critical facilities. Red Bee Media in London, UK, routinely monitors 450 streams and displays them in unique layouts in a large number of rooms. Centralized control and switching makes it simple for each operator to instantly get their preferred layout for the task in hand.

PRISMON multiviewers were recently installed at the 3/24 Channel, 24-hour news channel of Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (3Cat) in Spain. The uniquely powerful networked platform allows 3/24 to monitor uncompressed IP feeds alongside SDI and NDI signals. “We have a very busy technical setup, and we need a large number of different multiviewer layouts,” said Marc Sanclimens, Specialist Engineer at 3Cat. “We were shown how PRISMON could provide all the different layouts we required from just three servers, allowing us to freely mix SDI, NDI, ST2110 and other feeds as necessary. Like all modern broadcasters, we need to be flexible in our operations, and PRISMON gives us the complete freedom we require to set up and dynamically change our monitoring.”
In Switzerland, when SRF was building a greenfield news and sports center, it specified PRISMON. The new facility takes advantage of software-defined architectures to implement completely new workflows. “Everyone in the building has different needs,” said Andreas Lattmann, chief technology officer at tpc, the SRF subsidiary that operates the facility.

“Thanks to the inherent flexibility of the PRISMON virtualized multiviewer system, we can support the operational teams as well as journalists by showing them the specific sources and destinations that are required for their work: nothing less and nothing more. Dynamic set-ups and the sheer number of signals that can be handled by PRISMON help us improve the efficiency of everyone.”

How does this product fit into the market?
The media industry is moving towards software-defined environments, with individual functionality provided by specialist applications within an intelligent whole. PRISMON is designed to meet this requirement perfectly.

It is entirely implemented in software, which can either run standalone on COTS servers or as virtual machines within a larger architecture, on premises or in the cloud. It automatically handles HD and Ultra HD signals and provides very high quality matrix outputs as 4k signals.

A key issue in live production and delivery facilities, particularly as the environment moves to IP streams and software-defined applications, is that latency should not build up along the signal path. PRISMON is carefully designed for very low latency: when you switch a signal it happens instantly, giving users complete confidence in the status of every stream.

Will visitors to NAB New York be able to see a demonstration of this product?
R&S©PRISMON will be displayed on the Pixel Power, a Rohde & Schwarz company, booth 944 at NAB New York. Visitors will be able to see rich multiviewer displays, and the sales and solution team will be on hand to talk through practical applications and show how it delivers much more efficiency, productivity and operational effectiveness than a traditional multiviewer.

What else should readers know?
To choose the technology to monitor the very large number of signals passing through a modern facility, you need to consider six key factors: seamless SDI and IP interworking; very low latency; user-friendly familiarity, in designing layouts and in day-to-day operation; the ability to incorporate measurements and tallies alongside video streams; high image quality; and software flexibility and APIs to fit seamlessly within the greater operational environment.
PRISMON is designed to meet these goals. It fulfils all monitoring and measurement requirements today and is agile and flexible to continue evolving as those needs develop.