In 2011, the DSNG vans market was Rs. 61.65 crore as compared to Rs. 71 crore in 2010 and Rs. 74.87 crore in 2009. Broadcasters count non-availability of higher satellite bandwidth in Ku-band as the main reason for this dive.

The Indian market for DSNG vans continued to show a slowdown. In 2011, the DSNG vans market was `61.65 crore as compared to Rs. 71 crore in 2010 and Rs. 74.87 crore in 2009. Broadcasters count non-availability of higher satellite bandwidth in Ku-band as the main reason for this dive. Outright purchase is making way for rented vans, with major vendors being Essel Shyam and Indiasign. The market for rental vans stood at Rs. 34 crore, contributing 55 percent of the total DSNG market. The smaller, new channels prefer to lease when required. This may change with the new more stringent net worth criteria policy norms issued by Prasar Bharati, where new channels need to be of a certain higher minimum worth. The net worth criteria for uplinking of non-news and current affairs channels have been revised from Rs. 1.5 crore to Rs. 5 crore; for news and current affairs channels from Rs. 3 crore to Rs. 20 crore; and for teleports to Rs. 3 crore.

Regional and international news channels were the key demand drivers for DSNG vans market this year. In the southern parts of India, the demand was brisk since many new channels including Reporter TV, KTV, Kochu TV, and Zee Telugu were launched. The year 2010-11 was projected to have huge demand for HD transmission by news channels but was hampered due to non-availability of higher satellite bandwidth in Ku-band and associated operating costs.

DSNG is being configured and is utilizing efficient encoding and modulation including MPEG-4 and DVB-S2. This ensures enormous cost savings in the transmission of high-quality HD content. Today's improved modulation with DVB-S2 (Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite-Second Generation) and advanced video compression (AVC), H.264/MPEG-4, more powerful processors, amplifiers, and satellites combined with technologies such as GPS and automation are enabling manufacturers to shrink DSNG systems and offer more portability and ease of operation. RF packages mount on standard vehicle roofs without requiring body work and turn an SUV or minivan into a DSNG truck. Automation points including antennae, configured video, and uplink transmission parameters provide push-button operation by a single non-technical reporter. Increasingly, sophisticated coding and modulation schemes are being employed to enable either high data rate applications, such as 3D, or larger numbers of channels for multiple news feeds.

Major Players

The major players for DSNG vans in India are Essel Shyam, Indiasign, and VTI-BEI Group of Companies. Rtronix India Pvt. Ltd. has also been aggressive this year.

Essel Shyam. The company fabricates DSNG vans in various configurations apart from its internal fleet of DSNG vans and fly-away terminals in C-band and Ku-band. It is working on the One Window Shop solution for all news contribution solutions and has variety of services and solutions to cater the needs of broadcasters. Its turnkey solutions for transmission and event management include: production with requisite number of camera setup; web casting of event on Internet platform; DSNG fleet management service to take care of complete day-to-day logistics, financial, and technical aspects of operations; and technical manpower and crew to operate DSNG van services. It also offers centralized monitoring and help-desk services on 365/24/7 basis.

Its major customers in 2011 include Yash Broadcast, All India Radio, Matrubhumi, Kasturi Media, Channel 24, and Rajya Sabha TV.

Indiasign Private Limited. The company offers both C- and Ku-band mobile, fixed, and flyaway terminals to its clients in India and other South Asian countries along with cost-effective and reliable DSNG solutions. It delivers around 70 DSNG vans and flyaway terminals both in C- and Ku-band, which are equipped with latest technology with DVB-S2 and 8PSK modulation for SD and HD operation. Its major customers this year are Brandvalue, TRS News, and TV Today Network.

VTI-BEI Group of Companies. The DSNG division at VTI-BEI Group of Companies had a turnover of Rs. 2.75 crore in 2010-11. The company designs and integrates a complete line of quality, fully featured, and competitively priced customizable vehicles for the broadcast and communications market. The vehicles are designed to meet demanding specifications. The use of high-quality connectors and cables, along with proven and reliable installation methods based on state-of-the-art designs, provide an unmatched advantage in the integration of the vehicles over the years.

Rtronix India Private Limited. The company has developed technically efficient and cost-effective solutions, using highly bandwidth-efficient encoders, for electronic news gathering. The solution has been engineered on XVD encoders, which offer real-time compression at data rates from 500 kbps to 5 mbps using real-time video compression technology. These high-performance XVD encoders operating at very low data rates, result in broadcast-quality transmission with full resolution at a transport rate of 1.25 Mbps, the latter resulting in a total bandwidth occupancy of 0.98 MHz.

Emergence of Backpack Technology

More recently, broadcast backpacks that aggregate the video stream over multiple cellular data networks have become a popular alternative. Backpack systems transmit data in HD over the Internet using GSM/CDMA, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, or BGAN network with IP support for live event deliveries. These are compact, light-weight, simple to operate, and have rapidly deployable C- or Ku-band operated DSNG terminals, with auto-track antennae. News gatherers and live stream producers now can turn poor coverage areas into transmission opportunities. The news can be captured in locations where DSNG vans cannot reach. From crowded sporting events and public events to broadcasting in remote areas, this backpack system overcomes poor cellular coverage obstacles, taking broadcasting to a new level.

Also referred as digital mobile news gathering (DMNG), it is used for aggregating several cellular data signals and treating the aggregated connection as a single pipe for streaming a point-to-point video link.

Operating costs of backpacks are low due to simple, easy-to-operate zero-configuration design, and transmission over wireless Internet lessens one's dependence on expensive satellite links. It easily transfers data from a camera to a server.

In the scenario of immediate news gathering, where there is a breaking news to cover, and one needs to get it on the 6 pm news, but will take 2 hours to get the location of the story - one can get a reporter and a camera guy out there but there is no way a satellite truck can make it - partly because of a huge traffic jam and partly because the trucks are not available. However, a team can be made to reach the location by just a motorbike. A reporter and a camera guy can be sent, he grabs his camera as well as the cellular multiplexer. They zoom off, get themselves to the site, prepare their broadcast, and hook the camera's SDI feed into the SDI connectors on the cellular multiplexer. With one press of the button, the server in the newsroom has the camera feed live, delivered as an SDI feed. The picture is nearly as good as the normal satellite feed's picture, although it is more prone to breaking up since the cell phone mast is shared with a variety of services ranging from passersby on their iPhones to the emergency services at the scene. So the 6 p.m. news goes live, with a live video feed. Through this mechanism, data delivery directly depends on the traffic load condition of the GSM data networks and might be just good for breaking news with low resolution content.

There are three main vendors who develop backpack-related equipment.

TVU. Using TVU's Inverse StatMux technology, the TVUPack delivers broadcast-quality signals by leveraging multiple 3G/WiFi connections. Its flexible external modem connections allow it to advance to 4G/WiMAX without replacing any hardware. It offers live HD quality with multiple 2.5G/3G/4G connections. TVU is marketed in India by Cat5 Broadcast India.

AVIWest is a high-technology company that provides advanced digital video equipment and solutions for the broadcast and the security markets. It offers IBIS digital mobile news gathering (DMNG), which is a revolutionary light, portable, and cost-effective wireless camera system designed for the broadcasters, the content producers, and the TV stations to produce professional live video contents from remote places in a more easy and flexible way. Deployed worldwide by international, national, or local TV channels, video service operators, or news agencies, the system covers live events including breaking news, interviews, and sports events.

The concept of this new system is based on the use of simple and cost-effective multiple bonded 3G or 4G networks or a Wi-Fi connection that replaces the complex, heavy, and costly satellite contribution-based DSNG infrastructures. Integrating cutting-edge H.264 video compression technology, the light but very powerful system is able to stream high-quality live video down to the TV station or forward video files after recording on a media card. AVIWest is marketed in India by Digital Broadcast India Pvt. Ltd.

LiveU. The new LU60 series offered by LiveU takes the broadcast-from-anywhere experience to new heights with an abundantly rich feature set for mobile ENG over multiple wireless networks. The LU60 bonds up to 14 cellular (3G/4G), WiMAX, and Wi-Fi modems to provide a resilient, broadcast-quality video uplink, packing the capabilities of an HD satellite truck into a compact backpack. The LU60 adds new features such as 1080i HD video resolution and super performance even at ultra-low sub-second latency. It offers features including H.264 AVC high-profile video encoder, enhanced efficiency AAC; high video quality; continuous audio even in poor network; supporting one or two standard SIM ports per modem, allowing roaming as well as local operations; full remote control from server side; and fast file transfer. With cameras hooked into a video-over-cellular uplink unit all carried by the camera operators in a backpack, images can be relayed instantly from the very heart of the location. LiveU is marketed in India by Lamhas.

Satellite newsgathering technology continues to improve at a rapid rate, allowing larger news organizations to cut the costs of providing reports from locations around the globe and also enabling smaller organizations to expand their operations - from large vehicles to smaller backpacks. The backpack companies are constantly working to upgrade their products, enabling quality and low latency as good as DSNG vans, and have a lot more in the pipeline.

Looking at a multi-channel environment, news and live events are becoming an increasingly large proportion of the total output, and images drive news programming. As 2-way IP connectivity becomes fully realized, the possibilities are endless.

This article is based on research conducted by Broadcast & Cablesat in November, 2011