Growing subscriber numbers and the demand for more interactive and personalized services have created the need for high performance broadcast servers that are scalable and offer high return on investment to operators.

The market for broadcast server in India is on an upswing. Key growth drivers are attributed to increased number of news and entertainment channels and the need for efficient workflow of programs by broadcasters. The broadcast server market in India is undergoing a major transformation where manufacturers are focusing on cost effective solutions to simplify the workflow. Major players in this segment include Apple, Harris, Benchmark, RTPL, Seachange, Thomson GrassValley, Digital Rapids, Quantel, and Omneon.

The market is segmented into playout/production servers, logging servers, and video servers. Digital content providers have started using streaming video for news broadcasts and other programs, which include on-air services. Increased use of content management solutions to manage digital assets is expected to strengthen the growth of the digital video-on air server market.

Manufacturers believe that the market will continue to evolve and grow in the next few years to accommodate the demand from new channels, upgrades from SD to HD infrastructures and the need to provide a copy of the same file in different formats for DTH, cable, IPTV, terrestrial, and mobile TV. The national broadcaster, Doordarshan is also preparing for HD production and playout. The regional players in the news-dominated broadcast market are now looking at cost-effective solutions for file-based, tapeless, multi-format playout.

The video broadcast server market worldwide is anticipated to reach USD 5.6 billion in 2013. Although India's share in the video server industry is skimpy, it showcases immense scope to garner a better and bigger pie.

MAJOR PLAYERS

APPLE

Apple manufactures and designs broadcast servers for the Indian market. The company's Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets, allows searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes and enables viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a PC or Mac. Final Cut server catalogs media and generates thumbnails, poster frames, and low-resolution clip proxies. Thus it is easier for users to browse in their specified formats. It is equipped with a cross-platform client, which enables a PC or Mac to use Final Cut Server's broad search capabilities. Users can extend their search from simple keywords to complex combinations of IPTC, XMP, and XML metadata.

Final Cut Server is suitable for all types of organizations, ranging from a two-person post-production house to a multinational news organization. Final Cut Server's configurable event-based response model easily tracks job status, monitors media changes, and automates review and approval notifications and complex sequences of tasks. In addition, the Final Cut Server includes Compressor 3, which is a powerful digital encoding and compression tool enabling ideal format conversions for publishing to DVD, broadcast television, the Internet, Apple TV, iPod, iPhone and other mobile phones. Apart from Mac X, the Final Cut Server is also compatible with Windows XP and Vista OS.

BENCHMARK

The year 2008 started as a great year for Benchmark Microsystems and slowed down in the second half due to the global economic crisis. The products offered by the company include SeaChange video servers, playout/production servers from Vector Box and Seachange and the company's own product, Jetz range of logging servers. Customers include Pearl Broadcasting, R Plus, TV9 Mumbai, and Sambad TV.

According to the company, the intense competition has driven the revenues down. This forces the broadcaster to try to cut his operating expenditure. An automated broadcast server cuts down the operating cost. It also allows him to make last minute changes. It simplifies his workflow. So, any TV station coming up today needs to have some sort of an automated playout. There is a definite slowdown in terms of new channels coming up. However, other factors like upgrade to HD will continue to fuel the demand for video servers. In addition to this, some of the older broadcasters will need to change their old servers.

The technology is increasingly becoming more sophisticated. For example, the requirement of a music channel is very different from that of a 24 hour news channel and accordingly requires different servers. In addition to this, servers are becoming more open as they need to be integrated with different sets of equipment. However, customers in India have not started differentiating between servers. A lot of customers are buying equipment not really suited to their needs and requirements. Lack of knowledge about servers and their application is hampering the industry. Disaster really strikes when customers buy sophisticated equipment without having a professional system integrator in place.

The Jetz range of products includes:

JetzLog. JetzLog is a real time DVB multi-program, transport stream logging system that allows users to broadcast signal as a complete multi-program muxed stream. Since it records all components of a multiplexed broadcast, JetzLog is ideal in situations where the regulatory authority requires long-term recording for compliance verification. Additionally, it is very useful for offline post-analysis. It can simultaneously record and stream - on ASI / IP - up to 102Mbps of MPEG-2 multi-program transport streams. The built in storage capacity allows users to retain up to three days of MPEG-TS data on the local machine before it is automatically transferred to the network area storage (NAS). The application runs on the highly reliable Linux platform, customized to high-performance hardware, to deliver the necessary system robustness and provide data security of a very high order.

JetzNV. An nVoD server, JetzNV is a combination of VoD playout server with a nVoD manager that can play out 4/8/16 channels on a single ASI of 256 QAM 51 Mbps throughput. It has better packing technique of streams, based on an adaptive technology, ADPACT, and a built in statistical multiplexing, based on forward prediction of large frames. An intuitive UI enables easy playlist creation and management. Playlists are created using the Jetznv playout manager and 4/8/16 channels are streamed to the multiplexing server to deliver a single MPTS stream on the ASI. The ADPACT core and statistical multiplexer ensure an almost constant bit rate delivery on the transport stream. The JetzNV DVB playout server comes in two versions, Jetzplay - the playout server and JetzNV - the nVoD server.

JetzOne. A time shift server, Jetzone is a real-time, user controllable, delayed playout server of MPEG transport streams. Ideal for program turn-around and delayed re-broadcast between national or international time zones; Jetzone accepts transport stream inputs up to 51 Mbps and, depending on configuration effects a broadcast delay of up to 24 hours at full line rate. With the integration of network area storage (NAS) system, the broadcast time shift delay can be increased to days, weeks, and months. Jetzone can be installed as a time shift playout server at the primary broadcast level or as a receiver and time shift playout server at regional centers.

JetzPlay. A playout server, Jetzplay is a combination of a versatile playout server with a playout manager that can play out 4/8/16 channels on a single ASI of 256 QAM 51 Mbps throughput. It has better packing technique of streams, based on an adaptive technology - ADPACT - and a built-in statistical multiplexing, based on forward prediction of large frames.

Additionally, Jetz has a complete range of VoD/nVoD/playout servers with auditing and billing functionalities for IPTV and IP-based networks.

DIGITAL RAPIDS

Digital Rapids in India is represented by Shaf Broadcast India Private Limited. Digital Rapids provides a range of broadcast servers for the Indian market. The range of products offered by the company includes:

StreamZ Encoding. StreamZ standard definition media encoding servers deliver high-performance, multi-format video capture and encoding from live sources or decks, transcoding between media formats and live streaming in an easy to use, streamlined turnkey solution that integrates easily into any professional environment. StreamZ scalable professional encoders are ideal solutions for today's expanding array of network-based content distribution and file-based production workflows. From real-time live encoding to faster-than-real-time transcoding from existing media files, StreamZ can dramatically increase your volume and quality of media produced easily and cost-effectively.

StreamZHD Encoding. StreamZHD format-agile media encoding servers expand the powerful and flexible features of StreamZ into the high-definition domain, offering multi-format, high-performance HD/SD content ingest, encoding, transcoding and streaming with output quality for a broad range of professional applications. Post-production, HDTV broadcast, archive, digital dailies, video on demand (VOD), IPTV, high-definition DVD and many other professional applications have adopted the visual quality offered by HD acquisition, production, and distribution. With StreamZHD users have a versatile tool that can capture, encode, transcode, and deliver content in multiple formats ranging from uncompressed HD video to high-quality streaming media, all from a single, intuitive interface.

StreamZ CP. The StreamZ CP family of professional multi-format content encoding and transcoding servers builds upon the powerful StreamZ and StreamZHD platforms, integrating sophisticated forensic video watermarking technology from Philips for rights protection and tracking. StreamZ CP delivers a uniquely powerful and full-featured forensic watermarking implementation supporting the entire workflow from creation to tracking. StreamZ CP allows you to ingest video from a live source, capture frame-accurately from a deck, or transcode between digital formats. Watermarks can be applied during real-time encoding to any format.

HARRIS

Harris provides a range of production/playout and video servers in the Indian market. The Indian market is focused on becoming HD ready. Open architecture that is able to interface with various third-party editors is a key aspect driving the server sales in the region. The Indian server market is going through a transition period. Most customers are looking to HD-ready servers, while also looking to facilitate better workflow and ease of operation on both SD and HD. While pricing and local support continue to be important considerations, customers are also looking for the most appropriate solutions to handle their media content, through scalable and reliable platforms such as the Nexio SAN.

The product range of the company includes:

NewsForce .The comprehensive NewsForce HD/SD news platform harnesses the speed, power, and flexibility of the shared storage Nexio SAN to deliver a suite of file-based newsroom tools including a new generation of editors that delivers the quickest time-to-air for breaking news. The shared storage architecture is optimized to deliver maximum efficiency by seamlessly accommodating all the content a user needs.

NX3601HDI. The Nexio AMP NX3601HDI media platform with integrated storage is much more than a robust HD/SD transmission server. It represents an entirely new approach to managing digital content. From ingest to transmission, the NX3601HDI delivers exceptional reliability, flexible media I/O, and complete format transparency.

NX3601HDX. The NX3601HDX delivers exceptional reliability, flexible media I/O and complete format transparency. Standard on all NX3601HDX mainframes is cutting-edge IT connectivity and direct access to the true shared storage Nexio storage area network (SAN), a modular and scalable system that makes it easy to add channels and storage as a broadcaster's requirements change. Each NX3601HDX supports up to six channels of SD or three channels of HD or mixed SD/HD real-time I/O. The system is fully software configurable, using agile software-based codecs to encode and decode HD and SD content.

Nexio AMP. The new Nexio AMP advanced media platform is ideal for television transmission and news production applications. Featuring the industry's most advanced HD/SD server architecture, best-in-class storage protection, integrated software codecs, and automatic up/down/cross conversion for complete format transparency, the Nexio AMP media platform does much more than simplify the user's workflow. It provides higher availability to their content and speeds up the deployment of new channels. Traditional server functionality on the Nexio AMP media platform is driven by real-time, 64-bit processing. The power of this technology establishes the foundation for Nexio AMP to host software-enabled media applications ' including automation, channel branding, audio track manipulation and multiviewer I/O monitoring ' which is where Nexio AMP leaves other video servers far behind. By running media applications directly on the server mainframe, hardware expenditures are reduced and the challenges associated with point-product compatibility are eliminated ' improving workflow efficiency throughout the entire content acquisition-transmission chain. The company provided these servers to its customers such as Zee, Zee News, Essel Shyam, Kalaignar TV, Asianet, and TV18

The company's Nexio AMP platform has been in the market for less than a year, and has been well received by customers around the world. With its unique architecture, AMP is able to continuously evolve to meet changing customer requirements. The company also introduced 3 Gb/s capability in the AMP platform at NAB 2008, which will enable customers to migrate to the emerging 1080p standard whenever needed. Harris will continue to develop the AMP platform by introducing new media applications, higher bandwidth, and storage capabilities, as customers' businesses evolve.

RTPL

Rudraksha Technology Private Limited (RTPL) is a consulting and custom software development service provider for the broadcast industry. The company provides operational excellence within the project and handover to network operation. The product of the company, XStream playout solution, has recently been installed at Manthan Broadband, Kolkata; ICC, Pune; and Seven Star, Mumbai. The price of the software depends on the number of channels, storage, and server. The company has recently included some new features to the model, allowing more functionalities and capabilities for the user.

XStream Video Playout System. XStream is an all-in-one playout solution with a built-in automation, video server, and channel graphics. It manages every transmission function in the channel, from ingest to playout of content, channel branding and redundancy management all from one single 3RU box. The solution consists of a playlist manager (Skedula); ingest manager, and playout system (XStream play). It is an advanced disk-based system for on-air playback of both short-form content (commercials and promos) and long-form content (programs and films). It supports all industry compression and file formats. Also a unique system architecture means ingest and playout can be direct from a central NAS storage over LAN and controlled by dedicated client PC's on the same network.

Built for 24 x 365 applications, it is a compact, expandable, compatible, and flexible solution with outstanding performance and functionality.

Features include:

• Support for both standard and high definition pre-compressed content, with multiple video formats
• Multi Compression format support
• Automated playout and ingest of content from the server, Live and satellite feeds.
• Facility to Browse clips while editing the play list so the operator can see the clips before he adds it to the schedule.
• Dynamic channel branding, including logos, tickers, scrolls and flash animation with real time RSS and XML data feeds from news agencies or other sources.
• Special graphics elements to show "Coming up next" and "Showing Now"
• RAID keeps system on air even if one of Hard disk fails at the time of on-air.
• Internal storage of 2TB (expandable to 8TB) that can be expanded by using external storage box to meet growing requirements.
• Multi channel playout from one system.

XStream provides automated content playout for satellite channels, cable headends, and over-the-air broadcasters. It is designed to be extremely robust in order to meet the highest reliability demands of on-air playout. A single XStream server offers single- or multi-channel SDI outputs, multi-language audio, graphics insertion, last-minute playlist changes and clip editing features.

Any combination of MPEG 2 clips at differing resolutions, bit rates, profiles and levels can be played in a single sequence seamlessly with no glitches. The cut from one clip to another is completely seamless even with live streams. Playlist order can be changed on-the-fly. Such order changes are performed seamlessly without stopping current playout session. For automated playout XStream allows fixed-time scheduling for weeks ahead. Special facilities ensure uninterrupted operation if content files or even entire schedules are missing or misplaced. It supports interactive on-air graphics.

SEACHANGE

SeaChange is the leading manufacturer of broadcast server players in India, maintaining a local presence as SeaChange India Private Limited to provide sales and support in the region. The company provides video servers, playout servers, and production storage servers. The company did sales of approximately USD 10 million (Rs. 50 crore). Brands sold include BML24000ex and MCL6000 HD ready codecs, DDN S2A9550 production storage, BML24000ex and MCL6000 HD with Dolby and multiformat HD back to back playout. Customers include CNBC, 9X News, Sakaal TV, TV9, Polimer Media, Lehrein, Sun TV, and Sakshi TV. Playout servers include FML200 - flash memory-based playout servers, BML24000ex SCSI-based playout storage, S2A 9900, 9700, and 6620 (DDN) production archive storage.

SeaChange play-to-air BMLex servers are used for the India's first HD television playout and has a footprint covering most of the country, including key installations in Noida, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

According to the company, at present the market is evolving from the first generation of servers from Grass Valley, which are now in need of upgrades. The current market in India is basically divided into two segments: one is based on very low cost solutions, which may not be a fool-proof investment for the future, but comes at attractive price. The other segment is dominated by big players like CNBC TV18, NewsX, SunTv, TV9 group and others who are investing while keeping the future in mind. This includes technology such as HD-ready servers, multiformat back-to-back playout codecs, software and flexible, file-based workflows to ensure that they are ready to upgrade when needed. The future in terms of technology is challenging, with the increase of different HD formats such as DNxHD, XDCAM HD and P2 along with a variety of SD formats such as mpeg2, DVCAM, IMX, and DVC-Pro. Server manufacturers need to provide multi-format capabilities and high flexibility in the codecs and ensure the optimum throughput in terms of bandwidth from servers, so they are able to meet those challenges.

Very early, SeaChange recognized the importance of these factors and has designed its servers on infiniband technology, which is four times higher than fiber channel bandwidth. In addition, it is the only vendor offering cluster-based storage systems with RAID5 Square protection. Clustered storage helps in harnessing the bandwidth of each server by scaling incrementally the more cluster nodes that are linked together, unlike in mirrored systems where the bandwidth does not scale and 50 percent of the total storage capacity is wasted to ensure redundancy. SeaChange MediaClient 6000 server codecs are software-based thus easy to adapt any changes. An example is the native support of the DNxHD codec in support with Avid, which translated into many broadcasters choosing SeaChange for DNxHD ingest and playout. SeaChange is the only vendor that can offer multi-format back-to-back playout from same codec.

SeaChange has a pedigree of video streaming with superior bandwidth and broadcast quality codecs. It is the first company to bring to market a flash memory-based server (FML200 flash memory library). With no spinning disks, the FML200 is highly reliable and consumes very little power. It is also the only vendor to provide cluster-based storage servers with Infiniband intra cluster connection (BML6000ex and 24000ex). Being a cluster, each server's bandwidth is available for use. Each server provide 1.2gbps throughput, thus three servers in a cluster provides 3.6Gbps throughput aggregate. MediaClient 6000 series server codecs is by default HD ready hardware, thus today it can be used for SD operation and tomorrow HD with an easy license upgrade without the need for new hardware.

MediaClient 6000 codecs are multiformat and support play-in-place (back to back playout of different formats from same codec output) : DV25 → IMX 50 → DVC-Pro HD → MPEG2 LGOP → DNxHD. The company has complete production and archive solution with DataDirect Networks (DDN) with direct ingest, edit in place to accelerate news and sports production workflows. Thru patented technology SeaChange provides RAID5 Square protection thus ensuring 24 x 7 on-air capabilities to the broadcasters.

THOMSON GRASSVALLEY

Thomson GrassValley has merged their best components with core video and audio processing technologies to create the high-performance, cost-effective, and scalable K2 platform. The K2 platform consists of a client, a server, and a RAID-protected storage system. The client performs all the video/audio I/O using built-in encoders and decoders. The server manages the file system and controls file transfer protocol (FTP) operations. Its unique built-in quality of service (QOS) capabilities dynamically allocate bandwidth where it is needed, always ensuring that on-air channels never drop a frame of video.

The increasing success of video-on-demand (VoD) technology in India has a significant bearing on the video server market since these systems are mission critical for enabling VoD. By streaming and storing content, video servers help provide viewers with more freedom in the choice of content and flexibility in scheduling. With widespread deployment of VoD applications, added revenue streams are expected, especially from the Internet and cable segments as entertainment companies and corporate entities are increasingly using streaming technology on their websites.

Broadcast equipment has traditionally consisted of very specialized hardware and software because of the unique requirements of video and audio processing. Like many mission-critical designs, the real-time nature and heavy data processing required for video was too complex for off-the-shelf hardware. But the capabilities of today's microprocessors, high-speed networks, and robust storage and processing units make it possible to blend many standard IT technologies with video expertise tuned to the requirements of the broadcast industry.

Key features of K2 platform include

• File-based, IT-centric, scalable, RAID-protected storage and delivery system
• Leverages core video/audio processing technology from the industry-leading Profile platform
• Scales from two to four channels to more than one hundred
• Supports expansion of channels while online
• Supports non-destructive expansion of storage for more hours, bandwidth
• Supports no-single-point-of-failure design cost effectively
• Easy video/FTP bandwidth expansion:
• ISCSI (video/audio): 100/180 MB/s to thousands of MB/s
• FTP: 30-80 MB/s to thousands of MB/s
• Three client options:
• 2 record/2 playback SD channel entry-level system for DV/MPEG-2
• 4 bi-directional SD channels for DV, MPEG-2
• 2-4 HD channels for SD and HD MPEG-2 with built-in encoders, up and down conversion, user-definable aspect-ratio management, and CC preservation
Open-system design enables interoperability with other devices via standard protocols
• Full multi-channel audio support ' 16 audio channels per video channel
• Remote-control software tools enable control and SNMP monitoring from anywhere in the world
• Security options enable protection from on-air channel mistakes
• Highly integrated design offers high reliability

K2 Media Client. The K2 media clients perform all video and audio I/O using built-in encoders and decoders. Built around a robust computer platform, they feature redundant hot-swappable power supplies, mirrored system drives, redundant Ethernet ports, and extra cooling as standard features. Two iSCSI or fiber channel ports on the client switch to a backup data path in case of a failure, providing a cost-effective way to design a no-single-point-of-failure system.

K2 Server. The K2 media server is the engine of the K2 platform. It manages the file system and its metadata, handles file transfer protocol (FTP) functions such as MXF and QuickTime wrapping and CIFS support, and dynamically allocates the bandwidth between its real-time I/O needs and the non-real-time needs of its FTP processes. And its built-in QOS guarantees that bandwidth is always available to your video channels, regardless of other demands on the system.