ChyronHego to preview the virtual production server at NAB

ChyronHego today announced they will preview its new VPX Virtual Production Server at the 2017 NAB Show.

VPX is a virtual server platform for hosting end-to-end live production workflows.

By enabling broadcast news operations to run critical content creation and playout software in a virtualized, IT-based environment, VPX powers efficient production operations for news, sports, and other programs.

“Today’s broadcasters have a critical need for efficient technology solutions, and, of course, total cost of ownership is a tremendous factor. That’s why we’re seeing the industry conversation shift towards IT, as operations adopt all-software-based workflows running on standard IT infrastructure instead of making new investments in proprietary hardware,” said Jesper Gawell, chief marketing officer, ChyronHego in a statement. 

He continued, “With last year’s introduction of the Camio Universe, we took a big step forward in helping our broadcast news customers make this transition smoothly and cost-effectively with solutions for maximizing workflow efficiencies. And now, with the VPX platform, we’re going to the next phase in IT-based broadcast operations by enabling these solutions to run in a virtualized server environment. With VPX, we clearly show the transformation from SDI to IP to IT is here.”

VPX has emerged through a logical progression that began with all-software workflows requiring almost no hardware dependencies.

The Camio Universe created an all-software workflow for every aspect of live production including video and audio switching, broadcast graphics, clip playback, virtual sets, and weather graphics, all under extensive playout automation.

The next step is a migration from SDI, which gives live production components the ability to share video within the software-based workflow and without the need to go through SDI.

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Finally, the reliance on a standardized IT infrastructure enables broadcasters to adopt core tenets from the broader IT world, such as the ability to run live production workflows all from virtual instances running on a single server.

With VPX, broadcasters can “cherry pick” applications from the ChyronHego product portfolio, allowing users to build workflows for all kinds of productions such as news, sports, current affairs, entertainment, and more.

A key component of running live production workflows in a virtualized server environment is the ability to share and distribute video over IP within the virtualized server environment.

The ChyronHego product family today supports NewTek’s Network Device Interface (NDI) video protocol, which enables seamless and effortless video sharing. NDI and other protocols enable all ChyronHego solutions to communicate, share, deliver, and receive broadcast-quality video between the applications running on the VPX platform.

Gawell added, “VPX delivers powerful and proven benefits to media operations, such as scalability and redundancy. Broadcasters can spin up a complete production workflow running on the VPX server at a moment’s notice to support a new channel or program, and they can scale down just as quickly.

Depending on its needs, a broadcast operation can run all of its applications on a single VPX server or, for maximum redundancy, spin up another server running the same applications. And, since there’s no longer any need for a separate hardware system to support each function, hardware dependencies are drastically reduced or even completely removed — resulting in a significantly lower cost of ownership.

“With the VPX platform running live production workflows in a virtualized server environment, broadcasters gain a future-proof foundation for bringing to air highly engaging content.”

ChyronHego’s VPX Virtual Production Server has been shortlisted in the Playout & Delivery Systems category in the 2017 IABM Game Changer Awards.

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