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Switching the IP revolution

GV Node is Grass Valley’s newly announced hybrid platform for IP integration, which combines IP and SDI inputs. It can connect to other devices to create a distributed architecture, but unlike a conventional IP switch it can switch in the vertical interval, making it more suited to broadcast use. It can also switch audio and video independently, and supports Grass Valley’s Densité modules.

“This is a broadcast specific switch that has a lot of integrated processing,” such as multiviewers, explained Mark Hilton, Grass Valley’s VP infrastructure products. “It does what it needs to do for a broadcast environment, and integrates with IP switches for other services.” It will also “work nicely” in a commercial, off-the-shelf Ethernet environment, using SMPTE 2022-6 connections

It supports the lightweight (4:1) visually lossless TICO compression for production environments, which will allow Ultra HD to be carried over a single 10Gbps IP link (or a single coax cable). “It’s inexpensive in terms of resource and licencing costs,” he added. GV Node will be available later this year and Grass Valley has already taken several orders.

Hilton took part in ‘The IP Infrastructure Revolution’ session at IBC2015, which examined the commercial and operational issues surrounding the move from SDI to IP, particularly for UHD.

It looked at whether there is a compelling business case, how realistic remote production is, and how soon IP might stretch from the sensor to viewers’ screens — something that Grass Valley hopes to achieve by the end of the year.

However, Hilton believes that “it doesn’t have to be a revolution. Evolution makes more sense for your business — unless you start with a green field.”

Grass Valley is allowing its users to incrementally add IP gateways to its various products, rather than having to rip and replace.

www.grassvalley.com

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