Norwegian national broadcaster NRK has updated its transcoding platform and moved to an automated network based on the latest Telestream Vantage software. The networked system is implemented in the broadcaster’s Oslo headquarters and in 18 other regional centres, and is responsible for hundreds of individual transcodes each day. The system was supplied by Video4, the Telestream distributor in Norway.
The Vantage software is used for primary format conversion between HD and SD, and the system architecture and workflows were designed in house by NRK with support from Telestream. There are 47 Vantage licenses in the network, with 29 of the servers in Oslo. The system includes 20 Telestream Lightspeed Servers: 1RU hardware devices designed with multiple CPU and GPU capability.
The system provides a common platform for almost all transcoding tasks within the broadcaster, including ingesting content, converting user-generated material to the house format, and providing multiple outputs and adaptive bitrate streaming for online and mobile content delivery.
“In our main installation in Oslo we have about 70 active workflows, which routinely process up to 700 encodes in a single day,” said Egil Ljøstad, head of File-based Production at NRK Technology. “We have seen as many as 1,500 jobs in a day. In general, workflows are initiated automatically, either by the Omnibus asset management system or by the Signiant content delivery platform, but there is a drop folder system available when NRK staff need to initiate a process manually.”
“This is an excellent example of the way that a well-designed platform can provide a simple, fast and largely automated transcode network,” said Paul Turner, VP of Enterprise Product Management at Telestream. “NRK wanted to be able to design the system to meet their very specific needs, and then to develop the workflows on top of it. With little direct support from us they were able to do this, and to create a networked solution that moves content around the country and around the broadcaster smoothly, seamlessly and without compromising quality.”
Pictured: NRK project team (from the left): Kjell Ove Nordlien, Sigurd Løvik, Nikolai Roald, Jarle Igeltjørn
