CGI, the leading newsroom and radio system provider in Europe, has announced a two-year extension of its contract to provide the British Library’s ‘Save our Sounds’ initiative with access to its dira! platform to record and archive a representative selection of the UK’s radio output for posterity. dira!’s support of the project will now run until May 2023, allowing the National Radio Archive to continue to preserve some of the three million hours of radio broadcast throughout the UK every year for future researchers.

CGI, the leading newsroom system provider in Europe, is pleased to announce the key appointment of Johann Rückel to the role of Director of Business Development, in which he will be responsible for furthering the growth of OpenMedia’s market position within the Newsroom Solutions space. His role will also focus on developing and strengthening new client relationships internationally and expediting the global growth strategy working with the OpenMedia sales team.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), in partnership with the Video Services Forum (VSF) and the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), today posted the speaker lineup and presentation schedule for IP Oktoberfest 2021, a live, interactive virtual event for broadcast and Pro AV professionals to be held Sept. 28-30. The free event will highlight the industry's significant progress toward an all-IP ecosystem supporting today's real-world media productions.

CGI, the leading newsroom system provider in Europe, is delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Hasselmann to the role of Product Manager for CGI’s growing OpenMedia portfolio.

Densitron, the global leader in innovative Human Machine Interaction (HMI) and display technology, has announced the appointment of a new reseller for Benelux. Based in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Digital & Media Solutions (D&MS) has a distinguished track-record as a broadcast systems integrator and has also served as a reseller for leading professional brands including Grass Valley and Yamaha.

Nextologies is using DeckLink Duo 2 and DeckLink Quad 2 capture and playback cards for their full- time point-to-point and point-to-multipoint video network. The combined Nextologies and DeckLink solutions have been used by broadcasters, show producers and talent around the world, including American Idol’s finale in May 2020, and recent Top Rank boxing and UFC events.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today launched a new website dedicated to the alliance's new Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) proposed set of open standards and specifications. IPMX addresses the Pro AV industry's need for a single set of common, ubiquitous, standards-based protocols that ensure interoperability for AV over IP.

Custom Consoles announces the completion and installation of eight control desks and a large MediaWall monitor display support system for NEP Media Solutions BV. Located in the master control room at the company's studios in Hilversum's Media Park, the desks are configured in front and rear rows for use by up to six and four operators respectively.

"The desks are similar in style and colour scheme to a suite we produced in early 2018 for another NEP television studio facility," says Custom Consoles' Sales Manager Gary Fuller. "The forward desk centres on a dual-operator bridge with a total of eight forward-sloping 4U equipment pods. This is constructed as a rectangular unit with space for two operators. Left and right of the bridge are two units of identical design to the bridge but angled to match the curve of the 13.9 metre wide six-frame MediaWall. The MediaWall itself is one of the largest we have produced to date, each of the six frames accommodating four 55 inch UHD displays to create an 11-wide by two-high screen array with two additional pairs of 32 inch screens."

NEP Group, the leading outsourced technical production partner supporting premier content producers of live sports and entertainment, announced today that Lise Heidal, Managing Director of NEP Norway AS, has been promoted to SVP, Global Media Solutions. In her new role, she will lead NEP’s Global Media Solutions Team and the company’s strategic initiative in 2020 and beyond. She will report to Mike Werteen, Global President for NEP’s Broadcast Services and Media Solutions, and become part of NEP’s senior leadership team.

Imagine Communications has delivered core technology for a major refresh of an outside broadcast truck for NEP Belgium. As well as providing state-of-the-art and future-proofed solutions, a key part of the challenge was the very tight timescale allocated to complete the refurbishment. Imagine Communications was able to deliver on the tough timetable with the support of its Belgian dealer and partner, VP Media Solutions.

“Our Unit 14 still had many kilometres in it, but with a technology platform that was life-expired,” said Geert Thoelen, transitions manager at NEP Belgium. “We wanted a solution that would fit into the existing space, would give us all the functionality we need today, and be ready for the future, including increasing use of IP connectivity. And we could really only take the truck off the road for little more than a month earlier this year, so our partner had to be capable of moving swiftly to install and commission.”

Imagine Communications was able to comfortably meet the requirements. The new infrastructure is built around the Platinum™ IP3 router. In a single 15RU chassis, this router provides very high-density switching of today’s SDI-HD signals. It is also capable of seamlessly integrating uncompressed video over IP, so is ready to form the basis of a migration to IP connectivity — for example, to introduce Ultra HD signals. In Unit 14, the Platinum IP3 router is also fitted with the Platinum SX Pro multiviewer cards, adding functionality while reducing rack occupancy and power consumption.

Imagine’s Magellan™ SDN Orchestrator provides overall system control in the truck. It is specifically designed to provide unified operational interfaces in a hybrid environment, easing the transition between traditional, SDI-connected technology and software-defined, IP-connected architectures.

Sony has announced that its next-generation motion picture camera system, VENICE, was used for principal photography on the new ‘Downton Abbey’ movie, directed by Michael Engler, and produced by Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge.   

With its forward-thinking full frame sensor, impressive colour science and user-friendly operation, VENICE was chosen by Director of Photography (DOP) Ben Smithard to scale the TV series’ drama onto the big screen through impressive picture quality and greater detail.    Real emotion in every frame “VENICE was the only camera system that could deliver a larger and more detailed image to match the movie’s enthralling storyline on the big screen,” explained Ben Smithard. “When it came to shoot challenging frames for the film, the VENICE never let me down. It performed well without any issues, wherever it was put – from being rigged on camera dollies, tower cams, cranes and even helicopters.” 

VENICE, the versatile next-generation full frame motion picture camera, has been created for and with modern cinematographers in mind. It allows creatives to capture stunning visuals in almost any format, including full frame 24x26mm, Super35 and Anamorphic, with a maximum resolution of 6048 x 4032. At the same time, its usability, reliability and flexibility allow it to seamlessly match any filmmakers’ shooting requirements and support them in bringing their creative vision to life. 

Black Box, an industry-leading provider of IT connectivity solutions, today announced that C.N. Rood and VP Media Solutions have joined its channel partner program. VP Media Solutions (Belgium and Luxembourg) and C.N. Rood (Benelux region) will offer their broadcast customers the complete Black Box high-performance KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) solution portfolio, including the award-winning Emerald™ Unified KVM extension and matrix switching platform, which allows users to access both physical and virtual machines.

"We are delighted to be partnering with two well-known and highly respected suppliers to the Benelux broadcast industry," commented Bertrand Favier, Benelux sales director for Black Box. "By working with C.N. Rood and VP Media Solutions, we gain a larger platform that augments the already established position of Black Box in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Working more closely with Black Box, they gain even greater technical and support resources in delivering solutions to customers in this region."

SCISYS Media Solutionstwonational TV stations, an information channel, 24 regional TV stations, 10 overseas TV and radio stationsand approximately 3000 named users, the new multi-million Euro deal will see France Télévisions’ newsroom operations transition to SCISYS Media Solutions’ flagship OpenMedia Infinity newsroom computer system. This will work in conjunction with the Newsboard unified web-based user interface for journalists and editorial teams.

SCISYS Media Solutions (previously ANNOVA Systems), the leading newsroom system provider in Europe, is delighted to announce that its powerful web-based news planning tool NewsBoard now integrates with Vizrt’s browser-based video editing and publishing package Viz Story.

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today released a significant update to the AIMS roadmap for a standards-based approach to applying IP technologies in broadcast operations. The latest roadmap includes an important addition: JT-NM TR-1001-1, also known as the JT-NM Tech Stack Part 1. Developed by the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) to automate installation and eliminate complexity, JT-NM TR-1001-1 provides specifications and guidance designed to make SMPTE ST 2110-based systems easier to deploy and operate, leading to greater efficiencies for broadcasters.