Scribd
Upload
133 views8 pages

Understanding Itx: at MCR End

The primary purpose for replacing the existing system is to upgrade and reduce per channel cost.With increasing the number of playout channels, we also needed to ensure that we were prepared for future growth. We also wanted to move away from a complex multivendor, hardware-based playout system towards a single vendor with a fully integrated software platform, which should be scalable and reliable. iTX is easy to ingest, easy to convert, easy to learn and could grow with them.

Uploaded by

fantacy singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
133 views8 pages

Understanding Itx: at MCR End

The primary purpose for replacing the existing system is to upgrade and reduce per channel cost.With increasing the number of playout channels, we also needed to ensure that we were prepared for future growth. We also wanted to move away from a complex multivendor, hardware-based playout system towards a single vendor with a fully integrated software platform, which should be scalable and reliable. iTX is easy to ingest, easy to convert, easy to learn and could grow with them.

Uploaded by

fantacy singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

UNDERSTANDING iTX

AT MCR END

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Why we are moving for iTX?
The primary purpose for replacing the existing system is to upgrade and reduce per channel cost.
With increasing the number of playout channels, we also needed to ensure that we were
prepared for future growth. We also wanted to move away from a complex multivendor,
hardware-based playout system towards a single vendor with a fully integrated software
platform, which should be scalable and reliable. iTX is easy to ingest, easy to convert, easy to
learn and could grow with them. It also includes now/next countdowns, media alerts and health
status, at no additional cost. These “heads up” display functions mean operant can spend more
time ensuring that channels are delivered to viewers accurately, at the highest possible quality,
and less time “heads down” in management screens and monitoring systems.

Key Features
• Unified, end-to-end workflow from ingest to playout
• iTX broadcast engine delivers greater scalability, lower cost of ownership
• Flexible migration path to IP
• 4K/HD/SD multiformat performance
• Advanced subtitling/captioning
• Seamless handling of dynamic schedules & live content
• Automated ingest, quality control & transcoding
• Advanced real-time graphics
• Integrated, playlist-aware monitoring
• Automated VOD asset preparation and publishing
• Enterprise-level resilience & redundancy
• Global support

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Integral workflow automation
For data storage we use Dell EMC Isilon hybrid storage platforms which is a highly versatile yet
simple scale-out storage architecture to speed access to massive amounts of data, while
dramatically reducing cost and complexity. Isilon hybrid storage is highly flexible and strikes the
balance between large capacity and high-performance storage to provide support for a broad
range of enterprise file workloads. We use EMC Isilon H400 which delivers up to 3 GB/s
bandwidth per chassis and provides capacity options ranging from 120TB to 480 TB per chassis.

The technical specification of Isilon H400 are in the following table:

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Playout Architecture:
The iTX system represents a robust yet simplified playout architecture, which allows rapid, linear
expansion for fast service launches.

FRAMEWORK PLAYOUT OUTPUT SERVER MAIN


MAIN SERVER (EX- COLOURS MAIN)
(DB MAIN)
(1) VIDEO OUPUT TO 1ST PORT OF HCO
META
DATA

FRAMEWORK PLAYOUT OUTPUT SERVER BACKUP


BACKUP SERVER (EX- COLOURS BACKUP)
(DB BACKUP) (1) VIDEO OUPUT TO 2ND PORT OF HCO

DESKTOP CLIENT WITH PLAYLIST/


WITNESS SERVER CLIENT ASSET VIEWER
(DROPBOX) (1)

CLIENT DESKTOP CLIENT (N*) WITH


STORAGE (N*) PLAYLIST/ ASSET VIEWER
(VIDEO FILES)

• Multiple playout server is connected for different channels as a main and backup server.
• Multiple clients (N) are connected as shown in figure.

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Ingest
To feed content into the system, there is ingest into database, and an iTX Delivery Manager is
accepting files from EMC Isilon H400 file delivery systems.
The Delivery Manager provides content transfer and cache management services, as well as handling
registration in the iTX Content Store of pre-encoded content files. iTX supports the use of a range of
network attached storage systems (NAS) as well as broadcast hierarchical storage management
systems (HSM). Additionally, every iTX system comes with asset management as standard enabling
facilities to have complete control of their media at all times.

Framework Services:
At the heart of the system are the Framework Servers, which hold the core system database.
Framework Services reside on a three-server triplet (Principal-Witness-Mirror) for redundancy. The
addition of a “witness” instance of the database on a third server provides automated failover of the
database in the event of a hardware or software failure. The Framework Services are shared across
multiple ingest and output channels, and handle content registration, traffic interface and the
management of transmission schedules, content metadata and storage.

Network
iTX operates on a standard, gigabit Ethernet (1000 Base-T) local area network (LAN), which connects
servers, content storage, client workstations and external systems such as traffic and scheduling.

Content Store
iTX caches content from the central Content Store to playout to provide content redundancy. In the
event of a failure in the Content Store, playout will continue from the local content cache.
The use of a high availability NAS is recommended for the central Content Store, as this allows iTX
to continue the intake and caching of new content, even in the event of a failure of some
components in the storage solution.

Playout
Each broadcast engine contains a local media cache plus an automation engine that holds the
playlist for that channel. This architecture allows the broadcast engine to run stand alone in the
event of the iTX Framework becoming unavailable, until the local schedule and content cache have
been exhausted.

Client Workstation
An iTX Client Workstation is a standard PC providing control, monitoring and configuration
interfaces for the iTX system. The operant can not only manage real-time playout but also browse

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


all the media on the system, enabling search, preparation, segmentation and preview without
needing to tie up playout servers or ports.
Optionally for smaller facilities, an iTX Client can be configured to perform multiple roles like ingest,
preparation and playout — all at a single position.

iTX integrated playout:

INPUT

UP/DOWN/
ARC

AUDIO
PROCESSING
& UP/DOWN

GRAPHICS

CAPTIONS/
SUBTITLES

VANC/SCTE

WATERMARK

OUTPUT

As iTX is integrated playout which includes conversion, audio processing, graphics, subtitling, SCTE,
watermark etc. In this way we can say iTX is easy to ingest, easy to convert and could grow with
them in all future aspect.

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Frequently Asked Question

What is SCTE/ VANC?


It is a joint ANSI/Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers standard that describes the inline
insertion of cue tones in mpeg-ts streams. The full standard name is "Digital Program Insertion Cueing
Message for Cable. Ancillary (ANC) data is a means of embedding non-video information, such as audio
and metadata, in a serial digital transport stream. Ancillary data packets are located in horizontal
(HANC) or vertical (VANC) blanking of a video signal. One frame of SD-SDI is shown with VANC and
HANC.
VANC

Vertical Switching Line


DATA (LINE SELECTION)
HANC

483/576 lines 525/625 lines


ACTIVE PICTURE
SDI 270 Mb/s
YCbCR 4:2:2 10-bit

708-720 pixels

EAV

4 Groups SAV
Embedded Audio
(16 channels)

What is Audio Mapping?


Mapping is just a mixing to a single audio track on the output. For example, these options can be
combined to map 6 discrete mono PCM audio tracks from an input file into a single 5.1 surround
sound audio track on an output. It is done through encoder.

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]


Subtitle and its various aspect?
Subtitles are text obtained from either a transcript or screenplay of the dialog or commentary.
Subtitle file is used to add the subtitles to the picture, either directly into the picture (open subtitles)
or embedded in the vertical interval and later superimposed on the picture by the end user with the
help of an external decoder or a decoder built into the TV (closed subtitles on TV or video). Open
subtitle is translation these are 'open to all' and cannot be turned off by the viewer whereas closed
Subtitle are a transcription, can be closed when required.

Various status of files in the playlist?


Missing
Available
Caching
Caching in cue
Media info from cue sheet
Media info not found (text in blue)

UNDERSTANDING iTX | Satyam Sundram | [email protected]

You might also like