Pixel Power, the innovative supplier of broadcast graphics, playout and automation solutions, has added an innovative and highly cost-effective playout channel for TV5 Monde, the global Francophone broadcaster. The new solution, virtualised within its facility, allows the channel to add another US outlet from its Paris office without costly dedicated connectivity.
   

TV5 Monde needed a dedicated feed of its North American service for regional delivery. The traditional route would be to add another channel to its conventional playout centre, and a dedicated fibre or satellite path from its Paris headquarters to the partner streaming media service in the USA: cumbersome and expensive.

The solution proposed and implemented by Pixel Power is to run the new version of the channel – with full functionality including opt-out content, localisation of content and additional graphics – as a virtual machine, running on its data centre blade server infrastructure. TV5 Monde was already a user of Pixel Power ChannelMaster system under GalliumAutomation control, so adding a virtual channel using the new StreamMaster software solution meant that a much simpler workflow was made possible.

Because StreamMaster was running in the IP domain, the new channel can be delivered using a Zixi internet feed rather than dedicated video connectivity, making the whole process simpler and tidier.

“We could have simply bought an SDI to IP encoder to push an existing channel over Zixi,” said Mallory Delaporte, Head of Engineering at TV5 Monde. “But the Pixel Power solution, which costs us less than an encoder would, gives us more flexibility and more functionality. And, because it is an instance of software in our data centre, it is resilient because we can simply spin up a backup if we need to. Our ChannelMaster playout infrastructure serves us well, and StreamMaster is an extremely effective way of adding new services.”

For Pixel Power, James Gilbert, CEO, added “This is a great example of why software-defined architectures are the way to go. StreamMaster is a real-time, full-function channel playout system, but implemented in software. As we did at TV5 Monde we can implement it virtually instantly, giving them a better solution, at a better price, with better resilience and security – a real win all round.”