Digigram 2015 NAB Show Preview Booth C1858
Digigram at the 2015 NAB Show
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Digigram will showcase significant product enhancements and new product releases for the company’s IP audio and IP video solutions. In extending RAVENNA/AES67 support across its range of IP audio codecs and sound cards, Digigram offers high-performing audio transport solutions that enable a seamless shift toward use of IP-based studio infrastructure and the many benefits it yields. Digigram will demonstrate its cloud-based application engineered to simplify the management and operation of a fleet of IP audio codecs. Digigram also will highlight IP video solutions that meet customer demand for higher-density encoding and packaging of streams for delivery to multiple CDNs and, ultimately, the broad array of viewing devices used today. To showcase the benefits of the emerging HEVC video compression standard, the company will demonstrate a new compact HEVC contribution encoder.
Advancing the AoIP Migration With Greater RAVENNA/AES67 Support and Cloud-Based Codec Management
RAVENNA/AES67-Enabled Encoder Products
Digigram was among the first members of the RAVENNA consortium launched by ALC NetworX in 2010, and the company continues to expand its range of products with RAVENNA/AES67 connectivity. Enabling new levels of performance and flexibility in IP audio transport, RAVENNA is an AES67-compatible open technology standard that represents a major technological advance for low-latency synchronous audio distribution over IP infrastructures in radio facilities. At the 2015 NAB Show, Digigram will showcase the addition of RAVENNA/AES67 connectivity to the company’s IQOYA range of audio-over-IP codecs, which now allow users to get audio programs directly from an in-studio RAVENNA network and subsequently encode and stream them over IP to transmitter sites via a WAN in compliance with EBU ACIP. Users likewise can decode EBU ACIP streams from a WAN to their in-studio RAVENNA network. With these capabilities, radio stations can easily migrate towards the use of IP audio within their studios.
LX-IP RAVENNA PCIe Sound Card — Now Shipping
The LX-IP RAVENNA PCIe sound card, the first RAVENNA-enabled product developed by Digigram, features ultra-low latency — down to one audio sample per IP packet — and up to 256 RAVENNA I/O channels from multiple RAVENNA streams. Ideal for high-density audio production or automation applications in radio and TV broadcast studios, this solution makes it easy for users to record and play as many as 128 audio-over-IP RAVENNA channels simultaneously in and out of a desktop computer. Boasting ultra-low, round-trip latency down to 3 ms, interoperability with all AES67 requirements, an embedded 128 x 128 switching matrix, Grandmaster PTP clock abilities, and high redundancy assured by two Gigabit Ethernet connections, this reliable hardware solution enables broadcasters to maintain high performance regardless of the computational load presented by other applications running on the host system.
New MADI Option on LX-IP RAVENNA PCIe Sound Card
With the addition of an optical MADI interface option to the company’s LX-IP RAVENNA PCIe sound card, Digigram enables the industry’s migration from synchronous audio (MADI) to IP audio (RAVENNA/AES67) in the studio environment. As a result, users can move from more expensive, less flexible proprietary equipment to standard commercial off-the-shelf IT-based systems running common media-oriented IT protocols. The new MADI option facilitates a seamless shift by supporting use of the LX-IP RAVENNA soundcard in a synchronous audio environment to stream up to 64/64 I/O MADI channels from/to the host PC and from/to RAVENNA/AES67 audio-over-IP equipment. Users can access these valuable dual interface capabilities without any change to the familiar application used to manage the card. Control of the Digigram card is straightforward, thanks to its full compatibility with the industry-standard EMBER+ protocol.
New LX-MADI PCIe Sound Card
During the 2015 NAB Show, Digigram will showcase the new LX-MADI PCIe sound card, designed to provide radio and television broadcasters with reliable multichannel synchronous audio PC connectivity in high-density audio production and automation applications. Equipped with an optical MADI interface, the card supports a 64/64 I/O channel count with low roundtrip latency down to 3 milliseconds. Embedded 64 x 64 routing gives users direct monitoring capabilities, along with record and play functions. Because the LX-MADI card is a hardware solution, it offers high stability regardless of the computational load presented by other applications — editing, processing, ingest, playout — being supported by the host system.
IQOYA *CLOUD Speeds and Simplifies Management and Operation of AoIP Contribution Codecs
Digigram will present the full release of the company’s new IQOYA *CLOUD. The Web-based application, which can be hosted privately on any virtual machine or operated as SaaS in the cloud, enables structured management and seamless operation of all deployed audio-over-IP (AoIP) remote live contribution codecs. Accessible from anywhere through the Web browsers of Internet-connected devices such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones, the application automatically synchronizes phone books, connection profiles, and “favorite” groups of codecs to dramatically simplify deployment and day-to-day operation of the full codec fleet. The release of the IQOYA *CLOUD is the first step in Digigram’s larger rollout of cloud-based AoIP solutions.
New AQORD *LINK/LE Video-Over-IP Codec
Digigram will showcase the new AQORD *LINK/LE codec for simple, cost-effective transport of high-quality video over IP networks (fiber, xDSL, satellite). Designed for video contribution in broadcast, live event, and live distribution applications, this latest addition to the AQORD family allows users to begin streaming almost immediately. Ready to use right out of the box with minimal configuration, this new codec makes it easy and affordable for users to get into IP-based video transport without compromising on video quality. With both H.264 encoding or decoding capabilities, the AQORD *LINK/LE also gives users flexibility in system deployment. Housed in a 19-inch encoder/decoder rack, the unit features SDI raw video I/O and network I/O for IP-based live streaming.
AQILIM *SERV/FIT Video-Over-IP Codec
Throughout the 2015 NAB Show, Digigram will demonstrate the enhanced encoding capabilities of the company’s AQILIM *SERV/FIT IP video codec, including the ability to encode multiple streams at multiple resolutions simultaneously. With this single solution, users can quickly, easily, and cost-effectively publish content in multiple containers to multiple content delivery networks (CDNs) at once. Thus, in addition to increasing encoding density and reducing the cost per output stream, the AQILIM *SERV/FIT streamlines provisioning of content to all variety of display devices — computers, smartphones, tablets, and connected TVs — via OTT services. Digigram’s close relationship with popular CDNs assures that the company’s products maintain compatibility with those distribution outlets.