Tata picks PlayBox for global broadcast playout service

Tata picks PlayBox for global broadcast playout service

Tata Communications broadcast playout service

PlayBox Technology’s new CloudAir virtual application has been selected by Tata Communications to support its new cloud broadcast playout service

PlayBox Technology’s new CloudAir virtual application has been selected by Tata Communications to support its new cloud broadcast playout service. The new broadcast playout service will be available in September 2015 and accessible under full IP-based connectivity control to customers globally.

“Television is a tremendously powerful communications medium, hitherto held back by what were perceived to be high start-up capital costs,” said Don Ash, PlayBox Technology managing partner and director, sales. “Tata Communications’ cloud-based broadcast playout service model opens the door to a limitless number of television channels dedicated to specific themes or supporting business ventures of practically any scale.

CloudAir from PlayBox Technology is a universal television playout and streaming system designed for continuous unattended operation. Every clip in the playlist, except the one which is currently playing, can be trimmed, edited or repositioned. Playlist order can be changed on-the-fly using commands such as skip-to-next or jump. Changes are performed seamlessly without stopping current playout session. Live productions are facilitated by a Live Show clipboard which allows insertion and/or execution of various events or live streams. CloudAir accepts MPEG1/2/H.264, HDV and DV streams from practically every known production platform providing AVI, MPEG, WMV, Quick Time or MXF content. Files from third-party servers are natively supported. CloudAir also delivers on-air graphics which can be controlled interactively. Customers can preconfigure the templates to match their requirements, eliminating any need for subsequent manual interference.

Designed for broadcasters and content providers, Tata Communications’ cloud based broadcast playout service is built on Tata Communications’ global fibre network and data centre infrastructure including features such as file transfer services and the world’s first network-based, broadcast quality video transcoding and delivery services.

Tata Communications delivers connectivity backed by the company’s global fibre network. The company claims that over 24 per cent of the world’s internet routes travel over Tata Communications’ network and the company is the only Tier-1 provider that is in the top five by routes in five continents.