Technology serving the broadcaster

Video is a very demanding medium to handle. It has always required leading-edge technology to build new systems that can operate efficiently for broadcast applications where speed and quality are both in demand. The latest step is the development of video servers offering large scale central storage and simultaneous access for a number of on-line users. Being central to the whole operation, servers define the overall performance of the entire facility, so their specification is vital to the success of the whole operation. Although new, there are already many variants of video servers on offer differing, widely in performance and capabilities. This paper first traces a brief history of tapeless digital storage in television, with projections to the year 2000, and then looks at some of the parameters that define server performance making special reference to the demands of post production (as well as referring to transmission playout). Finally it looks at how today´s digital technology can be applied to build a server for this area