Sony Corporation announced that three additional members have joined its Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group (ODAAG), which is charged with promoting the company’s new Optical Disc Archive storage format.
For more information visit: www.sony.com
Unedited press release follows:
Sony Advances its Next Generation Optical Disc Archive Solution with Increased Support of Media and Entertainment Companies Worldwide
Asia Pacific, 7 September 2012 – Sony today announced at IBC 2012 that it has welcomed three new members to its Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group. Leading broadcasters Golf Channel (US), ITN (UK) and WDR (Germany) will join the group which was established earlier this year at NAB to promote the adoption of the optical disc storage format among companies in related industries. The group has proved hugely popular, with the new additions bringing the total number of companies involved to 23.
Sony’s Optical Disc Archive system provides superior long-term storage capabilities, which are enabled through the use of media built to withstand changes in temperature and humidity, and is dust and water resistant. Furthermore, it provides guaranteed intergenerational compatibility and eliminates the need to re-archive copies of past archive data, offering a more user-friendly and dependable long-term storage solution.
The Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group is open to participation by media and entertainment companies from across the globe to further build the market for video image archive solutions. The role of the group is to provide a solution and application software environment that proposes optimum specifications and system architectures, among other responsibilities, while anticipating future trends and demand in the archive solutions segment.
“When it comes to archiving, companies need to carefully evaluate the durability, ease of access and migration of their media formats. Optical Disc Archive addresses all these considerations, and is at the heart of Sony’s vision to create a complete archiving solution for broadcasters, motion picture companies and production houses,” said Chris Grey, General Manager of Broadcast & Content Creation Solutions, Professional Solutions Company (PSAP), Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Limited. “It is encouraging to see more and more leading broadcasters adopting this next generation archiving solution, as we further develop and promote the optical disc format worldwide.”
Sony is currently working with a number of broadcasters to help them make the transition to Optical Disc Archive:
Golf Channel
Golf Channel in the US decided to switch from its existing Linear Tape-Open (LTO) based Petasite library operation to Sony’s latest solution based on Optical Disc Archive. Lower cost of ownership with the media copy free concept of Optical Disc Archive played a key role in its decision. The solution will include an HSM application and a robotics library with multiple Optical Disc Archive Drives, enabling concurrent LTO/Optical Disc Archive Library operation at the beginning. From there, Golf Channel will fully migrate to Optical Disc Archive over time, while disruption of its daily operational workflow will be kept minimal. Installation will begin in fall 2013 or earlier.
“Golf Channel currently uses a massive amount of LTO tapes for archiving and it’s growing every day. One of our struggles is the constant need to digitise to the next generation LTO tape after just finishing the digitisation from the former. Optical Disc Archive will address this. We currently have LTO5 but will not go down the path of LTO6 or 7. We decided to join the Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group as we felt we can contribute to our industry by not only advising Sony on the design and technical considerations of archival solutions but also by exchanging longer term visions with Sony’s management team.” Ken Botelho, Senior Director of Engineering, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Group.
Red Bull Media House GmbH
RedBull Media House GmbH in Austria is aiming to test the Optical Disc Archive system from November 2012 as exchange media in its non-linear on-site production workflow. The current HDD-based back-up operation will be replaced with an Optimal Disc Archive solution to provide superior reliability and longer media life.
“Red Bull Media House GmbH is currently using a great amount of firewire HDD RAIDs for our on-site NLE production. In today’s workflow, these HDD RAIDs will be shipped back to HQ for the final round of editing before being archived on a shelf. One difficulty is that these HDD RAIDs are not a suitable media for transportation and archiving. Therefore we decided to join the Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group as we see a chance that ODA could improve our on-site NLE workflow by providing a more robust and easily transported media than firewire HDD RAIDs. We also believe we can contribute our experience in developing future scenarios where ODA could improve the broadcast industry’s workflows”. Fabian Dorschel, Head of Engineering and Innovation, Red Bull Media House GmbH.
The Optical Disc Archive Advisory Group currently consists of:
BSkyB
CBS News
China Central Television
CJ Powercast
Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Golf Channel
IMAGICA Corp
ITN
J. LEAGUE Media Promotions, Inc.
OMNIBUS Japan, Inc.
RAI
Red Bull Media House GmbH
Shanghai Media Group
SRG SSR
Time Warner Cable Sports
TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION
TV Globo
TV TOKYO Corporation
TV 2/Lorry
Telewizja Polska
VGTRK
WDR
WOWOW Inc.
Sony will be exhibiting at IBC 2012 in Hall 12, stand number 12.A10.