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ICE - Automated Channel Playout

Flexible, Scalable, Reliable Integrated Playout Solution

Grass Valley understands that broadcast master control and playout is a complex operation where a large number of sophisticated systems must all work together flawlessly. When we designed an integrated playout solution, we focused on what it takes to make a great channel, not just a box of features, so we created ICE.

ICE is an integrated IT-based system that delivers the operational, technical, regulatory and commercial functionality required for broadcast playout environments. ICE dramatically increases efficiency while reducing complexity. It is a proven system that helps you lower your costs, rapidly launch new revenue-generating services and grow your business. Best of all,...

FEATURES

  • Reduces your CapEx for new projects compared to discrete hardware devices
  • Eliminates broadcast chain integration headaches
  • Choose between the 2 RU appliance with unsurpassed feature set, or the software-only solution
  • Scales to any size of system
  • Uses proven automation technology from the world’s premier playout automation provider
  • Reduces your carbon footprint
  • Delivers IT efficiency without losing broadcast resilience
  • ICE systems have resilience at the core of every design, capable of achieving up-times in excess of 99.999%
  • Grass Valley systems evolve with our users’ needs, ensuring a long life and maximum ROI
  • ICE is built around inherent flexibility. Flexicore ensures you can use the internal device the way you want, and can easily reconfigure as requirements change
  • All functions conform to the relevant SMPTE and EBU standards
  • Options for SDI, uncompressed IP (SMPTE ST 2022-6, SMPTE ST 2110), and compressed IP (H.264 over RTP)
  • Hardware ICE appliances offer up to 4 channels from a single unit
  • Minimizes the need to transcode. ICE supports a multitude of codec and wrapper formats
  • Play out multiple file formats back-to-back
  • Full master control functionality
  • Make playlist changes 2 seconds before air with confidence
  • Multiple DSKs and DVEs
  • RSS/XML text crawls
  • Still and animated logos
  • Audio overs. Live from AES3, SMPTE ST 2110-30 inputs or pre-recorded from internal file players
  • Dolby E decode and encode
  • Loudness assessment and adjustment
  • Closed captions and subtitles in multiple formats and languages
  • Up/downscaling of closed captions and subtitles
  • Advanced 3D graphics for premium quality broadcast branding
  • Automatic HD upscaling and SD downscaling that respect source AFDs
  • ARCing and AFD insertion
  • V-Chip and XDS insertion
  • Audience measurement from Nielsen or Kantar Media
  • Fixed latency from input to output
  • Mix transitions between any sources, including live inputs
  • Ancillary data: Preserve, pass-through, insert, and up/downscale
  • Hardware appliances include up to 3.6 TB of local storage, plus ability to add Quantum’s SAN storage
  • Media optimized file system is StorNext from Quantum on the 2 RU ICE appliance

SPECIFICATIONS

Multiformat File Support – Play

Any of the supported SD or HD video files can be played back to back; removing the need for transcoding systems and allowing easy migration from legacy video servers. Grass Valley provides a full service to verify your files are supported so you can enter a project with confidence.

ICE supports the following resolutions and frame rates:

  • PAL 4:3 720x576 25 fps
  • PAL 16:9 720x576 25 fps
  • 720p 50 1280x720 50 fps
  • 1080i 50 1920x1080 25 fps
  • NTSC 720x486 29.97 fps
  • 720p 59.94 1280x720 59.94 fps
  • 1080i 59.94 1920x1080 29.97 fps


PAL and 1080i50 or NTSC and 1080i59 formats can be played back-to-back on the same decoder.

Grass Valley Recommends: ICE has industry-leading file format support, but every new project should have its playout content validated early on to ensure compatibility.

ICE supports the official SMPTE format standards, however where leading server manufacturers have developed nonstandard implementations, ICE can be configured to match, ensuring files can be exchanged for interoperability.

Supports standard and nonstandard implementation of Long GOP pre-charge values.

Supports the selection of which type of timecode to use where a file is delivered with inconsistent header and timecode tracks (refer to the Ancillary data section).

Supports some types of proprietary Seachange MXF and MPEG files.

In addition to main playback, ICE supports preview functions such as Jog / Shuffle.

DPP – Grass Valley is an official participant in the UK’s AS-11 DPP Compliance Program.

MXF – These options are supported: OP1a, AS-02/OP1b (mastering format), AS-03 (distribution format), AS11 (UK DPP Shim).

MOV – Internal and external essence formats are supported. An odd number of audios can be supported with external essence MOVs, up to 64.

GXF – Support conforms to SMPTE ST 360.

AVI – Wrapper formats support video only with no audio.

MPG – Wrapper supports MPEG Main and High levels.

Play while transfer is supported for MXF OP1a and MOV external essence files.

 

Multiformat File Support – Record

Any files marked with TDIR can be played back within seconds of the recording starting.

For shared storage for our ICE and ICE LE appliances please refer to the SAN section.

Secondary Master Control Functions

Up to 8 DSKs per mixer

Up to 4 DVE tiles per ICE unit

Up to 4 Audio overs per mixer

Video Playback Formats
Format Codec Bit Rate Mb/s Audio
Channels
Supported
Wrappers
Ancillary
Data
DV25 DV25 25 2,4,8,16 AVI, MOV, MXF, GXF, LXF MOV, MXF, GXF
DVCPRO 25 DVCPRO25 25 8,16 AVI, MOV, MXF, LXF MOV, MXF
DVCPRO 50 DVCPRO50 50 8,16 AVI, MOV, MXF, LXF MOV, MXF
DVCPRO HD DVCPRO100 100 8,16 AVI, MOV, MXF, LXF MOV, MXF
IMX D10 range 4,8 AVI, MXF, LXF MXF
XDCAM HD 420/422 XDCAM 50 4,8 MXF, LXF MXF
XDCAM EX 35 XDCAM 35 4,8 MXF, LXF MXF
MPEG-2 420/422 (SD/HD) MPEG-2 range 2,4,8,16 AVI, MPG, MXF, GXF, MOV MOV, MXF, GXF
SD MPEG with alpha MPEG-2 40 0 AVI, LXF x
HD MPEG with alpha MPEG-2 60 0 AVI, LXF x
Pro-Res 422 HD Apple Pro-Res 147 2,4,8,16 MOV MOV
DNxHD Avid DNxHD 36,145 2,4,8,16 MOV, MXF MOV, MXF
AS-11 AVC-Intra100 114 1 – 16 MXF MXF
WMV WMV9, 10 ,11 range 2 WMV x
Video Record Formats
Format CODEC Bit Rate Mb/s Audio Channels Supported
Wrappers
Ancillary
Data
TDIR
DV25 DV25 25 2, 4 MXF, GXF, MOV x MXF
DV50 DV50 50 2, 4 MXF, GXF, MOV x MXF
DV100 DV100 100 4 MXF, MOV x MXF
IMX D10 30 4, 8 MXF MXF MXF
IMX D10 40 4, 8 MXF MXF MXF
IMX D10 50 4, 8 MXF MXF MXF
XDCAM HD 422 XDCAM 50 8 MXF MXF MXF
MPEG-2 420 MPEG-2 12 2, 4 MXF, GXF, MPG MXF MXF
MPEG-2 422 MPEG-2 15 2, 4 MXF, GXF, MPG MXF MXF
HD MPEG 420 MPEG-2 40 2, 4, 8 MXF, GXF, MOV MXF, GXF MXF
HD MPEG 420 40 MPEG-2 40 2, 4, 8 MXF, GXF, MOV MXF, GXF MXF
HD MPEG 422 35 MPEG-2 35 2, 4, 8,16 MXF, GXF, MOV MXF, GXF MXF
HD MPEG 422 50 MPEG-2 50 2, 4, 8,16 MXF, GXF, MOV MXF, GXF MXF
HD MPEG 422 100 MPEG-2 100 2, 4, 8,16 MXF, GXF, MOV MXF, GXF MXF
SD MPEG with alpha MPEG-2 40 0 AVI x x
HD MPEG with alpha MPEG-2 60 0 AVI x x
AS-11 AVC-Intra100 114 2, 4, 8,16 MXF MXF x
Pro-Res Apple Pro-Res 147,102,45 2, 4, 8,16 MOV MOV x
Avid DNxHD Avid DNxHD 145,200 2, 4, 8,16 TBC TBC TBC

 

Full Specifications are available in the Datasheet

ORDERING INFORMATION

ICE Tiered Functionality

Select the level of ICE functionality that meets your needs and your budget.

Grass Valley's services include System Architects who are on hand to ensure the system design you need will perform as expected. They will feed your required functionality into a Configurator to ensure effective resource usage, and can advise where a design can be optimized.

ICE — Quantities of SDI Inputs and Outputs

ICE Models and Input/Output Options for SDI and IP Streaming Versions

  SDI Functionality Audio
Model Number STD Advanced Enterprise AES3 (AES/EBU)
ICE8STDXM3 0/8 up to 8/0  —  — 0/0
ICE8ADVXM3  — 0/8 up to 8/0 0/0
ICE8ENTXM3  —  — 0/8 up to 8/0 0/0
  • The video I/O of these ICE versions are configurable at install time to any number of inputs and outputs split across the total 8. e.g., 7/1, 6/2, 5/3…
  • If requirements change the software can be reinstalled to accommodate a different split

 

 
SDI Functionality
Audio
Model Number STD Advanced Enterprise AES3 (AES/EBU)
ICE12ADVXM3  — 8/4 or 4/8  — 16/0
ICE12ENTXM3  —  — 8/4 or 4/8 16/0
  • The video I/O of these ICE versions are configurable at install time to either 8 in/4 out, or 4 in/8 out
  • If requirements change the software can be reinstalled to accommodate the other option
ICE SDC — Quantities of Uncompressed IP Streams*
  Functionality
Model Number LITE* STD** Advanced** Enterprise**
ICESDCCELITE 1/1  —
ICESDCCESTD 2/2 or 0/4  —
ICESDCCEADV  — 2/2 or 0/4  —
ICESDCCEENT  — 2/2 or 0/4


The above grid is based on uncompressed SMPTE ST 2022-6 or SMPTE ST 2110, and using a suitable hardware specification. Please discuss with Grass Valley whether your project will be based on a baremetal installation or under the management of a virtualization hypervisor as this may affect quantities of IP streams.

* ICE SDC LITE is a license for use with record or preview only and not able to be used for channel playout.
** Quantity of inputs and outputs is dictated by the hardware platform provided by the customer for ICE SDC. Please contact Grass Valley for guidance on this.

Compressed H.264 is also available on ICE SDC. Please contact Grass Valley to discuss your bitrate and ancillary data requirements.
ICE-CHAS-CX5A – IP-enabled COTS Server

If you would like the benefits of our ICE SDC software, but without needing to specify the hardware to run it on, Grass Valley can provide a COTS server, pre-fitted with a Mellanox Connect X-5 network adapter, plus local storage and all the necessary licensing. This provides uncompressed IP video, either SMPTE ST 2022-6 or ST 2110. If you would prefer to provide your own hardware systems, please contact Grass Valley to discuss in detail.

FEATURES ICE ICE SDC
STD ADV ENT LITE STD ADV ENT
FILE PLAYBACK
Numbers of decoders 10 10 10 Y Y Y Y
Numbers of native graphics players 4 4 4 Y Y Y Y
Up/downconversion Y Y Y N Y Y Y
ARC N N Y N Y Y Y
MASTER CONTROL
Master control transitions (video & audio) Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Number of keyers per channel mixer 8 8 8 4 4 4 4
Static or animated logos Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Text crawls from files Y Y Y N Y Y Y
Number of DVEs N 1 2 N N 1 2
Text crawls from RSS or XML N Y Y N N Y Y
AUDIO
Dolby E pass-through Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
4 audio overs & audio players per mixer N Y Y N N Y Y
Audio Expressions for track shuffling N Y Y N N Y Y
Discrete Dolby 5.1 downmix N N Y N N N Y
Omneon Track Tag audio shuffling N N Y N N N Y
Audio description (UK) N N Y N N N Y
Dolby E decode/encode OP OP OP N OP OP OP
CLOSED CAPTIONS & SUBTITLES
Captioning (608/708) and subtitling pass-through Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
File-based insertion of CC & subtitles N Y Y N N Y Y
Up/downconversion of CC & subtitles N Y Y N N N Y
Open subtitles N N Y N N N Y
Live insertion of CC & subtitles N N Y N Y Y Y
ANCILLARY
XDS V-Chip insertion N Y Y N N Y Y
TC User bit insertion N Y Y N N Y Y
Generate DTMF tones N N Y N N N Y
SCTE-104 generation N N Y N N N Y
AFD-based scaling & data insertion N N Y N N N Y
MISCELLANEOUS
Media Biometrics Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Delay server N Y Y N Y Y Y
Horizontal and vertical line timing adjustment Y Y Y n/a n/a n/a n/a
RAID 10 10 10 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Number of media disks 8 8 8 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Usable storage capacity 3.6 TB 3.6 TB 3.6 TB n/a n/a n/a n/a
Number of OS disks 2 2 2 n/a n/a n/a n/a
FTP transfer speed (please discuss with Grass Valley) 60 MB/s 60 MB/s 60 MB/s n/a n/a n/a n/a
SDI video connectors SMB SMB SMB n/a n/a n/a n/a
Timing – Trilevel or blackburst Y Y Y PTP PTP PTP PTP
Dimensions 89 mm x 483 mm x 705 mm n/a n/a n/a n/a    
Weight 23.6 kg n/a n/a n/a n/a    
OS Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2016          
CHARGEABLE OPTIONS
Apple Pro-Res OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Avid DNxHD OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Dolby E encode/decode OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Loudness assessment and adjustment OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Audio Upmix OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Advanced Graphics OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
Nielsen/Civolution OP OP OP OP OP OP OP
EAS OP OP OP OP OP OP OP

OP = Optional    * Please contact Grass Valley for all ancillary data requirements over compressed IP.

Codecs

All codecs except the following are included in all levels of ICE:

  • Apple ProRes
  • Avid DNxND

Certain functionality is available to all tiers of ICE, but requires a separate license. These include:

  • Dolby E encode
  • Dolby E decode
  • Loudness assessment and adjustment
  • Advanced graphics
  • Media Validation II
  • Nielsen/Kantar audience measurement
  • EAS

DOCUMENTS & DOWNLOADS

DATASHEETS

ICE: Flexible, Scalable, Reliable Integrated Playout Solution Datasheet

In today's market, you're likely to be under pressure to reduce the cost and complexity of your operations while finding new ways to increase revenue and protect business continuity.

Download
Morpheus & ICE Playout Solutions Playout with the Masters Datasheet

From simple playout operations to highly complex multichannel environments, Morpheus and ICE from Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, offer flexible and reliable solutions to smeet the demands of a shifting media and broadcast industry.

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DOCUMENTATION LIBRARY

Further documents

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