Red Bee Media Launches New Lab In The Netherlands

Red Bee Media has opened its second Red Lab facility in Hilversum, the Netherlands. Red Lab Hilversum will focus on product development, testing and demonstrations of IP and software-based solutions for video acquisition, compression, contribution and distribution services.

Under the Red Lab name, Red Bee Media is formalizing its R&D efforts with multiple connected facilities across the globe. The first Red Lab opened in London in February 2019 and a third facility will be launched in Stockholm during the year.

“Red Lab Hilversum gives us a great opportunity to develop and test our IP enabled capabilities, increasing the value we bring to our customers in live video services and remote production,” says Kris Langbridge, Head of Distribution Services, Red Bee Media. “We are committed to putting multitenant platform innovation at the heart of what we do as an agile managed services provider in the broadcasting and media industry.”

“With the combination of Red Lab London and Red Lab Hilversum, we will now be able to demonstrate end-to-end IP workflows between multiple countries and demonstrate how Red Bee Media is leading the industry in multitenant IP platform technology”, says David Travis, chief services portfolio officer, Red Bee Media.

Launching Red Lab Hilversum, Red Bee Media performed a successful trial of IP contribution technologies. The trial involved testing the possibility to deliver uncompressed video over a redundant long-haul connection (2 x 35 km) from the Amsterdam Arena into the MCR test platform in Red Lab Hilversum. With a 100% stable IP connection, delivering a 1080p HLG HDR signal, the test was a success, according to Red Bee Media.

“This trial was a huge achievement and it validated our designs for distribution timing protocols and stable packet delivery. We were able to stretch and improve the capabilities of our current technology stack, adding bleeding edge components through its paces. As a result of this trial, we now have a whole new list of exciting ideas to explore with our partners” says Henk den Bok, strategic product manager, distribution services, Red Bee Media.

Red Lab Hilversum offers:

• Testing facilities for IP based solutions in video contribution and distribution services (incl. video routing, SDI to IP conversion, FPGA, automation, control and monitoring)
• Product development of new solutions to meet the challenges inherent in the migration towards IP based services (incl. PTP resilience, achieving zero packet loss across distributed networks, and security).
• Demonstrations showcasing Red Bee Medias managed services portfolio in live video contribution, software-based encoding and distribution services