The wait is almost over. In-person IBC is back.

The first in-person IBC to be held after two years of virtual formats, IBC2022 will return to the RAI exhibition and conference centre in Amsterdam from September 9-12 and will feature more than 1,000 exhibitors comprising some of the biggest brands in the broadcast and media solutions space.

IBC2022 is set to deliver exciting innovation across the show floor and will be the place for the latest technology releases from established names and exciting start-ups across the media and entertainment value chain. Further fueling the IBC crucible of technological creativity and advancement are the latest IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme projects.

Steve Connolly, Director at IBC, says: “The enthusiasm from across the industry to return to IBC has been fantastic to see. Exhibitors will be sharing demonstrations and concrete examples of leading edge technologies – from AI and ML-led tools to cloud advances that are revolutionizing remote production to new ways to leverage and monetize content in a fragmented media world driven by a multitude of platforms and devices. What’s more, the Accelerator Programme has a phenomenal array of brands working together across projects focusing on 5G, blockchain, volumetric video and XR, among others.”

Show visitors can discover the myriad of advances on offer, including as Adobe, Amazon Web Services (AWS), ARRI, Avid, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Comcast, Edgio, EVS, Fraunhofer, Google, Grass Valley, Hewlett Packard, Imagine Communications, Lawo, LTN, Mediakind, Microsoft, Nagra, NEP Group, Net Insight, Red Bee Media, RED Digital Cinema, Riedel, Ross Video, Sony, Synamedia, Telstra and many more. There are also many companies making their IBC debut this year, Ad Insertion Platform, Ai-Media, Blitz micro, Ceeblue, Castify.ai, Castr Live Streaming, Green Streams, Igalia, LiveAPI, PikoTV, Planetcast International, Riverside.fm, and XroadMedia – to name just a few.

“Technology has been forcibly accelerated across the industry over the last two years as exhibitors demonstrate these advances to customers and prospects they haven’t met in person for three years in some cases,” Connolly adds. “Our return to Amsterdam as a live event is showing that there really is no comparable substitute for face-to-face business engagement on the scale IBC can deliver.”

In addition to the exhibitors’ on-stand demonstrations, IBC industry partners and other M&E trailblazers will be showcasing technology-driven thought leadership, product innovations and other advances through presentations, panels, masterclasses, case studies and proof of concept (POC) demos in show floor theatres, stages and dedicated content areas throughout IBC2022. These include the Showcase Theatre in Hall 12 where audiences will hear from speakers from leading industry players such as AWS, Globo, Google and Zixi; the Content Everywhere Stage in its new purpose-built home in the expanded Hall 5 with speakers from LTN, Red Bee, Synamedia, Telstra and many more; and the Innovation Stage in Hall 2, which will be home to the Accelerator presentations among others.

One of the biggest drivers of cutting-edge innovation, the Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, has attracted many of the most inventive players in media, entertainment and technology – as well as some of the biggest. The Accelerator Zone will be in Hall 2 alongside the Innovation Stage.

Launched in 2019 to support the M&E industry by providing a framework for agile, collaborative and fast-track innovation through a multi-company approach, the Accelerator projects involve “Champions”, the media companies looking to contribute to and then utilise the breakthroughs resulting from the work, and “Participants”, the tech innovators working with the media brands to create and execute the POCs being produced and then showcased at IBC.

Virtual Production. At the upcoming IBC Show the production and editing tools and technology to accomplish this sometimes challenging workflow will be on display in a number of different products and solutions. Brainstorm will demonstrate advanced XR workflows featuring a mixed environment with live actors generated with eStudio and Aston motion graphics. Sony has opened a Virtual Production Lab in Japan that features its Crystal LED display to capture 3D volumetric content. Other companies include Chyron, with its Chyron LIVE platform, Maxon and its 3D software solutions for VFX, animation, and rendering tools; and Disguise’s virtual production platform.

Playout & Delivery. Broadcasters are particularly interested in centralizing content preparation and QC operations to improve quality and reduce costs. The trend toward centralized master control hubs continues to be a popular cost saving solution among broadcast groups. Not all group centralized playout systems are the same. There are many ways to accomplish centralized playout, and some variations are typically to accommodate local station legacies such as spot numbering, traffic and automation systems. Stations and groups also use different means to deliver playout and back-up, such as satellite, IP and fiber depending on what works best in their scenarios. What makes technical operations at local TV stations interesting is that they all do the same thing, but they all do it slightly differently.

Production control rooms must now handle more sources than ever as well as decentralized remote production operations. At the IBC Show, vendors will exhibit their latest offerings for the control room, promoting flexible technology that can accommodate both IP and SDI sources. Exhibitors include Apantac, FOR-A, TAG, Telestream, Guntermann & Drunck (G&D), Blackmagic Design, Cobalt Digital, and Grass Valley.

Media Asset Management. The days of the traditional, complex monolithic content management systems, which generate huge dependence on software vendors to provide the agility required to integrate new applications within the digital ecosystem, are over. The new solutions include on-premise, hybrid and cloud-native designs that enable production teams to access, produce and distribute finished files in a highly cost-effective way. Grass Valley will highlight its Agile Media Processing Platform, Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate its SpycerPAM, and Tedial will introduce its cloud-native, NoCode Media Integration Platform, called smartWork.

Asset management systems are now simultaneously supporting production teams working on-premise, at home or on location. The key to success for media companies moving forward is to replace the monolithic systems, or multiple integrated applications, with solutions that integrate all the components and complexity of the workflows, using all the APIs and additional methods required, to read older systems. At the IBC Show, evidence of this new integrated cloud-assisted/hybrid/on-premise approach will be everywhere on the exhibit show floor.

Transmitters & RF and Media Supply Chain and 5G broadcast are some of the other big themes.

An ideal platform indeed that brings together pioneering media companies and tech vendors to collaborate on solutions that address real-world industry challenges.