Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel has chosen to install TAG Video Systems’ IP monitoring solution in a project that involves the migration of its entire technology platform across two sites in Sydney. This TAG monitoring solution, supplied by Magna Systems & Engineering, marks the largest solution of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Monitoring over 2,000 sources across multiple sites with all types of IP signals – such as compressed and uncompressed HD and 4K/Ultra HD (UHD), OTT-HLS, CMAF and DASH – the TAG solution can manage any combination of these signals on just one server.
Matthew Carter, Head of Broadcast Engineering & Projects for Foxtel, lauded the TAG IP monitoring solution’s ability to decode and monitor across multiple formats.
The new TAG IP solution is used across the entire Foxtel platform, from the ingest of the signal from playout or third parties to pre- and post-compression. It is also deployed across multiple departments including the master control room, presentation and Foxtel’s Service Assurance teams across the two sites under one control environment.
“With the introduction of the MCS controller management, control of the TAG platform has become simpler,” Carter claimed. “At the beginning of the journey, this tool wasn’t even a reality to the customer but working closely alongside TAG and Magna, we have helped shape the product and continue to do so.”
Foxtel is also employing the TAG solution to monitor its event-based over-the-top (OTT) streams. Using the open API, Foxtel has integrated this into its resource scheduling platform to provide operators with verification of customer delivery. Foxtel’s automation system, in turn, then supplies TAG with the necessary content delivery network details associated with an event to start decoding and probing.