Its solution is designed to include a clear pathway for future enhancement with AI technology.
Leading broadcast systems integrator Ideal Systems Malaysia received the win in the Digital Transformation – Malaysia category at the coveted Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards for its successful development and delivery of a national online TV archive and media orchestration solution for the Malaysia National Broadcaster, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM).
The company was appointed to design and build a new, highly automated TV archive for RTM’s content. Currently, RTM’s national TV content is being managed by the Blue Lucy Media Services Integration Platform (BLAM). The latter’s API has been utilised to code the various integrations with multiple tech partners for highly automated, unified archive operations for users.
Ideal System has integrated these systems for seamless automated workflows with RTM’s production systems, which include transcoders, content ingest systems, video routers, editing stations, traffic system, automation & playout, automated QC, and file-based audio processing. The new national digital archive is supported by enterprise computers and network infrastructure from Dell EMC using over twenty Dell network switches and sixty high-power computer servers.
The component systems include Capella Systems, Bluefish444 Ingeststore server, Rascular Technology, Disk Archive Corporation (DAC), Adobe, MSA Focus International, Grass Valley, ROSS Video, Vidcheck, and Emotion Systems.
“BLAM offers major benefits to RTM with its operationally focussed solution, including the creation of efficiency through automation [which includes] metadata management and search, media management, QC workflows, content logging & edit, task management and work order management, workflow monitoring and builder, cost dashboard, user and multi-tenant access control & storage management, amongst some of its features deployed,” the company said.
Meanwhile, the storage system for the archive is based on a cutting-edge, high-availability, high-security enterprise-class archive product called ALTO from Disk Archive Corporation (DAC), which has a unique architecture designed specifically to store large volumes of infrequently accessed storage such as media archives.
ALTO offers better protection by writing complete data files to multiple locations on different disks, allowing disks to be spun-down safely and offering the additional benefit of removable media. It also provides RTM with the security of physical removable media, multi-user access, and fast content restore of non-linear disk storage.
It is also equally applicable for any structured or unstructured data, adapted at the application layer for best-of-breed solutions. ALTO replaces outdated LTO Data Tape Libraries, complements or replaces Optical or Cloud offerings in open, standards-based systems with the lowest lifetime cost of ownership, superior performance, and outstanding environmental credentials, and avoids expensive, unmanaged cloud egress costs.
Ideal Systems has also designed and deployed more than 200 workflows in the BLAM platform to orchestrate multiple RTM workflows, including the media contribution from content suppliers, media processing workflows and media distribution for main transmission located at the International Broadcast Center at RTM headquarters in Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur.
It is now supporting over 150 RTM users across the country and is designed to be expandable in the future in terms of size and function, including a clear pathway to adding enhanced AI functionality.
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards recognises innovation and excellence in projects that advance the field of broadcasting in areas such as digitalisation and engineering. It showcases the remarkable activities of broadcast companies, as well as industry partners and vendors in the Asia-Pacific region.
The APB+ Digital Transformation Award – Malaysia category have been featured on the Malaysia National News.
Ts. Amirah binti Jaafar, Engineer Interactive Digital Engineering Division at RTM, shares her view on the BLAM system and how it integrates with all the other systems in News, Studios, Non-linear editing, Library Management Systems as well as the Transmission Operation Centre. She emphasizes how these MAM and centralised archiving systems improve efficiency and save time compared to the previous system.