Panasonic unveils Kairos – the next-gen, live video production platform

Panasonic Life Solutions India – a leading diversified technology company, launched Kairos – the future of live video processing platform at the “Broadcast India Show” in Mumbai today. The new IT/IP video processing platform offers an open architecture system and aides in live video switching with flexibility and speed of transmission. It also comes with complete input and output flexibility, resolution and format independence, maximum CPU/GPU processor utilization and virtually unlimited ME (Mixed Effect) scalability. Panasonic’s Kairos is a comprehensive solution to meet the new-age requirements of broadcasters and production houses who are looking to adopt new technologies and create a better experience for video production.

Commenting on the launch, Manish Sharma, Chairman of Panasonic Life Solutions India and South Asia said, “As per industry estimates, the Indian media and entertainment industry is one of the rapidly growing industries across the world and is projected to reach $100 billion by 2030. Here, new-age technology will be the key enabler to realize this growth and, further propel the industry towards digital revolution. Panasonic’s Kairos – the integrated live system has been designed for all evolving, futuristic needs pertaining to both, hardware and software. It gives complete creative and operational freedom to broadcasters helping them fast track to the digital ecosystem. And the best part is that the solution is customizable basis need. In fact, Tokyo Olympics were broadcast using Kairos solution.”

For television studios, Kairos seamlessly integrates into a facility’s ST 2110 infrastructure without requiring additional IP gateways. For sports and entertainment venues or event productions, manpower with diverse experience and background can deploy the user-friendly GUI to deliver engaging content or set up complex systems with limited training time.

Vijay Wadhawan, Director – Systems Solutions Division, Panasonic Life Solutions India commented, “Today, the content creation industry is looking for an integrated digital solution that offers a hassle-free experience for live IP workflows. Panasonic’s Kairos takes the various components of a broadcast program and virtualizes them, so productions are flexible, dynamic and powerful. The intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) further enables users to manage unlimited layers and effects with ease.  Kairos not only helps bring down the operational costs significantly, but also can deliver a superior production and an efficient management for smart live production. The addition of Kairos strengthens our broadcast and professional solutions portfolio providing a comprehensive solution for Sports, Live events, Smart studios and Video Production houses.”

Kairos has been developed on a new concept and innovative architecture, and incorporates proprietary, groundbreaking software to maximize CPU and GPU capacity for video processing. Leveraging this technology, the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 adopted 32:9 ultrawide screen display to offer highly realistic sensations to the viewers around the globe.

Key features of Kairos: 

Allows flexible combination of a diversity of input and output interfaces.

• Fully supports baseband signals (12G/3G/HD-SDI, HDMI, DisplayPort) *1 and IP packets (ST 2110,
  NDI®, RTP)
• An unlimited number of inputs and outputs can be connected. Up to 32 inputs and 16 independent outputs*2 can be used simultaneously in the case of HD (3G). Up to 8 inputs and four independent outputs*2 can be used simultaneously in the case of 4K (UHD)
• Two customizable multi-viewer outputs (DisplayPort) can display up to 36 images
• Supports PTP (Precision Time Control) synchronization and allows the use of ST 2110-based system

Flexible video expression by GPU processing

• Unrestricted by the number of MEs or keys. Layers can be placed as many as the GPU capability permits, and keys, scaling, and other effects can be applied
• The CANVAS function (optional) enables the production of videos in a special format, such as 32:9 (for wall display). The multi-viewer displays special-format videos in the original format
• Live images of sports events and musical performances can be captured with the ambiences intact
• Equipped with a RAM recorder (8-ch, uncompressed) and Media Player (HD 2-ch,
  compressed) to enable the in-system playback of video files and their use as video sources. They also support still-image files

Intuitive GUI, control panel with user-assignable keys, software-based operability and expandability.

• “Kairos Creator” PC software features an intuitive GUI. GUI control panel can be displayed for space-saving operation
• Addition of application software enables linkage of external devices
• “Kairos Alliance Partners” program has been established to promote collaborations with IT/video manufacturers and vendors