Panasonic has revealed the availability of KAIROS, an IT/IP live video production platform. KAIROS strives to significantly improve the quality and productivity of live video production and video streaming services for broadcasters and event producers of professional sports games, musical concerts and other events.
KAIROS breaks free of the boundaries that come with traditional hardware. The platform is based on open software, meaning that it can take the various components of live programme output and virtualise them. KAIROS can sit at the centre of production by taking feeds from multiple sources, and outputting them to a multitude of projectors, displays and LED video walls for example. KAIROS runs on CPU and GPU architecture, enabling an extremely low system latency of just a single frame, whilst ensuring excellent system flexibility and scalability.
KAIROS is compatible with not only baseband signals such as SDI, but also a diversity of other video inputs and outputs, including ST 2110 and NDI. Fully supporting the latest IP technology, KAIROS helps realise the remote operation of live video production. The platform also supports Precision Time Protocol (PTP) synchronisation, allowing it to capture the immediacy and atmosphere of sports events and musical performances in the live videos.
KAIROS also sets a new standard of usability thanks to KAIROS Creator, its intuitive and extremely well-designed Graphical User Interface (GUI). Within the GUI, KAIROS is able to manage an unlimited amount of video layers, and an unrestricted number of MEs or keys as found with conventional hardware platforms, whilst the canvas screen is unhampered by resolution or format.
Panasonic has also created a dedicated hardware panel called KAIROS Control, which supports the move towards remote production as both KAIROS Creator and KAIROS Control sites can be added to a network wherever an operator or engineer needs to be. The control panel is also easy to use and lets the user assign operation, which enables space-saving video production.
To take advantage of the rapidly evolving broadcast software and hardware ecosystem, Panasonic has established a program called “KAIROS Alliance Partners”. Through this program, Panasonic will establish KAIROS as the de facto standard for next-generation video production platforms. As well as operating with Panasonic’s own renown broadcast camera systems, projectors and displays, it will integrate and link to other partner products. Using the system, Panasonic is promoting the new concept of “Smart Live Production” and KAIROS plays the central role in enhancing “creativity.”
