A special stream on "Media, Radio, Television and Professional Graphics" will be organised by the EBU at this year's Libre Software Meeting (LSM), taking place in Geneva in July. EBU Members and others using Open Source software for any aspect of their media production work are invited to submit proposals for presentations and papers.
Open Source software promises to improve interoperability, speed up development and prevent vendor lock-in, all key benefits for broadcasters today. And although a quick scan of the professional audio-visual landscape first of all shows closed, proprietary solutions, the call for a more open approach to media tools is growing. The move of media production into file-based environments is one of the key drivers. Another one is the need to improve interoperability in a world where single vendors don't provide the complete solution anymore.
The media sessions during the LSM will show Open Source software projects for authoring, recording, ingest, editing, management, storage, encoding, play-out, streaming, broadcast transmission and user devices - how they are used in practice and what are the features/limitations. Colleagues from the industry will share their experiences and outlook for the future; and live demonstrations of the tools will be available too, including a completely open radio transmission platform.
Speak Up!
If you are using, testing or developing Open Source (though not necessarily cost-free) software, we would like to hear from you. We are currently drafting the programme and we still have room for a number of use cases from the field. Simply drop us a line with the area in which you are active via: coinchon@ebu.ch
Needless to say the LSM will be open to all, with lots of other topics and presentations, so reserve 07-12 July already in your agenda. The Media theme will probably be concentrated on 10-11 July. A confirmation of the exact dates for the media sessions and the programme details will follow closer to the event.