What’s in store for the future of graphics?

Ahead of IBC 2024, Ross Video business development manager for graphics, EMEA, Kieran Hosking, speaks to Broadcast Tech about what could be next for broadcast graphics.

Hosking said: “It’s no longer just the addition of OTT or second screen platforms to linear that broadcasters have to consider when thinking about channels they are putting graphics on; it’s also the growing number of social media platforms. There’s always a different way of getting content to an audience. As a broadcaster, you might not just be doing traditional CG graphics; you might be doing virtual graphics as well. Solutions that help content creators create, manage, and control the variety of graphics they are producing across a multitude of platforms will be important.

However, there is opportunity in this, with features of social media such as shorter clips and users possibly muting audio making the context given by graphics even more important. “Graphics can help provide greater context and understanding of why what the user is looking at is worth engaging with,” says Hosking.

Ross will be revealing its slate of graphics solutions at IBC this month, with updates across the board.

This will include pods showing Ross’ XPression product line of real-time graphics solutions; an area for virtual production and XR solutions Lucid and Voyager; a dedicated space for the company’s recent acquisition, Bannister Lake Software and the HTML5 graphics capabilities this brings to the XPression product line; demo booths for its PIERO sport graphics; the XPression Tessera video wall solution will also be spread across the booth; and there will be version one of the new weather graphics solution, Raiden.

Another theme across the offering is ease of use, “We’re very conscious of having a workflow that works for you, rather than you having to work for the workflow,” Hosking explained.

“Many live productions don’t have that many in-house operators, so we are always thinking about how we can provide an easy-to-use solution that produces great graphics.”

The rising use of AI could help solve this, and Hosking thinks it will influence broadcast graphics – but perhaps not in the dramatic manner predicted by some. “It will be more about simplifying workflows and automating repetitive tasks, for example by generating and integrating data from video of a sporting event and making this available for the creation of a  graphic.

“It’s not just, ‘I’ve got this magical AI chatbot that I turn to and suddenly create everything.’ I’m sure there will be things like that, but do people really want that? Does a large-scale broadcaster want that?”

This is especially pertinent in a year where over half the world’s population is involved in elections. With this in mind, Ross’ recent acquisition of Bannister Lake Software brings “more robust ways of managing greater datasets in real-time, like election data,” where data absolutely can’t be tampered with or falsified.

Looking past IBC, Ross aims to continue innovating. Hosking confirmed: “Being a customer-centric company means always striving more for our customers and the audiences they serve. We have a large R&D staff constantly working on innovating and improving our product offerings.”

Kieran Hosking is business development manager for graphics in EMEA at Ross Video