The Zacapades

NGIS: The Wave of the Future (again) April 17, 2009

Much of this year’s TechCon focuses on PBS’ newest forthcoming technology, the NGIS (Next Generation Interconnect System) non-real time server. Essentially, the NGIS equipment would enable programming to be sent as data to each station’s server in non-real time and would allow for increased recovery from errors that can accompany most over-the-air, real-time feeds.

At the Traffic Advisory Committee meeting, Charles Cole announced that he was able to pull strings and offer the first NGIS demonstration to traffic personnel(i.e., us). There are several NGIS demonstrations scheduled for TechCon, but our session would be specifically aimed towards traffic staff.

With NGIS references in every session that day, the bar was set pretty high going into the NGIS demo. We were greeted with a brief presentation featuring an animated character named NRT (non-real-time) Nate, the NGIS mascot, that showed viewers how the NGIS system worked in INCREDIBLY simplistic terms. The presentation was so juvenile that it was borderline insulting, which was echoed in later conversations with several individuals. Whether or not the presentation was intended for PBS viewers (who, in my opinion, would have no use for this), or other station staff that might not fit into traffic, operations, or engineering (which, again, would have little use for this), the presentation seemed to be poorly aimed.

It was described repeatedly as “simple” and “seamless,” and other similar words that seemed to flaunt the greatness of the NGIS. However, when the demonstration took place, several errors became very apparent. There were audio issues and format playout problems. Clearly, the NGIS wasn’t as close to being ready as the PBS staff seemed to be  indicating.

At Thursday morning’s opening session, another presentation, hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson of Nova Science Now, placed the NGIS system on an even higher pedestal. While it was less insulting than the “NRT Nate” video, it took an overly simplistic viewpoint of the NGIS system, only outlining the highlights. Not that a presentation should dwell on the weak points of a topic, but to those who may not fully understand the NGIS system, it creates the impression that the system can do no wrong. In reality, there are still snags in the system and it will not be as error-free as it appears on the surface.

I discussed the NGIS with several individuals at lunch, who had several different viewpoints. The NGIS system has been talked about for several years. We were supposed to have this system in place well before now. This delay has caused several stations to purchase equipment to work around problems that was supposed to be solved by the NGIS. Many feel that the move to HD by PBS before NGIS was made available was a poor decision. Several stations had to purchase additional HD receivers and converters to insure they would have the right format of program for the right outlet (whether it be an HD or SD channel). Having the NGIS system earlier could have resolved this. Stations would have been able to receive NRT programming without having to go through these major SAT and converter upgrades.

After talking with people, I feel (on the whole) that stations weren’t ready for HD in terms of server size. Many of those I’ve talked to experienced (and many still experience) the server pinch brought on by having to record all of these HD feeds. While the NGIS would not have greatly helped online storage for all stations, it would have offered an alternative to receiving programs that would have softened the need to hold large HD programs for lengthy periods.

At the risk of sounding unimpressed with the NGIS system, let me reiterate. NGIS, if it works properly and at its best, will be incredible. In years to come, it will become the primary source for PBS programming. This technology has existed for a long time (look at P2P file sharing), and to see it finally implemented in a system that will greatly help out our station is fantastic. But the last few years of NGIS promises seem to have left a bitter taste in the mouths of several PBS stations. They spent large amounts on satellites, converters, and other gear that WHEN NGIS is fully functional, will become obsolete.

When I return, if anybody has any technical questions on the NGIS, I will likely be able to answer them. I’ve intentionally not gone into great technical detail in this post, but nevertheless, I feel I understand the system fairly well, and would be happy to discuss it.