EVS Broadcast Equipment

EVS Broadcast Equipment SA

Type	Public: Euronext: EVS
Industry	Broadcast Technology
Founded	1994
Founder	Pierre L'hoest, Laurent Minguet
Headquarters	Liège, Belgium
Products	XT3 Multicam[LSM] XS C-Cast Epsio OpenCube
Revenue	131,400,000 € (2014)[1]
Number of employees	486 (February 2013[2])
Website	www.evs.com

EVS Broadcast Equipment SA manufactures live outside broadcast digital video production systems. Its recorders have become the dominant standard for broadcasters worldwide. Their XT3 production video servers enable the creation, editing, exchange and playout of audio and video feeds.

The company states that over 5,000 operators of all nationalities now use their applications on a daily basis.

EVS has achieved success in compressed video and audio data processing, and is endeavouring to maintain its market position in the migration from analogue to digital in television networks.

Tapeless television production

The programming of the television networks consists primarily of broadcasting prerecorded images which, until very recently, were stored on tapes. But linear editing (or editing on tape) is being replaced by digital media or non-linear editing. Today, digital technology on hard disk (non-linear, by definition) is the common alternative. There has been clear confirmation of a migration towards this technology for some years, even though it will still take another 5 to 6 years or so for the hard disk penetration rate to increase from 30% to 70%. Television stations began migrating to tapeless interoperable computer platforms beginning in the late 1990s. Video recorders are rarely used nowadays for live productions. EVS type digital media servers are the norm in live broadcasting.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Company history

EVS was co-founded in 1994 by Pierre Lhoest and Laurent Minguet.^[10] Three years later, the company invested 30% of its capital in private funds, roundabout EUR 4 million.

In 1998, EVS was listed for the first time on the stock exchange with an initial EUR 14.8 quotation^[11] per share (at comparable levels)^[12] and was valued at EUR 204 million. In that same year, EVS acquired VSE, a hardware subcontractor managed by Michel Counson. In that transaction, VSE received EVS shares for an approximate EUR 4.5 million value.

Since then, EVS has become a major broadcast actor focusing on digital recording technologies for live sport TV production. EVS core products are primarily used in outbroadcasting vans (OB vans) and allow high-quality respectively slow-motion image replay. EVS has revolutionised the professional digital recording by being the first to introduce a hard disk drive in that field, instead of the traditional magnetic tape recording, a business led at that time by Sony and Panasonic.

After establishing itself in outbroadcasting sport production, EVS started using their high value servers to address TV studio production with a full range of products from 2002. That strategic move contributed to a +40% uplift in 2012.^[13] Additionally, EVS founded XDC in 2004, a pioneer in high definition cinema broadcasting, which was restructured within the Dcinex Group. EVS sold its stake in Dcinex in 2014.^[14]

In 2001, Laurent Minguet stepped down from his position as a director. Three years later, he gave up his position.

From his side, Pierre L'hoest decided to leave^[15] his role as a CEO and director following the board of directors meeting held on September 15 of 2011. In a transitional period, EVS was managed by its board of directors.

In 2012, EVS appoints Joop JANSSEN as CEO.^[16]

The 10th of October 2014, the Board of Directors and Joop Janssen mutually agreed to end the term of the office and duties of Joop Janssen. Muriel De Lathouwer, a member of the Board of Directors of EVS, chairing the Strategy Committee, is appointed as the President of the Executive Committee on an interim basis.^[17]

The 5th of January 2015, EVS announced that it has acquired the Scalable Video System GmbH (SVS) developing IT-based vision mixers and Dyvi Live SA (company based in Brussels and distributing the products of SVS under the name DYVI).^[18]

The 19th of February 2015, EVS Broadcast Equipment appoints Muriel De Lathouwer as Managing Director & CEO^[19]

Products

• XT3: this video server allows broadcasters to record, control and play clips, ingesting synchronously multiple feeds.
• Multicam[LSM]: this is the controller software for the XT3 server. Combined with its remote controller, it allows instant replays and slow-motion effects, widely used in sport broadcast.
• XS: this is the production server for studio environment.
• IPDirector : this is a software used to control the XT3 server offering several features as metadata management, rough cut editing and playlist management.
• Xedio: a modular application suite intended for broadcast professionals which handles the acquisition, production, media management and the playout of news. It includes a non-linear editing system, CleanEdit, which can work virtually.
• C-Cast: The tool delivers instant additional content to viewers on second screen media platforms.
• Epsio: The tool allows to insert graphics overlays in real-time or in instant replays.
• OpenCube family: MXF server that offers MXF file generation for streamlined tapeless workflows, XFReader (MXF reader) and XFConverter (MXF conversion).

Awards

The company and its products have received various international awards:

• The IBC2014 Judges’ Prize^[20]
• Best distribution technology Award 2014 for its C-Cast^[21]
• TV Technology Star Awards at IBC2013 for its XT3 4K version^[22]
• Pick Hit Award for IBC 2013 for its XT3 4K version^[23]
• Tech & Engineering Emmy Award for its HD Super Motion Systems ^[24]
• Spanish AV Industry Award for EVS XT2+ ^[25]
• TV Technology Star Awards at IBC2010 for MediArchive Director ^[26]
• Technology Implementation of the Year Award for Qvest Media at Digital Studio Awards 2010 ^[27]
• IBC 2009 Pick Hit Awards for EVS' New Graphic Overlay Solution ^[28]
• TVBEurope Best of IBC Award for IPEdit ^[29]
• Star 2008 TV Technology for EVS XT2web ^[30]
• Pick Hit Award for IBC 2011 for C-Cast ^[31]
• IABM Design and innovation award for content and communication infrastructure for C-Cast ^[32]

Offices

EVS headquarters (administration, production and development) are located in Liège in Belgium.

4 additional development centers are found in:

• Toulouse (for OpenCube MXF products),
• Paris (for Epsio),
• Brussels (for MediArchive Director).
• Weiterstadt (for Dyvi)

EVS has also sales and support offices in: London, Los Angeles, New York, Dubai, Mexico, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Brescia, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney and Mumbai.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to EVS Broadcast Equipment.

External links

• EVS website