Interview: Appear CTO Andy Rayner on R&D, security and future growth By Jo Ruddock
Wednesday, July 10, 2024 - 13:59
Print This Story
As Appear celebrates its 20th anniversary, CTO Andy Rayner speaks to Jo Ruddock about the company's R&D priorities, the importance of security and where future growth opportunities may lie.
What trends are you currently seeing when it comes to media processing and content delivery solutions?
Basically, what I call location agnostic or distributed production is really coming of age. That's where the people resources, the equipment resources, don't need to be co-located with where the acquisition event is happening. That's transformational from a workflow perspective for content creators, because it means they can make better use of their people, make better use of their equipment and of all their data facilities, so it's actually a genuine cost saving workflow and enables them to use their talent over more events.
But to do that you need a massive amount of connectivity infrastructure. So, as an example, when you're doing what in the US they call REMIs, where you're actually pulling back every individual video feed from an event, every individual microphone, that's creating more and more demand for connectivity infrastructure to facilitate that.
What we're finding the sweet spot with what we've done, which I think is quite fortuitous for Appear, is that we have an unbelievably high density, low power and small size footprint for that connectivity interfacing that we provide in our platform. And, as people want to do these massive numbers of backhaul, we're in a very sweet spot for that, which gives lots of cost savings, but also from an environmental perspective, it gives massive power and space savings as well.
I think the other trend that goes alongside that in live production, which is a real transformation in the last couple of years, is using public internet connectivity on live production. That's something that was unheard of, but the reality is that if you use the same bandwidth on a public internet connectivity, it'll possibly cost you 1/100th the cost of renting a private leased line. So, if you can actually do that, that's a massive cost transformation.
So some of the technology toolkit we've got within our platforms in new ARQ technology and ALT technology is instrumental in getting public internet to work to the performance level we need for live production. Public internet connectivity is getting better and better natively in its quality anyway, but that alongside the significant cost saving, and then the ARQ capabilities we have in the platform, that's a great story combined for enablement. And I think it does two things. Firstly, it means that people can produce an n-camera event for less cost. It's also an enabler for lower tier sports where a traditional broadcast would be economically unfeasible to actually run and we're now able to do a live multi camera production, something that was completely unviable previously.
We've seen a number of innovations from Appear in the last few years, not least the X Platform. What would you say are your R&D priorities going forward?
We're continuing to enhance the X Platform, so we're doing things like further increasing the density of the unit. We're also introducing new processing capabilities that are required for UHD HD workflows. We're also just starting on the journey of developing some complementary software tools to complement the X Platform. So the X Platform will continue to be our flagship product, but we're now developing a suite of software tools, which are actually going to complement that and allow us to increase our share of the production workflow.
On the density increase we've also just released a 100G interface, significantly upping the bandwidth and that provides even higher levels of aggregation.
What about sustainability is this something your customers are focused on and how can Appear help them on their sustainability journey?
I think there's a limit here on what content producers are being mandated to do, depending on where they are in the world. In Europe, including the UK to a large degree, there is quite a good level of what I will call obligation due to state legislation. I have to say that's not consistent across all parts of the globe. But more and more, we're finding that customers are ending up with contractual obligations on their providers, their suppliers, to be more compliant to sustainability agendas.
And I think the way we've architected our offering actually plays into that spectrum really well because we're focused on lowering power consumption and maximising density. We are right in a very sweet spot and with the product family to actually help our customers meet that need. The other thing is, especially for events based, I mentioned that we're starting to move towards some software infrastructure. While running production capability on compute is not the most power efficient way of doing it, the fact that for events you run on compute, you only spin it up for the period of time when the event's actually running, that's a massive saving and therefore a more sustainable approach.
You're involved with a number of standards bodies. How is that landscape looking when it comes to standardisation in live production?
I think in what I would the call traditional live production world, when we're talking about appliances and equipment on the ground, I think those standards, the 2110 suite and all of the peripheral standards around those, are maturing really well.
I think the place where standards are still needed significantly is in compute because that's relatively immature. There are no what I call proper ope
North America Stories
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...
27/01/2026
L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...
27/01/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...
27/01/2026
The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...
27/01/2026
SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...
27/01/2026
Hiltron will highlight the fruits of its 45-plus years of experience in satellite communications system integration and product development at the annual GovSat...
27/01/2026
Klvr will demonstrate how its Charger Pro solution is delivering cost reduction and performance benefits for live entertainment and pro AV markets at ISE 2026 (...
27/01/2026
Amino, a global media technology leader in enterprise video and digital signage, today announced that its Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 booth (4N700) wil...
27/01/2026
ANI, India's leading news agency and a major content provider across the Asia Pacific region, today announced a significant expansion of its long standing p...
27/01/2026
Independent analysis confirms faster encoding, lower CPU usage, and improved perceptual quality compared to CBR and CRF
VisualOn, a leader in multimedia playba...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' ...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
That Night premiering on Netflix March 13
Entertainment
27 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
DOWNLOAD THE KEY ART
DOWNLO...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026
Entertainment
27 January 2026
GlobalMexico
Link copied to clipboard
Among t...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
Four New Japan Titles Announced for 2026: Viral Hit', On...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
What's Next on Netflix from Japan: Expanding the Possibili...
27/01/2026
AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) today announced an exclusive partnership with Nu Studio, the company behind the first modular, portable studio designed for immersi...
26/01/2026
OpenDrives, the leader in high-end video data management and workflow solutions, today announced an add-on investment to its previous funding rounds, led by IAG...
26/01/2026
SmallHD today announced a major update to its award-winning PageOS software, introducing Fleet Control, Portrait Mode, expanded Camera Control features, and Dow...
26/01/2026
Whether rigging a PTZ on a truss, sliding a Blackmagic camera across a mezzanine railing, or capturing the mayhem from inside a drum, Filipic delivers visuals t...
26/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils Official Trailer for Salvador
Entertainment
26 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
DISCOVER THE TRAILER
DO...
26/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Presents Our 2026 Series and Films and Announces New Projects
Entertainment
26 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
...
26/01/2026
Back to All News
Made in Louisiana: People We Meet on Vacation' Lights Up New Orleans
Emily Bader and Tom Blyth film on Royal Street in New Orleans' ...
26/01/2026
LinkedIn Gives Professionals the Edge with Verified Skills and Tools to Navigate the Job Search Show Proficiency of AI Tools such as Descript, Lovable, Relay.ap...
26/01/2026
Alfalite, Brainstorm, Dejero, Domo Broadcast Systems, FOR-A, KitPlus, Ontario So...
26/01/2026
Tyngsboro, Mass. - January 26, 2026 - Broadcast Pix is excited to exhibit at the Alliance for Community Media West Region Conference and Trade Show, taking plac...
25/01/2026
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Premieres April 2: Teaser Trailer, Art and ...
24/01/2026
Masami Kawai Selected as the 2026 Merata Mita Fellow; Isabella Madrigal and Tsanavi Spoonhunter Named 2026 Graton Fellows During Native Forum Celebration in Par...
24/01/2026
The MC-55A Peregrine aircraft will give the Royal Australian Air Force information superiority and serve as strategic assets for future Australian Defence Force...
24/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
24/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
24/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
23/01/2026
WWE's Virtual Production Playbook: How the Professional Wrestling Super Powe...
Interview: Appear CTO Andy Rayner on R&D, security and future growth By Jo Ruddock 
