How Ross Video Turns Customer Feedback into Cutting-Edge Solutions

Rapid innovation and disruption are now the norm in broadcasting, live events, and content production, forcing media companies to rapidly adapt their existing workflows and onboard new technologies to keep up. The speed at which these changes happen leaves these companies vulnerable to miscalculation, making it essential for individual innovators, broadcasters, and technology providers to work together to adapt workflows and integrate converging technologies without disrupting proven processes. 

What’s needed in this environment is trust and collaboration. Broadcasters and media companies must trust that their technology partners are developing the right tools for today and tomorrow. And, even more importantly, those tools must be developed with real-world challenges and use cases in mind.  

Ross Video understands this dynamic, and actively incorporates customer feedback into our innovation roadmap. This article will explore why and how that has resulted in cutting-edge tools and platforms for our customers.  

The problem: technology that misses the mark  

In an industry driven by constant evolution, staying still isn’t just falling behind—it’s actively stifling innovation. Too often, manufacturers prioritize comfort over progress, relying on legacy workflows that fail to address new industry demands. 

While live broadcast and media organizations are pushing forward, many manufacturers remain anchored to outdated workflows, hesitant to embrace change. This reluctance to forge ahead results in tools and technologies that fail to address broadcasters’ real-world challenges. 

The gap between what broadcasters need and what is available in the market is growing, as legacy approaches and an aversion to risk prevent true innovation. This leaves broadcasters grappling with inefficient workflows and technology that merely meets the status quo rather than enabling growth, adaptability, and success in a competitive landscape. 

Here are three main consequences of misaligned broadcast technology that stifles innovation:  

• Operational inefficiencies. Tools developed without proper alignment with customer needs may not integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and systems. This can slow down production and introduce system complexities that can result in workflow breakdowns or even broadcast downtimes during critical moments. 

• Wasted investments. Broadcasters that purchase tools without considering future scalability, integration capabilities with their existing systems, or relevance to their daily operations often find themselves needing to replace systems sooner than anticipated. These unplanned expenditures take away resources that could have been used to improve content quality or expand into new markets. 

• Loss of competitive edge. Fumbling with misaligned technology can cause broadcasters to miss key innovation and growth opportunities. For example, a broadcaster that is slow to embrace new simplified workflows or multi-platform streaming will likely see its audience and advertiser pool erode over time as those individuals jump to higher-quality and more accessible content from competitors.  

To avoid these consequences, broadcast technology needs to be closely aligned with where the industry is today, and built to quickly and easily adapt to future requirements. This means deeply understanding consumer demands and habits, the implications of new technologies, and how broadcast solutions can help simplify and enhance day-to-day operations for end users.  

Collaborative innovation between individual innovators, broadcasters, and technology producers is essential. By working together to identify workflow challenges and leveraging converging technologies like UHD and HDR, the industry can achieve better results, faster and more efficiently. Feedback from individuals on the frontlines helps technology partners, like Ross Video, create tools that solve real operational challenges and drive meaningful improvements. 

This dynamic is a central component in how we at Ross Video interact with our customers, and decide on future innovations to our broadcast technology.  

The solution: driving innovation through customer insights  

True innovation stems from the collaborative efforts of individual broadcasters, technologists, and innovators, driven by a shared understanding of unique workflow challenges and the need for converging technologies to work seamlessly together.  

Ross Video excels in this area by working directly with customers to develop solutions that truly meet the demands of live broadcast environments.  

We do this through:  

• Continuous feedback loops. Ross Video holds continuous, open conversations with customers about our solutions and their company’s current and future needs. This real-time communication enables Ross to adapt its technology based on actual needs, not just hypothetical industry trends. 

• Solutions built for real-world applications. Every Ross Video product is designed to solve specific pain points. Whether it’s ease of use, scalability, or integration with existing systems, Ross delivers purpose-built solutions that enhance operational efficiency and allow broadcasters to operate confidently at the cutting edge of our industry. 

• Flexibility in innovation. Ross Video builds solutions that are both innovative and adaptable. Ross’ technology is designed to scale and meet future needs as the broadcast industry evolves, ensuring long-term operational success. 

When customer needs and product development are aligned, it leads to great things for both parties.  

This includes:  

• Operational efficiency. Customer-driven innovation results in solutions that directly address operational challenges, reducing manual workarounds and streamlining workflows. With tools designed to fit seamlessly into day-to-day operations, broadcasters can increase productivity and focus on content delivery rather than troubleshooting technical issues. 

• Less downtime. Technology designed to address real-world challenges integrates seamlessly with existing systems, minimizing errors and downtime during live events. This reliability ensures uninterrupted broadcasts, which is critical in high-stakes environments like live sports or breaking news. 

• Scalable growth. Systems built on customer feedback, and through incremental innovation, are designed with flexibility and scalability in mind. This enables broadcasters to scale as their production needs change. Whether transitioning to cloud workflows, adopting new formats like UHD/4K, or handling increased content demands, customer-driven solutions are adaptable for future industry shifts. 

• Cost efficiency. By purchasing tools that specifically address operational needs and future challenges, broadcasters avoid unnecessary investments in new systems. Customer-driven solutions help broadcasters avoid frequent technology overhauls, reducing replacement costs and delivering long-term ROI through future-proofing. 

• Better user experiences. When customers have a say in product development, the technology is easier for operators to use, reducing the learning curve and minimizing training time. This user-friendly design helps broadcast teams operate more effectively, leading to faster adoption and fewer on-air errors. Simply put, when technology developers listen to their customers, those end users tend to like the products they create more, enjoy working with them, and stay as a client of that company longer. 

With this customer-driven approach to innovation, the team at Ross Video can ensure that each product and platform we create is planned, developed, and refined to address specific pain points and operational goals that are relevant to our customers. Without this focus, we—and other technology partners like us—risk chasing the hottest trends that ultimately fail to deliver the best outcomes for our customers.  

6 examples of Ross Video’s customer-centric innovation  

 Innovation at Ross Video is driven by close collaboration with individual broadcasters and innovators. This collaboration informs the two primary forms of innovation: first, the creation of individual products and platforms tailored to specific needs, and second, the integration of these tools with existing technologies to optimize workflows and create seamless, scalable user experiences. 

Both forms of innovation aim to extend the capabilities and production quality for broadcasters, and to simplify their workflows so that productions are easier to manage.  

Let’s explore six tools from Ross Video that help demonstrate this commitment to innovation in modern broadcasting. 

Ultrix 

Ultrix is a software-defined media processing platform and routing system that offers high-density UHD form factor capabilities. It replaces traditional, bulky routing systems with a more streamlined, scalable solution that can handle 12G, IP, and hybrid workflows. 

Ultrix allows broadcasters to manage signal routing, multiviewers, and processing within a single, compact platform. It provides UHD support, meaning broadcasters can easily handle 4K HDR content streams while reducing the required hardware. 

By the hyperconvergence of multiple functions into a single system, Ultrix helps broadcasters reduce their hardware costs, simplify workflows, and scale their operations more easily while continuing to maintain a high level of content quality and reliability from their systems.  

Artimo 

Artimo is a full-motion camera robotics system designed to deliver dynamic, fluid shots across any studio floor. It supports a full broadcast payload, including cameras, lenses, and teleprompters, while eliminating the need for extra equipment like dollies or jibs.  

With features like built-in touchscreen controls, internal cable management, and smooth movement on varied surfaces, Artimo simplifies production workflows and reduces downtime. This flexibility makes it ideal for creating high-quality, engaging visuals in modern broadcast environments​. 

OverDrive 

OverDrive is an Automated Production Control (APC) system designed to improve speed, accuracy, and consistency in live news environments. This system automates all live production tasks, such as camera control, audio mixing, graphic overlays, switching, video playout, and more, allowing customers to deliver more complex shows. These capabilities make OverDrive particularly valuable in fast-paced environments like live news, where precision and speed are crucial.  

Additionally, OverDrive helps to reduce human error and increase production consistency. This enables broadcasters to deliver high-quality broadcasts faster, with fewer mistakes, and with smaller teams. 

openGear 

openGear is an open-standard modular frame system that allows broadcasters to integrate hardware from multiple vendors within a single frame. 

This provides a flexible platform where broadcasters can use cards from different manufacturers to customize workflows. This versatility eliminates the need for proprietary systems and gives the customer a choice from a wider range of technology options.  

XPression 

XPression is a real-time graphics system designed for live broadcast environments, enabling the creation and playout of 2D and 3D graphics, animations, and clips. The tool’s intuitive workflow and real-time capabilities allow broadcasters to generate high-quality graphics quickly, even during fast-paced live events. This speed and flexibility enhance viewer experience and production quality. 

XPression is especially useful in sports and news broadcasting, where real-time graphic overlays and studio video wall graphics are essential for keeping viewers engaged. 

Ross Video’s virtual solutions 

Ross Video offers two standout virtual solutions.  

Voyager is an unreal-based render platform that gives you the ability to make anything happen in your broadcasts, anywhere you like. It gives you the ability to create stunning virtual environments using AR, Virtual Studio and XR Virtual LED workflows. 

Lucid Studio is a highly flexible virtual control platform built around an intuitive graphic interface for Augmented Reality, Virtual Studio or XR Virtual LED Studio environments. This simplifies operations and removes the requirement for an operator to be an Unreal expert. This includes the ability to manage virtual-set camera calibration, scene manipulation, media replacement, event triggering, MOS newsroom integration, animation control, robotic camera movement control and much more. 

Both tools dramatically extend your team’s virtual production capabilities, without the need for additional expertise or staff.  

Partner with a customer-driven technology innovator today 

Not all new technology is good technology. Without a deep understanding of customer needs, and a long history of collaboration with the industry, this technology often misses the mark and causes more problems than it solves. This is why Ross Video works closely with individual innovators and broadcasters throughout our production cycles. By listening to those shaping the future of the industry, we ensure that our products aren’t just technologically advanced but designed to simplify workflows and achieve better results, faster and more efficiently.