Bridge Technologies will use the upcoming NAB 2026 show to announce that its VB440 production probe has been integrated into NEP Platform, the new software orchestration system launched by NEP Group. The full functionality of the VB440 will be deployable on a software basis through the platform, enabling NEP customers to instantiate Bridge’s monitoring and visualisation tools – alongside a range of other production tools from leading broadcast manufacturers – all from a single, virtualised location.
The VB440 is a comprehensive suite of production tools contained within a single appliance. It provides full video scopes – waveform, vectorscope and histograms, while for audio, it supports Dolby Atmos with 64-channel monitoring across unlimited flows, plus LUFS and Gonio meters, along with stereo down mixes and single channel isolation. Network engineers gain packet capture, PTP timing analysis, ST 2022-7 redundancy monitoring, and event logging. These elements are all managed within the Canvas workspace, where users can place any number of components on a single screen, in an arrangement that best suits their personal workflow.
On top of these functionalities, an ongoing range of features are introduced every year, with NAB 2026 seeing Bridge focus on the addition of multi-service AV sync capability, a feature which allows production teams to ensure perfect alignment between different sources of the same service, in cases where they have been transported via different paths for redundancy purposes. Within NEP Platform, every one of these capabilities will be available as a deployable software application, running on shared commercial off-the-shelf compute.
NEP Platform represents a fundamental shift in how live production infrastructure is deployed and managed. Rather than building fixed, dedicated systems per function, the platform provides an orchestration layer that deploys and runs trusted third-party broadcast software on shared COTS compute in modern IP environments. Application versions and configurations are validated before deployment, lifecycle management – spinning up, scaling, shutting down – is fully automated, and telemetry delivers real-time visibility into health, performance, and resource usage.
For Bridge, this integration provides a further way in which production teams can instantiate VB440 monitoring, wherever they need it, for as long as they need it, scaling to meet the specific context of the broadcast or event in question. The same deep analysis and best-in-class production tools that broadcasters have relied through a dedicated VB440 are now available on demand, scaling up or down with the production itself.
Visitors to NAB will be able to see the NEP Platform interface in action, select Bridge from the application catalogue, and watch as the VB440 software deploys onto shared COTS compute. Once running, it appears as a virtual device within NEP’s orchestration layer, where operators complete configuration and execute a live workflow – demonstrating just how quickly sophisticated monitoring can be deployed across a production, and then retired just as swiftly.
“From the very beginning NEP and Bridge Technologies shared the same pioneering spirit when it came to exploring what software-defined production could become, and how it could transform media infrastructure,” said Dan Murphy, VP of NEP Platform. “Bridge has been one of the valuable partners whose technology has been integrated into NEP Platform at launch, helping us achieve the level of transparency and operational insight that large-scale remote production demands. What has made the partnership so strong over the years is Bridge’s ability to work closely with our engineers, translating real operational challenges into practical solutions for our customers and continuously evolving alongside the development of NEP Platform.”
“The working relationship between Bridge and NEP goes back a very long way,” said Simen K. Frostad, chairman of Bridge Technologies. “For years, NEP has relied on Bridge to meet their own production needs, and they have been a crucial testing ground each time we introduce new features. Indeed, much of our production roadmap has been developed in direct conjunction with them. That level of trust doesn’t come easily. It comes from years of collaboration, from listening to feedback from engineers who use the platform every day, and from constantly refining the product based on real-world demands. To now see the VB440 included as a software-deployable application on NEP Platform is a genuine honour. It reflects not just the strength of our technology, but the strength of a partnership built on mutual respect and a shared vision for where live production is heading.”
