Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Kita Nihon Broadcast HDTV News with Omneon

Toyama-shi, Japan - Kita Nihon Broadcast (KNB) the terrestrial television station for Toyama prefecture has become a regional pioneer in new technology, again, when it recently launched HDTV news broadcasts using a fully redundant Omneon Spectrum HD server and Omneon ProBrowse system.

In October, 2004, Toyama along with Ibaraki prefecture, became the first areas to have digital terrestrial television outside of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. State broadcaster, NHK jointly launched their services at the same time with KNB with a joint live broadcast.

Toru Teranishi, senior director of the news production bureau at KNB says that KNB serves as a model for the evolution of broadcast facilities across all of Japan.

Driving KNB’s networked HD production and playout environment, the Spectrum server system and media proxy software integrate with editing and newsroom control systems to enable rapid access to content during the station’s HD production and playout workflows.

In the commercial TV market, KNB is pioneering HDTV news origination in Japan as it is thought to be the first station at the local news bureau level to have introduced HDTV technology. Something that

To support playout for its HDTV operations, KNB is using a main Spectrum server system with four input channels and three playout channels, as well as a backup Spectrum server with four input channels and two output channels. Each system provides 35 hours of storage capacity (MPEG-2 HD at 50 Mbps) and supports four channels of embedded audio.

Four Avid NewsCutter Adrenaline HD units are networked with an Avid Unity production server, and all content is registered from Avid NLEs to the Omneon server system. An HDCAM VTR and remote line are linked to Avid NLEs that also control one of the Omneon input ports via BWV/ VDCP Protocol converter. The main Omneon server is controlled by Panasonic’s OTC (one-touch controller) and a manual playout controller developed by Avid Technology using Omneon API calls, while the backup server is controlled by the OTC. Journalists and editors at KNB use the Japrs News Support system from Nishi Nihon Computer along with the Avid editing systems to build news segments and ensure that material is shared effectively and updated accurately across networked devices.

As the first Japanese broadcaster to take advantage of the Omneon ProBrowse solution in the HD environment, KNB has realized the productivity benefits of a high-capacity media server with the added workflow benefits of easily and quickly accessible low-resolution media for previews, clip selections, research, and approvals.

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