ITV

Tag: Andrew Thornton

  • Live India ties up with Harmonic to improve connectivity and video quality

    Live India ties up with Harmonic to improve connectivity and video quality

    MUMBAI: Hindi news channel Live India has announced a partnership with Harmonic for an end-to-end contribution solution to improve video quality and optimise connectivity between the organisation’s regional news bureaus and main headquarters in Noida.

    Harmonic’s Ellipse 3100 contribution encoders and ProView 7100 integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) provide Live India with a high-density, scalable and bandwidth-efficient solution for fixed contribution applications, enabling the broadcaster to cost-effectively expand from two to five streaming news channels.

    By more than doubling its channel lineup, Live India can now ensure that viewers across India are able to stay abreast of important breaking news and live events. The broadcaster chose Harmonic’s contribution solutions based on superior performance and support for a wide range of broadcast standards and formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DVB-S2, SD, HD, and MP4, that allow for increased flexibility, bandwidth savings and exceptional video quality. As Live India adds more channels in the future, Harmonic’s solutions will provide the broadcaster with easy scalability at an affordable price point.

    “Over the years, Harmonic has gained a reputation around the world as a leading provider of contribution solutions based on the flexibility, scalability, and amazing video quality we bring to live news and sports applications,” said Harmonic Asia Pacific sales vice president Andrew Thornton. “Working with Live India on this project, we’re able to demonstrate to broadcasters everywhere how simple and affordable it is to expand your service offering using an end-to-end contribution solution from Harmonic.”

    Harmonic’s Ellipse 3100 encoder features simultaneous IP and DVB-ASI outputs, making it the ideal solution for Live India’s fixed contribution needs. The versatile encoder supports all SD and HD MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC codecs at 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 chroma subsampling and 8 or 10 bits, guaranteeing pristine video quality. Live India is currently using the encoder for SD 4:2:2 with plans to migrate to HD 4:2:2 in the future. Fully firmware upgradeable, the Ellipse encoders provide Live India with a smooth and cost-effective migration path. The low-latency encoders help eliminate awkward pauses during handoffs between Live India’s field and studio talent for a seamless broadcast.

    Live India is using the Ellipse encoders in combination with Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs. The solution lowers the broadcaster’s capital and operational expenses. Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs provide Live India with a 1RU, scalable, multiformat IRD, transcoder, and MPEG stream processor designed to increase workflow efficiencies and video quality for contribution applications. After Live India compresses live content using the Ellipse encoders, Harmonic’s ProView 7100 IRDs decompress the content at the same sampling and bitrate, resulting in nearly lossless video quality.

    Currently, the network operates Live India and Mi Marathi which lately converted itself from being just an entertainment channel to include news and current affairs as well.

  • Thai Global Network uses Harmonic for end-to-end video workflow

    Thai Global Network uses Harmonic for end-to-end video workflow

    MUMBAI: Harmonic which offers video delivery infrastructure, has announced that Thai Global Network (TGN), Thailand‘s first and only satellite TV broadcasting center, has chosen Harmonic production and playout solutions. TGN has built a seamless workflow, from acquisition to transmission, on a Harmonic media storage, asset management and playout server platform. Installed along with an MXFserver production management system from FilmPartners, the solution has enabled TGN to optimise and streamline its broadcast operations from end to end.

    Thai TV Global Network director Col. Sarawut Karbdecho said, “By implementing tightly integrated solutions from Harmonic and FilmPartners, we have created a highly efficient collaborative editing environment with content stored sitting at the center of the workflow.

    “In day-to-day operations, this powerful pairing enables us to produce and deliver content with much greater speed and flexibility.”

    TGN has installed Harmonic Spectrum MediaCenter media servers, the MediaGrid 3000 shared storage system, the Media Application Server (MAS) asset management platform with ProXplore and the ProDrive media server controller software. Used as an ingest server, the MediaCenter records VTR feeds under the control of ProDrive, which allows operators to capture content automatically according to a schedule or instantly specify a channel with the application‘s crash-record feature.

    As feeds are recorded, the Harmonic ProXplore launches the transfer of growing files in the MediaCenter server system over to the MediaGrid 3000 shared storage system, which supports TGN staff working on Avid nonlinear edit systems. MXFserver enables file sharing and project sharing across multiple Avid editors. The FilmPartners‘ system makes it easy for editors, graphic artists, producers and other users to find the materials they need for both private and collaborative projects.

    Finished projects are exported, at which point ProXplore automatically transfers files to a second MediaCenter server dedicated to playout. ProDrive software allows TGN staff to create scheduled playlists and to control the server‘s playout operations.

    Harmonic Asia-Pacific VP sales Andrew Thornton said, “The Harmonic media storage, asset management and server systems installed by TGN enable a very efficient file-based workflow, with the benefit of optimised file transfers over a Gigabit Ethernet network. Bringing speed, reliability, and flexibility to TGN‘s operations, Harmonic transforms the broadcaster‘s ability to create and deliver timely and compelling content.”