Non-profit Group Selects Harmonic for Broadcast and Web Service Expansion

Harmonic announced that a full range of its IP-based stream processing, transcoding, media server, and storage solutions has been selected by SCOLA, a non-profit, global educational TV broadcaster based in McClelland, Iowa, to power its satellite distribution and Internet service expansion.

The new solution, supplied by local reseller and integrator partners Foundation Telecommunications Inc. (FTI) and TBC Integration, will improve SCOLA’s broadcast video quality, decrease satellite bandwidth usage up to 50 percent, and triple the amount of VOD formats supported on SCOLA’s website.

To enhance the picture quality, workflow, and multiview channel capabilities for SCOLA, FTI and TBC Integration will deploy an array of integrated Harmonic video infrastructure solutions including Electra 8000 encoders, ProStream stream processors and real-time multiscreen transcoders, Omneon Spectrum MediaCenter media servers, and a file-based ProMedia Carbon automated transcoding farm.

“SCOLA is pleased to join with FTI and TBC Integration to utilize Harmonic’s innovative video technology so that our services may be enjoyed to the fullest extent worldwide,” said Francis Lajba, SCOLA president and CEO. “SCOLA has long leveraged the latest technologies to help bring the people of the world closer together.”

“We work with top solution providers to provide best-in-class video infrastructure solutions for our broadcast and satellite customers,” said Sean Busby, executive vice president of TBC Integration. “Harmonic offers superior video compression, processing, and server solutions, making it possible for us to enable SCOLA to expand its services successfully and deliver a more compelling offering.”

Market-leading Electra 8000 encoders provide SCOLA with SD/HD MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC encoding, as well as integrated statistical multiplexing. The unique architecture of the Electra 8000 features up to four channels in a single rack unit (1 RU), significantly reducing operational costs for SCOLA with its high density and power efficiency. SCOLA will use the ProStream 1000 stream processing platform for bulk scrambling and the multichannel Spectrum MediaCenter for media server and content storage functions.

The carrier-grade ProStream 4000 real-time multiscreen transcoder is optimized for adaptive streaming applications, enabling SCOLA to meet growing demand for OTT and mobile TV services. File-based transcoding is provided by the Rhozet-powered ProMedia Carbon, which is being deployed in an enterprise-class, automated transcoding farm controlled by the Harmonic Workflow System (WFS). SCOLA will also use IRIS software for quality of service monitoring and NMX Digital Service Manager for easy configuration, control, and monitoring of Harmonic and third-party video network elements.

“SCOLA wanted to work with a solution provider that could offer an integrated headend system and meet the end-to-end technical requirements for video compression and distribution,” said George Livergood, president at FTI. “Harmonic supplies the advanced video compression, stream processing, and server technologies that enable SCOLA to expand its broadcast and Web services with confidence.”