Harmonic To Showcase Enhanced Channel Playout at Broadcast India 2012

At Broadcast India 2012, Harmonic will showcase a complete set of solutions that enable broadcasters and service providers to produce and distribute video content efficiently and cost-effectively. Broadcast India will take place Oct. 10-12.

Enhanced Spectrum ChannelPort
The ChannelPort integrated channel playout device for Spectrum media server systems combines channel branding and master control switching with clip playout on a media server platform to simplify integration and workflow, lower equipment purchase expenditures, and reduce maintenance and operations costs.

Recent enhancements to the system include new capabilities and advanced onboard features that further simplify channel playout. The addition of DVE functionality enables more sophisticated, high-end graphics presentations, while support for AVC-Intra playout aids in accelerating the production-to-playout workflow. The system’s new dynamic subtitle insertion capability supports just-in-time playout of multilingual content. Traffic-driven onboard playout control with automatic media fetch facilitates remote “lights-out” operation without the need for legacy automation software.

Because ChannelPort modules fit seamlessly into existing Spectrum media server systems and can be added incrementally at a very competitive price, broadcasters can extend their channel lineups quickly and with confidence. Support for a broad range of automation systems offers users the freedom to work with an existing solution — or choose a new one that’s best for their workflows.

“Broadcast India offers an opportunity for Harmonic to meet most, if not all, of our customers in the region,” says Gidi Raz, director of sales at Harmonic. “At the show we will showcase the new ChannelPort along with other integrated production and playout solutions that help increase efficiency and productivity by supporting fast, cost-effective production-to-playout workflows.”

Spectrum MediaDeck 7000 SSD Integrated Media Server
Also on display at Broadcast India 2012 is the Spectrum MediaDeck 7000 SSD integrated media server. This new four-channel media server system offers the exceptional reliability, low power requirements, and lower weight of solid-state disk (SSD) storage, while providing the broadcast quality and cost-effective design of the MediaDeck 7000. Equipped with four 480-GB SSD drives, the MediaDeck 7000 SSD provides 57 hours of 50-Mbps storage capacity. The integrated system packs up to four SD or HD video channels and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity into its compact 1-RU chassis. The flexible server system also features multiple-codec playback, up/down/crossconversion, and HD/SD simulcast capabilities. Like the other members of the Spectrum family, the MediaDeck 7000 SSD supports Spectrum ChannelPort.

Spectrum MediaStore 5000
The MediaStore 5000, which made its worldwide debut at IBC2012, brings the latest SAS disk technology — and associated savings in size, cost, and requirements — to the storage component of the Spectrum media server system. MediaStore systems combine with MediaPort and MediaDirector systems to comprise a full Spectrum system. The release of the 2-RU MediaStore 5000 introduces a smaller form factor, higher bandwidth, and greater storage capacity.

The MediaStore 5000 boasts industry-leading density, accommodating up to 24 hot-swappable high-performance drives in a space-efficient chassis. The system supports hard-disk drive (HDD) sizes of 300 GB, 600 GB, and 900 GB for a maximum of 62.8 TB of usable online storage, and it provides storage bandwidth of up to 1600 MBps. Reliable performance is assured by a RAID 6 storage topology, hardware redundancy, and the same robust architecture already proven in MediaStore 4000 systems.

Omneon MediaGrid V3.1
Omneon MediaGrid System Software Version 3.1 is designed to support the performance needs of high-end postproduction workflows. Equipped with this software, MediaGrid storage systems can support ingestion, editing, color correction, grading, and manipulation of uncompressed media. This advance extends the success of previous MediaGrid versions in postproduction workflows for use with high bit rate compressed formats such as ProRes 444 and Avid DNxHD.

Most postproduction companies use complex and expensive Fibre Channel SAN storage because it has been the only alternative that meets their performance needs. MediaGrid provides the postproduction industry with a new storage paradigm that will meet its demanding performance requirements, uniquely maintain consistent levels of performance over time, reduce costs, and simplify operations. MediaGrid comes with client-side multipathing software that can deliver more than a gigabyte per second of throughput to individual clients and tens of gigabytes per second of aggregate throughput — the levels of bandwidth needed by applications that work with uncompressed content. This uncompressed content can be a single large file, or it can take the form of file-per-frame formats such as DPX.