PRINCETON, N.J. — Sept. 15, 2008 — Triveni Digital, a subsidiary of LG Electronics (LGE), today announced a partnership with LARCAN to provide a cost-effective and easy-to-use digital transmission solution for low-power TV stations. The LARCAN Plus system bundles Triveni Digital's industry-leading Guidebuilder™ PSIP generator with LARCAN's new Octane MPEG Encoder-Multiplexer, new Pulse Digital LPTV exciter, and award-winning digital transmitter series to provide a plug-and-play, low-power digital transmission solution.
"This is a tough time for low-power television. These stations play a critical role by providing a wide range of educational, community service, and spiritual programming; yet, many lack the means to invest in the expensive equipment required for digital transmissions," said Ralph Bachofen, senior director of product management and marketing at Triveni Digital. "As a result, they're feeling strong pressure from the upcoming U.S. mandate for digital conversion." Although low-power stations are exempt from the mandate, their analog signals will be blocked by most of the converters being purchased by viewers to enable digital reception via older television sets.
In response to these dynamics, Triveni Digital joined forces with LARCAN to develop the LARCAN Plus system — offering a complete suite of integrated products specifically engineered and designed for the digital requirements of low-power broadcasters. "In many cases, these stations will need technical expertise, so we aimed to design a compact, preconfigured system that would not only be affordable and simple to operate, but would also meet all FCC requirements for a compliant ATSC signal," said Scott Barella, vice president of business development and technology for LARCAN. "It was important that this product provide the same levels of performance as comparable solutions offered to high-power broadcasters."
The result is LARCAN Plus — an innovative and cost-effective packaged system that offers a wide range of options, all working in collaboration with Triveni Digital's Guidebuilder. At the heart of the system, LARCAN's new exciter, MPEG-2 encoder, and digital UHF transmitter series work together with Triveni Digital's innovative PSIP technology. "Guidebuilder was the perfect choice to fill the niche for a component to generate PSIP information tables," said Barella. "Triveni Digital is the clear technical and market share leader for PSIP generation solutions, and we recognized early on that it would have the technical resources and understanding to help us accomplish the objectives of LARCAN Plus. There is no other low-power digital solution available today that offers such a collection of tier one technologies at this price point."
"We're pleased to be working with LARCAN to address this important opportunity and do our part to keep low-power stations on the air," said Bachofen. "LARCAN has a strong tradition of excellence in the low-power market, particularly for translators, and they have provided us with an outstanding opportunity to gain new exposure for Guidebuilder among these customers."
LARCAN Plus is available from LARCAN. More information is available at www.larcan.com or www.TriveniDigital.com.
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About LARCAN
LARCAN is a full-service broadcast solutions company that innovates, designs, and manufactures superior analog and digital television transmitters for wireless and broadcast markets worldwide. LARCAN offers end-to-end engineering solutions in solid state VHF, UHF, high power IOT transmitters, and innovative low power transmitter/translator technologies. LARCAN specializes in a full range of "Start to Success" services, accessories, and custom solutions for the broadcast industry. For more information, visit www.larcan.com.
Note to Editors: When referring to LARCAN, please use all capital letters (as it's an acronym).
About Triveni Digital
Triveni Digital, Inc., a subsidiary of LG Electronics, develops systems that provide for the management and distribution of data and metadata in digital television streams. Triveni Digital's products for DVB SI, ATSC PSIP, data broadcasting, stream analysis, and monitoring are renowned for their ease of use and innovative features. Working with leading industry partners, Triveni Digital employs an open and standards-compliant approach to the digital television market. More information is available at www.TriveniDigital.com.
Note to Editors: When referring to Triveni Digital, please use the complete company name, "Triveni Digital." Product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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