SOUTHWICK, Mass.—Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark (Comark) recently provided Delta Media Corporation, a locally-owned multimedia company with six TV stations serving Lafayette and Alexandria, La., with new ATSC encoding system software from Comark Digital Services (CDS).
Prior to working with CDS, Delta Media relied on hardware-based ATSC encoders for their OTA stations. These systems limited the number of simultaneous HD programs and were not compatible with ATSC 3.0/NextGen TV services, the company said.
To remedy this, CDS offered its Titan Live software-based ATSC encoding technology that provides three HD and three SD programs while delivering high quality video. The CDS powered Titan Live is a future-proof encoder that delivers ATSC 1.0 while also prepared to deliver HEVC for future ATSC 3.0 usage. As a server-based encoder, additional encoding licenses can be added at any time in the future.
The encoder system is deployed on two independent 1RU, high performance, on-premises server platforms. The servers are equipped with SDI input cards and ASI output cards. GigE Ethernet interfaces assure future NextGen TV usage. Also, Virtual Machine technology can transfer licenses to cloud-based deployment.
Titan Live currently provides simultaneous encoding for Delta Media DTV stations KLWB, KDCG-CD and KXKW-LD, with plans to add KBCA as well. Delta Media also provides a dedicated IP output of the encoder system via a point-to-point Ethernet circuit to their local cable TV operator.
“The new Titan Live system has convinced me that our stations made the best decision to purchase these units” states Lee Clardy, director of Engineering at Delta Media Corporation. “The Titan Live encoder system in conjunction with two new Parallax transmitters and three Hitachi-Comark low-power transmitters, has provided significant improvements to the overall broadcast quality of our programming and prepared our stations to move forward with the coming of ATSC 3.0.”
