WPBF the ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, has upgraded its HD production control room and routing infrastructure with the help of BeckTV a system integrator bade in Austin, Texas. BeckTV worked closely with WPBF engineers to ensure a smooth transition from old facilities and equipment to new future-proof facilities and systems.
WPBF's new control room is all HD and has improved the station's on-air look. In order to minimize disruption of the Hearst Television station's on-air broadcasts, the upgrade project was completed in phases. Together WPBF and BeckTV chose new rack systems and designed and built a new electrical distribution system to support the demands of today's IT-heavy broadcast infrastructure. BeckTV optimized the control room environment by custom-building all of the control room cabinetry and by situating noisy equipment away from the operational environments.
Cliff Thomas, chief engineer at WPBF, said they started planning more than a year before the project started and his station now has "a new facility that will withstand the test of time. And we did so while staying on budget and on schedule."
Heretofore WPBF was broadcasting an HD signal upconverted from an SD output from the production control room. The new upgrade has enabled the station to shift to a full HD workflow. Thus, in addition to establishing a much more reliable and flexible infrastructure for HD production, the broadcaster was able to boost the visual quality of the HD content it offers to viewers.
"We have worked with many Hearst Television stations to assure that they transition smoothly to HD and that their investment in new facilities and systems meets their requirements while providing the headroom for further growth," said John FitzRandolph, vice president and senior engineer at BeckTV, Denver. "Though the scope of this project was substantial, our experience and WPBF's engagement in the process allowed us to meet all of its objectives successfully."
