Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) has chosen Snell's Morpheus playout automation, ICE channel-in-a-box, Sirius 128 x 128 router and Hyperion monitoring system to drive its new digital broadcast infrastructure.
As one of New York City's leading public access networks, MNN currently broadcasts four channels of content that reach more than 600,000 cable subscribers.
In the MNN digital operation, Snell's Morpheus provides front-facing program ingest and playout, controlling devices that include Snell's ICE channel-in-a-box system and Harmonic Spectrum servers.
MNN's strategy for redundant playout and quality of experience relies on Snell's Hyperion t0 continuously monitor and log aired content on all four channels. When the system detects an audio or video error, it generates an email notification to the on-call engineer. With the ICE-Hyperion combination, MNN has been able to operate without personnel physically monitoring the system during the late-night and early-morning shifts, with the increase in unmanned hours resulting in dramatic cost savings.
The latest innovation in Snell's monitoring family takes this one step further. Signal Sentri combines Hyperion's sophisticated content monitoring tools with an intelligent 2 x 1 changeover switch. It automatically checks if the failover partner has valid video and audio before the switch is made and then triggers the appropriate changeover.
