The ABC television network has placed a major order for signal processing and monitoring equipment from Miranda Technologies for its new HD central switching center (CSC) facility in New York. The center will serve as the primary central routing and signal processing installation for all of ABC’s inbound feeds, internal routing and distribution, and quality control monitoring.
A goal of the installation is to simplify the complexity of ABC’s incoming feed system for its employees, especially when they are working under the pressure of live events and breaking news. The system addresses this issue by using a new and advanced GUI based control panel, which has been customized for the functions of the CSC.
The signal processing is based on Miranda’s new XVP-3901 single card 3Gb/s HD/SD video and audio processor. XVP processors will be used for converting and conditioning feeds from ABC’s Washington, D.C. news bureau, the studios at Time Square, along with other news and special events feeds arriving on satellite and fiber links. In addition to correcting level and delay issues, the processors will perform Dolby E decoding and up/down/crossconversion with independent HD 3Gb/s and SD outputs.
Alongside these remote control panels, each operator station will also include a Miranda iControl monitoring desktop, which provides a highly graphical view of the signal path, along with streaming video and status information about each device in the chain. The iControl system will help operators identify any problems, and also serve as a powerful QC tool by displaying an audio/video waveform for the signal being processed.
The New York facility will include a large video monitoring wall, based on 20 large flat-panel displays fed by Kaleido-X multiviewers. The monitor wall will display 300 sources, selected from approximately 800 available signals.
The Kaleido-X system will be tightly integrated with a large matrix router, which will allow the monitor wall system to sense router assignments and display assignment names. The monitor wall will also display alarms and signal processor status information, such as abnormally high gain and delay settings.
For more information, visit www.miranda.com.
