BOULDER, Colo.—Public Media Venture Group and the Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA) have successfully implemented DigiCAP’s Enhanced Management System (EMS) at W35DZ-D, an LPTV station serving as an ATSC 3.0 translator for public television station WCTE in Cookeville, Tenn.
DigiCAP’s EMS provides real-time monitoring and remote diagnostics for all ATSC 3.0 service passing through the station’s signal chain. The system is installed at the station’s transmitter site and is connected to DigiCAP’s operations center in Seoul. There, the system tracks key operating parameters and presents them through a user-friendly dashboard accessible to station personnel via personal computer or smartphone, DigiCAP said,
"With an upgrade path for ATSC 3.0 transport and transmission system monitoring, EMS ensures long-term sustainability for broadcasters navigating the evolving ATSC landscape," said Joonyoung Park, fellow and senior vice president at DigiCAP.
EMS is designed to scale across multi-transmitter networks. It is particularly well-suited for public television state networks, some of which operate more than 100 transmitter sites. By improving reliability, optimizing technical resources and reducing operational costs, EMS has the potential to transform how public broadcasters manage ATSC 3.0 infrastructure, it said.
“EMS has already had an impact on our operations at W35DZ-D, providing a comprehensive view of the various programming and data streams running through our signal chain, and allowing us to optimize our service by minimizing the need for costly site visits. We look forward to working with DigiCAP to expand the availability of EMS to PMVG members and to public television stations overall,” said PMVG CEO Marc Hand.
At W35DZ-D, EMS is seamlessly integrated with DigiCAP’s DigiCaster software-based ATSC 3.0 air chain. This compatibility simplified the installation process. Recognizing that public television stations use ATSC 3.0 equipment from a variety of manufacturers, DigiCAP and PMVG are exploring ways to expand EMS compatibility across the many different configurations of ATSC 3.0 deployment across the public television system, PMVG said.
“WCTE is a small public television station with a track record of big public service. Given all of the local production that we do and our very small budget, engineering resources are at a premium for us. EMS has a big impact, allowing us to do more with less,” said WCTE station manager Craig LeFevre.
This initiative is part of a RAPA-PMVG joint venture aimed at applying advanced technology developed during the ATSC 3.0 rollout in South Korea to the United States.
The focus is to develop public service applications for ATSC 3.0 that increase public service and enhance station efficiency. Other projects currently implemented or under development at the WCTE / W35DZ-D site in Cookeville include LiveCAP, an AI-driven system providing closed captions in multiple languages, and EQ4ALL, an emergency-alerting system that uses avatars to provide severe weather and other alerts in American Sign Language to deaf and hearing-impaired viewers, PMVG said.
More information is available on the DigiCAP, RAPA and PMVG websites.
