Digiturk, one of the largest digital satellite TV providers in Turkey, has begun broadcasting live with an end-to-end Harris HD broadcast system from its new playout facility in Istanbul.
Digiturk launched in 1999 with 25 channels of tape playout with Philips systems including Alamar automation and MediaPool video servers. The broadcaster now has capacity for 120 TV channels on 10 transponders carried by Eutelsat W3A and Turkat 2A. With the imminent launch of HD services for football and entertainment channels, Digiturk looked to install a completely new production chain alongside the existing system. The new channels are designed to operate in SD or HD, with integral cross-conversion for operational flexibility. The new HD transponder will initially carry one HD and seven SD services using MPEG-4 AVC encoding and DVB-S2 modulation for efficient spectrum use. Transmissions carry dual stereo soundtracks, one in the original language and one for the Turkish translation, if needed. The HD services can also carry 5.1 Dolby Digital audio.
Digiturk opted for a complete Harris video path and automation solution. Harris equipment installed at the broadcast center includes the H-Class D-Series playout automation system; 10 NEXIO XS server systems; a Platinum router; the IconLogo modular branding solution; an Inscriber G3 HD/SD-selectable CG; and Videotek TVM-950 test and measurement instruments. Harris regional distributor Bilgi Elektronik will provide ongoing support for the installation.
The D-Series playout automation system controls 10 playout channels, the NEXIO XS servers, the Platinum router, Sony FlexiCarts, Sony HDCAM and Digital Betacam VTRs, the IconLogo branding tool and the G-3 CG system, as well as a Screen Subtitling DVB system. A Front Porch Digital DIVArchive system controls a Sun StorageTek archive comprising an L1400 tape library loaded with LTO-3 data tapes. Archive data is in native LXF format.
The playout automation controls more than 30 NEXIO XS server ports spread over two server domains. High-speed network connectivity delivers 1.2 Gb/s bandwidth between the digital archive and the NEXIO XS server domains, and partial mirroring provides greater redundancy for the premium channels. The servers are configurable between HD and SD formats and include up, down and cross-conversion — with the capability to easily adjust the aspect ratios to address the various studio requirements.
The D-Series system interfaces with the existing traffic and scheduling system to import channel schedules and media data as well as send as-run logs to the database. This tight interface continually updates all new ingest data on the automation database to highlight any upcoming problems for scheduled material.
For more information, visit www.harris.com.
