Miranda Technologies, a Belden Brand, a global provider of integrated solutions for production, playout and delivery systems for television broadcasters and multi-system operators, announces the installation of its iTX integrated playout platform, along with NVISION routing, Densité signal processing and Belden connectivity solutions, at Westar Satellite Services’ new centralized master control facility in Cedar Hill, Texas.
Located just outside Dallas, Westar Master Control Services currently provides video playback services to 15 commercial and public broadcasting customers and is a fully owned subsidiary of New York-based All Mobile Video (AMV), one of the nation’s premier providers of end-to-end video and audio solutions for entertainment, sports, news programming and events.
Westar President Richard Duke said, “When we decided to launch an outsourced centralized master control service, we knew that a core component would have to be the most dependable playout solution we could find to streamline operations for all the stations we serve. We are a long-time user of Miranda’s Kaleido multiviewers in our mobile production units, so we had a great deal of trust in the Miranda brand. We’ve come to rely on the efficiency and dependability of their solutions and we knew that the iTX playout platform would surpass our performance requirements.”
iTX, the most widely deployed integrated playout solution in the industry, is the only playout system to have proven scalability, coupled with unprecedented speed of channel deployment and format flexibility. In Westar’s case, each iTX output server is also equipped with graphics capabilities that can be used to enhance channel branding and differentiate individual services.
Westar’s core video infrastructure is built around Miranda’s NVISION 8280 144 x 144 router with an NV9000 dual controller through which all incoming and outgoing video signals are managed. End-to-end data, sound and video signal transmission is supported throughout by high-performance cables from Belden, all of which are built to the industry’s highest quality and reliability standards.
Each baseband ingest feed of satellite-based content is equipped with a Miranda XVP-3901-F or FRS-3901 frame synchronizer processor to manage aspect ratio and control audio levels before they are routed to an ingest server, or to air. File ingest, regardless of workflow, is retained in the media store function of iTX. In addition, Miranda’s multichannel EdgeVision monitoring ensures QoE for each channel by enabling Westar operators to accurately see and hear the quality of signals received in viewers' homes.
Marco Lopez, Miranda’s president, said, “Providers of centralized master control services have gained substantial traction due to the demonstrably positive impact they can bring to a content provider’s bottom-line. Miranda’s comprehensive product range provides a well-integrated, easy to deploy solution for these service providers and a solid platform for potential growth. And, being able to supply cabling from our parent company, Belden, we’re able to provide a significant added value.”
