WCAX Picks Pixel Power For Graphics

Vermont station is first to install Pixel Promo system

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/10/2010 11:30:31 AM

WCAX, the CBS affiliate in Burlington, Vt., has chosen U.K.-based graphics provider Pixel Power to provide it with a comprehensive HD news graphics and channel branding system.

The total solution at WCAX includes Pixel Power's Clarity 5000 and Clarity 3000 graphics systems, LogoVision channel branding systems and the Pixel Promo automated promotion and branding application. WCAX is the first U.S. local station to deploy Pixel Promo, which automates the production of graphics sequences by using metadata about schedules and the station's available graphics, video and audio assets to automatically construct graphics elements.

Graphics specified by Pixel Promo are built as needed by WCAX' Clarity 3000 for playout on both the station's main HD channel and its secondary 24-hour weather channel. A four-channel Clarity 5000 graphics system integrates with WCAX' existing ENPS newsroom computer system, using the MOS protocol, and enables operators to quickly build news graphics using pre-made templates. The Clarity 5000 provides clip playback for show opens, bumpers and over-the-shoulder compositions, delivers the show bug for branding and supports a variety of tickers.

"We began our search looking simply for a clip player, but the systems we saw were either too complex or too limited for our needs," said WCAX Director of Operations Phil Scharf, in a statement. "We realized that our transition to HD presented an opportunity to do some things better. Pixel Power was the one vendor who demonstrated that they fully understood what WCAX needed in terms of both technical capability and support. Instead of a clip player, we gained automatable channel branding and efficient news graphics for delivering our new HD graphics package."