Cutting Edge

Equipment-rental company Abel Cine Tech has added the For-A Hanabi HVS-1000HS multi-format digital video switcher to its lineup. The switcher is the centerpiece of its new portable SD/HD production strategy, which includes multiple Panasonic VariCam HD cameras and is targeted at all types of 720p HD-format productions. Over the past month, Abel Cine Tech has used the HVS-1000HS switcher for a live gospel concert for the Grace Baptist Church in New York and the Bonnaroo music festival in Nashville, Tenn. Arthur Rosato, freelance director for the Bonnaroo production, says the switcher's interface screen was easy to learn and operate.

As the European Union expands to 25 member countries, SGT is installing its Media Manager system at the European Parliament. The new installation manages the workflow of the audiovisual contributions produced by the Parliament for the EBS (Europe by Satellite) channel and other TV broadcasters. Features of the system include high- and low-bit-rate digitization with immediate availability of the new content, metadata fields, low-bit-rate editing, and interfacing with high-bit-rate editing stations. All media is stored on a shared storage space (MAN by Thomson). It's fed by Profile PVS 1100 servers for high-bit-rate applications and by SGT's DBOS Coding System for low-bit-rate. After live recording, the system will enable its users to view the contents of the server directly and select excerpts or make compilations.

All Mobile Video is incorporating Miranda's HD upconverters and downconverters into its new Matrix Flypack, a full suite of tools for high-end production. The Matrix Flypack enables the acquisition of images with as many as 16 high-definition, 24p-capable cameras. The go-anywhere production suite features twin 128 multiformat routers and audio gear. The Miranda products used include UVP series incoming-feed processors and Miranda's analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog video/audio converters. According to Lee Blanco, director of mobile operations for All Mobile Video, Miranda's converters offer easy control both via front panel and remotely. Blanco points out that they minimize the system's overall weight and power consumption.

The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia has deployed the Omneon Spectrum media server system for broadcasts of its educational and instructional TV channels. FCPS currently transmits six channels, three available to Cox Communications subscribers in Fairfax, Va., and three "closed" channels serving more than 200 public schools. The Omneon system is housed in the Sprague Technology Center, a new all-digital, state-of-the-art master-control headend built as part of the FCPS Division of Instructional Technology. The system has 12 channels—four channels of video in, eight of video out—and approximately 200 hours of storage capacity.

WGCL Atlanta has purchased the NewsLink automation system from Sundance Digital. The new system allows the station to integrate new and legacy gear into one automated workflow. The station will tie it into an Avid iNews newsroom system, giving the station an easier way to manage content as it passes from acquisition to airing on the newscast. The installation is scheduled for the third quarter. Meredith Broadcasting, which owns the station, will also install it at sister station WSMV Nashville, Tenn.