OmniBus Colossus povides cost-effective transmission to Star Channel

Athens-based commercial broadcaster Star Channel has gone to air with Greece's first fully automated, end-to-end transmission environment, based on OmniBus Systems' award-winning Colossus playout solution.
Star Channel, which plays long-form material out on tape and commercials from a server, sought a considerably more robust and reliable system and greater scope for expansion as it planned more channels and an eventual move to playing out all content from server technology. It chose Colossus - OmniBus' multi-channel, multi-delivery automation and control system - to provide a more cost-effective transmission operation with built-in scalability for future expansion and very high levels of integration. Colossus integrates with the Provys business management system to enable operators to make changes directly in the traffic system that Colossus detects and automatically merges into the live schedule.
Similarly, the ingest process is now a much more streamlined and efficient process with the bandwidth to handle extra content with no further investment in personnel. Colossus controls the Leitch Opus mixer, allowing operators to mix seamlessly between live, tape, and server sources. With the aid of locally produced middleware, Colossus also controls the Inscriber character generator for the creation of complex sequences of logos, stills, captions, and graphics. Additionally, using the Colossus Adaptor application and more middleware, Star can dynamically track the amount of commercial content within its schedules.
"The massive advantage of OmniBus over other manufacturers is the experience they have gained from serious customers and large installations around the world," said Alexander Chalkidis of integrator AMY Digital Video. "This means that AMY and our customers can expect the best answer to almost any issue that arises throughout a project. Even obscure pieces of equipment are quite likely to already have OmniBus drivers to connect them to the system. Alternatively, the company is willing and able to provide even more advanced interconnections to save time and money."
Dionisis Vasilakopoulos, Operations and Engineering Co-Director at Star Channel, said: "The Colossus multi-channel automation and control system, delivered by OmniBus and integrated with the PROVYS system, offered us enormous benefits. The fully automated transmission environment is a reliable playout solution, providing high levels of stability, efficiency, and cost effectiveness."
(GB)