S4C integrate Omneon Spectrum media server system

Omneon Video Networks has announced that S4C, the Welsh national broadcaster providing Welsh-language programming via terrestrial analogue and digital transmission and cable to Wales and to the rest of the United Kingdom by digital satellite, is integrating an Omneon Spectrum media server system into its facility to provide a scalable, tapeless platform for automated feed recording, media storage, and playout of long-form material.
"In replacing our existing playout and delay systems, we evaluated several possible solutions, looking for server products featuring a building-block approach and the flexibility add more ports or storage capacity easily," said Arshad Rasul, Director of engineering and technology at S4C.
"The Spectrum server system alone offered the versatile modular design we required along with flexible encoding and compression options critical for more efficient workflows in areas such as ingest, quality control, and media access and sharing."
S4C serves the whole of the UK with a primary focus on Wales through a combination of terrestrial analogue transmissions, satellite, cable, and digital terrestrial transmission (DTT). The broadcaster deployed its Spectrum server system as part of a larger digitisation project, and the new server system is being used to replace long-form playout from Sony Flexicarts, Sony Digibeta tape machines, and Grass Valley Profile servers, and also to support delayed playout of Channel 4 feeds according to the S4C schedule for Wales.
Under the control of IBIS automation already in place at the facility, the new Omneon server system will provide greater storage capacity and more cost-effective means of handling S4C's growing volume of media assets. It will also handle the challenge of localized regional advertising and program schedules, and the task of ingesting and playing out Welsh-language programming from various sources. The Omneon server solution provides S4C with unparalleled flexibility in terms of incremental, modular expansion and it allows the facility to mix video formats such as DV and MPEG on a single storage platform.
The 3.5-terabyte Spectrum system is being integrated with a Dalet ingest solution to streamline ingest of longer-form material from independent production companies, as well as raw material shot on site for use in promos. Together, the integrated systems will enable rapid transfer of new video from 'rushes' into production storage, where editors using Final Cut Pro can access low-res proxy versions of the material instantly, create a promo, and push it back quickly for later playout.
(CD)