Press release from Magna Systems and Engineering
Magna Systems and Engineering, leading systems integrator and supplier of technology to the broadcast and communication industries, today announced details of the new SeaChange HD server it has sold to and configured for the Prime Media Group in Canberra.
Prime Media Group’s Network Project Manager Lyndon Cox explained, “We (Prime) are replacing our SD infrastructure with a full HD one as we will be offering a wide range of HD services in the near future which may also include more HD channels.”
After a comprehensive search and evaluation process Prime chose Magna Systems and their SeaChange based solution to fulfill their requirements.
Cox continued, “Magna Systems have provided us with a comprehensive HD video server platform that includes a 3-node SeaChange® Broadcast MediaLibrary™ BML24000EX server, SeaChange MediaGateway and 7 mcl6004 MediaClients. We have always had a very good track record with SeaChange so we were keen to continue with their solutions if possible. This became an even more attractive proposition when Magna informed us that the BML24000EX server was based on the new SeaChange platform with outboard codecs, OP42 and OP47 software and RAID squared architecture for storage. With all these positives, Magna’s SeaChange solution immediately became our number one choice.”
The BML24000EX is a high-performance, fault-resilient digital media library that can scale from a single, 2.9TB node up to a 9-node cluster providing over 43TB of capacity. Nodes are equipped with four (4) GigE IP accelerator cards. The SeaChange MediaGateway (SMG) facilitates media asset exchanges between acquisition and production systems with SeaChange Broadcast MediaLibrary™ storage systems. In essence, SMG simplifies complex network workflow between SeaChange MediaLibrary, SeaChange MediaClients™ and third party tools.
Magna Systems Group Manager for Systems & Digital Media Craig Armsworth added, “The SeaChange servers are the only ones on the market that can maintain Teletext caption data in SD or HD and the perform the conversion between both. To be more precise, the SeaChange BML24000EX can take an SD file with OP42 caption information and replay it as an HD file with OP47 caption information and vice versa.”
With Prime’s requirements based on a significant growth plan, reliability was key explained Cox, “We haven’t had any failures in the past with SeaChange equipment which is a very big plus.” He said. “The new SeaChange architecture is impressive and the RAID squared storage further increased our confidence levels. We also needed a technology partner who we could rely on for service and support, which was why we chose Magna Systems.”
The new BML24000EX server will be used for the ingest and replay of interstitial material and longform programme playout simulcast in HD & SD. Cox added, “Automation control for the new server is the same easy, user friendly experience as we have had in the past. The SeaChange Media Gateway also allows us to import files in different codecs and put them seamlessly into the SeaChange environment without re-encoding them. This helps with efficiencies and future proofing as we can now take SeaChange files and re-use them on other platforms such as editing and ASI splicing.”
With the new system recently installed and configured Cox and the Magna Systems team are putting it through rigorous and robust testing.
Cox concluded, “The new system allows us far more functionality and flexibility than before. We now have immediate access to HD ingest and playback, the ability to take in different codecs and our entire operation is more file based thanks to the wonderfully efficient SeaChange Media Gateway. I have to also make special mention of the Magna Systems team. It has been very rewarding working with them on this project. Their knowledge and expertise around broadcast environments is truly excellent.”
Prime Media Group’s new HD video server platform is scheduled to go live on-air in April 2009.