Testimonials

Teranex VC100 Multitasks at Bahakel

By Bob Davis
Director of Engineering
Bahakel Communications

As Director of engineering for Bahakel Communications stations, I deal with all types of signals and formats, it’s a constant challenge, and especially so in moving from SD to HD. Our stations have been using Teranex’s products and technology for many years now. We’re one of their earliest broadcasting clients. Their gear is good, but coming from the post industry side of things, they never had the exact product we really needed, a multi format converter-frame synchronizer with high-quality images, until now.

TWO UNITS IN ONE

That changes with the introduction of the VC100 Format Converter & Frame Synchronizer, which is Teranex’s flagship product.
Format Conversion and Frame Synchronizing are essential parts of broadcasting now, and whenever an external video feed is sent to our facilities, it has to be converted, synchronized and integrated into our workflow. With the advent of HD and the globalization of communications, signal feeds come from all directions, and in different resolutions and frame rates. With SD and HD simultaneously, we need to be able to interchange various feeds at all times. Also we have to sync up video feeds from external networks, trucks, or other source that’s external to our facilities, and this is where the VC100 sees a lot of use. It fits in 1RU space and packed with proprietary Teranex Technology, so you know the signal is going to look great.
The VC100 accommodates two separate feeds in a single unit, allowing is to maximize our available rack space. The front panel’s LCD display doubles as a menu and a video monitor, easing setup and configuration. You see what’s coming in or going out, and this is really useful feature, especially in cramped spaces.

HIGH QUALITY VIDEO

With simultaneous SD and HD broadcasting now the norm, feeds vary within the same facility all the time, and they come in all types of formats and frame rates, we need to be able to interchange these feeds and this creates a major challenge for us, as it requires a very powerful and flexible frame synchronizer, that also has format conversion,. We want to deliver the best image possible to our audience. This is where the VC100 shines, and raises the bar for technology of this type. We initially purchased four units, and added two more. We also use six Teranex VC300’s and two Minis. The VC100’s is an important part of our operations, especially in today’s world where multi-format video prevails.

Read the TV Technology article

The Weather Channel Experience with VC100's

We had looked at a lot of format converters to assist with our HD transmission. The biggest challenge we had in selecting a unit was more operational than technical. The plan was to deploy the units selected to diverse production teams within the facility with highly varied experience and HD knowledge. The chosen unit needed to have high quality conversion capabilities, handle any signal we would need to process, but first and foremost be simple and intuitive to operate. As I’m sure you know during a transition period, the staff is challenged to embrace the new technology and operation of lots of new devices. The simpler we can make the process, the easier the transition period becomes for the staff.

So, as is the process for any change in technology, the engineering staff started reviewing options. Our large multi-format converter purchase was for utility use locations and would require extensive user intervention. We looked at units from all major manufacturers. Once we saw the VC100 demo, and saw the picture quality and ease of use, it became quite obvious as to why it was definitely the unit of choice in our application.

First and foremost, you’re not driving the unit from a GUI interface, you have actual labeled buttons for basic functions most users would need. Once you’ve selected the incoming signal type, the buttons on the panel change colors to reflect the options you have for signal output. The beauty of this design is it is quite clear to the operator the options they have to choose from instantly. If your working in a fast paced environment like incoming satellite feeds, time is of the essence in getting the news story in. The clarity if the selections, being simple button operations highlighted by color changing illumination to highlight proper selections makes it a breeze for the operators to function efficiently. You still have many of the advance features and signal processing quality we engineers have come to expect from a Teranex unit, but the end user interface for operator positions has been greatly improved over previous units. The smaller foot print (1RU), video confirmation screen (to verify it’s the right input), remote ability of the operator panel, two converters in 1 chassis, and intuitive user interface make it a best choice in its class.

Mike Smereski
Chief Engineer
The Weather Channel

Mini

Mini-UDCSN

We were doing a series for SLICE Network here in Canada and within that series there were security camera’s. We all know the quality of those are sketchy at best. But ours needed to go into a HD 1080i show. The footage was originated on a security hard drive then selects were made. From there we took the footage thru a AJA composite to SDI converter, then thru the Mini Teranex to a HD tape. No one except the editor, the edit assistants and myself knew the path for getting the footage into the HD project. It was great having the different up conversion choices as the security footage left a time stamp on the video which we didn’t want.

Mini-UDCSN

We have a re-occurring client who decided at the last minute to have a series of spots go HD. For the body of the spot no problem,(shot in 1080p 23.98) but the end of the spot consisted of 2 stage graphics, one graphic over a letterboxed shot(SD), then the second graphic transitioning over the first to form a full frame tag & logo.(SD) Of course there was no budget to redo the graphics in HD. So just to give the producer an idea of what his stuff would look like in HD(at 1080i 59.94) I hooked the SDI out of our Adrenaline, thru the Mini Teranex, out to our Sony LMD monitor. The producer was very happy with what he saw…the kicker (not that I condone this) the 1st shot with graphics was transferred letterbox and he still bought into it. So for this go around, the Mini has really helped us with a sticky situation.

From: Earle Nichol
Date: 2/22/2008
WHITEIRON Digital