Test & Measurement Feature | Harris Broadcast
Intelligent self-diagnostics
Within this sophisticated national scale project Harris Broadcast Test & Measurement technology plays a critical role. Throughout the network infrastructure we are using Videotek MSA (Multi Source Analyser) Series products to provide streaming signal analysis and monitoring of multi-source DVB-T2 services coming off the transmitters, ensuring that the entire signal path is maintained at the best possible quality and bandwidth effi ciency.
The MSA Series offers full testing of compressed video conformance, audio levels and data services of over-the-air broadcast, cable, satellite and IPTV signals. Its multi-source capability means that engineers can analyse many transport streams at once, including IP, RF and ASI encoded video signals.
Working in Tanzania, in environments which are not easy to support due to a lack of skilled engineers, the availability of effi cient Test & Measurement resources is very important. Test & Measurement capabilities are required at all stages of an infrastructures life from commissioning to ongoing maintenance. These tools can be used at all stages in its life – without them, broadcasters are risking dead air.
Without this technology, how can a broadcaster recognise and identify a problem - having Test & Measurement may not prevent an issue arising but it will help identify the problem quickly and defi nitively. When a broadcast facility is located in a remote site, many hours’ drive from the production headquarters, the presence of effi cient Test & Measurement capabilities with remote reporting capabilities can make a major impact on system reliability.
Togo goes digital
Another important project in West Africa sees Harris Broadcast working in Togo to completely renew the country’s broadcast TV infrastructure by designing, installing and commissioning an entire digital video chain to transmit throughout the country — using a national network of DVB-T2 transmitters and satellite services.
Togo will become one of the fi rst West African states to adopt and implement DVB-T2. The migration will introduce a better than threefold increase in standard and high-defi nition TV channel capacity, as well as signifi cantly increase the transmission networks resiliency and robustness.
To meet Togo’s digital TV transition needs, Harris Broadcast is supplying a complete solution comprising:
• Three complete TV stations including production studios, master control rooms, distribution and post-production centres complete with material indexing, cataloguing and storage.
• Mobile news gathering equipment
• Satellite uplink and receiving systems at each TV site.
• Content distribution systems at the studios (encoding) and each TV site (decoding).
• Nine TV sites featuring new and refurbished towers, new antennas, electrical equipment, air handling equipment and Harris DVB-T2 transmitters.
In addition to equipment, Harris will provide a range of consultancy, design and training services to the customer. These include already completed site surveys of the studios and TV stations,
equipment installation supervision, test and commissioning; and training for all studio kit and production processes, transmission and receiving equipment (system operation and training), satellite uplinks and mobile news gathering systems.
Test & Measurement capabilities play a strategic role in the provision of these services. Only by understanding how a workfl ow is working can we commission and support its day-to-day operation. On the Togo project, Harris Broadcast Test & Measurement systems are distributed throughout the infrastructure. At each head-end batch (Selenio), we have installed an MSA-100-MPEG4 with MPEG4 Part 2 CODEC and 4 SD or 2 HD PIPs providing full video conformance testing, audio data and traffi c status monitoring.
At each of the nine transmitter sites, there is a test & measurement rack with our CVM-306 multi-format signal analyser. And fi nally, in the studios, we are installing the VTM Series package including functions such as Waveform, Vector, Picture and Gamut monitoring.
Togo and Tanzania are setting a new standard in the African region by adopting a digital TV ecosystem based on the DVB-T2 transmission standard and using our most advanced contribution, production and distribution technologies.
Test & Measurement systems might appear a relatively small component of these projects but their importance should not be underestimated. It is through these systems that we can commission and support the operation of these broadcast infrastructures which will provide Tanzania and Togo with a valuable resource that will aid cultural and economic development in the countries.
ibeconnects.com | May/June 2013
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