KFMB Moves to Full HD Program Playout With Thomson Grass Valley, by Richard Lochmann

The winners in the toughest ratings fight have one thing in common: Thomson Grass Valley™ multiformat and HD digital news production systems.

They're installed at leading station groups in the top five U.S. markets -- and at leading news outlets worldwide. With a complete workflow that spans acquisition, production and playout, it's clear that when you're watching the news, you're watching Grass Valley technology at work.

For more information about Thomson Grass Valley products, please visit thomsongrassvalley.com.

User Reports

KFMB Moves to Full HD Program Playout With Thomson Grass Valley

by Richard Lochmann, February 20, 2008

Director of Engineering KFMB-TV

SAN DIEGO
In February 2000, our station went digital and soon began transmitting CBS high-definition primetime programming. This was well before anyone else in our market was doing anything similar. We began broadcasting our local newscasts in the 1080i HD this January. Ratings are good and the viewers really like the way our channel looks as compared to other stations.

We’ve been using Thomson Grass Valley Profile servers (a PDR 324, two XP Media 1000s and two XP 1100s) and have found them to be reliable and flexible enough to enable us to adjust our infrastructure as the need arises. Seven years ago we didn’t have a lot of long-form HD programs, just a few promos and perhaps a commercial or two. That’s changed and we’re seeing an increasing amount of HD content.

We needed a server system that could handle both SD and HD signals today and full HD in the near future. Last year we installed two standalone Thomson Grass Valley K2 Media Servers and Media Client Systems. One of these handles HD elements (bumpers, promos, and commercials), while the other takes care of HD news opens and re-opens. This November we installed two more K2 servers. All three are networked together to create a fully redundant storage area network (SAN).

The SD-only XP Media 1000 commercial servers were replaced with the new K2 system that handles both SD and HD signals. This saves space and allows us to get the most bang for the buck.

AUTOMATIC UPCONVERSION

Richard Lochmann

The new SAN allows us to playout up to 250 hours (at 50 Mbps) of HD programming, commercials and promos, and will interface with a new Florical automation system. This will enable us not only to record HD material from the network, but also SD shows, with automatic upconversion in the SAN.

In going with the K2 Media Server and Media Client System, we now have two client workstations, two FTP servers (primary and secondary) and a third standalone, which will be controlled by the Florical system as a backup. These feature four channels—two for incoming programs and two for playout. The K2 client workstations include analog stereo audio, in addition to video capability.

We’ve always had good performance with our Thomson Grass Valley servers, so when it came time to upgrade to HD we knew we wanted to stay with the same company. Building out the SAN with Thomson Grass Valley technology also made a lot of sense.

QUICK TRANSFERS

The SAN architecture was important, as we wanted to be able to transfer program data across the system to the standalone server as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the process would take more time and could be susceptible to errors.

The K2 servers support Sony’s XDCAM HD format and they allow us to play out programs at 25 Mbps, saving bandwidth, but still providing good looking images.

When programs come in, they are immediately recorded, sent to the proper rundown list and scheduled for air with very little human intervention. Thanks to the use of Thomson Grass Valley technology, our video servers have become a set-it-and-forget-it part of our workflow and that’s exactly the way we like it. We have enough other things to worry about.

Richard Lochmann is a 40-year veteran of the broadcast industry and has been with KFMB-TV for 29 years, becoming chief engineer in 1996 and director of engineering for KFMB Stations in 2001. He may be contacted at rlochmann@kfmb.com.

For additional information contact Thomson Grass Valley at 800-547-8949 or visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.