Promo files are transferred directly to the playout servers.
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The MPEG-2 movie files are then transferred to the Sony Petasite robotic data tape archive. Movies and promotional spots are encoded into MPEG-2 files at 15Mb/s into the Pinnacle 1600 server. They are fed from the encoding/ingest room. These servers are configured with three input ports for ingest of material and three output ports for preview/QC of material. Two MediaStream 1600 servers were selected for ingest/encoding. Thirty-six feeds are uplinked from the new facility. The backup servers mirror the content and outputs of the primary servers but, as a cost-saving measure, have less disk storage capacity. Channels were assigned among the servers based on priority, so that no two high-subscriber-count channels share the same server. A server can handle up to three channels. The playout servers contain approximately 200 hours of storage per channel, and backup servers contain about half that amount. Each playout server is configured with six ports for channel/feed playback and one for preview of material. Starz selected Pinnacle Systems MediaStream 700 servers for playback. The broadcast operations center is an all-digital, server-based facility.
All broadcast equipment wiring, routing and patching is HDTV compliant. HVAC is provided by redundant Liebert units in all the equipment rooms. The technical center has backup power capabilities including two 1500KVA generators and two 625KVA UPS systems. Infrastructure for the facility was critically important. Beck Associates was chosen as the systems integrator.
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The project team chose Omnibus Systems for automation, servers from Pinnacle Systems, Sony Broadcast for archive and Pinzone Engineering for uplink facility design. A decision was also made to upgrade the on-air operation from a semi-automated tape-based playout system to a fully automated, server-based playback and transmission center. Starz’s technical facility utilizes most of the second floor of its new 300,000-square-foot Denver headquarters. Five analog channel feeds are provided for the backyard C-band dish market.
Starz Encore currently broadcasts 13 channels, each with separate digital feeds for east and west coast time zones and a full backup playout. A supervisor has the ability to monitor and control any of the signals if required. Operators work in the master control room at Starz Encore Group headquarters in Denver, monitoring the primary, backup and return signals for 13 channels each on a virtual monitor wall from Barco.
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