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TV production and transmission on a tight budget
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by MEB Journal Staff
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 John Reid, Director of Engineeringat PBDS, looks at some of the equipment purchase and operational expenditure issues behind the new Westgate Media and Broadcast Centre, London.
In late December 2004, Westgate Media and Broadcast, the facilities subsidiary of Professional Broadcast and Digital Systems (PBDS), had a vision to provide London-based international broadcasters with all of the facilities and resources they would need to take a TV channel from concept to air. Just 16 months later, the Westgate Media Centre (WMC) in London is fully operational, transmitting four multi-lingual channels with capacity to provide four more. PBDS, owners of the project, were challenged with the task of creating a highly cost-effective installation, with low operational costs, that would allow the provision of broadcast quality television services at a budget price.
We built the entire broadcast chain at Westgate from scratch. It houses four studios, three production galleries, three edit suites, a graphics suite, and comprehensive transmission facilities with links to international teleports for live programming and news reports. Westgate Media & Broadcast also offers its clients 24/7 engineering support and consultancy services.
There were a number of routes we could have taken with the design of the facility - we seriously considered integrated PC-based end-to-end broadcasting, as well as IP-based systems. Although PC systems are becoming very popular, we concluded that it would be safest, from a reliability and maintenance perspective, to install a solution with discrete equipment and distributed control. With this type of system, we can easily isolate failures on individual pieces of kit. This enables the Centre to provide the high level of engineering support and training clients need. Besides that, the hardware we selected was designed for broadcasters by broadcast specialists, which gives Westgate and their clients real peace of mind and the inherent reliability of proven technologies.
Furthermore, server-based broadcasting is now available for comparatively low levels of investment, especially as the centre is built around an SD infrastructure to satisfy Westgate Media and Broadcasts’ target market of non-mainstream broadcasters from around the world, who are typically supplying regional material into both their home territories and to their expatriate countrymen.
At present, WMC is transmitting channels in multiple languages to viewers in the UK, Europe – including Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Effective media asset management at WMC will allow these clients to build a secure, dedicated archive of material that can be searched and accessed quickly by the production team. This will also allow them to easily re-purpose material across a range of programmes.
So, how did we achieve a high quality A-Z broadcast centre with minimal set-up costs and affordable running costs? By using a range of Miranda equipment, there was no compromise on quality and features, and the equipment is backed by tried and tested technical support that we have come to know and love over the years. A key factor in achieving a high level of cost effectiveness was the use of Miranda’s Imagestore master control switching processors with integral channel branding.
The centre’s playout involves video for each channel being provided on tape by the client, or live from the studio, and this is ingested by an Omneon server. At the scheduled transmission time, our ETERE automation system will cue and play the required segments (or a live studio feed), and route these through our SDI matrix to an Imagestore, which controls captions, logos and programme transitions under automation control. The Imagestore outputs feed our ASI encoders; we multiplex all eight channels onto a fibre optic connection to the BT tower in Central London. From here the programmes are distributed to the satellite feeds. We have a small team of skilled operators that are on-hand 24 hours a day, to check that programmes are broadcast to a high standard.
Currently, eight Miranda Imagestore master control switching and channel branding processors are installed at Westgate. Each unit is fitted with video and audio mixing, animation/graphic insertion, and character generation capabilities. The sheer range options available for Miranda Imagestore products was also a major consideration in selecting the processors.
We implemented an (n+1) design with the Imagestores so there is, and always will be, a spare channel for backup. The Imagestores are also controlled by a Presmaster 2 master control switching panel, which is a highly versatile control surface. For instance, initially transmission control was performed in a small control room, but as the operation expanded, we were challenged to relocate the system into a larger, more open control area while still on-air. Because the nature of the control is distributed, we could literally lay some cables down, pick up the Presmaster 2 panel and plug it in - the panel really behaves itself - only responding when you specifically ask it to, so it doesn’t affect the hardware at all.
The operators quickly became familiar with the easy to use Presmaster 2 panel, especially in comparison to traditional broadcast mixer panels. The integral colour touch-screen is great for a fast set-up and effective status monitoring, and its capacity to control up to 200 transmission channels, makes it perfect for Westgate to expand later on. The great thing about Miranda kit is that you can plug-and-play, without any worries because the product design is so user-friendly.
Westgate's Imagestore master control switching processors are closely integrated with three Miranda Kaleido-Alto 10-input multi-image display processors. Only one operator is required to monitor the channels on-air, as the Altos simplify monitoring with video and audio status indicators, count down timers, and tallies. The Kaleido-Alto’s multiple clocks facility is used to present the various time zones that Westgate client’s playout to.
We also like the Kaleido-Alto’s drag-and-drop interface for fast off-line layout creation - any video, audio, texts, time code and clock elements can be positioned anywhere inside the displays. What’s more, the layouts can be designed for any type of display of any aspect ratio. These layouts can be saved inside the Altos as presets, which can be pulled up at any time. Text fonts are selectable and Unicode is supported - which is essential to customise the multi-lingual playout from Westgate.
With Miranda’s help, PBDS has achieved Westgate Media and Broadcast’s goal, with all the systems in place to provide 24-hour playout for high quality broadcasts across the globe. Westgate can now offer London-based international broadcasters a tailored and secure service to suit all SD playout requirements, at a budget price with a minimum number of operational staff required, and without compromising on quality.
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