Journal Broadcast Group Taps Tandberg Television for Compression

Station group Journal Broadcast Group selected HD and standard-definition MPEG-2 encoders from Tandberg Television to support its digital-television broadcasts, Tandberg announced Tuesday.

The Tandberg gear, sold through systems integrator Heartland Video Systems, will allow Journal stations to simultaneously deliver HD and SD program streams within their 19.4-megabit-per-second Advanced Television Systems Committee broadcasts.

Journal has been a Tandberg compression customer since 2001, when Heartland installed Tandberg HD encoders in Journal stations WSYM-TV, KMIR-TV and KTNV-TV.

KTNV was the first Journal station to install the Tandberg encoders, and it is using a multipass statistical-multiplexing system that increases bandwidth efficiency when simultaneously broadcasting multiple streams of HD and SD. The station plans to broadcast one HD and two SD channels in MPEG-2, said Tandberg, which claimed that its multipass system can free up to 10% of the 19.4-mbps DTV pipe for other uses.

To that end, KTNV will provide part of its bandwidth for a mobile ATSC demonstration during the National Association of Broadcasters’ 2008 NAB Show next week.

"Tandberg’s multipass statistical-multiplex system provides both the highest level of MPEG-2 quality and the most efficient use of bandwidth,” said Ron Adair, director of television engineering at Journal, in a statement. “This best-in-class technology, combined with the excellent support Journal -- and station KTNV specifically -- have received from Tandberg Television and Heartland Video Systems for our existing system greatly influenced our decision to upgrade not just one station, but to make a group decision for all of our stations.”

Tandberg will demonstrate new encoder features at NAB, including Active Format Descriptor support for the E5700 series encoders and a PSIP (Program System and Information Protocol) carousel for the MX5620 multiplexer. The company will also launch the RX8320 ATSC Broadcast Receiver at the show.