KJWP, channel 2, the MeTV affiliate television station for Philadelphia, has upgraded its broadcast playout system to latest-generation AirBox Neo servers from PlayBox Technology.
These are installed in the apparatus room at KJWP’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, and operated from a playout presentation gallery in the same building.
“We have two AirBox Neo servers which are assigned as master and backup,” commented KJWP broadcast engineer Jim McGowan.
“Both are configured for closed caption text processing and play out in 720p HD to the Philadelphia region terrestrial digital network, as well as cable. AirBox Neo works very well and is popular with our presentation staff.
“The user interface provides exactly the information they need to perform each element of the playout process. On the engineering side we appreciate its reliability and the fast support we know we can get from Van Duke and his colleagues at PlayBox Technology. We also appreciate the logistical advantage of having the core of a complete channel in one 3RU server and the backup in a second equally compact chassis.”
Supporting UHD, HD and SD playout, AirBox Neo is designed for 24/7 unattended operation and can also be operated manually, including the ability to handle live-to-air throughput. Parallel outputs enable the running of two or more SDI or IP streaming SD/HD feeds simultaneously. Changes to the playlist can be made during an on-air session. Clips in the playlist, except the one which is currently playing, can be trimmed, edited or repositioned. Playback order can be performed without stopping the current playout session. Live productions are facilitated by a live show clipboard which allows insertion and/or execution of various events or live streams.
“AirBox Neo has become the playout platform of choice for broadcasters right around the world,” added PlayBox Technology president Don Ash.
“This puts a heavy responsibility on us to ensure we deliver the features our customers need in today’s fast-evolving market, including an easy upgrade path. We will be showing the full fruits of our R&D activity at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. I am fully confident visitors will like what they see.”
TitleBox Neo, according to the company, provides a wide range of interactive on-air graphics and titling capabilities which can be manipulated live. The feature set includes horizontal crawling text, vertically rolling credits and messages, still and animated logo graphics, analogue and digital clocks, banner slideshows and chat text with automated horizontal or vertical scrolling. Among the additional creative facilities are pre-constructed graphic components, video resizing (from live source or file), window-style display and website content ingest.
