Australian Broadcasting Corporation selects AP ENPS for nationwide news system

Sydney, Australia – Techtel today announced that it has been selected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to supply and support the AP ENPS multi-platform newsroom computer system as part of one of the largest single system technology upgrades ever undertaken in Australia. ENPS will drive nationwide collaboration between radio, TV and online news production through its seamless integration with Grass Valley’s STRATUS video production and Nétia’s Radio-Assist 8 radio automation, and will revolutionise workflows with the ability for journalists to access scripts, wires, media and messaging from the desktop or in the field.

As the authorised representative for ENPS in the region, Techtel was chosen after an exhaustive selection process. “The tender procedure was designed to evaluate all available technology and vendors, followed by rigorous testing and proof of concept phases”, commented David Elsmore, Managing Director at Techtel. “This is truly a milestone event for ENPS and for Techtel as we work closely with other partners and prime contractor Grass Valley on the project”.

Following a detailed design phase, ENPS will be rolled out at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's major news and current affairs facilities throughout the country with over 3000 staff to be trained on the system across News, Radio and Regional divisions. The new roll out will include ENPS 8, ENPS Mobile 3 and ENPS Open API, providing the ABC with the ability to create and deliver content efficiently and across all platforms. “We are excited to be at the heart of the ABC’s news production, connecting the reporter in the field to the newsroom, to the online output, to the presenter in front of camera – delivering on our ‘ENPS anywhere’ promise,” said Paddy Payne, Director of International Business Development for AP ENPS.

AP ENPS 8 enables journalists and content makers throughout the enterprise and across various divisions to easily share and gather content needed to produce compelling news and other programs. The system allows text and media to be combined into stories from the field or newsroom using any device, offering greater flexibility to improve operational efficiency. Real-time updates allow the team to see news wires and amendments to the running order or script changes instantaneously. The ENPS Open API further extends the power and reach of ENPS by providing an easy method to create and deploy custom applications that leverage the data stored in AP ENPS.

ENPS will be deployed alongside Grass Valley and Nétia systems, beginning in August 2016 and will continue to be rolled out across all metropolitan and regional ABC sites over the next couple of years.

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About Techtel
Techtel is a leading independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Asia Pacific broadcast and telecommunications industries. Techtel’s expertise extends from consulting and systems integration through to the supply, installation and support of solutions from an elite class of worldwide partners. The Techtel Group has regional offices in Sydney and Singapore with branches in Auckland and Melbourne. Visit www.techtel.tv.

About AP ENPS
AP ENPS is the world’s leading news production system, used by over 65,000 news professionals in 900 newsrooms globally.

About AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP. On the web: www.ap.org 

NAB SHOW: Spectra Logic Announces BlackPearl Enhancements and BlackPearl Certification Program

LAS VEGAS, NAB SHOW, Booth SL11816 – Spectra Logic, the deep storage experts, today announced several feature enhancements to its BlackPearl™ Deep Storage Gateway and Client Certification Program. Spectra BlackPearl, which provides a single interface to tape and disk using cloud protocols, has gained traction across multiple vertical markets since its introduction in 2013. The BlackPearl ecosystem is rapidly becoming a popular choice for end users and resellers alike, as content and data management continue to play an increasingly pivotal role in our digital age.

Three key BlackPearl features now available include:

• Public Cloud Storage: BlackPearl can now automatically send a copy of data to the public cloud for customers who seek content distribution with a cloud initiative, or who use cloud for disaster recovery.
• Replication: BlackPearl now has the ability to automatically replicate from one BlackPearl system to another, allowing an active/active geographical separation of data.
• Access Content Faster: BlackPearl now delivers online archive expansion, which enables nearly instant access to content, and accelerates the overall workflow and system response time. Less frequently accessed content can be stored on Spectra ArcticBlue™ nearline disk, and rarely accessed content can be archived indefinitely on Spectra’s tape library family. This feature includes an automatic time-based delete feature that can be customized by the storage administrator.

The BlackPearl Certification Program was created to ensure the clients created by our partners and customers are robust and reliable. The program includes comprehensive testing of all key features and any optional features needed to support the use of BlackPearl in a customer environment. Testing is conducted at Spectra’s dedicated certification test lab located at its global headquarters, to offer partners and customers an option for fast, cost-effective client testing and certification.

“Because Spectra customers often trust multiple vendors in their workflows, it is critical that products from multiple vendors work together seamlessly. Our Certification Program ensures this seamless integration,” said Matt Starr, Spectra Logic’s CTO. “Additionally, in BlackPearl’s latest version, customers will benefit from increased throughput, simplified workflows and an improved overall user experience.”

Spectra’s BlackPearl is deployed across a wide range of private and public sectors in markets as diverse as genomics and healthcare, general IT management, high-performance computing, media and entertainment, research and education and video surveillance. Some current BlackPearl customers include The British Film Institute, the Imperial War Museum, Pacific Biosciences, The University of Chicago and WCBS, the flagship station of the CBS Television Network.

“Marquis’s Project Parking allows Avid users to archive their projects into BlackPearl. The solution provides an easy-to-use archiving system which is scalable and resilient while remaining very cost effective. Customers of all sizes can benefit from this simple archive solution that seamlessly uploads and restores both project and media files between BlackPearl and Avid,” said Simon Fearn, product manager at Marquis.

“CatDV’s clients come from a range of sectors including broadcast and production, commerce, education, house of worship, historic archives and libraries, as well as retail and sports. All of our customers need to organize and secure their valuable content, typically across collaborating teams, at reasonable cost. Content creators using CatDV with BlackPearl can quickly and efficiently search off line content—including previewing lower resolution proxies—then find, retrieve and repurpose original material. CatDV’s latest integration with BlackPearl provides fast and intuitive web, desktop, mobile and embedded NLE tools that save time, money and stress as new content is made,” said Dave Clack CEO of Square Box Systems Ltd., developer of the CatDV media asset management system.

“The integration with Spectra’s BlackPearl with Tiger Series shared storage solutions provides an easy to operate and transparent system for media, and volume management and backup. The direct connection between BlackPearl and Tiger Replication & Tiering gives our customers working in media and entertainment, security and surveillance, and STEM markets an easy and complete solution for storing and securing their high-resolution digital media files,” said Angus Mackay, marketing director at Tiger Technology.

“IPV and Spectra offer an intelligent archive solution for media and entertainment customers looking to integrate an archiving system or migrate legacy HSM systems. The system’s built-in intelligence and BlackPearl ensure that assets reside on the most appropriate storage media from on premise systems to the cloud. Aligned with this intelligent storage is predictive retrieval, which provides a number of facilities to different scenarios: in a dynamic news-based environment, IPV’s Curator allows easy re-use of media assets, thereby increasing their value in these fast-turnaround workflows. Retrospectively, Curator enables the easy re-use/re-purposing of media assets on the web and within other programs or advertising campaigns,” said Nigel Booth EVP sales and marketing at IPV.

“Spectra’s BlackPearl plays a crucial role in the delivery of our solution. Broadcast footage that is delivered to Empress Media Asset Management is automatically archived on the BlackPearl. The BlackPearl is extremely user friendly and is an ideal product to archive broadcast data and to manage that across multiple locations,” said Chuck Buelow, vice president of business development at Empress Media Asset Management.

VISIT US AT #NABSHOW THIS WEEK

ArcticBlue, a part of the BlackPearl ecosystem, has been shortlisted as an IABM Game Changer Awards Finalist 2016 in the Storage category. Winners will be announced during the IABM Awards Reception on Tuesday 19th April at 5:00 p.m. at #NABShow.

To learn more about BlackPearl, visit Spectra Logic and its partners at the following booth numbers this week at #NABShow: Spectra (SL11816), Marquis (SL8730), IPV (N4520), CatDV (SL5025), Tiger Technology (SL13613) and Empress (SL13010).

1300SMILES Stadium chooses Techtel to upgrade big screen for Cowboys

Australia’s leading independent broadcast and enterprise audio visual integrator, Techtel, congratulates the North Queensland Cowboys on their momentous NRL Grand Final 2015 victory.

In early 2015, Techtel was chosen from a field of contenders to supply, design and construct a new scoreboard at 1300SMILES Stadium in Townsville, home of the North Queensland Cowboys. The project involved the removal of an older scoreboard on the Northern Stand which was replaced with a new, full colour LED scoreboard designed for all weather conditions. As part of the project Techtel was also required to install a scoreboard computer system that would supply the screen with match statistics, clocks and advertising.

Crucial to the project's success was the design and construction of the scoreboard frame, built in Townsville to exacting specifications and then craned into place for a perfect fit with the stadium support structures. The steel frame received a special treatment to protect the screen against the harsh North Queensland elements and to match existing fixtures throughout the stadium.

The LED screen, manufactured by Absen, uses DIP P10 LED technology that can produce an impressive brightness of up to 7000 nits. The screen is fully front-serviceable, as required by the stadium to ensure easy maintenance in the future. A smart power controller is connected to the stadium LAN which allows for PC control and monitoring of the screen’s power supply and ventilation system, giving the stadium total confidence that the system is operating normally.

The Scoreline™ computer system, manufactured by Pump Interactive, provides the stadium with a PC console to operate all screen graphics. Scoreline™ integrates with the match field statistics to offer the stadium an array of information that can be displayed on the screen to accompany the match clock and current game score.

Glenn Arboit, Manager, 1300SMILES Stadium  said “We needed to ensure that the screen upgrade met the requirements of hirers including the Cowboys but most importantly we wanted to make sure the fans enjoy a better product and experience at the game. On all counts we feel that we’ve successfully met the aims of this project and we’re very happy with the end product delivered”.

“Although only a small screen, this project has offered all the same challenges we face with any larger screen installation in the tropics”, commented Mal Chandler, Head of Sales at Techtel. “We’re very proud of the successful implementation and even more pleased to have been involved with the stadium and the Cowboys during their premiership season”.

The 1300Smiles Stadium LED screen was installed in July 2015, enhancing the at-game experience for fans at the last five home games of the Cowboys’ 2015 NRL season.

Screen Systems "Wincaps Q-Live" Listed in Editor’s Best of 2015

Techtel and vendor partner, Screen Systems, are delighted to learn that Screen's professional live subtitle and caption creation software Wincaps Q-Live has been selected to feature in TM Broadcast International’s round-up of the best products of 2015.

With a professional respeaker (voicewriter) demonstrating the accuracy of the the voice-recognition in Q-Live, the TM Broadcast editorial team were shown at NAB 2015 how software supports the creation and preparation of subtitling for live and fast-turnaround programmes bringing together high-end live and offline subtitling techniques in a single package.

Read the TM Broadcast International Best of 2015 Here

Want more information on Wincaps Q-Live? Click here.