In Broadcast - May 2012 - 46


WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 8 - MAY 2012

InTECH

Argosy Launch Mini BNC Connector
High-density BNC offers a space-saving solution without compromising mechanical reliability…
Argosy has always looked for new ways to support its broadcast customers to work more efﬁciently and cost-effectively. As an international supplier of HD broadcast cables and studio infrastructure products, Argosy recently partnered with Amphenol to offer a new mini BNC connector that provides a space-saving, highdensity solution that is ideal for OB trucks and compact routers. As another means of supporting customers’ requirements, Argosy offers an in-house assembly service to enable customers to purchase pre-terminated cables from a wiring schedule. They can extend this service to make up a myriad of termination panels including CAT5 and CAT6, XLR, BNC and ﬁbre, plus composite panels fabricated using connectors from the ever popular Neutrik range. Additionally Argosy is working closely with Belden to bring their 3GHz compression BNC to market with their popular range of video cables. The Brilliance HD family of BNC connectors, designed speciﬁcally for Belden Brilliance broadcast and professional AV coaxial cables, maximise broadcast signal integrity, quality, performance and durability providing unparalleled end-to-end performance. The connectors provide better than -20 dB return loss performance through 4.5 GHz, exceeding the SMPTE speciﬁcation requirements. The patented HD Brilliance 1-piece locking design features a screw-lock collar to physically lock the bayonet nut of the BNC in position limiting movement of the BNC head and creating coaxial alignment from the cable through the BNC centre pin. This delivers superior return loss performance. It is easy to ﬁt with brass construction and patented
Amphenol BNC

46

compression rings ensuring pull out forces exceeding 445 N depending on the cable type. Argosy also has the ability to bundle individual video, audio, data and mains cable with an overjacket to make a multi-way cable of choice. This method of ‘overjacketing’ has a dramatic effect on the time it takes to rig and de-rig installation at major OB events, saving a signiﬁcant amount of work on site by allowing the crew to pull in a single cable rather than multiple runs. For those considering installing ﬁbre connectivity, Argosy offers

a low-cost ﬁbre cleaning tool to ensure reliable signal transmission throughout the broadcast system. Shows such as NAB allow Argosy to not only showcase their latest products, but to discuss the latest trends in technology solutions with their customers. This feedback proves essential when commissioning new products adding to their comprehensive range, as and when the need arises. Argosy’s wide range of broadcast infrastructure products are based at its facilities in the UK (Buckinghamshire and Salford Quays), the UAE, India and Malaysia. ■

Bahrain TV And Masstech Sign Deal
The Kingdom of Bahrain’s national broadcaster and Masstech have embarked on an enterprise wide archiving and ﬁle based workﬂow project
The Information Affairs Authority’s (IAA) Bahrain Radio & Television division (BTV) has chosen Masstech, a provider of streamlined media asset management (MAM) solutions, to undertake an enterprise wide initiative using Masstech’s TOPAZ+XT version 7.5 to digitise and preserve all its content for optimal workﬂow efﬁciency. The ﬁrst of a kind project for the Kingdom of Bahrain will involve building a comprehensive digital archive for 55 years of BTV’s broadcast content, with capacity for decades to come. Bahrain TV is currently upgrading all six of its channels to HD and the TOPAZ archive will perform the material handling to Harmonic’s Omneon playout servers under the control of Pebble Beach automation for precise HD ﬁle based workﬂows. TOPAZ’s inline high speed transcoding (HQS) technology will enable interoperability for bridging workﬂows between BTV’s content creation platforms – these include Avid Interplay, Apple FCP and Adobe Premier. Shaima Al Hamid, Director of Technical Affairs at IAA said: “We chose Masstech because they have more built-in versatility to provide us with a complete solution for digital archiving, ingest, QC and metadata management. The TOPAZ system will enhance production giving our staff instant access to archived video footage with the ability to search and view low resolution proxies at their desktop. It is very important for us to preserve and protect our media assets as we invest in more channels and generate more content.” Masstech’s TOPAZ+XT, an allin-one HSM, CSM, HQS and MAM system facilitates metadata entries in Arabic and English to improve programme planning, coordination, reduce costs, and enable more streamlined operations. At BTV’s facility in Manama, the installation will comprise IBM servers, a DCS3700 150TB nearline cache, a Spectra multi-frame T950 LTO5 library, Pulsar-2 QC, 15 XTIngest appliances and Masstech’s patented DRAC redundancy – all integrated and managed by TOPAZ. Brad Redwood, VP Sales and Marketing at Masstech commented: “We are thrilled to be part of Bahrain TV’s transformation – accelerating the migration from videotape to digital archiving. In our tenth anniversary as a MAM leader, we are excited to welcome BTV to Masstech’s global family of installations. “For over a decade, we have been delivering MAM solutions to leading broadcasters who value our highly skilled support services and capitalise on the full beneﬁts of streamlined asset management. TOPAZ’s scalable open platform with interfaces to new media and business systems will support the Kingdom’s ambitious expansion plans for years to come.” The features of TOPAZ+XT were demonstrated by Masstech at NAB. ■

TOPAZ workﬂow
http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_tab_home_top http://www.twitter.com/inbroadcast http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/inbroadcast/id468652679?mt=8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzEatLsHdE&feature=youtube_gdata_player http://www.facebook.com/pages/InBroadcast-e-zine/226166444076212 http://WWW.INBROADCAST.COM http://www.argosycable.com/product.asp?urn=11240&c_urn=240 http://masstech.com/products/topaz%E2%84%A2/
In Broadcast - May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - May 2012
