Digital terrestrial broadcaster Kita Nihon Broadcast (KNB) has begun feeding HD news broadcasts to Japan's Toyama Prefecture, (a geographic region similar to a state in the U.S.), using a fully redundant Omneon Spectrum HD server and Omneon ProBrowse system.

The server system and media proxy software are designed to integrate with editing and newsroom control systems to enable quick access to HD. KNB said it's the first terrestrial digital content provider to offer HD newscasts from a commercial broadcaster's local bureau.

To support its HD operations, KNB is using a Spectrum server system with four input- and three playout-channels -- along with a backup Spectrum server with four input- and two output-channels. Each system provides 35 hours of storage capacity (MPEG-2 HD at 50 Mbps) and supports four channels of embedded audio.

KNB said four Avid Newscutter Adrenaline HD units are being networked with an Avid Unity production server, and all content is registered from Avid NLEs to the Omneon server system. An HDCAM VTR and remote line are linked to Avid NLEs that also control one of the Omneon input ports via a BWV/VDCP (video disc control protocol) converter. The main Omneon server is controlled by Panasonic's one-touch controller, and a manual playout controller developed by Avid Technology.