Sunbelt Communications' KVBC-TV Channel 3, an NBC affiliate station serving the Las Vegas metro area, recently selected a Studer OnAir 3000 digital broadcast desk to replace the analog console in its news production studio. The new desk was chosen as part of a full facilities upgrade as the station transitions to HD before the end of the year.

The OnAir 3000 design is based on a modular control surface and a DSP engine. Each fader module includes six fader strips, and up to eight fader modules can be accommodated for a maximum of 48 on-surface faders. Three main stereo mix buses are featured in addition to an audition bus, four stereo auxiliary buses, 16 mix-minus/aux sends and three independent studio monitoring circuits.

The new OnAir 3000 features 24 on-surface faders and will accommodate 16 mic/line sources, eight line-level sources and 24 AES-format digital sources, routing to 16 analog and 24 digital output ports. Current playback sources include a Thompson/GVG Profile Media Platform server for digitized video and audio files. An Omneon Spectrum is planned for the new HD operation. News clips are replayed from a BitCentral Oasis server.

"Obviously, for our all-digital HD operation, we are looking for an all-digital audio signal path," KVBC-TV Chief Engineer Mark Guranik said. "The cost-effective combination of Studer sound quality, service reputation, full assignability of inputs and outputs, and total recall of all system settings will be a definite advantage for our upgraded news operation."