WYES Gets Cooking With Utah Scientific
UTAH-400 Router and Utah Master Control Support Digital Upgrade at New Orleans Station
SALT LAKE CITY -- Aug. 2, 2010 -- WYES, a New Orleans PBS affiliate, has deployed routing and master control solutions from Utah Scientific as part of a digital upgrade that is advancing the station's ability to add channels to better serve viewers. WYES is also relying on the new technical infrastructure for local production, most recently taping a 26-episode cooking series starring renowned chef John Besh that will air nationally in 2011.
"Production deadlines meant the technical project had to be completed in a hurry, and the Utah Scientific system worked perfectly from the get-go," said WYES Chief Engineer Fred Barrett. "In particular, we appreciated that the SC-4 control software made the panels and master control switcher very easy for our operators to use."
WYES' new routing system comprises a UTAH-400 V-288R routing switcher, loaded to 128x128; Utah SC-4 control; a Utah MCP-2020 master control panel; and five MC-400 master control switchers. The set-up replaces an analog router and a separate master control switcher which were sorely in need of replacement.
The WYES engineering team considered router and master control systems from a number of providers, and then selected Utah Scientific for one overarching reason -- cost-effectiveness, both in terms of investment and operation. For example, the UTAH-400 router builds in flexibility to allow WYES to go from its present 1080i infrastructure to 1080p with no need for optional features or a costly future upgrade. Likewise, the system can handle legacy controls and router heads, since not all existing WYES equipment needed immediate replacement.
More bottom-line benefits to WYES include software control panels for the router and master control that afford fast, easy set-up, operation, and backup from a laptop; the ability to segregate the router's I/O to reduce the possibility of human error; and Utah Scientific's 10-year, no-cost, 24/7 service warranty, which is the best in the industry. Utah Scientific also worked with WYES to provide the required five channels of master control in a configuration that was maximally affordable and functional.
"Television stations are taking advantage of advances in digital routing and master control technology to add channels, making more and better-targeted information and entertainment available to their viewers," said Tom Harmon, president and CEO of Utah Scientific. "We're glad to work with stations like WYES not only to make this vision for the future possible, but also to make it affordable."
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About WYES
WYES is a partnership between citizens, foundations, businesses, and local, state, and federal governments, working together toward the education and development of our community. The mission of the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Foundation is to inform, teach, illuminate, and inspire the many different audiences that make up our community, state, and nation through a variety of telecommunications and outreach activities being ever responsive to the public's varied needs in education, public, and cultural affairs and entertainment. WYES' local award-winning productions showcase what is unique and interesting about our people, city, and region.
About Utah Scientific, Inc.
Utah Scientific is the world's leading specialist in analog, digital, and HDTV routing switchers, master control switchers, and related control software. For more than 30 years, the company has provided industry-leading products and best-in-class service and support as recognized, again in 2009, by Frost & Sullivan with its Customer Service Leadership Award and demonstrated by the industry's first no-fee 10-year warranty. Additional information about the company can be found at www.utahscientific.com.
