Volicon expands Observer product line

Volicon will introduce three new additions to its Observer product line at the 2011 NAB Show, including ASI/transport stream logging, loudness monitoring and AC-3 decoding features, building upon the existing Observer framework.

With the new features, Volicon said Observer now provides reliable, robust tools for measuring, monitoring, logging and alerts, all available through a unified Web interface that eliminates reliance on third-party hardware, rack space and support.

The new Observer ASI/transport stream monitoring and logging system gives broadcasters, networks and cable operators the ability to handle MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 transport streams and retain the content and extensive metadata carried within them. This new interface simplifies signal flow, allows for greater signal density and flexibility, and enables full-quality content logging, thereby opening the door to new uses, such as rebroadcasting high-resolution data, interactive content and dialnorm reporting, for logged content. Using the system for compliance logging and air checks, operators can easily extract MPEG metadata and troubleshoot the MPEG transport stream live or from the Observer log.

With new loudness-measuring technology, Observer provides continuous measurements identifying program loudness and true-peak signal levels. Observer’s compliant, integrated loudness monitoring simplifies the overall monitoring workflow and adds value by eliminating the hassle and cost of working with external systems.

The AC-3 decoding option makes it easy for operators to capture and log HD/SD-SDI content without the need for an external decode. Now rather than send audio through a separate processing workflow using third-party systems, broadcasters can send HD-SDI with AC-3 embedded stereo or 5.1 audio directly to the Observer system.

See Volicon at the 2011 NAB Show in Booth SU5902.