Volicon exceeds expectations

All television broadcast stations within Quincy Newspapers Inc. group (QNI) have extended their use of Observer video monitoring and logging technology to support their promotional efforts more effectively. Volicon's Observer has been part of broadcast operations at Quincy stations since 2007, providing around-the-clock recording and monitoring of all off-air content. Now the Observer TS MPEG transport stream monitoring and logging system also supports the company's efforts to create powerful and timely promotions.

Promotion, and how effective you are with it, is what's important in news. Though Quincy bought the Volicon Observer as a verification tool that would enable anyone in the company to look back and confirm that a spot aired correctly, and it performs this job very well; today its value in promotions is the most compelling benefit for QNI stations.

The Observer TS enables continuous logging of MPEG transport streams, monitoring of program quality of experience, and the seamless export and streaming of MPEG-TS or low-resolution proxies across the enterprise or WAN. When breaking news occurs, staff members at Quincy stations can quickly pull HD-quality clips from logged content for proof of performance or to complement a newscast promo. Because the Observer TS system logs the full high-resolution MPEG transport stream, Quincy users can simply pull the stream, locate and extract the appropriate clip, and drop it into a nonlinear editor for editing. The Observer TS system makes this workflow possible right out of the box.

By logging the native MPEG-TS, the Observer TS also greatly simplifies troubleshooting and regulatory proof of conformance. Quincy stations also take advantage of added Observer functionality, including integrated quality and loudness controls.