PBS to Use Omneon Servers, Cooperate on Technology

PBS will use Omneon's Media Server System for its Technical Operations Center in Alexandria, Va. PBS and Omneon have also agreed to collaborate on joint development of video server technology to meet the requirements of PBS and member stations.

The system is a redundant configuration using Omneon's new MCP 2101 MediaServer. The system provides 9 TB of storage and 45 channels of MPEG-2 content, as either SDI baseband I/O or as DVB/ASI MPEG transport streams. In addition, the server system provides multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports that will be used to transfer content as files to and from digital archive devices and PBS facilities.

The technology partnership will allow the companies to share project and development plans at early stages in order to optimize resources and guarantee that projects and products meet the objectives of both groups. The partnership will also enable PBS and Omneon to leverage the common server infrastructure to support content and multiple applications that will simplify operations and lower operating costs.