(click thumbnail)Richard CernyQ. What kind of products or services does your company offer for broadcasters?
A. We make fiber optic systems for television broadcast production. We are best known for supplying video, audio and communications systems in the mobile environment, whether it’s NTSC for a high school, HD for the Super Bowl or 3D HD for some of the most exciting entertainment on the planet. It is our goal to ensure broadcasters can always “get the shot” and do it on lightweight fiber cable that saves them time and money in the field.
Q. What’s new that you will show at the NAB Show and what should broadcasters look for there?
A. We will be showing several new products and a few integrated product solutions in Las Vegas this year. Look for the DiamondBack™ 4x4 that transports four NTSC video signals in each direction plus Ethernet and lots of audio channels. This box is great for announcer booths in which analog monitoring still plays a large role. Having the Ethernet path available is great for access to real-time scoring through the Internet.
We will also be showing an interrelated family of optical multiplexers that take the cost out of field cabling and fiber infrastructures. Our Python™ handles the HD/SDI, our Teleport™ handles all camera signals with just one fiber pair and the TeleThon™ does the work of both in a single 1 RU frame.
We are also ramping up our participation in the Ross openGear alliance. Look for several new modules built for that platform. We’ll have some fun camera support products as well.
Q. How is your new product offering different from what’s available on the market?
A. What distinguishes our products is our focus on the way fiber needs to be used by broadcasters. We’re continually creating more powerful fiber engines and innovative ways to package our equipment to accommodate the changes in how events are covered. Since HD is now mainstream, there is much more reliance on fiber transport and a greater need for application-specific fiber solutions. Whether customers need an HD flypack or a fully functioning announcer booth thousands of feet away from the truck compound, Telecast makes all the gear that puts it onto one tough little cable.
Q. Where are you based, and how many employees do you have? Anything else we should know about your company?
A. We are based in Worcester, Mass. and have 48 employees. We have been providing fiber solutions since 1991, and we were one of the first companies to design systems for moving HD video. Our very first HD systems were used on the ocean floor for the Titanic Live program in 1998.
