Press Releases: Latest News

APTN Master Control Room Goes Digital with Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular System

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28 January, LONDON -- Associated Press Television News (APTN) has purchased Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular equipment to continue the development of its recently digitised new Master Control Room infrastructure.

Designed to offer every operational convenience, the IQ Modular range has the advantage of in-built intelligence in every module. This means that each card knows its own function, status and menu-structure and can give this information direct to the control system.

According to APTN's Director of Technology, Nick Evansky, "News is a challenging, competitive and high profile broadcast market, so reliability and image quality is vital. Moreover, we need to know precisely the status of each bit of equipment."

The APTN News Service delivers 15 regionally tailored bulletins per day, each containing approximately 12 stories. In addition, clients have access to flash material of the latest events; live transmissions; and special reports.

Video gathered from APTN's extensive bureaux network is delivered to London for editorial review, editing and compilation. The incoming video feeds can sometimes vary in quality. The IQ range is configured to handle all types of signals, formats and standards worldwide.

Evansky adds, "I require a technical infrastructure that is 24/7 reliable and uninterruptible to handle the volume of information being processed each day, especially with the possibility of a Middle East conflict. That's why we specified IQ Modular. Future support and expansion was also key to our decision and Snell and Wilcox are committed to providing this type of service."

Additionally, the Snell & Wilcox RollCall™ networked control and monitoring system was chosen to interface with an Omnibus newsroom automation system, and BBC Technology's Broadcast Network Control System (BNCS™).

RollCall provides effective and efficient broadcast system operation. The status and adjustment of equipment, of both Snell & Wilcox and other manufacturers, can be easily and rapidly accessed from one, or many, points - as needed - on a local to global scale. This further provides instant fault identification and accessibility should anything go wrong.

Electronic Media Systems were responsible for integrating the MCR infrastructure. Snell & Wilcox provided full training to APTN MCR staff for digital environment operations.

David Cunningham, Press Relations Manager, Snell & Wilcox, Southleigh Park, Southleigh Park House, Havant, Hampshire, UK PO9 2PE, UK
Tel: +44 23 9248 9144
Email: david.cunningham@snellwilcox.com