France 24 has deployed an Omneon Video Networks Spectrum media server system to support tapeless operations in its new headquarters in Paris.
The 24-hour all-news French network has 200 reporters in Paris and correspondents all over the world feeding stories and pictures to a 9842sq-ft facility that opened in December 2006. The fully mirrored Omneon Spectrum server stores content used for television broadcast and on an interactive Web site under the direction of Harris media asset management (MAM).
In February 2006, the news channel and systems integrator Avid Technology began installing an all-digital infrastructure during a 10-month period. The technical specifications required video servers capable of running the DVCPRO 25 codec while simultaneously monitoring continuity.
At the news channel, content is produced in an Avid News environment. Using an Omneon ConformTool software plug-in installed on two transfer managers, the file editor sends content to playback, allowing the edited sequence to be transferred automatically to the broadcast server. When the Harris MAM detects the content’s arrival on the primary server, it sends a duplicate to the backup.
France 24’s Omneon Spectrum system handles input/output ports, as well as read/write access to clip databases via Video Disk Command Protocol (VDCP).
File transfers between video and storage servers for third-party platforms are executed using FTP and CIFS protocols.
For more information, visit www.omneon.com.