Arizona Public Media (AZPM), the nonprofit public media organization at the University of Arizona, recently upgraded its existing UTAH-400 router (manufactured and installed in 2003) to now be compatible with 3Gb/s HD signals. The router is now populated with 112 x 96 SD I/O, 24 x 24 HD I/O, with one HD and four SD signal-processing modules.
In late 2008, when AZPM needed to expand the HD portion of the router, the broadcaster anticipated local production's eventual transition to 1080p video and opted for 3Gb/s I/O cards to accommodate the format. Utah Scientific engineers swapped out the plug-in I/O cards for the new multirate 3Gb/s HD cards. No other modification to the UTAH-400 router was required.
AZPM includes PBS stations KUAT Channel 6 and KUAS Channel 27, as well as public radio, AZpublicmedia.org, and develops award-winning local television productions. Its facilities are on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson. At AZPM, the UTAH-400 router and a Utah Scientific MC-2020 master control switcher support five broadcast streams of unique programming channels, plus local HD production and editing.
The router AZPM purchased in 2003 was the second UTAH-400 ever delivered. Populated 64 x 64 SD, it was selected as part of AZPM’s conversion of master control to an all-digital operation, which was the first step in its overall digital conversion. The public broadcaster installed the MC-2020 SD for master control at the same time, with the aim of implementing a simplified, single-format master control workflow that would expand incrementally with the addition of inputs and outputs and MC-2020 processor frames.
For more information, visit www.utahscientific.com.