Omneon Video Networks today announced that KBDI-Channel 12, a PBS member serving Denver and surrounding communities on the Colorado Front Range, has installed an Omneon Spectrum™ media server system for ingest and playback of material from the station's live productions, as well as satellite feeds and archived material.

"When I first learned about the Omneon Spectrum™ system, I said, 'This is the future,'" stated KBDI/12 Chief Engineer Richard Eversley. "I was impressed by both the server architecture and the forward thinking of the company, particularly with regard to working in a networked environment. The Omneon Spectrum's flexible-ingest rate, the quality of the picture output, and the system's ability to talk to various hardware controllers and file formats also are key features that simplify our operations and add to the quality of our broadcasts."

On its main channel, KBDI broadcasts a selection of television shows from PBS combined with innovative programming from independent filmmakers and local and international producers. A minimum of 11 in-house productions are created at the station each week. The Omneon Spectrum™ media server system ingests and stores this material for archiving, national distribution, or future playback on one of KBDI's two digital channels, one of which features PBS Kids programming while the other offers PBSU and other educational content. The Omneon server system works with an archive management software application to move content to and from an ASACA FireFly archive depending on the material's air date.

The Omneon system provides a reliable and scalable infrastructure for KBDI's playout and storage applications, and its open architecture allows it to support a broad variety of third-party applications for control and transmission, media management, archiving, and collaborative production. As a result, stored media can be shared among many users and applications.
Eversley said he is taking advantage of this functionality by integrating the Omneon Spectrum™ system with the facility's four edit suites, which are being transitioned to nonlinear, digital operation. By the end of the year, the server will be serving as a storage and playback source for G5 editors in a SAN environment.

The scalable, distributed architecture of the modular Omneon Spectrum™ server system will give KBDI flexibility in scaling system components and capacity through each phase of the station's transition to digital. Eversley said he anticipates that the station's Omneon Spectrum™ system will also be powering the station's digital channels around the clock as 2005 approaches.

Learn more about Omneon's server solutions at www.omneon.com.

About Omneon
Omneon is a leading provider of flexible media server and active storage systems that optimize workflow productivity and on-air reliability for the production, distribution, and management of digital media. Omneon is a pioneer in the use of advanced IT technologies and open systems for broadcast applications, producing a modular and expandable video server architecture in the Omneon Spectrum. The company's MediaGrid active storage system delivers centralized content storage that is scalable in capacity, bandwidth, and media-processing power. The company has an extensive global presence with customers in 45 countries on six continents. Omneon is on the Web at www.Omneon.com.

About KBDI/12
Colorado Public Television (KBDI/12) is a multimedia, public telecommunications service for the Colorado Front Range and beyond. As part of the PBS family, it seeks to inform, educate, and entertain with a wide variety of innovative, high-quality programming and related services. For 25 years it also has had a special commitment to address social issues and public concerns that are not otherwise adequately covered in the community.

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