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MillimeterKLRN-TV Invests in Clarity Pixel Power System
Aug 1, 2002 12:00 PM, Press Release
Pixel Power (www.pixelpower.com) today announced that KLRN-TV Channel 9 in San Antonio, Texas, has purchased its Clarity2 Dual Channel SD Graphics System. KLRN-TV covers a 30 county region in the South and Central Texas area.
To move into the digital broadcast arena, KLRN needed a system that could be used for its current analog production and which would fit their long-term requirements for HD television broadcasting. Although KLRN doesn't currently have the HD option for the Clarity system, they expect to order it within the year. Because KLRN will be broadcasting some high-definition programming and eventually producing HD content as well, they want to maintain their graphic look and provide their own high-definition graphics for station branding during programming breaks.
Clarity is a multi-channel solution for the character generation, still store, and animated graphics requirements of television broadcasters and postproduction companies. Available in standard, high definition, and combined HD/SD configurations, Clarity is the only character generator and graphics system that can simulcast both standard and high-definition video from a single system. Pixel Power's Clarity graphics system provides multi-format support with flexible hardware and software configurations to address the demanding requirements of broadcast, postproduction, and graphics production.
Charles Vaughn, senior vice president of telecommunications for KLRN, says, "We looked at Clarity and other systems in the market, and we liked the features we saw in Clarity. We believe that even though it is computer-based, it is by design an online broadcast piece of equipment. We do a lot of live presentations, and it has a good user interface for live television. We felt that the quality of the output was a large consideration, and Clarity's output is the best we've seen. We also liked the integrity of the graphics and the stability of the system. We're interested in Clarity's ability to interact with other information systems to automatically provide portal graphics."
A main factor for KLRN in choosing a new graphics system was the upward mobility path available with Clarity. They investigated many other systems but felt that Clarity provided the best long-term investment since it could handle both standard and high-definition video in a single unit.
Mr. Lewis Miller, vice president of engineering, says, "We're now implementing some of the unique things we intended to use it for. For instance, we wanted to have the character generator to be fully capable and controlled from three different locations " One station is located in the studio/video control room, a second is in an edit suite, and the third is located in master control.
Both Vaughn and Miller emphasize that of all of the Clarity's advantages, the key one is that the system is easily upgradeable to HD. Four weeks ago KLRN had their annual nine-day television auction, which was Clarity's first big test. KLRN went on-air at 6:30 p.m. and finished the live auction in the studio at 2 a.m. Mr. Miller says, "Clarity held up extremely well and we were very satisfied with the performance of Clarity".
About KLRN: KLRN-TV Channel 9 in San Antonio, Texas, is licensed to the Alamo Public Telecommunications Council (APTC). The studios are located in downtown San Antonio. The station provides public television services for a 30-county region in South and Central Texas.
About Pixel Power: Established in 1987, Pixel Power is dedicated to providing broadcasters and facilities with powerful graphics and character-generator products. With a flexible, professional range of award-winning products, Pixel Power has over 1300 systems installed worldwide.
Pixel Power Ltd.'s corporate headquarters is located in Cambridge, England, with a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Pixel Power Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla. Pixel Power maintains its global presence through a worldwide network of distributors. www.pixelpower.com.
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