02-22-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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NMTV HD Equipment Upgrade Project Summary Current Equipment North Metro TV has reached the point where several of its aging video systems must be replaced. The production truck, master control and our two studios are experiencing multiple, compounding problems that are becoming more difficult and more expensive to fix, if they can be fixed at all. Complicating the need to replace equipment, is the need to move from one video format to another. All of NMTV's current electronics are either analog or standard digital (SD). The video world moved on from those formats years ago, replacing them with high definition (HD) video. All community television facilities are facing the same issue, and many of them have either transitioned or are in the process of doing so. HD Format HD is the current video standard. Viewers own HD televisions and subscribe to HD cable service. They are paying for an HD product and that is what they expect to see. (73% of Comcast subscribers pay for HD service. 100% of CenturyLink subscribers will have HD service.) It has become necessary to replace the major components of several video systems at North Metro TV. The equipment purchased to replace these components will have to be of the HD format. This will be a format change for North Metro TV. In order for these major components to be able to work within a system, the periphery equipment, such as monitors, audio, routing and wiring, must also be replaced. HD equipment and analog or SD equipment do not speak the same language. In order to speak the same language, and work together as a system, all of the equipment needs to be HD. (It is possible to buy special equipment to up -convert the old analog or standard digital signals to a signal HD equipment can understand, but this does not result in an HD final product.) Purchasing special equipment to up -convert signals is an expensive, temporary stop -gap. The most cost-effective solution is to upgrade the equipment systems at one time. Replacement Analysis Understanding the complexity of changing video formats, NMTV staff moved forward with an HD Equipment Replacement Analysis. Alpha Video was chosen to conduct the study and to prepare recommendations for upgrading the entire NMTC facility to the HD format.