RF Technology & Leitch Provide Unique Solution to WTNH
The system supports the transmission of two ATSC-compliant data streams across a 7GHz STL with a composite channel data rate of 45Mb/s.
An integral part of the solution was Leitch's DigiBus MPEG-2 compression system—a main-level, main-profile, fully scalable compression system, offering flexibility in control of GOP, bit rate and 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 format. The DigiBus compression system provides broadcast-quality signals on leased lines, ATM networks and satellites and enables users to exchange pre- and post-edited material via standard DS3 telephone lines. For WTNH-TV, it provided transport stream multiplexing of the two ATSC inputs before the combined signal was modulated and transmitted across the ACL microwave link.
The second ATSC channel will be used in the future to provide a high-definition feed for the area's WB affiliate WBNE-TV (operated by LIN through an LMA).
One of the more impressive aspects of the system is the fact that the microwave link is routed through a passive repeater system on a downtown New Haven office building, proving how robust a digital STL can be.
WTNH-TV and its Indianapolis sister station, WISH-TV, also use Leitch Juno HDTV upconverters to convert standard-definition digital signals for many of their HDTV broadcasts. WTNH-TV, which began full-time broadcasting on December 4th of last year, broadcasts true 720P high-definition programming when a feed is available from ABC; at other times, the Leitch Juno upconverter is used to simulcast WTNH-TV programming.