New Thomson Grass Valley Video Gateway, RAID Array Offer File Transfer Efficiency, Prolonged Operation for Server Customers
(International Broadcasting Convention 2002 – Booth 8.151) Amsterdam, 12 September 2002 – Minimizing media network bottlenecks and bandwidth inefficiencies—and extending the life of existing server infrastructures—Thomson Grass Valley introduced the SL1000 Video Gateway and PFP-RAID storage array at IBC 2002. The products are available through the business' Customer Support Service arm, which also announced a comprehensive set of SupportPRO services for Thomson Grass Valley customers.
"Ensuring that customers realize the greatest capital and workflow efficiencies from their investments is our highest priority," said Marc Valentin, vice president for the Thomson Grass Valley business. "With products and services like those announced today, we continue to lead the broadcast industry in terms of customer training and customer support."
Video Gateway Speeds File Transfers
The Thomson Grass Valley SL1000 Video Gateway is a wide area networking technology that offers seamless file transfers between Profile® family servers operating in multiple locations—regardless of the distance—by extending their Fibre Channel network. Designed for the Emmy® award-winning Profile line, this self-contained system transfers video, audio, timecode, and ancillary data at faster-than-real-time or near-real-time speeds using wide area networks (WANs). In so doing it reduces bandwidth costs and minimizes the expense of tape handling and consolidating facilities to provide hub-like distribution services.
The SL1000 gateway provides open, standards-based, connections between the Profile systems at remote sites on an IP-based WAN. It uses Fibre Channel and Gigibit Ethernet technologies to deliver data via provisioned telecommunications circuits. By packaging data using the industry-standard SMPTE 360M file format, the SL1000 gateway eliminates generation loss as well as the need to QA material after transfer. And it enables users to adjust video data transport rates to meet cost or time-delivery requirements.
The turnkey Thomson Grass Valley SL1000 Video Gateway system is backed by a one-year Customer Support Services warranty and includes the SVS Software Management System, which gathers statistics, logs events, and provides connectivity to SNMP devices and management applications.
To simplify the gateway's installation and ensure peak system performance, Thomson Grass Valley is offering an installation package that includes all the necessary hardware and software to reliably connect two independent facilities, including on-site engineering and support services.
Pricing for the SL1000 Video Gateway system package starts at $67,000 (USD)
RAID System Extends Life of PDR Series Servers
Thomson Grass Valley also announced today the availability of a new RAID storage system to extend the life of PDR Series Profile servers. The PFP-RAID storage system features four channels and is available in 36 GB or 73 GB configurations that support 22 and 38 hours of material storage at 24 Mb/s, respectively. This 10-drive rack mount chassis is the only alternative RAID solution that has been qualified by Thomson Grass Valley to work with the PDR Series.
Pricing for the PFP-RAID system starts at $27,500 (USD)
Comprehensive SupportPRO Services Launched
A newly developed suite of SupportPRO services offered by Thomson Grass Valley includes long-term product support contracts with advanced exchange of parts, priority technical support, and on-site engineering. For first-time customers, a StartPRO service contract provides initial on-site verification of installation parameters and a brief product overview. A BenchPRO Support Contract is available on an annual basis for repair and return of products. When on-going product maintenance is critical, a PreventativePRO contract provides for regular visits by a Thomson Grass Valley field engineer.
Originally focused on helping customers develop and install digital video and audio server networks, NetPRO Professional Services are now available for all Thomson products. The business' experienced consultants can provide the topology plan necessary to build a network, keep it up and running, and accommodate future expansion.
More information about the variety of SupportPRO services can be found at www.thomsongrassvalley.com/support.
About Thomson
With sales of 10.5 billion Euros (U.S. $ 9.3 billion) in 2001 and 73,000 employees in more than 30 countries, Thomson (Euronext: 18453) (NYSE: TMS), provides a wide range of video (and enabling) technologies, systems, finished products and services to consumers and professionals in the entertainment and media industries. To advance and enable the digital media transition, Thomson has five principal activities: Digital Media Solutions, Displays and Components, Consumer Products, Patents and Licensing and New Media Services. The company distributes its products and services under the THOMSON, RCA and TECHNICOLOR brand names. For more information: www.thomson-multimedia.com.
A business within Thomson Digital Media Solutions, Thomson Grass Valley delivers open, integrated digital products that work together along the entire digital video chain to support a variety of workflows, from content capture and acquisition through production, post production, and transmission. With a proven track record in broadcast, including 17 Emmy® and multiple industry awards, it offers an award-winning, robust product portfolio that touches more high-quality content than any other; product and systems expertise that has yielded hundreds of patents and a number of industry standards; and worldwide software engineering expertise and customer support teams that are second to none.
For information about Thomson Grass Valley products please visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.
Grass Valley Group, 400 Providence Mine Road, Nevada City, CA 95959. Tel: 888-526-8554 ; Fax: 503-627-5224.