BEAVERTON, Ore., Jan. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, an
industry-leading innovator of video quality monitoring solutions,
today announced that Griffin Communications, a multi-media and
broadcasting company based in Oklahoma
City, is using the Sentry series of video network monitors
to gain deep insight into the video and audio quality of experience
(QoE) it is delivering to viewers and to demonstrate compliance
with the CALM Act for audio loudness as well as with close
captioning requirements.
Like most broadcasters around the USA, Griffin Communications faces a growing
challenge to ensure compliance with a complex maze of regulations
and to keep tabs on the QoE it delivers to viewers.
"With all the various pieces of content it is becoming harder
and harder to do a complete QC on every piece of video before it
goes to air," said Jack Mills,
Director of Engineering for KWTV/News 9, a CBS affiliate in
Oklahoma City that Griffin
Communications owns and operates. "We spend a lot of time and
effort to ensure video and audio quality, but if the captioning
isn't there or the audio doesn't completely comply with the CALM
Act, we need to know about it."
To that end, Griffin Communications installed Sentry Edge video
network monitors across its broadcast facilities and stations in
Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Optimized for monitoring program
content, Sentry Edge provides unique insight into video and audio
QoE, including compliance to the CALM Act and the presence of
closed captions. Sentry Edge also provides full reporting and
alerting capabilities along with detailed statistics and simplified
graphs.
"It's amazing all the video and audio content we have flowing
through our facility every day across transmissions, microwave
systems and everything else. But all of it ends up in that one
spigot and its very nice to know that Sentry is there letting us
know if we have an issue or not," explained Brandon Tyler, Engineering Operations
Supervisor, for Griffin Communications. "We also like the fact that
Sentry keeps a 60-day log for us. So if someone were to say 'two
weeks ago you had a problem,' we could refer back to the log to see
that no we didn't or yeah, we did."
A big advantage of Sentry for the busy engineering staff at
Griffin has been its reliability and ease of use. "Once we set
Sentry up with everything we wanted to monitor such as CALM
compliance, bit rate and a few other things, it's been set it and
forget it," said Mills. "It's very easy to get in there and
generate reports or diagnose something quickly and just about
anybody on our staff can do that. And when we've needed it, such as
during initial set up, the support from Tektronix has been
incredible."
The Sentry system was recently put to the test when the Oklahoma
Association of Broadcasters conducted a mock FCC inspection of
Griffin's operation, which the broadcaster passed with flying
colors. "They liked what we were doing especially with Sentry,"
Mills said. "We showed them the log and were able to demonstrate
compliance. From a legal standpoint, Sentry provides peace of mind
that we are in compliance."
Griffin Communications is a dynamic and growing Oklahoma owned and operated multi-media
company, reaching over 90 percent of Oklahoma households with television stations,
a statewide radio network, Internet sites and mobile information
distribution.
Wondering what else Tektronix is up to? Check out the
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About Tektronix
Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix delivers
innovative, precise and easy-to-operate test, measurement and
monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights and drive
discovery. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age
for over 65 years. Join us on the journey of innovation at
www.tektronix.com.
Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other
trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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SOURCE Tektronix, Inc