Grass Valley Group Achieves First European Implementation Of Profile Netw ork Archive (PNA) At Viasat

Amsterdam, IBC, 8 September, 2000 — Viasat has become the first European broadcaster to implement the new Profile Network Archive architecture from the Grass Valley Group. Profile Network Archive provides an affordable, scalable storage solution for broadcasters and video professionals.

CJDS DAL, who supplied the core automation and worked as systems integrator, has installed the Profile Network Archive architecture at the Viasat facility together with three Profile^® XP video servers, the latest evolution of the Grass Valley Group Profile line, which was introduced at IBC '99.

The Profile Network Archive architecture connects the Profile XP Media Platforms and video servers to Viasat's Ampex DST library system at West Drayton, close to London Heathrow Airport, via a Fibre Channel network. This allows multiple Profile XP Media Platforms and video servers to have access to the library. As well, additional Profile devices can easily be added to the system for future expansion or redundancy.

Rod Fairweather, general manager of Digital Automation, which provides and oversees the playout operations team at Viasat, commented, "we have used Grass Valley Group video server equipment for some time now and have found it to be extremely reliable so when it came to expanding the storage and distribution capacity of the station, the combination of the Profile Network Archive Server and the Profile XP Media Platform was the obvious choice."

At Viasat, which transmits twelve channels of broadcast programmes to Scandinavian subscribers, the PNA is used both for long-term storage as well as storing "high repeat factor" material.

Material is transferred over the network between the Ampex DST library and Profile XP Media platforms dedicated to distribution. When required it can then be moved to an existing bank of Profile PDR300 devices, which are used for transmission.

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Notes to Editors

The Grass Valley Group knows more about high-quality video than anybody else—especially as video goes digital. Interactive television. Digital cinema. Data-enhanced broadcasting. Internet. It's a world of Digicasting™—of Media Without Bounds™. Whether online or on the air, the Emmy^® award-winning Grass Valley Group, a privately held digital media leader, has the hardware, software, and new media technologies necessary to get content wherever it needs to go. For the latest Grass Valley Group product information, visit /.

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