KTLA Takes Pasadena Rose Parade Worldwide in HD With Help From Telairity H.264 Encoders

KTLA Takes Pasadena Rose Parade Worldwide in HD With Help From Telairity H.264 Encoders

KTLA becomes first station in the USA to expand HD coverage to live field reporting by equipping its fleet of ENG vehicles with the latest affordable HD technology

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles superstation KTLA added a new component this year to its annual New Years' Day global telecast of the famed Pasadena Rose Parade: high definition video streams compressed by Telairity BH8100 encoders using H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) technology and relayed through a portable microwave transmitter.

To ensure uninterrupted service for the annual event, the station established three HD backhauls using Telairity BH8100 encoders, transmitting a microwave signal from the parade to the station's tower at the top of Mount Wilson above Pasadena. While the Rose Parade primary backhaul was encoded in the JPEG2000 format, the use of the Telairity-supported H.264 system marked the first time an H.264 installation was viewed as a viable transmission path for one of the station's signature events.

The HD equipment used to telecast the Rose Parade marks the vanguard of a fleet of eight ENG vehicles scheduled to be put into service by KTLA for live HD field reporting over the next few months. Six are currently in service today. Each vehicle in this fleet will be equipped with a Telairity BH8100 encoder, the industry's first encoder expressly designed for HD backhaul applications. KTLA also expects to equip its news helicopter for HD using a ruggedized Telairity BH8100 encoder specially designed for aerial use.

The oldest commercially licensed TV station west of the Mississippi river, KTLA has a tradition of innovation in broadcasting. KTLA switched its Emmy- winning newscasts to HD in January 2007, becoming just the second station in the LA market to transition from SD for studio news reporting. By taking advantage of newly affordable HD technology for ENG applications, including the BH8100 encoder from Telairity, KTLA now becomes the first station in the USA to switch to HD for live field reporting -- extending its long tradition of leadership.

Cost-effective Telairity BH8100 encoders deliver great picture quality at very low bit rates because of their programmable video DSP technology which delivers a lighting-fast 500 billion operations per second, making possible "instant on" service for immediate signal availability, dual-redundant power supplies for fail-safe reliability, and simple front panel controls for easy field operation. Based on Telairity's proprietary T1P2000 video processors, Telairity BH8100 encoders combine leading-edge H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) compression technology -- making quality HD transmissions possible at data rates as low as 6 Mbps -- with low user-settable encode latencies ranging from 150ms to 750ms

Noted Howard Sachs, CEO of Telairity, "The selection of our BH8100 by a station of KTLA's prominence is very gratifying. We identified HD backhaul as a demanding new market for HD encoders over a year ago, and we're pleased that KTLA chose us over our competitors after a rigorous head-to-head evaluation."

About KTLA

KTLA, a CW affiliate, is a superstation in Los Angeles California owned by the Tribune Company. KTLA, the first commercially licensed TV station west of the Mississippi river (January 22, 1947), has long held a position of leadership among West Coast broadcasters. In January 2007, its 60 year history of achievement in broadcasting was honored with the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ever awarded to a TV station.

About Telairity

Telairity is a supplier of innovative real-time H.264/AVC (MPEG-4) video compression solutions for broadcasting, backhaul, IPTV, and related markets. The company's unique video processing technology, based on the Telairity T1P2000 multi-core video processor and associated direct-execution AVClairity video compression software, delivers the industry's lowest latency and best price/performance for real-time H.264 video encoders today, with unique features like "instant-on" service. The company is based in Santa Clara, Calif. Further information is available at http://www.telairity.com/.

Telairity and AVClairity are trademarks of Telairity, Inc. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Telairity, Inc.

CONTACT: Skip Ferderber of Skip Ferderber & Associates, +1-425-315-1724,
skip.ferderber@skipf1.com, for Telairity, Inc.; or Harlan McGhan of Telairity,
Inc., +1-408-764-0270, ext. 518, harlan@telairity.com

Web site: http://www.telairity.com/

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