RGB Completes the HD Upgrade of Shalom TV – India

The year 2017 has been good for RGB Broadcasting so far. Recently, we bagged a major HD upgrade project with Shalom TV. This project gave us a lot of opportunities to implement our vast knowledge, experiences, and technical expertise. As with other projects, we have had faced challenges while implementation. What are they? Read this post to know more.

A Brief Introduction to Shalom TV

Shalom TV is a regional channel in Kerala with a mass following of Catholic Christian Community. The channel broadcasts various religion-based programs, as well as musical shows, interviews, family-based programs, etc. During the 1990’s, Shalom group started a programming block on Asianet (Kerala’s first private channel, and leading Malayalam channel). However, it started broadcasting os a channel in 2005. Today, the channel has expanded its operations in the North Americas and Europe. Currently, Shalom TV operates the following:

• Shalom India Satellite Channel
• Shalom India YouTube
• Shalom India Streaming
• Shalom Europe Streaming
• Shalom America Streaming

Broadcasting Challenges Faced by Shalom TV

Shalom TV’s broadcast facility included a Playout room, Ingest room and Central Apparatus Room (CAR). The channel used a router, frames, clean switch, and the playout software.

In the last few years, the demand for High Definition (HD) technologies has grown tremendously. The reducing costs of HD equipments and the availability of various HD functionalities have made small prayer groups, and mid-sized houses of worship to consider HD as an option. At Shalom TV, the search began for an integrator who’d help them transform the standard definition format into a HD workflow. Its existing facility was not sufficient to meet the demands of HD technologies. With a viewership spanning across North Americas and UK, another big challenge for the Shalom TV management was to provide the content in the very best quality. Thus, a search began for the reliable integrator at Shalom TV headquarters.

After a rigorous scrutiny, RGB was chosen as the lead project integrator and facilitator.

RGB’s Contribution in the Shalom TV HD Upgrade Project

RGB’s scope of work included the following:

• Migrating to the new playout without disturbing the workflow.
• Setting up infrastructure that comprised Ross OG3-FR-CN Frame and Glues, EMC Isilon Storage, Ross NK-3G34 Router, Polaris Play Ingest Software, and Harmonic Media Deck Server for the 3 channel playout plus ingest facility.

In addition to the above discussed, the RGB team managed to complete the entire upgrade, installation, and training in the stipulated time.

Benefits of Shalom HD Upgrade

• Picture Clarity: Shalom TV HD offers is now offering 5 times resolution than the Standard Definition TV (SDTV). This has helped increase the sharpness. Viewers can easily see the specs of color in the background of a priest chanting sermons. The color perfection helps enrich a visual experience.
• Excellent Audio: Like any other HDTV channel, viewers can enjoy Shalom TV in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, if required. Brilliant audio-visual enriches their experience.
• Minimized Downtime: The Polaris Play Ingest software has helped minimize downtime. The software can easily preload 50 programs. This means, in case of a system failure or power outage, operators can broadcast non-stop for 2-3 hours.

To know more about our HD upgrade expertise, please feel free to contact us anytime.