Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced it will demonstrate at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show 2012 an automated audio loudness correction solution combined with the Tektronix Cerify automated file-based quality control platform.  By incorporating proven audio loudness correction technology used in the Dolby DP600, the demonstration will showcase how Cerify will not only be able to test audio/video content but automatically correct audio content in real time based on the test results.

Increasingly terrestrial and satellite broadcasters, Cable MSOs and Telco IPTV operators are being required to comply with audio regulatory requirements like the U.S. CALM act stipulated A/85 standards or the EBU R128 audio loudness standards. In the past, this typically required additional hardware components and new workflow steps, adding capital expense and longer workflows.

“As loudness has emerged as a concern around the world, we’ve increasingly heard from our customers about the need for an automated loudness solution integrated with file-based QC technologies that would eliminate the need for additional workflow steps,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “By working closely with Dolby, we’re able to demonstrate this world-class audio correction technology combined with software-based QC solutions that will help operators streamline their operations.”

The demonstration shows that by adding this new capability to Cerify, operators will be able to adopt a single-step process where QC (quality control) and correction operations can be completed in the time it used to take to perform just the QC step of the workflow. With this solution, there will no longer be a need for an additional correction step. This also reduces the complexity of requiring a MAM or automation system to digest information from a QC engine and make a decision about whether to send the content through a correction system.  The benefits to operators include lower capital expenditures, reduced integration complexity and shorter workflow length. Cerify is a fully automated system for performing quality control of file-based content during creation, post-production, ingest, transcode, archive and prior to transmission or use. Solutions range from windows-based PC standalone workstations to enterprise-wide solutions that interface to third party automation or asset management systems.

“We’re committed to making sure broadcasters and operators get pristine and consistent audio on air,” said Jason Power, senior director, Broadcast Audio Ecosystem, Dolby Laboratories. “We’re excited that Tektronix is working with Dolby to enable audio loudness correction that maximizes both quality and consistency.”

Availability
The new Dolby loudness correction technology for Cerify will be demonstrated at NAB Show 2012, April 16-19 in Las Vegas, at Tektronix booth N1023 & Dolby booth SU1212 with deployments planned for later in 2012.

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About Tektronix
For more than sixty five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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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.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, announced the company will showcase solutions specifically designed to further advance content quality monitoring for post production and broadcasters at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2012 Conference, April 16-19, in booth N1023.

Under the theme of “Realizing Content Quality from Production to the Home,” highlights for this year’s show include industry leading waveform monitors and rasterizers optimized for color grading, file-based video QC and video network monitoring. Tektronix is also featuring Steve Hullfish, accomplished editor and colorist, who will present techniques on how to use Waveform Monitors as artistic tools in color correction.  In the Tektronix booth #N1023, Steve will present a free 15 minute talk on How to Color Grade Video every 30 minutes on the half hour.

New Fully Featured WFM2200 Portable Waveform Monitors Helps Engineers in the Field
Intuitive to operate, the WFM2200 makes it easy for technicians to quickly and efficiently find, diagnose and fix signal or content quality problems in the field.  This portable HD, SD and 3G-SDI capable waveform monitor features a large, bright LED back-lit display, and a replaceable and rechargeable battery which eliminates down time. Its sharp “CRT-like” display helps broadcast engineers and technicians quickly identify signal issues and recognize problems within the video and audio signals. It also pairs signal generation with waveform analysis, making it ideal for verifying link performance between two broadcast facility devices.  The WFM2200 displays the external reference as an analog signal to check the quality of the video sync pulse signal, and the Tektronix patented timing display helps to ensure facility system timing.

The WFM2200 also offers support for ANC Data and SDI data monitoring, including closed caption and subtitle decoding, active format description detection and decoding, and VANC (vertical ancillary) data testing capabilities.

New WFM7200 Waveform Monitor and WVR7200 Rasterizer
Provide Content Quality Verification and Precision Adjustments While Achieving Artistic Excellence
The growth of HD television and digital cinema drive content producers to use higher resolution video formats in original production and post-production (digital masters) due to the increase in viewers’ expectations of content quality. The Tektronix WFM7200 waveform monitor and WVR7200 rasterizer help content providers verify the quality of video content and make precision adjustments that reduce the potential for gamut errors during the editing and format conversion process, effectively preventing client dissatisfaction and the need for costly rework. Advanced color gamut monitoring including Tektronix patented Luma Qualified Vector (LQV) and Spearhead gamut displays which, when working in conjunction with Diamond gamut display, provide the most comprehensive color gamut monitoring tool for precise color gamut adjustments. Both the WFM7200 and the WVR7200 support an extensive list of Dual Link signal formats as standard capability and have field upgradeable options to add support for high frame rate (1080P 50/60) formats and 3D formats.

Cerify Version 7.4 Keeps Pace with the File-based Workflow Evolution
Cerify automates the QC of file-based video and audio, and now includes a series of new enhancements in the version 7.4 software release. Significant speed improvements now enable Cerify to test content at many times faster than real-time. A growing list of supported codecs/wrappers enable Cerify to start processing files as they are being ingested, resulting in an improved workflow efficiency. Keeping pace with emerging new mezzanine standards, Cerify now supports testing of DNxHD and JPEG2000 mezzanine formats. The addition of teletext and DVB subtitling strengthens the existing 608/708 caption support.

New Generation TG8000 SD/HD/3G-SDI Video Generator for Comprehensive Test & Evaluation

The new TG8000 Signal Generator offers robust, comprehensive SD/HD and 3G-SDI signal generation for design and evaluation of professional video equipment such as routers, servers, encoders and transcoders.

The new SDI7 module provides support for a wide variety of formats and standards (including 3G-SDI, HD-SDI and SD-SDI) in a single module, which provides greater flexibility in generating a range of test patterns. SD/HD/3G-SDI generation with EMB audio and ANC Data provide the test density required for testing in manufacturing and installation in broadcast operations. The circle, multi-language text, and color logo overlays can be applied to the generated test signals to check aspect ratio, identify streams or apply station logos. A deep test signal library includes a moving zone plate test signal, critical when testing codecs.

New MTS4000 MPEG Analyzer for IP Video Quality and 10G Network Monitoring
The new MTS4000 MPEG Analyzer is ideal for the analysis and troubleshooting of audio/video and transport problems in 10G networks for fault isolation and root cause analysis.  Targeting a range of design, validation and test, field diagnostics and troubleshooting applications, the new MTS4000 offers unparalleled analysis capabilities for examining the video and audio quality of IP and RF transported video services.

The low base price and modular nature of the MTS4000 ensures a wide range of connectivity and software analysis options so customers can customize it to meet all their application needs and budget requirements. Network interface options include full line rate 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, ATSC 8-VSB, QAM-B, DVB-S2 and a Quad port ASI interface.

Cross-layer and cross-domain analysis of the video and audio quality is possible through an extensive software suite that includes real-time video and audio quality of experience (QoE) analysis, picture quality analysis (based on the human vision model), and advanced Elementary Stream analysis including H.264/AVC intra profile and SVC support.

Sentry Edge for monitoring CALM Act Compliance
Broadcasters can monitor for overly loud commercials and comply with the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act and with the pending Canadian CRTC audio loudness regulations by using the new Audio Loudness Module (ALM) on Sentry Edge with an 8VSB RF interface. Sentry Edge with option ALM provides the most comprehensive audio loudness and Closed Caption monitoring solution on the market. With Sentry Edge,U.S. broadcasters can meet the monitoring and reporting requirements the FCC will use to determine when violations of the CALM Act and Closed Captioning regulations have occurred. Key compliance features of the Sentry Edge include an historical database that allows users to create graphs, executive reports and trending analysis going back 60 days.

Upgraded Sentry provides H.264 Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) metrics and thumbnail support for unparalleled depth in Advanced QoE monitoring
Building on its industry-leading MPEG-2 monitoring capabilities, Sentry has been recently upgraded to enable service providers to monitor H.264 streams with its advanced Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) feature.  PVQ, also known as eMOS (effective mean opinion score), detects errors related to over-compression, such as blockiness, measuring how much each over-compression error impacts viewers’ QoE.  For content destined for OTT applications, it enables QoE and PVQ checks at ingest as well as before the transcoder (pre-fragmentation step). Support for on-demand thumbnail generation has been added to many of Sentry’s reports, allowing users to validate program content.

Sentry Assure for Cable post-splice Ad Verification monitoring
Sentry Assure is a member of the award-winning Sentry line of video quality monitors and is specifically designed for post-splice monitoring. Able to monitor up to 1Gbps on a Gigabit Ethernet interface, it provides large scale content monitoring in real time before modulation. It can proactively monitor audio loudness issues and validate post-event complaints to help service providers meet CALM ACT and regulatory compliance and audit requirements. Sentry Assure also validates closed captioning carriage requirements by monitoring the SCTE-608/708/20 specifications for Closed Captioning compliance. Additionally, Sentry Assure can also monitor advertising insertions, validating SCTE-35 message integrity, enabling service providers to verify when ads have been properly inserted or troubleshoot issues when insertions are not done properly.

Wonder what else Tektronix is up to? Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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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.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced that it has added significant new features and capabilities to its award-winning line of Sentry® digital content monitors, which are widely used by cable television operators and other video service providers (VSP) to help deliver services with optimal video and audio quality.

“We are continually adding new features, functions and capabilities to ensure our Sentry line addresses VSPs most urgent requirements, from improving the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio issues to regulatory compliance,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “This commitment to regularly enhancing Sentry is one of the key reasons it remains the industry’s most advanced solution for ensuring quality of experience (QoE).”
The latest capabilities added to the Sentry line are enabled by its latest software release. These new capabilities include:

• The ability to capture “thumbnail” images of programs, which enables VSPs to validate program content and verify when program outages have occurred.
• An ad cue report that combines thumbnails with audio level graphing to create a single report capturing all the data that VSPs need to provide the FCC to demonstrate compliance with the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act. This report provides visual validation of ad presence, that the correct ad aired at the appropriate time and during the right program, as well as noting whether the ad was too loud or too quiet.
• Enhancements to Sentry’s unique Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) capability (which gauges precisely how much video compression artifacts impact viewers) that is now sensitive to certain artifacts caused by over-compression that specifically affects chroma detail.

The award-winning Sentry is the industry’s premier content monitoring solution, used by leading VSPs to identify and diagnose video and audio errors in MPEG-2 and H.264 content that can impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE). Sentry is proven in deployments with nine of the top 10 U.S. cable operators and four of the top five Canadian operators.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Wonder what else Tektronix is up to? Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced the availability of the portable WFM2200 waveform monitor, the latest addition to the company’s industry-leading line of waveform monitors and rasterizers. The WFM2200’s combination of features and performance make it ideal for broadcasters and video content producers requiring a portable waveform monitor to install, configure, maintain and troubleshoot their video equipment.

No longer are broadcasters and those in video content production only monitoring basic SD-SDI video and analog audio. They now have to diagnose multi- format video, multi-channel/format audio, and complex ANC Data that supports today’s modern broadcast systems. With all this complexity technicians need easy to use, performance level products at an affordable price.

The WFM2200 uniquely incorporates the exceptional performance of Tektronix’ advanced waveform monitors in a portable unit. Complementing this, the WFM2200 is customizable via software, enabling customers to add any additional capabilities to the base model to better suit their needs, rather than pay for a fully configured unit with unneeded capabilities.

“Our new WFM2200 sets a new standard for portable waveform monitors, combining outstanding performance, exceptional portability, and configurable to meet customers’ specific requirements,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “The WFM2200 is the latest example of our commitment to innovation and creating waveform monitors that are cost-effective while meeting customers’ most demanding requirements.”

The WFM2200 includes several unique features not offered in other portable waveform monitors, including:
• A large 6.5 inch, high resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) ensures users will not miss a potential issue because of low-quality waveform representation.
• A replaceable battery enables users to work longer with one battery charging while another is in use.
• An input for testing the facility synchronization signal, or “House Black”, including a unique Timing display which simplifies setup and verification. In addition, to troubleshoot timing problems and verifying compliance the WFM2200 offers the ability to view the analog reference signal.

Pricing & Availability
The WFM2200 is available now globally and has a starting price of $4,900 US MSRP.
For more information about the WFM2200 visit  http://www.tek.com/waveform-monitor/wfm2200.

Wonder what else Tektronix is up to? Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty five years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test equipment for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced its Sentry® digital content monitor now enables cable television operators to ensure the quality of their live and on-demand services delivered using adaptive streaming through the quick identification and diagnosis of video and audio quality issues that can impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE).

“Cable operators are realizing as they utilize adaptive streaming technology to compete with the growing number of over-the-top (OTT) providers, that an exceptional QoE is the best way to ensure the superiority of their services,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Sentry’s combination of advanced audio and video quality monitoring capabilities and proven performance make it an ideal solution for ensuring adaptive streaming quality and is another demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that Sentry addresses operators’ most pressing QoE requirements.”

The key to Sentry’s new adaptive streaming monitoring capabilities is its ability to perform its unique Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) analysis on video streams encoded in the H.264 codec used for adaptive streaming. PVQ enables Sentry to identify video artifacts that are due to over-compression, which commonly happens with motion-intensive programs like sports and action movies. Such over-compression artifacts are virtually undetectable by simply looking for packet loss and represent a major threat to video quality.

In an adaptive streaming monitoring application, Sentry examines H.264 video streams immediately after they have been transcoded from MPEG-2 and just prior to them being fragmented and encrypted. This is a critical point in the adaptive streaming process as transcoding can introduce QoE-impacting video errors that are virtually undetectable after encryption. Simultaneously with the H.264 monitoring, Sentry examines the accompanying audio programs encoded in the AAC codec predominantly used in adaptive streaming. This combination ensures that operators can detect video and audio issues that will propagate downstream and degrade customers’ viewing experience.

Tektronix will demonstrate Sentry’s H.264 video PVQ, and AAC audio QoE and loudness monitoring capability, and other advanced capabilities at the upcoming Cable-Tec Expo, November 15-17 in Atlanta.

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio issues (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal QoE for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and content layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Wonder what else Tektronix is up to? Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced its Sentry® digital content monitor has received a 3.5 Diamond rating in the Broadband Technology Report’s prestigious 2011 Diamond Technology Reviews, marking the fifth consecutive year in which Sentry has been recognized in this annual review of the top products and solutions available to the cable television industry.

Established by Broadband Technology Report in 2005, the Diamond Technology Reviews (commonly referred to as “the Diamonds”) are determined by unbiased evaluations from a distinguished and independent panel of Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) national board members and cable engineering experts, including senior executives from the largest U.S. cable operators.

“The judges always seem to be impressed with the Sentry’s upgrades, and this year was no exception. Once again Tektronix received an excellent Review score,” said Rob Stuehrk, president and publisher of Broadband Technology Report.

Beyond application of the newest technology, entries are judged by innovation, ease-of-use, efficiency, reliability and contribution to profitability. This year’s Diamond judges noted Sentry’s newly-enhanced audio monitoring features, of special importance in the wake of the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act which will soon require that ads be no louder than the programs they accompany. The advanced monitoring capabilities of Sentry make it an ideal solution for this non-trivial task given the hundreds of channels that cable operators will have to continually monitor.

“Scoring so well in its fifth Diamond Technology Reviews is a reflection of Sentry remaining the industry’s most advanced content monitor as well as a recognition of its success in the market, with nine of the 10 largest U.S. cable operators using it provide an optimal quality of experience QoE for their subscribers,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Adding the ability to detect overly loud commercials in the multi-channel cable environment is just the latest example of our commitment to ensuring Sentry can address operators’ current and future needs.”

Tektronix will demonstrate Sentry’s audio loudness monitoring and other advanced QoE monitoring capabilities at the upcoming Cable-Tec Expo, November 15-17 in Atlanta.

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio errors (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal QoE for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Follow Tektronix on Twitter (@tektronix) and Facebook.

About Broadband Technology Report
Broadband Technology Report (BTR), celebrating its 7th anniversary in 2011, is the cable and telecom industry’s premier source for product and technology news, and is the most successful and fastest growing online outlet for product information and deployments; reviews and rankings; technology expertise; and buyer/seller facilitation. BTR’s portfolio includes online, print and video assets, all designed to help network operators build, upgrade and maintain high-performance communications networks. BTR, backed by over 70 years of combined industry experience, delivers its email, online, print and video production services to more than 21,000 subscribers. If you are interested in subscribing, consult http://broadbandgear.net/subscribe/. BTR is owned by Hermes Media, LLC.

About the Diamond Technology Review program
The BTR Diamond Technology Reviews (“the Diamonds”) is a renowned industry program now in its sixth year – that was developed to recognize some of the top products and solutions available to the cable industry as determined by a stellar panel of MSO engineering experts. Engineering executives from Bright House, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Suddenlink, Sunflower Broadband and Time Warner Cable served as third-party judges for the 2011 Diamonds. Every year, BTR invites vendors to submit written information about products/solutions that have been released or upgraded since the previous year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (October 2010). Criteria used in the Diamonds rankings include, first and foremost, unique technology or application thereof, innovation, ease of use, efficiency, reliability and contribution to profitability.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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Tektronix, the leading provider of digital content monitoring solutions, today announced that its award-winning Sentry® digital content monitoring solution is a finalist in this year’s Cable & Satellite International magazine’s Product of the Year Awards. The CSI Awards, which are presented at the IBC tradeshow in Amsterdam in September, recognize technical excellence and innovation in the cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcasting and IPTV industries.

Sentry was selected as a finalist in the “Best Monitoring or Network Management Solution” category in recognition of its new Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) monitoring feature. Sentry’s new PVQ capability helps video service providers (VSP) tackle content errors when the program suffers artifacts due to over-compression which is common in motion intensive programs like sports.

“Reaching the finals of the prestigious CSI Product of the Year Awards is the latest accolade for Sentry and a further acknowledgement that Sentry remains a state-of-the-art solution for the detection and diagnosis of video and audio errors that impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE),” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Sentry has been proven in deployments with the top U.S. cable operators and many other VSPs who use Sentry to ensure they deliver programming with the best possible picture and sound quality.”

Cable & Satellite International launched the Product of the Year awards back in 2003 and have attracted over 150 entries every year, gaining the endorsement of the industry’s leading technology suppliers.  This year’s winners will be announced at the award ceremony held at IBC on Friday, September 9 at 6 p.m.

About the Sentry Monitoring Solution

Sentry is a comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio errors (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can correct these issues, thus ensuring an optimal quality of experience (QoE) for subscribers.  Sentry accomplishes this through its unique combination of unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network and its real-time, 24/7 operation.  Sentry is proven in deployments with service providers worldwide, including nine of the top 10 U.S. cable operators.

For more information visit www.tektronix.com or call 310.227.8620.

Follow Tektronix on Twitter – @tektronix.

Follow the Mixed Signals product line on Twitter — @mixedsignalsinc

About Cable & Satellite International

Cable & Satellite International (CSI) is a technology publication targeting the global video market, including cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile and terrestrial broadcast platforms. CSI assesses technology trends and provides detailed product analysis relevant to the core video delivery functions – namely content contribution/backhaul, distribution/transport, playout/transmission and home networking. CSI also analyzes the wider triple and quadruple play landscape.

About Tektronix

For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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Tektronix, the leading provider of digital content monitoring systems, has added significant new reporting capabilities to its award-winning Sentry® digital content monitor which is used by leading cable television operators to improve the quality of their video services by quickly identifying, diagnosing and repairing video and audio errors that can degrade viewers’ quality of experience (QoE).

“Keeping our industry-leading Sentry on the cutting-edge is an ongoing effort for us and these new reporting features are the latest examples of our commitment to ensuring Sentry meets the needs of video service providers today and tomorrow,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix.

The first new reporting capability integrates Sentry’s ground-breaking Video and Audio QoE Scoring System – the industry’s first system to gauge the actual severity of video and audio impairments for subscribers – with the SCTE 168-6 ‘Recommended Practice for Monitoring Multimedia Distribution Quality,’ a popular method for reporting program availability. Integrating SCTE 168-6 support with Sentry’s capability for detecting video and audio errors that are not always caused by dropped packets (e.g., video freeze, black screen, tiling, macroblocking, compression artifacts, loss of audio channel or audio quality issues) enables video service providers to take advantage of a popular reporting methodology coupled with the ability to identify the widest range of QoE-impacting events.

The second new capability enables video service providers to verify that Closed Captioning content has been included with the programming being delivered, which is a regulatory requirement for U.S. and Canadian cable operators. Sentry is well suited to this application thanks to its advanced detection capabilities and its ability to monitor hundreds of video streams simultaneously.
Sentry can generate Closed Captioning status reports, which video service providers can use with programmers, satellite network operators and operations staff to determine where the fault lies when closed captioning data is missing.

The new capabilities for Program Availability reporting and Closed Captioning monitoring are both available in release 5.1 of the Sentry operating software, which is currently available at no cost to existing customers with maintenance agreements.

About the Sentry Monitoring Solution

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection, diagnosis and repair of video and audio errors (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal quality of experience (QoE) for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Follow Tektronix on Twitter (@tektronix) and Facebook.

About Tektronix

For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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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Tektronix, Tektronix, the leading provider of digital content monitoring solutions, announced today that Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting (TIMB), Italy’s third largest digital television broadcaster, is using the award-winning Tektronix Sentry® digital content monitor to ensure its television programming is delivered with exceptional picture and sound quality.

TIMB has deployed Sentry in its central headend and several other key locations in its network to monitor all of its high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) programming to identify video and audio errors that can impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE). At its central headend facility in Rome where TIMB aggregates its programming content, Sentry is used to detect errors after the programming has been encoded and then again after it has been multiplexed – two critical steps where errors are likely to occur. Sentry’s advanced detection capabilities enable TIMB to quickly diagnose errors and dramatically speed the time for repair.

“We have always been committed to delivering our programming with picture and sound quality as good as they can be, and deploying the Tektronix Sentry is the latest example of this ongoing commitment to quality,” said Crescenzo Micheli, TIMB’s chief technology officer. “Sentry helps us quickly identify the root causes of video and audio errors across our entire channel line-up, which enables us to fix these errors faster than before.”

“Ensuring that viewers enjoy the best possible viewing experience is a constant effort and TIMB’s use of Sentry as part of its comprehensive approach to quality control demonstrates their commitment to being the best,” said Eric Conley, vice president, Video Network Monitoring, Tektronix. “Sentry’s unmatched ability to identify video and audio errors anywhere in a network makes it an ideal solution for TIMB and other video service providers worldwide as they expand their services.”

TIMB is just the latest company to use Sentry, which is the industry’s premier content monitoring solution and is proven in deployments with nine of the top 10 U.S. cable operators and three of the top five Canadian operators.

Sentry utilizes advanced deep packet inspection technology to give video service providers unparalleled visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers at all critical locations in the network. This enables the quick identification, diagnosis and repair of video and audio errors regardless of where they occur in the network; from ingest at the headend through the network edge just before it is delivered to the home.

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection, diagnosis and repair of video and audio errors (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal QoE for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

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About Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting
Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting (TIMB) is Italy’s third largest television broadcaster and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telecom Italia, Italy’s largest telecommunications company. The company can be found on the Internet at www.telecomitaliamediabroadcasting.it

About Tektronix
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge 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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