INDIANAPOLIS, IN - December 5, 2002 - In the racing world, you only get one shot at the finish line. As Systems Engineer for Teleview Racing Patrol, a leader in providing custom broadcast systems to the racing industry, I can tell you that the most important factor in racing broadcasts is that everything is live, so it’s got to be right the first time. It’s much like television broadcasting. To help us get it right, we chose to install Fast Forward Video’s Omega Deck DVR system at the new Indianapolis Downs racetrack in Shelbyville, Ind., to record and provide slow-motion replay of competitors speeding down the stretch run.
Teleview Racing Patrol supplies racing facilities with closed-circuit television, satellite uplink/downlink, inter-track wagering (ITW), off-track betting (OTB), sound, surveillance, photo finish, and timing systems for events including thoroughbred, harness, greyhound, and quarter horse races. The broadcast system the company designed for Indy Downs includes the Fast Forward Omega Deck installed within the video control room and connected to an ECHOlab MVS6 switcher. Video is routed through a non-linear editing system and out to the public on approximately 600 television monitors within the facility and to racetracks and OTB parlors across the country via satellite.
All the video is live, and it’s going out right as you do it. We incorporated the Omega Deck into the racetrack’s broadcast systems because we needed speed and reliability when distributing video quickly throughout the facility and to viewers at remote locations.
We build each system from scratch, working with owners to determine the best equipment for their facility and their budget. Our goal is to provide the services and pricing our clients demand while incorporating state-of-the-art technology and systems, and the Omega Deck meets these requirements. As a hard-drive replay deck, it offers instant access to the stretch runs and other video. Rather than wait and rewind the deck, the control room operator just asks the Omega Deck for a replay, and it’s right there. Once the shots are marked, it’s instant.
The Omega Deck features the familiar controls, inputs, and outputs of standard analog tape decks while providing clean digital video and non-linear random access. Enhanced playback functions give operators greater control in a variety of environments and configurations, making it easy to implement the Omega Deck in a broad range of broadcast applications.
In addition to chase lock, the Omega Deck features an LCD touch-screen menu and front-panel control over compression levels, recording options, playback looping, genlock timing, and playlist creation, as well as dynamic tracking, slow motion, instant cueing, and jog/shuttle functions. It also gives us component and composite video input/output, switchable component and RGB outputs for NTSC and PAL, and 4:2:2 data storage.
We’ve installed the Omega Deck within many of our facilities and have been using it for years. It is a reliable and efficient system that offers fast access and playback capability – and in this industry, speed is everything.
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About Fast Forward Video
Fast Forward Video, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets digital video recorders and time-code systems for professional broadcast, presentation, industrial, and military applications worldwide. Founded in 1985, the company was the first to incorporate digital computer technology, including random access disk storage and data compression capabilities, into professional video products. Today the company provides video technology solutions into a wide range of applications in broadcast, presentation, security, and graphics and animation markets. Additional information is available at http://www.ffv.com/.
About Fox Entertainment Group
Fox Entertainment Group, Inc., 85% owned by The News Corporation Limited (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A), is principally engaged in the development, production and worldwide distribution of feature films and television programs, television broadcasting and cable network programming. Fox had total assets as of March 31, 2002 of approximately $24 billion and total annual revenues of approximately $10 billion. The Company's studios, production facilities and film and television library provide high-quality creative content, and the Company's broadcasting and cable networks provide extensive distribution platforms for the Company's programs. For more information about Fox Entertainment Group, please visit http://www.fox.com/.