Magyar Televízió selects Clear-Com's Hybrid Intercom Network for New HD DIGs

Hungarian public broadcaster to install network at state-of-the facility in BudapestCambridge, UK/Budapest, Hungary, July 13, 2009 – Clear-Com® Communication Systems, a Vitec Group brand, is pleased to announce that Hungary’s premier public broadcaster, Magyar Televízió (MTV), has chosen its hybrid Time-Divisional Multiplexing (TDM) intercom/IP server network for its new all-HD broadcast facility, opening later this year in Budapest. Offering direct IP connectivity from Clear-Com’s Eclipse digital matrix hardware frame to the company’s Concert software panels, the network will establish a single communication environment for MTV staff. The sale marks one of the first deployments of the Concert software-based intercom system in Europe.

MTV will employ the hybrid network for all programming and production needs in the new facility, one of Hungary’s first broadcast houses to be entirely HD. Comprising the network are two Eclipse Omega digital matrix intercom frames on a fibre loop, 100 user control panels with either standard, AES, coax or IP connectivity, and the Concert software. Clear-Com’s new IVC-32, a 32-channel IP matrix connection card powered by the company’s I.V.Core technology, allows linking between the Eclipse and IP-based solutions."

As with many public broadcasters throughout the world, Magyar Televízió has always been at the forefront of the implementation of new and innovative production and distribution technologies,” says Magyar Televízió Project Manager Istvan Kiss, “We chose Clear-Com’s hybrid intercom network for the new facility because we felt it offered a truly groundbreaking way to affordably link together all the staff on intercom and we had a good experience with the company’s previous intercom solutions.”

In addition to the Eclipse, V-Series and Concert solutions, MTV purchased Clear-Com’s FreeSpeak® Integra digital wireless system for complete integration with the matrix environment, as well as the optional Production Maestro module for use with the Eclipse Configuration Software (ECS). This new module lets operators securely assign four-wires on single or multiple intercom systems to live conferences in real time. This allows for fast, simple management of dynamic communications on networked Eclipse systems.

“We are thrilled that Magyar Televízió, known for embracing pioneering broadcast technology, has chosen our latest intercom innovations for their move to HD,” says Karlie Miles, Clear-Com’s Director of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We are committed to leveraging IP for the development of cost-effective solutions for our customers to extend intercom access across their broadcast facilities. By selecting our IP-based systems largely for this purpose, Magyar Televizió has further validated the need for such solutions in the market.”

First demonstrated at NAB 2009, Clear-Com’s hybrid TDM intercom/IP server network concept is based on the company’s I.V.Core technology, a revolutionary set of building blocks and engines enabling real-time, dynamic and non-blocking intercom capabilities over a standard IP network, making new and traditional intercom systems IP-compatible.The sale to MTV was facilitated by Audmax Broadcast Ltd., Clear-Com’s distributor partner in Hungary.