SuperSport installs 70-plus Miranda master control, branding processors

South African pay TV broadcaster has installed more than 70 of Miranda’s Imagestore 750 HD/SD master control and branding processors, as well as Densité LGK-3901 logo insertion and downstream keyer modules as part of a far-reaching expansion initiative.

The Miranda technology is being used to support SuperSport’s extensive, two-phase Argus Project, which entails  moving SuperSport’s programing to a new, purpose-built facility that will soon playout all of SuperSport’s 150+ HD and SD channels.

SuperSport technical director Eddie McAlone comments: “The new facility being built in phases at our Randburg, Johannesburg, campus will enable us to meet our anticipated growth in sports and entertainment channels. Those channels require branding and after careful consideration of competitive offerings, our choice of Miranda’s Imagestore 750 for channel branding was a unanimous decision.

“We have used Imagestore technology in the past and the underlying protocol is the only one proven to work with our automation system. The protocol also supports dynamic audio shuffling and gain control, which are essential tools for our operations. There really was nothing else to compete with it.”

SuperSport’s playout facility also requires schedules to be delivered to multiple distribution mechanisms. Each distribution path may require a separate IPI, which can only be inserted downstream of any signal format conversion. SuperSport had previously deployed Miranda LGK-3901’s for IPI insertion, so additional modules to pair common graphics formats for branding and keying were a natural fit.

The broadcaster enlisted the technical expertise of South African systems integrator and Miranda partner, Inala Broadcast, for both phases of the expansion.

“Our relationships with Inala and SuperSport are based on mutual understandings of operational goals, technical requirements and day-to-day working practices,” says Micky Edwards, vice-president sales EMEA for Miranda. “The accelerated widespread and growing use of Imagestore by SuperSport is ample evidence of its branding power and workflow efficiency.”