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[Monday at NAB]
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Tektronix Upgrades Systems
Full Complement of Test and Measurement Gear at the NAB Show
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by Peter Caranicas,
~ April 14, 2008
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TV TECHNOLOGY
Tektronix will come to the NAB Show this year as a subsidiary of Danaher Corp., which acquired the 62-year-old electronics pioneer last November.
A Washington, D.C.-based medical, industrial and defense instrumentation conglomerate, Danaher bought Tektronix for $2.8 billion, or $38 per share, and merged it into its Fluke Networks test products operation. Danaher’s annual revenue in 2006 amounted to $9.5 billion. Before the acquisition, Tektronix’s annual revenue was approximately $1.1 billion.
COMMON MEASUREMENT ENGINE
Despite the absorption, Beaverton, Ore.-based Tektronix fully retains its corporate identity and branding, and will show its full complement of test-and-measurement gear at the big show, including a new version of its MTM400A MPEG Transport Stream Monitor, which now adds a user interface called FlexVuPlus. In addition, Tek will show its new series of WFM4000 and WFM5000 compact waveform monitors, and the WVR4000 and WVR5000 waveform rasterizers.
Like its predecessor, the MTM400A detects signal degradation during transmission and distribution, but the FlexVuPlus feature provides a new configurable common user interface for both confidence and diagnostic monitoring that is designed to improve the hand-off from operator to engineer.
The OS embedded on the MTM400A box is Nucleus, developed by Mentor Graphics, an electronic design and software company headquartered in Wilson-ville, Ore. This system architecture “seamlessly allows the two levels of diagnostic capability,” said Jon Hammarstrom, Tektronix senior manager of video field marketing.
The first level, confidence monitoring, is a “broad but shallow” review of key performance indicators designed to identify potential problems. This level is monitored by nontechnical operators.
“If they detect a problem, they can then call the appropriate engineer, be it an MPEG expert, an RF engineer or an IT person, depending on the issue,” says Hammarstrom.
The second level, diagnostic monitoring, which Hammarstrom calls “narrow and deep,” begins when that expert is able to take over and start troubleshooting, using exactly the same instrument and interface. The advantage of the common interface, adds Hammarstrom, is that “the engineer knows that what he is reading was measured by exactly the same tool that warned the operator. There is never an instance of the engineer picking up a second tool, plugging into the network, and saying, ‘No, it looks okay to me.’ A common measurement engine is a clear advantage for operational efficiency.”
Another upside of a common interface system, adds Hammarstrom, is that everyone involved can access the same information via an IP connection from anywhere.
“You can have dozens of these boxes throughout your facility,” he says. “An operator in master control can say, for example, ‘I’ve got a yellow light up on CNN,’ and then the engineer can dial into exactly the same box from his lab, desktop, the rackroom, even from off-site, and take a look.”
While the MTM400A’s capabilities already existed in the MTM400, the new interface allows the engineer “to click down and pull up a window with his personal settings,” says Hammarstrom. “It’s also a way to appeal to a broader, nontechnical audience.”
The MTM400A’s list price is just under $17,000 — which was also the price of the MTM400. Owners of the earlier product can download the new user interface at no cost. The MTM4000A has been beta tested at Oregon Public Broadcasting and became available on Feb. 19.
Tektronix’s WFM4000/5000 and WVR4000/5000 series of compact, integrated waveform montitors and rasterizers — also new at the NAB Show — monitor video and audio content and enable quick adjustment to that content from multiple sources. The 4000 series supports SD and the 5000 series supports both SD and HD.
The new models are DC-powered, can operate on a standard 12-volt camera battery, and, along with an optional carrying case, are designed for ENG and OB van applications. They share a common user interface and menu structure with other Tektronix waveform monitors.
The 4000 SD series and 5000 SD/HD series models are available starting at a list price of $5,150 for the WVR4000 and range up to $6,750 for the WFM5000.
LEGACY AND AWARDS
Tektronics recently enhanced its legacy of contributing key products to the broadcast industry by winning its seventh Technology & Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) for “Real-time Transport Stream Monitoring for ATSC & DVB Conformance.” The award recognized the contribution of Tektronix for MPEG-2 monitoring and analysis, and was presented at the 58th Annual Engineering & Technology Emmy Awards during January’s CES show in Las Vegas.
“Tektronix has been and continues to be a pioneer in the television and video industries,” Tektronix’s Vice President and General Manager, Video Products, Arif Kareem said at the time. “[The Emmy Award] reflects continuous innovation at the company.”
Kareem moved over from Tektronix Communications less than a year ago to lead the company’s video division. Other top executives accompanying him to the show include Eben Jenkins, segment manager, baseband products; and Paul Robinson, segment manager, MPEG and content verification.
Jenkins is responsible for Tektronix’s Uncompressed Video Test Business worldwide; and Robinson has global responsibility for Tektronix’ Compressed Video Test Business, with a dual focus on developing test, measurement and monitoring products for enabling the transition from analog to digital, as well as on bringing IPTV products and services to market.
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