City of Burnsville Upgrades City Council Coverage to HD with Broadcast Pix Mica Integrated Production Switcher

Broadcast Pix today announced the City of Burnsville, Minn., has upgraded to a Mica 1000 integrated production switcher in its control room at City Hall to provide HD coverage of City Council meetings for its cable and online viewers. According to Marty Doll, communications coordinator, the upgrade was prompted by a desire to move to HD production as well as the need to replace the control room's aging analog equipment.

Jay Golden, TV production specialist for the City of Burnsville, uses a Broadcast Pix Mica 1000 integrated production switcher to provide HD coverage of City Council meetings.

Recently, the city was awarded one HD channel from Comcast, which was assigned to the government channel. Burnsville also provides live and on-demand streaming access of its meeting coverage at www.burnsville.tv/live. Beyond its government channel, Burnsville PEG (public, education, and government) operations support one public channel along with three education channels, one for each school district in the city.

Designed and installed last fall by Alpha Video & Audio, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., the new HD system at City Hall includes five Panasonic HD PTZ cameras strategically installed around the chambers. The Mica 1000 provides integrated PTZ camera control, a capability that is particularly valuable on occasions when only one person is available for a production.

With eight SDI inputs and eight total outputs, the Mica replaced an old Echolab analog switcher and Compix CG. Jay Golden, TV production specialist, said the Mica's dual-channel CG is used primarily to display lower-third identification of council members on one channel and agenda items on the other, plus opening and closing slates. Mica's built-in BPView is also used to populate the preview and program screens for the director in the control room.

A unique element in the Burnsville installation is the use of a Crestron DigitalMedia Presentation System, with control panels in both the chambers and the control room. The Crestron system allows Burnsville to connect computers and other sources and integrate them seamlessly into a production as an input on the Mica switcher. Additional integration allows the Crestron system to send custom messages to council members through a Mica output dedicated to the monitors on the dais.

Golden appreciates the integrated toolset in the Mica. In the beginning, when the concept of a PC-based switcher was introduced, I wasn't that crazy about it, Golden admitted. But the system has totally changed my mind. It just does it all from one panel. I love it.

The meetings look really good on cable and the Web, Doll added. They look professional - they don't look like how you would typically think government access looks. It's a combination of the new HD channel and the Broadcast Pix.

About Broadcast Pix

Founded in 2002, Broadcast Pix provides tailored solutions for any live production environment. From compact mobile units to large-scale solutions, every Broadcast Pix features patented control and automation technology and a performance toolset that make it easy to optimize and customize your workflows. With customers in more than 110 countries, Broadcast Pix is the leader in integrated production switchers for broadcast, streaming, live event, and visual radio applications. Learn more at www.broadcastpix.com.

Broadcast Pix, BPView, and Mica are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Patented. Made in USA.

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