Heartland Video Systems, Inc. has recently completed over a dozen successful NextGen TV system implementations with several major TV station groups. The preparation for these started 20 years ago with work done on ATSC 1.0. Dennis Klas, CEO of Heartland recalled, “When we were integrating ATSC 1.0 there was always a rush to get stations on the air quickly. This was a challenge because everyone was working with new technologies with little integration history. As ATSC 3.0 came into view, Heartland made a commitment to build an integration lab where we could test connectivity between different ATSC 3.0 products.”
By the time ATSC 3.0 implementations began, Heartland Video had products from most prominent suppliers under one roof enabling them to run product combinations and predict results. Said Klas, “Just as with ATSC 1.0 we find that the order dates for product installations were not far from the station turn on dates. With this time crunch, being able to test possible integration combinations in advance is invaluable.”
Heartland was introduced to DigiCAP through their involvement with Pearl TV where they heard DigiCAP had proven itself useful to some members. Said Mike Schmidt, Senior Systems Engineer at Heartland, “Because we like to test all available prominent suppliers, we evaluated their technology.” According to Klas, “We found DigiCAP had a product some of our clients could use. We also found DigiCAP to be very responsive to our requests, and has a forward-looking technology view, especially in app development. We have implemented their air chain technology with several station groups with very positive results.”
Said Sang Jin Yoon, SVP Business Development at DigiCAP, “We are excited to be working with Heartland Video Systems implementing ATSC 3.0 station launches. When we saw their integration lab, we immediately recognized a like-minded commitment to proactively work with new technology.” DigiCAP built their lab ATSC 3.0 integration lab in 2017 to enable Korean TV stations become ATSC 3.0 ready to transmit live 4K TV for the 2018 South Korean Winter Olympic games.
