The MegaMux STL-4000 and MegaMux ENG-4000 add-ons provide digital capability to studio-transmitter links and quadruple the output of ENG transmissions, without the cost of buying additional microwave transmission equipment. Both MegaMux systems are supposed to improve bandwidth performance and expand the capability of existing equipment.

"Until now, the push to convert stations to HDTV and enhance ENG capacity has been accompanied by the staggering cost of purchasing additional microwave links," said Norman Gillaspie, founder and CEO of Transparent Video Corporation. "Our MegaMux line inexpensively accomplishes these goals at a fraction of the cost by dramatically improving the performance of equipment that broadcasters already own."

The MegaMux STL-4000 permits broadcasters to produce digital performance with existing studio-transmitter links. The compact, rack-mount system features advanced MPEG encoding, decoding and multiplexing technology, combined with mutlilevel, digital RF modulation.

The all-in-one design is easy to install and improves the performance of legacy STL equipment by converting the NTSC video signals to an MPEG-2 stream at approximately 6 megabits per second for SD programs and 19.34 megabits per second for HD. The MegaMux STL-4000 then multiplexes the signals to provide multiple program support over a single RF carrier.

Studios can transmit NTSC or PAL video and the DVB-ASI HDTV transport stream to the transmitter site simultaneously-without installing additional microwave transmitter links.

The MegaMux ENG-4000 does the job of four microwave radio links by compressing four channels of composite video and four channels of stereo audio, boosting the bandwidth capacity of ENG units by 400 percent without sacrificing video or audio quality. Its multiple signaling capabilities operate within parameters of proposed FCC bandwidth-reduction regulations.

The self-contained rack-mount system transmits multiple video NTSC signals over a single analog system. The MegaMux ENG-4000 is a complete four-channel real-time MPEG-2 encoder multiplexer.