The easier vendors try to make television, the harder it gets for broadcasters to sort through the thicket of technological options that tends to grow rapidly. There's a lot to choose from. Most large stations and networks have already deployed servers to handle master-control functions, such as commercial insertion. Some also use servers in sophisticated nonlinear-editing newsroom operations. But, as the cost of disk storage drops, more broadcasters are considering replacing tape with disk in other parts of the plant, such as for recording syndicated programs and then putting them on the air (playout). And new tapeless acquisition systems like Sony's XD-CAM optical-disk system and Panasonic's P2 solid-state camera are fueling dreams of a completely tapeless future. Purchasing a server involves more than deciding on the amount of storage; the way the server will be networked with others must also be considered.
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