Test and Measurement News

Prism Sound and Tata Sky highlight how the internet can help companies reduce their carbon footprint

Cambridge, UK, November 2007: Prism Sound is reducing its carbon footprint by using Netviewer web seminar software to demonstrate and support its test and measurement products on-line.

One of the first customers to benefit from Prism Sound's investment in Netviewer is Tata Sky, a company that is set to revolutionize television viewing in India through its superior digital quality picture and sound.

Established in 2004, Tata Sky is a joint venture between the TATA Group, one of India's largest corporations, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Tata Sky aims to empower the Indian viewer with choice, control and convenience through its wide array of programming and interactive features. It offers viewers a variety of television channels, as well as radio and interactive services, ranging from entertainment, sports, movies and music to news and documentaries. All of its programming is delivered with DVD quality pictures and CD quality sound.

Based in Mumbai and New Delhi, Tata Sky is currently testing the output performance of its set-top boxes to ensure they meet stringent quality specifications. To this end, the company recently invested in a Prism Sound dScope Series III audio analyzer, which is being used by the R&D department to check the audio quality of Tata Sky's STBs.

Prism Sound has been supplying successful high quality analogue and digital audio test solutions for over eighteen years. Prism Sound's solutions provide state-of-the-art testing capabilities, backed up by consultancy and support services recognised as the best in the industry.

The company's dScope Series III is a comprehensive and powerful measurement system for analogue and digital audio generation and analysis, including digital audio carrier testing and testing of Windows™ sound devices. This industrial-strength audio test and measurement system comprises a Windows PC (XP™ and Vista™ compatible) software application coupled with an external high-precision audio I/O processor for equipment-under-test (EUT) connections.

Tata Sky ordered a dScope Series III after Prism Sound conducted an on-line remote demonstration using Netviewer software.

"The main reason we chose Prism Sound's dScope Series III was because the technical team showed such commitment toward product development and support," a spokesman for the Engineering Team explains. "We were impressed with the unit's ease of use with our existing set-up. A remote on-line demo of the product was very helpful in understanding the features, which met our test requirements, including greater amplitude/frequency accuracy and analogue output range etc. We are now studying the unit for optimum use with the aim of incorporating it into our STB audio quality tests to comply with industry standards."

Graham Boswell, Prism Sound's sales director, says: "This sale not only highlights the effectiveness of dScope Series III as a high performance audio analysis tool, but also the importance of the internet when it comes to conducting environmentally-friendly business with overseas clients.

"Netviewer software enables us to run highly effective on-line demonstrations in which both parties can participate. These allow us to highlight the unit's full range of features as easily as we could if we were in the same room. It is also an invaluable support tool because we can link up with customers, take control of their computers and resolve any set-up issues they may have with their dScope Series III units once they are delivered. It certainly helps us and our customers reduce our respective carbon footprints because neither company needs to fly staff around the world for product demonstrations or, in our case, to deliver effective after-sales support."