Extending its reach within South America, a full complement of Grass Valley™ digital production equipment from Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) has been installed at the IURD (Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, or Universal Church of the Kingdom of God), a new religious-based content creation facility located in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The system implemented includes a shared storage area network (SAN) that is based on a large Grass Valley K2™ Media Server and Media Client System. It consists of multiple K2 servers, a Grass Valley large storage array, and multiple Grass Valley Aurora™ Edit workstations.

The new facility represents one of the largest and most sophisticated digital production and transmission facilities in the region that is dedicated to worship-related media; complete with Grass Valley technology and systems for studio production, editing, content distribution, and media asset management capabilities.

“Our new facility is based on the latest technology and will help us expand our congregation and deliver our important message to a wider population across Brazil and beyond,” said Julio Cezar Ribeiro, minister at IURD. “Grass Valley provided us with a solution that is flexible, reliable, and highly cost-effective, which was important to meet our budget requirements and build the kind of facility that will increase our productivity.”

“The new facility at IURD is a shining example of the impressive work that is being done
in South America and the region continues to be an important market for Grass Valley–both for broadcast and professional video customers,” Jeff Rosica, Senior Vice President, Broadcast & Professional Video Solutions for the Grass Valley business within Thomson.

The IURD sale also includes equipment for a new production studio and soundstage. There‘s three Grass Valley LDK 400 digital cameras (running on digital triax cables), a Grass Valley KayakDD™ production switcher, and a variety of Grass Valley Gecko™ and Kameleon™ signal processing gear capable of handling all types of analog and digital signals coming into and out of the facility.

The complete Grass Valley digital production system is being seamlessly integrated with a large media asset management system, supplied by Front Porch Digital and IBM.