WeatherSTAR 4000 © 1990 Applied Microelectronics Institute.
A technology, under the form of a computerized unit, used by American cable and satellite television network The Weather Channel (TWC) to generate its local forecast segments on cable and IPTV systems nationwide.
It receives, generates, and inserts local forecasts and other weather information including weather advisories and warnings, into TWC's national programming.
The WeatherSTAR 4000 was the first WeatherSTAR model capable of displaying graphics. First developed in 1988, it was introduced in early 1990.
Until 1995, the Star 4000 incorporated a narration track provided by Dan Chandler into the software, which introduced forecast products presented in each flavor; the tracks could be programmed to play either on certain products or all that were featured during that particular flavor.
A customized version of the Weather Star 4000 was used by The Weather Network until 1997, when it switched to a technically different system to disseminate local weather information, known as PMX. Due to the cost of upgrading to more advanced units including the IntelliSTAR, the WeatherSTAR 4000 remained in use in some smaller communities as late as 2014, although it was already being gradually phased out in some areas in favor of the more recent models at that time.
The first Star 4000s were programmed to operate in a text-only mode (displayed over stylized graphical backgrounds), similar to the STAR III, but with two improvements: an improved font was introduced, as was a graphical radar product at the end of the local forecast segment, showing precipitation that was occurring in the viewer's local geographic area.
The first version was just a static (current) image. A second version was added in the fall of 1992, and was a loop showing radar data logged during the previous 90 minutes. Within a brief period of time, the Weather Star 4000 began to produce graphically based local forecast segments, including maps for the regional observation and forecast products.
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