IntelliStar

IntelliStar
The Current Conditions screen, as of November 12, 2013
Manufacturer:	Wind River (a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation)
Family:	WeatherStar
Hardware:	Intel x86
OS:	FreeBSD
Graphics:	Vector/Raster
Release date:	Beta: 3Q 2003 Final: 1Q 2004
Status:	Retired - Decommissioned by The Weather Channel on November 16, 2015.
Succeeded by:	IntelliStar 2 & IntelliStar 2 Jr.

The IntelliStar was the fifth-generation successor to the WeatherStar systems used by the American cable and satellite television channel The Weather Channel (TWC), that is used to insert local forecasts and current weather information (such as the "Local on the 8s" segments within its program schedule) into TWC's programming. Like the WeatherStar, it is installed at the cable provider's headend.

The IntelliStar has many enhanced features over its predecessor, the Weather Star XL. Like all other WeatherStar systems, the IntelliStar receives its data over a satellite connection and over the Internet. However, unlike the rest of the systems, it has the capability to receive more complex information in a more efficient manner. It also has a DualFeed feature, which allows a selection of two different video feeds. In the event of inclement weather, the DualFeed option would switch from the first (network) feed, to a second (localized) feed, providing weather information to a specific STAR or network of STARs. By doing this, the specified network of STARs could be addressed with weather updates, versus the entire national network of STARs (where such information would be irrelevant).

It also has an improved graphics display and dynamic radar capabilities. HiRAD (High Resolution Aggregated Data) technology – which was added to the IntelliStar in 2006 – allows The Weather Channel to choose any city, town or landmark as an observation or forecast site and provide data. Occasionally, the HiRAD function will fail, in which case the National Weather Service sites are used (only the current conditions – and previously, the eight-city product and regional/metro products – are affected significantly).

In May 2015, it was announced that all IntelliStar units would be replaced with either the IntelliStar 2 or the IntelliStar 2 Jr. by October 1, 2015. The IntelliStar was discontinued on November 16, 2015. Many sources stated that the IntelliStar was officially decommissioned at 10:08 AM EST on November 16, 2015, and was replaced with a new system called the Intellistar 2 XD.