Press Releases: Latest News

Snell & Wilcox Highlights "Future-Proof" Solutions for Broadcasters at IBC 2004

Launches Kahuna, Industry’s First True Multi-format SD/HD Production Switcher

Presents New Solutions for IT-Based, Open Standards Broadcast Environment including open-standards ingest and free MXF tools

Expands IQ Infrastructure Line --

AMSTERDAM (IBC), September 10, 2004 -- Products and technologies from Snell & Wilcox that enable the transition to open-standards, IT-based broadcasting while serving the needs of customers wherever they are in their transition to digital, HD and IT, are the theme of the company’s exhibit at IBC 2004, Stand #1.431.

Highlights include the launch of Kahuna, the industry’s most advanced production switcher, and the European launch of Comet, a new software-based, open standards ingest system for servers and asset management systems that points the way to the open, IT-based facilities of tomorrow. Comet is based on the company’s new MediaX high bandwidth PCI platform that is also used at the heart of several products being launched at IBC by OEM customers. The company will also introduce a significant number of new products for its IQ Modular range as well as major enhancements to its RollCall control and monitoring system.

"The broadcasting industry is in a constant state of technological transition that has made choosing the right systems a more critical decision than ever,” said Joe Zaller, vice president of marketing and product management at Snell & Wilcox. “At Snell & Wilcox, we’re working to turn these choices into new opportunities for our customers by giving them solutions that fit their needs wherever they are in the transition from SD to HD and from tape-based to file-based systems, while insuring that their investments are both legacy compatible and future-proof. This philosophy is behind all our products - including our IQ Modular infrastructure system, our new Kahuna production switcher, the Comet open-standards ingest platform, our MediaX PCI card and the free MXF tools we’ve made available to help accelerate the transition to the file-based, open-source broadcast environments of the future."

The Kahuna Multi-format SD/HD Production Switcher: A Breakthrough in Design and Operation

IBC 2004 is the launch venue for the Snell & Wilcox Kahuna, the first ever production switcher to offer simultaneous high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) operations in the same mainframe with the same control panel. It is also the first ever switcher to enable the seamless integration of SD sources into HD productions, without upconversion. The future-proof flexibility of the system enables users to work initially in SD-only or HD-only mode, and then to upgrade to multi-format SD/HD operation whenever they choose. In multi-format SD/HD mode Kahuna users can mix existing SD camera feeds, graphics, handheld shots and archive footage directly into an HD production with no need to purchase expensive HD upgrades or extra HD upconversion equipment. This not only provides unparalleled operational flexibility, it also delivers tremendous cost savings to users, making Kahuna a versatile solution for any business model in the emerging multi-format SD/HD world.

In addition to providing demonstration of the new Kahuna, at IBC2004 Snell & Wilcox will announce the first customers for the new switcher.  These include the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) who have purchased five Kahuna systems to sit at the heart of Europe’s most advanced broadcast facility.

Comet Open Standards Ingest and MediaX PCI-Based Development Platform to Facilitate Open Standards Broadcasting

At IBC2004 Snell & Wilcox will demonstrate the benefits of the file-based future with the launch of two breakthrough products based on the open standards concept. For end users, the company will announce that it is taking orders for Comet a software-based ingest system for servers and asset management system, which sets a new benchmark for cost-effectiveness and interoperability. Comet takes advantage of the recent standardization of the MXF (Material eXchange Format), the SMPTE DMS-1 Descriptive Metadata standard and of the RP-210 metadata dictionary as well as the latest AAF Edit Protocol to empower broadcasters to create multi-vendor systems with complete interoperability, and to begin a move away from costly proprietary storage and asset management systems.

For OEMs, Snell & Wilcox will demonstrate the “engine” behind Comet, its new MediaX high-performance PCI card that can run on an off-the-shelf Windows PC. Several OEM vendors, including Vector3 and Gee Broadcast, will be introducing MediaX-based server products at IBC 2004. Using the Snell & Wilcox MediaX as their core, these servers take advantage of low cost, high performance generic IT hardware platforms to deliver robust performance at lower cost than has previously been possible. Because they are based on MediaX, the servers from both Vector3 and Gee Broadcast are completely interoperable via the MXF standard.

Comet and MediaX are examples of the Snell & Wilcox commitment to providing flexible, networked, forward-looking infrastructure solutions that serve facilities as they transition to an open-standards, IT-based future. Snell & Wilcox products and technologies are accelerating this transition, bringing users in the broadcast, satellite, cable, and post production industries all the benefits of freedom from proprietary PC hardware, more efficient workflows, better asset management, lower operating costs, and speedier time to air.

Free MXF Development Tools and MXF Player/Wrapper to Accelerate Multi-Vendor Interoperability of New Open Source Broadcast Products

Snell & Wilcox has taken a leadership role in the movement toward the proliferation of open-standards, IT-based broadcast facilities with the free release of a comprehensive set of developer tools, called MXF Express.  This MXF SDK is helping broadcasters and equipment vendors ensure interoperability among file-sharing products and systems through the MXF file format. The company has also released at no cost MXF Desktop, a software-based MXF file player that will bring MXF compatibility to any Windows PC desktop.

Nearly 1,000 users, representing more than 400 companies, have downloaded and registered copies of these tools from the Snell & Wilcox website, where an active MXF community has been created with daily discussions of MXF issues and tool requirements. An updated version of the tools, featuring a number of improvements, is set for release in October 2004.

New Infrastructure Modules Added to IQ Range

Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular infrastructure products are the smart building blocks facilities need today to bridge and interconnect existing islands of analog, digital standard definition, digital high-definition, and file-based equipment. At IBC 2004, the IQ Modular range will see significant expansion with the introduction of new products including HD and SD converters, synchronizers, distribution amplifiers, routers and audio modules all capable of operating in either standard definition or high definition resolutions. The company will also introduce HDTV converters and a significant number of audio processing modules for the standard definition environment as part of the expanded range.

Enhanced Control & Monitoring, Including SNMP

All the new IQ Modular and conversion products on view at IBC 2004 - and virtually all Snell & Wilcox products - can be networked using the company’s RollCall software, the broadcast industry’s most comprehensive and scalable infrastructure control and monitoring system.

RollCall streamlines the management of infrastructure components and allows every new device that a facility buys to be integrated instantly into its network. Snell & Wilcox has committed itself to enhancing RollCall to support IT infrastructures, and the new RollCall products being introduced at IBC have the built-in capability to recognize metadata and to identify file movement throughout an existing SDI television plant. In this way, Snell & Wilcox is making sure that today’s infrastructure products are future-proofed for tomorrow’s IT-based facilities.

At IBC, the company is adding a new layer of control to RollCall and its sister application, RollMap, with RollSNMP, the ability to monitor SNMP status information from the products of other vendors. RollSNMP has already been integrated with products from Pinnacle, Cisco, Pro-Bel, Barco and Omneon as well as Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP workstations and servers. Other devices are easily integrated using XML, the industry standard for metadata exchange.

New Alchemist Ph.C Smashes Price / Performance Barrier

IBC 2004 attendees will see the first public demonstration in Europe of a new broadcast-centric Snell & Wilcox motion-compensated standards converter. Smashing the price/performance barrier for motion-compensated standards conversion, the new Alchemist Ph.C, latest in the Ph.C family of Snell & Wilcox converters using the company’s Emmy-award winning Ph.C motion measurement technology, gives broadcasters no-compromise performance at a substantially lower price than has ever before been achievable. Occupying just 3 RU of space, Alchemist Ph.C produces clear and crisp outputs from the widest range of input materials. Offering both analog composite and digital video I/Os, Alchemist Ph.C accepts and outputs SDI with embedded audio and composite analog in all major television formats and integrates on-board aspect ratio conversion, an intuitive touch screen user-interface, CleanCuts, and a number of other advanced features. At IBC 2004, Snell & Wilcox will announce production shipment of this sixth-generation system.

HDTV Up and Down Conversion

To complement the launch of its new HDTV modular products, Snell & Wilcox is introducing a line of cost-effective, broadcaster-friendly conversion tools for the transition to HDTV broadcasting. The HD5400 Upconverter will upconvert 525/625 standard definition video to HD 1080i, 720p or 480p output formats and provide the standards, aspect ratio and color space conversions required by broadcasters. The new HD6300 Downconverter, can convert SMPTE 292M and ITU 709 HD standards to standard definition serial digital video.

HDTV Compression Pre-Processing

Building on an installed based of more than 1,000 standard definition compression pre-processors, Snell & Wilcox will introduce at IBC the CPP1000 Prefix-HD, a next-generation multi-standard high-definition compression pre-processor that provides the dual benefits of improved picture quality for viewers and lower bandwidth usage for cable, satellite, and terrestrial TV broadcasters.

Prefix-HD reduces noise-related artifacts in HDTV video in the pre-compression stage so broadcasters can avoid encoding artifacts such as excessive film grain and video noise. The resulting pictures are clean and stable, producing better bandwidth efficiency and increased picture quality. The bandwidth savings that Prefix-HD delivers provides genuine benefits to users in the form of increased revenues and short pay-back time.

Grain Management for Virtual Telecine Environments

Also being introduced at IBC2004 is NIAGRA, a grain management and artifact suppression system designed for virtual telecine environments. Priced at half the cost of the nearest competing solution, NIAGRA provides users with powerful real-time tools for improving the quality of film-originated material and delivering superior picture fidelity during electronic assembly.

Designed for operation in the virtual telecine environment via integration with the da Vinci Systems 2K control surface, NIAGRA works with all high-definition and standard definition video standards and supports AES, AC3, and Dolby E audio. It provides automatic gamut legalization as well as a primary color corrector.

ENDS

Snell & Wilcox, the leader in its field, delivers technologies and products that give television and satellite broadcasters, post production facilities, film makers, and communications professionals the freedom to move content seamlessly between analog, digital, high definition and file-based systems and to bridge the world’s multiplicity of line/field and color standards, without sacrificing picture quality. The company provides switchers and keyers, standards conversion systems, networked infrastructure components, and products for noise reduction, image enhancement and restoration. In business since 1973, Snell & Wilcox maintains its U.S. headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. and European headquarters in Hampshire, United Kingdom. Additional offices are located in New York, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Russia. Visit www.snellwilcox.com for more information.

Americas' Press Contact: Laura Schoeggl, Wall Street Communications, 2710 North 8^th St., Tacoma, Wash. Phone: 253-404-0020. Email: laura@wallstreetcom.tv.

International Press Contact: Karen David, Wall Street Communications Europe, River House, 54 Bardwell Road, Oxford OX2 6ST Tel 01865 310422. Email: karen@wallstreetcom.tv.

Snell & Wilcox, Engineering with Vision, Alchemist, Ph.C, Kudos, Magic Dave, IQ Modular, RollCall, RollTrack, Mosalina, NIAGRA, Comet, MXF Express, MXF Desktop and Kahuna are all Trade Marks of the Snell & Wilcox Group. All other trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners.