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Scripps Station WCPO-TV in Cincinnati Takes Control of Transition to Digital with Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular

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LAS VEGAS (NAB) -- April 18, 2005 -- Setting the cornerstone for a smooth transition to digital broadcasting, Scripps station WCPO-TV of Cincinnati is using Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular infrastructure products for its new 70,000-square-foot facility in the city's historic Mt. Adams district.

"AF Associates and WCPO looked at their future needs and felt that Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular provided the station with the best opportunity to ensure a cost-effective, orderly transition to a fully digital, IT-based operation," said Tom Michales, senior project manager at Ascent Media Systems and Technology Services, formerly AF Associates, the systems integrator for WCPO's new facility. "Beyond this, WCPO wanted a system that had a comprehensive command and control system of all modular equipment, and the Snell & Wilcox RollCall and RollMap monitoring systems provide this, with SNMP scalability for additional systems down the road."

"We've been broadcasting in HD since 1998, and we have had very good results with the Snell & Wilcox upconversion equipment," said Joe Martinelli, director of engineering at WCPO-TV and WCPO-DT. "So we were confident in choosing Snell & Wilcox when it came time to buy all the modular infrastructure for our new facility."

WCPO's new building provides twice as much control room facility space as its previous site in downtown Cincinnati. In this mostly tapeless environment, Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular products represent the majority of the digital infrastructure. This includes the distribution amplifiers, SD-to-HD converters, analog-to-digital converters, and digital-to-analog converters. The IQ Modular products see particularly heavy duty in WCPO's ingest room, where they are used to convert analog satellite feeds for the station's digital video server.

Snell & Wilcox IQ Modular infrastructure products are designed to be re-configurable, intelligent format bridges between analog, digital, and file-based "islands." Modular components provide legacy compatibility with analog and SD standards as well as with HD standards and metadata-rich IT-based infrastructures, creating a single flexible system that can be easily adapted and expanded as needs change.

WCPO uses the Snell & Wilcox RollCall and RollMap systems to monitor its IQ Modular products, check levels, and ensure that all the equipment is operating within tolerance. Each IQ Modular product dentifies itself on Snell & Wilcox's highly scalable RollCall network and can be configured and monitored in multiple ways - from "virtual" devices such as simple D/A converters, image processors, or routers to vast internal component infrastructures of thousands of modules. Once configured through a PC on the network, each module establishes its relationship with other modules in the system. This relationship between modules is called integrated intelligence, one of the powerful features that distinguish Snell & Wilcox infrastructure products as the most advanced and future-proof in the industry.

With RollCall and RollMap, WCPO has been able to install IQ Modular equipment at its remote transmitter site and have it monitored and managed from the station's main technical facility with minimal technical overhead. These factors, as well as the image quality and cost-effectiveness of the IQ Modular system, were strategic in the decision-making process.

"Compared with competing solutions, we felt Snell & Wilcox had the best combination of feature set, control and monitoring solution, price, and product depth in a single family of products," Michales added.

"With IQ Modular, AF Associates put together a good design, we installed the equipment, and everything's staying within tolerance," said Martinelli. "As director of engineering that means I don't have to worry about it or babysit it, because its performance is so stable.

"We've used RollCall to make adjustments if something needs it," Martinelli added. "But that rarely happens."

Snell & Wilcox, the leader in its field, delivers technologies and products that enable television and satellite broadcasters, post-production facilities, filmmakers, and communications professionals 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. 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 Burbank, Calif., and European headquarters in Hampshire, U.K. 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.

Snell & Wilcox, Engineering with Vision, Alchemist, Ph.C, Kudos, Magic Dave, IQ Modular, RollCall, RollTrack, Mosalina, Niagra, and Kahuna are all trademarks of the Snell & Wilcox Group.