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Snell & Wilcox Hyperion Brings Human "Intelligence" to Content Quality Monitoring & Control

Comprehensive, Fully Configurable, Automated Monitoring System Tracks Content Integrity at Every Stage - From Ingest to Transmission; Sets New Industry Benchmark in Program Quality Control

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HAMPSHIRE, U.K. - April 11, 2006 - Snell & Wilcox today announced Hyperion, a groundbreaking new content monitoring system that uses intuitive algorithms which mimic human intelligence to provide dedicated audio, video, and metadata monitoring for all content throughout the broadcast infrastructure, from ingest to transmission. Hyperion brings a new level of sophistication to multichannel content monitoring and offers broadcasters significant new protections when airing high-value, premium television programs.

Hyperion goes far beyond monitoring the technical characteristics of a video signal. It also evaluates the quality and makeup of the video, audio, and metadata content within the signal. Rather than simply alerting operators of complete technical failure (a rare occurrence), Hyperion automatically provides an "educated opinion" as to whether each element of the program meets satisfactory viewing quality standards, as well as the legal and contractual requirements necessary to generate revenue.

"Hyperion monitors what's within the video signal rather than just the signal itself," said Joe Zaller, vice president of marketing at Snell & Wilcox. "It acts like a human being by making a subjective assessment as to whether all is right with the audio, video, and metadata content within the signal."

In addition, Zaller said Hyperion is a distributed system that monitors the quality of content from ingest to transmission - not just what goes on the air. "Conventional systems alert the operator to errors as they are being broadcast," Zaller continued. "Hyperion works to ensure that errors are identified and corrected before they go on the air. This level of preventative quality control not only ensures the integrity of the playout schedule, it also protects broadcasters from lost revenue associated with program downtime and legal issues."

Intelligent algorithms evaluate content within signal
Hyperion's sophisticated algorithms can detect subtle but critical errors that previously could be identified only through dedicated human monitoring. This means that Hyperion can monitor far more parameters than conventional systems. For example, Hyperion can detect subtle errors such as whether the content is too dark or too still. It can also intelligently address critical elements such as multilanguage soundtracks, multichannel audio types, and the ever-increasing volume of metadata that tie together today's complex broadcast operations.

Genre-based monitoring
Hyperion's unique genre-based monitoring ensures that the content being broadcast matches the pre-configured profile for a particular program type, channel, or target audience. Sophisticated algorithms at the core of the Hyperion system enable broadcasters to determine and set what "normal" looks like for a given content type or channel. If the content does not match up to expected behavior, the system can alert the operator. The extraordinary ability to monitor the subtler elements of content streams from both a technical and a human perspective translates directly to more trouble-free broadcasts.

Remote monitoring and QC with SMPTE UMIDs and video thumbnails
Hyperion simplifies remote monitoring by providing powerful tools that utilize metadata to track and QC content in conjunction with automation and scheduling systems. The system provides automatic content tracking and verification via SMPTE UMID (Unique Material IDentifier) and program ID processing. It also provides video thumbnail images over TCP/IP to enable visual confirmation. Easy integration with the powerful Snell & Wilcox RollCall, RollMap, and RollSNMP broadcast control and monitoring system - as well as third-party systems - simplifies operator alerts, notification, and messaging. Hyperion alarm information can also be integrated with all popular display wall processors to provide a unified and ergonomic display interface for QC operations.

The Hyperion system's ability to work with content metadata offers unrivalled flexibility not only in tracking content throughout a facility, but also provides a future-proof solution capable of bridging stream and file technologies and formats as each continues to evolve. As a result, broadcasters can make a smart investment in the powerful Hyperion solution today and be confident in their long-term monitoring capabilities.

Distributed Monitoring
Hyperion functionality is embedded in all new Snell & Wilcox infrastructure products. This distributed implementation dramatically increases the monitoring capability of any broadcaster. For example, content can be stamped with either SMPTE UMIDs or in-house IDs during ingest, and these can be linked to the facility's automation system. At transmission, these unique content identifiers in the playout schedule can be cross-checked with the IDs that have been stamped in the content, at both local and remote monitoring points, ensuring that the correct content is going out on the right channel at the right time.

Hyperion functionality is now being integrated into all new products throughout Snell & Wilcox's broadcast infrastructure line. This means that customers get the benefit of a tightly integrated, distributed QC infrastructure without having to purchase additional monitoring "probes," which are not only costly, but also use up valuable rack space in the broadcast plant. The result is greater value to customers in the form of increased in-house efficiency and more trouble-free operations.

More information about the Hyperion and Snell & Wilcox's complete product line can be found at www.snellwilcox.com or at the company's NAB2006 booth, SU156.

Americas Press Contact:
Susan Warren, Wall Street Communications, Phone: +1 631 261 1013. Email: susan@wallstreetcom.tv

EMEA Press Contact:
Becky Smith on behalf of Wall Street Communications. Phone: +44 1622 684 592. Email: becky@ella-beck.co.uk.

Snell & Wilcox designs and builds the world's most advanced systems for video playout, mastering, repurposing, infrastructure, and live production switching. Providing solutions that deliver immediate value while enabling a controlled and cost-effective transition to HD and file-based systems, the company serves a worldwide base of customers in the broadcast, postproduction, cable, satellite, and IPTV markets. 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, Putting Pictures to Work, Hyperion, RollCall, RollMap, RollSNMP and IQ Modular are all trademarks of the Snell & Wilcox Group. All other trademarks mentioned herein are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.