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Snell & Wilcox at the 2003 Production Show

Stand 480, Olympia, LONDON

Snell & Wilcox marks 30 years in television this year with products reflecting three decades of accumulated knowledge and refinement --

Content ingest is the first stage of any new IT-based infrastructure. Snell & Wilcox will showcase a high-end 'MPEG Mastering System' that enables content owners to generate maximum value from their audio-visual material. Designed for file-based content creation, storage, quality control and re-purposing, the system includes the company's 'Ingest Station' mastering encoder, 'Mosalina' quality control software and the 'RepoDepot' smart file transcoder. The open architecture supports whatever file format is right for the user, be it MXF, GXF, SD or HD, progressive or interlace - at any bit rate and with multiple audio standards.

The Snell & Wilcox switcher range has been expanded to include the new 'SwitchPack' series - three powerful ultra-compact switchers designed for live broadcast and post-production environments where space it at a premium. Featured at the Production Show is the fully loaded 'SwitchPack16', a robust switcher with 16 inputs and five full-function keyers.

For those wishing to breathe commercial life into archived material, 'Archangel', the archive restoration system will be demonstrated. Archangel uses Ph.C motion-compensation technology, which provides cost-effective image stabilisation, noise reduction and dirt repair of imperfect video material.

Snell & Wilcox will also display 'Ukon', a universal format conversion platform designed for use in broadcast, post and production environments where pictures need to be converted in all directions between SD and HD environments, and where different frame rates, images sizes and aspect ratios present an additional quality challenge.

'DEFTplus', an upgrade to the Snell & Wilcox 'Alchemist Platinum' standards converter will be demonstrated. This enhanced version of Emmy-winning DEFT technology solves 3:2 pulldown problems and enables the user to seamlessly convert standard definition material to 24p and integrate SD and HD material in the same program. Specifying DEFTplus conversion is important for those who import programming from abroad.

Rounding out the Production Show package will be a range of infrastructure, control and synchronisation devices including selections from the 'IQ Modular' range for digital, analogue, audio, video and MPEG applications; the RollCallÔ infrastructure management system; the CVR250 2-field, 4-line standards converter; the TBS 185 multi-standard timebase corrector and synchroniser; and the ARC2020 variable aspect ratio converter.

David Cunningham, Press Relations Manager, Snell & Wilcox, Southleigh Park, Southleigh Park House, Havant, Hampshire, UK PO9 2PE, UK. Tel: +44 23 9248 9144 or Email: david.cunningham@snellwilcox.com.