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Snell & Wilcox Kahuna Production Switcher Wins The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2007

Industry-Leading Kahuna SD/HD Multiformat Production Switcher Earns Recognition for Innovation and Resulting Commercial Success

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HAMPSHIRE, U.K. -- May 8, 2007 -- Snell & Wilcox today announced that it has earned The Queen's Award for Enterprise. Recognized in the category of innovation, Kahuna, the first production switcher to offer simultaneous standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) operations in the same mainframe with the same control panel, puts broadcasters in control of their transition to HDTV by allowing them to start working in HD now, while continuing to use legacy SD equipment.

"The Queen's Award for Enterprise is a prestigious honor, known not only in the United Kingdom, but throughout the international marketplace," said Joe Zaller, vice president of strategic marketing at Snell & Wilcox. "We're very pleased that the Kahuna's groundbreaking technology, functionality, and quality have been recognized with this award. Our commitment to innovation continues to drive new feature and product development, and through the Kahuna and other forward-looking solutions, we persist in providing broadcasters and content owners with smart, efficient solutions for multiformat content processing and delivery."

The awards are given each year by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an advisory committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions. The Kahuna and other recipients of the innovation award are judged to have demonstrated outstanding and sustained innovation and development, as well as for achievements including invention, design, performance, marketing, distribution, and after-sales support.

The unique flexibility of the Kahuna, introduced to the broadcast market in 2004, allows users to work in SD-only or HD-only mode and then upgrade to multiformat SD/HD operation whenever they choose. In multiformat SD/HD mode, the switcher's FormatFusion technology enables SD sources to be integrated seamlessly into HD productions, and vice versa, with no need to purchase expensive HD upgrades or extra HD upconversion equipment.

Kahuna operators can allocate mix/effects banks (M/Es) to either SD or HD sources, or mix the two together on a single M/E. This operational flexibility makes maximum use of all available M/Es by networking multiple control surfaces to different mainframes, allocating one mainframe to separate control panels, or operating in SD or HD as required. This capability not only makes Kahuna an exceptionally versatile production switcher, but also eliminates the expense of additional upconverters, graphics systems, and other peripheral equipment. Its low weight, power consumption, and heat generation make Kahuna equally at home in weight-sensitive OB vehicles and in fixed installations.

IMPAKT, the powerful new 3-D DVE option for the Kahuna, gives operators and technical directors rich tools for creating dynamic live broadcasts. Included in this robust DVE offering are ripple, swirl, glow, warp, melt, and flat and 3D shatter effects. Newly enhanced functions enable greater flexibility through the use of preset triangular-based effects, trail-based effects, and a lighting generator. These effects complement the IMPAKT's original effects offering, which includes spheres, slabs, zooms, warps, tiling, ripples, rolls and peels, fragmentation, lighting effects, and corner pinning.

Through its multiple-tier Kahuna Care program, Snell & Wilcox provides a preventative maintenance regime for the Kahuna and offers Kahuna users services such as on-site attendance by a Snell & Wilcox engineer or backup TD at critical events.

More information about the Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher and other Snell & Wilcox products is available at www.snellwilcox.com.

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, mobile TV, 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. Further information is available at www.snellwilcox.com.

Press Contact: Susan Warren, Wall Street Communications, Phone: +1 631 261 1013. E-mail: susan@wallstcom.com.

Snell & Wilcox, Putting Pictures to Work, Kahuna, FormatFusion, and IMPAKT are all trademarks of the Snell & Wilcox Group. All other trademarks mentioned herein are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.