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Snell & Wilcox Introduces Major Enhancements to RollCall Control & Monitoring System at NAB 2004

RollCall Integrates Best of Television and IT Technologies to Deliver an Optimal System for Real-Time Broadcast Applications

February 17, 2004 --

Intelligent Network Control Provides Best of Both Real-Time Broadcast monitoring and SNMP

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, February 17, 2004 -- Snell & Wilcox announced today that RollCall®, it's intelligent control and monitoring system, will be enhanced at NAB 2004 (Booth #C6421) with the addition of sophisticated SNMP management, network mapping and topology control architecture that enables virtual products to be created easily from disparate elements of a broadcast infrastructure. These enhancements enable Snell & Wilcox's networked control system to address virtually every generation of broadcast technology and to support equipment from an expanding range of leading broadcast vendors.

RollCall is the broadcast industry's most comprehensive and scalable infrastructure management solution. Incorporated into all Snell & Wilcox broadcast infrastructure products, it is in everyday use at three of the largest modular infrastructure installations in the world: Turner Broadcasting (7,000 components); DirecTV (2,500 components); and TVB in Hong Kong (2,000 components). RollCall provides broadcasters with greatly improved operational efficiency, cost savings and reliability.

At NAB 2004, Snell & Wilcox will introduce RollSNMP, an enhancement that increases the power of a RollCall network by enabling RollCall to monitor SNMP status information from the products of other vendors. RollSNMP has already been integrated with Pinnacle's Mediastream 900 video servers; Cisco's MIB2 compliant Ethernet switches; Pro-Bel's SNMP compliant Crosspoint routers; Barco's Hydra display processor; and Microsoft Windows 2000 & XP workstations and servers. Other devices can be quickly and easily integrated using XML, the industry standard for metadata exchange.

Snell & Wilcox will also introduce the latest version of its RollMap application a unique technology that offers a global view of the entire infrastructure of a broadcast operation, whether contained in a single building or deployed around the globe. RollMap will be enhanced with new custom network views that enable operators to structure the representation of any equipment. Traditionally, network views are shown as a physical representation of the network topology, but now the customer can arrange these views by channel, physical location or even create virtual networks and place products inside to create a virtual 'channel in a box.' This logical management structure makes locating and managing the correct equipment for operations far simpler than any system in the past has been able to offer.

New RollMap features include status and history tabs for offline analysis, drag & drop schematic building. Another powerful enhancement to RollMap is a new multichannel configuration software for RollPod, a hardware remote control option that allows facility operators to use the RollCall network for hands-on access to specific control functions at any location, and even to create virtual products by combining the control over functionality of multiple products in the network.

Our RollSNMP, combined with RollMap infrastructure management, is unique in the television industry because it prioritizes signal paths and broadcast workflow rather than IP network topology, said Geoff Bowen, Snell & Wilcox product manager for RollCall. In broadcasting, it's the real-time delivery of television signals that is most critical. Traditional SNMP techniques don't focus on those signals. We offer the industry's best solution because we combine the benefits of SNMP with the broadcaster's need to deliver television signals in real-time. We monitor what's essential to the broadcaster the integrity of on-air signals.

RollCall can be used cost-effectively by any size broadcast facility to control one to thousands of products. The system provides a dual redundant control network that takes full advantage of Internet protocols, but also can operate in real-time over its own, completely independent coaxial network, giving engineers peace of mind that their facility control is not dependent on the reliability of an IP-based IT network. By employing RollCall broadcasters can choose a financial model that makes sense for them, whether it's full-blown centralcasting of multiple stations over a wide area network or the simple monitoring and control of a few products in a single facility.

To ensure that a broadcaster's infrastructure investment today extends into the next generation, Snell & Wilcox has committed to enhance RollCall to support new file-based, IT infrastructures, said Bowen. Our new infrastructure products will have built-in capability to recognize metadata and to identify file movement throughout an existing SDI video infrastructure. Our industry is moving towards IT-based environments so we have enhanced our control system to bridge the gaps between today's infrastructure and tomorrow's and we will continue to offer solutions for IT based environments. That long-term value is another hallmark of the Snell & Wilcox brand.

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SNELL & WILCOX is a world-leading electronics design, manufacture and engineering group with an international reputation for the development of advanced image communications technologies for the world's broadcast television, video, satellite, cable, film and image communications industries. The company is dedicated to preserving the true content of the moving video image. Snell & Wilcox Inc. has offices throughout the United States and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Snell & Wilcox Ltd. is based in Hampshire, England with offices all over the world.

Snell & Wilcox Contact: John Shike, Snell & Wilcox Inc., 2225-I Martin Avenue, Santa Clara, California. Phone: 408-260-1000, Fax: 408-260-2800 or E-mail: john.shike@snellamerica.com, Web: www.snellwilcox.com.

Americas Press Contact: Robin Hoffman, Pipeline Communications, 277 Valley Way, Montclair, New Jersey. Phone: 973-746-6970, Fax: 973-746-6701 or E-mail: robinh@pipecomm.com.