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Cyberport's Digital Media Centre expands capabilities with Snell & Wilcox Alchemist Platinum™

Content creators to access world's highest performance standards conversion at Asia's digital media hub

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Hong Kong's Digital Media Centre (DMC) has taken the next step towards becoming Asia's hub for Digital Content Creation, with Alchemist Platinum, the Snell & Wilcox high-end phase correlation-based motion-compensated standards converter.

Dr. Krates Hing-Ngok Ng, Centre Manager, Digital Media Centre, Hong Kong Cyberport, said, "By nurturing a new generation of multimedia talent we will not only further enhance and expand upon Hong Kong's reputation for cutting edge film and visual production, we will also be greatly empowering Hong Kong's SMEs to compete and win projects anywhere on the planet that require world-class quality and low production costs."

The Alchemist Platinum, delivered in Hong Kong by Broadcast Technology Limited (BTL), is unique in its ability to upconvert high quality 625 material to HD with artefact free, high resolution images, producing clear and crisp outputs from the widest range of video input material.  As a result, DMC is able to seamlessly re-master content created in Hong Kong's native standard of 625/50Hz SD and repurpose it for distribution in the lucrative 1080i 60Hz HD formats of Japan, Korea and the USA. The first content creator at DMC to make use of the Alchemist Platinum transferred a 35-episode, one hour length TV series from standard definition to high definition format.

Phase correlation is a unique motion compensation technology to deliver high quality no matter what output format is required - HD or SD, PAL or NTSC - and the Alchemist Platinum is the first of its kind in North Asia. 

Snell & Wilcox' Alchemist Platinum, which contains the Emmy®-award winning motion measurement at its core, has been the industry standard for quality for more than a decade. It has been approved and is being used for HD upconversion by world leading broadcasters such as NHK, Discovery and BBC Worldwide. 

Note: Alchemist Platinum is a Trademark of Snell & Wilcox Ltd

Cyberport and Digital Media Centre: Cyberport - Hong Kong's IT Flagship (www.cyberport.com.hk) - will create an interactive environment that will host a strategic cluster of local and overseas information technology (IT) companies.  The Digital Media Centre (DMC) is a unique state-of-the-art digital content creation facility in Cyberport. The DMC is committed to providing leading technologies, expertise, hardware and software support for activities ranging from video editing to computer game programming to 3D scanning.

Snell & Wilcox, the leader in its field, delivers technologies and products that enable television and satellite broadcasters, post production facilities, film makers, 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 Ltd. maintains its Asia headquarters in Hong Kong and European headquarters in Hampshire, United Kingdom. Additional offices are located in New York, California, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia and Russia.  Visit www.snellwilcox.com for more information.

Snell & Wilcox Asia Pacific Headquarters Contact: Mark Parlett, Managing Director, Snell & Wilcox Asia Pacific Limited, Unit E, 10/F, China Overseas Building, 139 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong, Phone: 852-2356-1660, Fax: 852-2356-1603 or Email:  mparlett@snellwilcox.com.hk,

Asia Pacific Press Contact: Genevieve Hilton, Managing Director, All Rivers Public Relations,
Phone: 852-3106-3961, Fax: 852-3106-3962 or E-mail: genevievehilton@allriverspr.com   

International Press Contact: Karen David, Wall Street Communications Europe.
Phone 01865 310422. Email: karen@wallstreetcom.tv.