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Italy's Betanews Orders Multiformat SD/HD Kahuna Switcher for its Largest Ever OB Van

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Amsterdam (IBC), September 10, 2004 - Snell & Wilcox today announced that the first outside broadcast (OB) van customer for its new Kahuna SD/HD production switcher is Italy-based Betanews srl. The order is being signed at IBC2004.

Betanews has facilities in Naples and Rome and with a regular clientele that includes broadcasters such as Sky Italia, RAI, Mediaset, and major production companies such as Endemol and Magnolia, it is one of the largest operations of its kind in Italy. Betanews will deploy a multiformat SD/HD Kahuna system with four mix/effects banks (M/Es) at the heart of the newest and largest addition to its OB fleet - a 12-meter (39-foot) unit with 18 cameras. The new Snell & Wilcox switcher was supplied through Video Progetti S.r.l., the company's Rome- and Milan-based distributor and systems integrator.

"Kahuna was a natural choice for Betanews because it combines a tremendous range of features within a small, lightweight, and efficient form factor, while providing more capabilities than any other switcher on the market," said Antonio Greco, sales manager at Video Progetti. "Kahuna's ability to operate in SD and HD simultaneously, its small dimensions, flexible control panel and dynamically assignable M/Es make it the most advanced, most reliable switcher on the market today and one that is eminently suited for the OB environment."

Being introduced at IBC2004, the Snell & Wilcox Kahuna looks set to revolutionize the switcher market. It is the industry's first switcher to offer simultaneous high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) operations in the same mainframe with the same control panel. It is also the first ever switcher to enable the seamless integration of SD sources into HD productions, without upconversion. Its compact, 11-RU mainframe is the smallest ever for a switcher with its capabilities, yet it contains up to four M/Es and eight channels of 3D DVE (optional) together with redundant power supplies. Its low weight, power consumption, and heat generation make Kahuna equally at home in weight sensitive OB vehicles and in fixed installations.

"Our OB fleet serves a wide range of applications and customers, from live broadcasts of sports events to fiction production, corporate and conference events, and advertising spot production," said Umberto Chiariello, managing director of Betanews. "The gear we choose for our trucks thus needs to be flexible enough to handle any conceivable customer request. We looked at every brand of switcher on the market, and not one of them could match all the features that Kahuna delivers."

Kahuna is available for order now and will begin shipping in Q4 2004.

ENDS

Snell & Wilcox, the leader in its field, delivers technologies and products that give television and satellite broadcasters, post production facilities, film makers, and communications professionals the freedom 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, without sacrificing picture quality. 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 maintains its U.S. headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. and European headquarters in Hampshire, United Kingdom. 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.

Americas Press Contact: Laura Schoeggl, Wall Street Communications, Phone: 253-404-0020. Email: laura@wallstreetcom.tv.

EMEA Press Contact: Karen David, Wall Street Communications Europe, Phone: +44 (0) 1865 310422. Email: karen@wallstreetcom.tv.

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