by John Merli~ April 25, 2006
TV TECHNOLOGY
Evertz introduced its next-generation of HD support products at NAB2006 on Monday, including word that it soon will unveil what is believed to be the world's first 3 Gbps router, the EQX 576. Advance word of the 3 Gbps product, which is not yet on display, was first revealed at an exclusive exhibit-floor briefing for NAB Daily News and TV Technology magazine on Monday morning.
"Evertz plunged into HDTV solutions seven years ago and ever since has been working down from that point," said Orest Holyk, Evertz sales director. "Others were still into analog back then and had to work upward."
Evertz, based in Burlington, Ontario, recently acquired Quartz and in the past years has greatly expanded its HD end-to-end solution product lines. Apart from its line of routers, it is showcasing a fully integrated master control system upgrade and its next-gen product for fiber optics, time encoding, closed captioning and production/post wares.
Apart from its pending 3 Gb router, whose release date not yet announced, other new routers on display include the HD 256 x 256, the 128 x 128 AES audio router, and other units that include dual HD downconverters, a system controller for small-to-medium routing systems, and a 29-button programmable panel that includes two display windows.
In its RF product line, the firm also is demoing a new 16x16 RF L-Band at this year's show (XRF1616); as well as its XRF6464; and a new router control panel, the X-NCP2.
"We really are the de facto standard for a lot of HD solutions these days," Holyk said. "We offer several router solutions, and add to, or improve on them, every year. We have dozens of new or upgraded products this time around."
DISPLAYS AND SIGNAL MONITORS
Evertz also is displaying its VIP series of multi-input display and signal monitoring products, based on its proprietary MVP technology. Holyk said the company's compact video and graphic display lines display up to WUXGA (Widescreen Ultra eXtended Graphics Array -- 1920 x 1200) resolution, and are now available in more compact 1 RU enclosures (model 9767VIP8).
Its multidisplay MVP system can expand from eight inputs with a single output to more than 1,000 inputs dedicated to 50 displays. Also, MVP is hardware-based; it requires no PC or hard drive. It is hot-swappable with front-access input/output modules. HD/SD serial outputs are included, along with fast power cycle recovery of typically 15 seconds.
Holyk said virtually all of Evertz's next-gen enhancements include new 1080p options, and the MVP line is designed for "out-of-the-box" implementation for easy set-up, and once off and running, will allow drag-and-drop controlling, speedy preset recall, and off-line development with real-time display layout control.
Evertz also has nearly two dozen new or enhanced fiber-optic products, topped off by its quad fiber-optic splitter (7705DS-4), and a new analog video transmitter/receiver with four-channel analog audio. Its 4:4:4 HD products include a dual-link video processor and a 4:4:4-4:4:2 graticule generator.
The Canadian firm also continues to tweak its well-established lineage of digital and analog time displays, including its master clock system. One model (1275A) serves as a multifunction time-of-day display that can serve as a slave to a master clock system or as a self-contained timepiece. As a slave, it reads the SMPTE/EBU timecode; as a standalone, it can be used in either 12 or 24-hour mode.
© 2006 NAB
