by John Merli~ April 26, 2006
TV TECHNOLOGY
Network Electronics is showcasing more than 30 new products this week, including a 3 Gbps router switcher (model SL-3GHD). The firm celebrated its 10th anniversary at NAB with a birthday party Tuesday evening on the floor to unveil the next generation of its established VikinX router line, to be known as Sublime.
The firm had another good reason to celebrate: It enjoyed record sales in the fourth quarter of 2005. It said its client list now includes about 90 countries.
It is the second NAB participant to announce a 3 Gbps router unit this week. Evertz, which recently acquired Quartz, broke the news of its own 3 Gbps plans this week in the NAB Daily News (Tuesday PM edition). While both companies are claiming to be the first out of the box with the expanded 3 Gbps range, Network Electronics may the first-to-market with the breakthrough router, with a shipping date tentatively set for mid-May.
BIGGER BANDWIDTH
One attribute of any 3 Gbps router is fairly obvious, according to company Senior Designer Martin Hodges, who works in Oslo, Norway. "It makes things a lot easier," he said. "Especially with the rollout of 1080p, you really need that 3 Gb. It's robust, and it reclocks [removes noise] quite well."
The new VikinX Sublime line is the company's second generation of compact routing switchers, affording flexible matrix parameters (8 x 8 to 64 x 64, and 128 x 2) that can cover signal formats ranging from analog video/audio to HD realms.
Network Electronics also has enhanced its "flashlink" range with a line of IP gateway hardware that permits real-time transport of SDI digital video via IP networks. The SDI-IP-GTW (like other flashlink products) is designed to deliver video quality with virtually no degradation. The Norwegian firm told reporters at a Tuesday floor briefing its SDI-IP-GTW is the only product now available that provides standard compliance SDI-over-IP transport in accordance with Pro-MPEG Code of Practice #4.
© 2006 NAB
