READING, ENGLAND—At Snell's NAB booth N1820, broadcasters will see a comprehensive portfolio of signal processing and conversion tools to support every aspect of this expanding "mediacasting" environment.
Norman Rouse, Snell's director of marketing "We believe that technology should enable creativity, and support the creative process without demanding high levels of expertise or attention," said Norman Rouse, director of the marketing at Snell. "And despite the increasing complexity of today's multichannel, multiplatform distribution environment, having an intelligent, supportive, capable infrastructure is more important that ever for maintaining creativity."
SIGNAL PROCESSING HERITAGE
While the broadcast business has seen dramatic changes in the last 15 years, the process remains the same—processing, monitoring, and routing of multiformat incoming and outgoing signals. Signal processing is Snell's core competency, and with the merger of Snell & Wilcox and Pro-Bel in 2009, their shared intellectual properties and technologies now form the foundation of Snell's expanding product line that will be on display at the NAB show.
"Our products offer enterprise-level signal management for mission-critical media operations," said Rouse.
Snell's Centra is a good example of an enterprise-level product that protects the station's investment and bottom line, while still being intuitive and user-friendly. Launched at IBC2010, Centra v.1 is now making its U.S. debut at NAB. Centra handles the monitoring process and alerts operators to any technical problems related to processing and play-out of video and audio signals by sounding alarms, sending emails and SMS messaging, among other reporting methods.
ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS
The Sirius 830 routing switcher is also making its U.S. debut as the latest in the company's Sirius 800 series of large-scale, multiformat expandable routers for routing HD, SD, ASI, and 3G/s signals. The 15RU Sirius 830 offers a more compact 288x288 frame size for studio or OB productions. The intuitive touchscreen interface on the router's front panel allows easy access to comprehensive status and diagnostic information, and Snell's unique Catsii technology provides immediate indication of router I/O status.
Snell's Sirius routers allow the addition of up to 140 additional independently controllable outputs for connection to any Snell or third-party multiviewer solution. Snell's new MV-Series of multiviewers is suited for control rooms, studios, and OB trucks. It accepts up to 64 video digital and analog formats including 1080p, which are complemented by powerful audio metering and monitoring of up to 16 channels per tile. With new audio monitoring enhancements, the MV-Series also monitors discrete AES, analog audio, or Dolby AC3 inputs.
Snell is expanding its IQ Modular 3G product line by launching a new video and audio processing platform. Ideal for space-constrained applications, this compact, integrated processing engine enables flexible signal handling and serves as an advanced audio processing solution. Also new is a range of fiber-optic interfacing modules that combine electrical-to-optical conversion with critical processing functions such as video synchronizing.
There are also new features on the Kahuna 360 production switcher, including Source Safe, a technology that automatically senses a signal on an input and sets up the correct processing for that signal without the need for operator intervention.
Snell is also promoting v.5.1 of its Alchemist Ph.C standards converter, as well as optional 3Gbps 1080p capability. The new version adds an enhanced Dolby-E authoring option to the system's existing Dolby-E transcoding and decoding capabilities, and more comprehensive audio routing control.
