The BBC has been tasked with broadcasting the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament to its viewers all over the world in SD and HD from studios and facilities in both Munich and Berlin.
To meet this challenge, the BBC has installed Kahuna SD/HD production switchers from Snell & Wilcox at both sites that allow production staff to work with both SD and HD sources in the same mainframe, integrate them seamlessly into production and supply transmission feeds simultaneously in both formats.
A 4M/E Kahuna system in Berlin and 2M/E system in Munich, both provided and installed by GearHouse Broadcast, will allow the BBC production team and switcher operators to choose from a wide variety of sources — SD and HD cameras, VTRs, graphics systems, etc. — regardless of format. The Kahuna’s FormatFusion technology enables the integration of SD sources into high-quality HD productions without the need for outboard upconversion. The Snell & Wilcox switcher offers simultaneous SD and HD operations in the same mainframe with the same control panel, enabling operators to allocate M/Es to either SD or HD sources, or to mix the two together on a single M/E.
For more information, please visit www.snellwilcox.com/products/switchers.
