NEP Broadcasting has picked Cobalt Digital’s terminal gear for use in transitioning two productions to high-definition. The studios used for origination of the “Colbert Report” and the “Daily Show” are undergoing a fast-pace multistage makeover to accommodate increasing demands for high-definition content.
“We are frame syncing, color correcting, embedding and de-embedding dozens of signals,” said George Hoover, chief technology officer at NEP Broadcasting. “By using Cobalt openGear products with the DashBoard control and monitoring software, and Cobalt OGCP-9000 remote control panels, we achieved one of the holy grails of system design: all video and audio processing under a common control scheme. Nothing like total rebuilds for HD in two weeks, for two shows, simultaneously, to test your fear factor.”
Hoover noted that when the Cobalt gear was originally installed, the studios were being used to originate in SD, with downconverters functioning as distribution amplifiers and Cobalt 9033 analog-to-digital converter cards being used to prep tape deck and DVD deck analog outputs for feeding the switcher in standard-definition SDI. As the machines are replaced with HD models, the Cobalt 9033 cards accommodate HD inputs with no changes required.
“The Cobalt products are one less thing to worry about,” said Hoover.
