Spanish broadcaster Telecinco used Snell’s Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher for its coverage of the FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament. The broadcaster also used the Snell IQ Modular IQARC00 conversion and signaling module to handle the numerous feeds.
Together, the Snell solutions enabled Telecinco to simultaneously deliver live match coverage in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios, giving Spanish football fans a high-quality image and viewing experience from both widescreen and traditional-sized televisions.
Telecinco broadcasted the Confederations Cup matches over both its PAL analog channel and its digital terrestrial channel. Because the station’s normal program output is in 16:9, Telecinco needed an easy and cost-effective means of converting the stream to 4:3 for the analog broadcast.
The Kahuna switcher and IQARC00 offered the solution by allowing the broadcaster to produce a 16:9 program feed and a simultaneous 4:3 clean feed for use by other programs using its existing infrastructure.
With its embedded FormatFusion technology, Snell’s Kahuna is capable of handling multiple broadcast formats in the same mainframe and on the same control panel. Thus, Telecinco was able to produce the two simultaneous broadcast streams without having to purchase external conversion equipment.
The IQARC00 module handles the aspect ratio conversion from 16:9 to 4:3 for the analog channel and integrates with the station’s automation system to ensure that the format conversion is frame-accurate. In addition, the modules provide WSS signaling to ensure that both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions can adjust their aspect ratios to the content.
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