CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Oct. 3, 2019 – Cobalt Digital will showcase a number of its card-based solutions for openGear® frames, including its new 9992-DEC Series of HEVC/AVC/MPEG-2 decoders, at NAB Show New York (Booth N531), which runs Oct. 16-17 at the Javits Center. As part of its continued adoption of RIST, the Reliable internet Stream Transport protocol for low-latency video transport over the internet, Cobalt will also demonstrate SafeLink, an openGear solution that uses a RIST wrapper to protect multiple transport streams through existing encoding/decoding infrastructure. Plus, the company is announcing a new feature for its 9904-UDX-4K up/down/cross converter and image processor to simplify HDR content contribution and distribution.
A companion technology to the company’s 9992-ENC Series of encoders, the flexible 9992-DEC Series is designed to meet the most stringent requirements for today’s broadcasters. It supports up to 4K resolution with a full complement of audio decoding capabilities. Plus, its pay-as-you-go licensing means users only pay for required features when needed. The series includes the 9992-2DEC dual-channel decoder, as well as the 9992-DEC-4K-HEVC with single-channel 4K or dual-channel 2K and support for H.265.
“Our new 9992-DEC joins our popular 9992-ENC to create a complete transport solution for broadcasters at whatever resolution they need,” said Chris Shaw, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Cobalt Digital. “With its support for 5.1 audio, the 9992 Series is a cost-effective solution for contribution-level transmission.”
Cobalt will also demonstrate its new SafeLink software, which protects the transport of live video and audio data over unsecure networks. Through the use of the RIST protocol, SafeLink eliminates video glitches and provides reliable video transport, even in live production environments that may experience network delay. SafeLink supports a variety of compression standards – including MPEG-2, AVC, and HEVC – and up to eight discrete transmit and receive paths. The software can be installed on most computers or Cobalt’s openGear OG-PC-x86 platform, and is controlled through Cobalt’s DashBoard control and monitoring application.
For HDR content, the new SL-HDR Decoder feature for the 9904-UDX-4K provides SDR-to-HDR conversion using SL-HDR technology, which allows broadcasters to distribute SDR and HDR content over the same signal. Once an SDR signal has been processed through Cobalt’s SL-HDR Encoder, the SL-HDR Decoder software uses the metadata within the signal to reconstruct an HDR picture for compatible devices. The technology is similar to the card’s Technicolor HDR Intelligent Tone Management option, but with a scaled down feature set.
Cobalt has also announced new ordering options for the 9904-UDX-4K that combines all the Technicolor HDR options. The +HDR-TCHCLR and HDR-TCHCLR-4K options provide access to all three available firmware builds, including ITM, SL-HDR Encoder, and SL-HDR Decoder.
About Cobalt Digital
Cobalt Digital Inc. designs and manufactures award-winning edge devices that help live video production and master control clients transition to IP, 4K, HDR, the cloud, and beyond. As a founding partner in the openGear® initiative and proud member of SMPTE, Cobalt also offers a best-of-breed interoperability platform that simplifies technological adoption. Distributed through a worldwide network of dealers, system integrators, and other partners, Cobalt Digital products are backed with a five-year warranty. Learn more at www.cobaltdigital.com.
