Quantel today announced the immediate release of a brand new range of servers for its Enterprise sQ fast-turnaround News and Sports production systems. The new servers have been designed from the ground up to take maximum advantage of the latest generation of disk and processing technologies. As a result, they are smaller, lower cost and much more powerful than the existing sQ400 and 800 servers, and provide a responsive platform to enable broadcasters to meet ever-shorter turnaround times in a broader range of live and near-live applications.
The new servers are 100% compatible with existing Enterprise sQ systems. This means that current customers can expand and upgrade their systems with the latest technology rather than facing the expense and upheaval of complete system replacement. In this way the new servers extend the life of Enterprise sQ systems to 2020 and beyond.
The new servers reduce the price of the entire Enterprise sQ server range by up to 40%, bringing Quantel-quality fast-turnaround production within everyone's reach.
The new servers offer three times the storage capacity in two thirds of the space, and of course boast Quantel's unique FrameMagic agile multi-user, realtime operation for guaranteed fastest-to-air, web and mobile performance. The new servers have many further advantages. Disk bandwidth is more than doubled, supporting more editors and file i/o on each server; browse copies of media are created at 2-3x realtime giving everyone faster access to content; DSP codec technology enables support for future formats; dual 10 gigabit Ethernet enhances network connectivity and bandwidth; 3G SDI i/o and 16 channel audio integrate with modern production workflows.
"The new sQ1200 and sQ1800 servers provide a platform that will enable fast-turnaround production facilities to continue to meet the ever more demanding requirements of broadcasters as they fight to be first with the story," said Quantel Executive Chairman and CEO, Ray Cross. "The affordability of the new servers is not only the result of Moore's Law, but also the major investment we have recently made in our manufacturing facility, which enables us quite simply to deliver more for less."
