Omneon Video Networks has announced that its Omneon Spectrum media server system now supports HDV. HDV support allows Omneon Spectrum users to implement a cost-effective "capture, edit, and play" workflow that takes advantage of lower-cost HDV equipment for affordable HD production and playout.
"HDV format support strengthens our proposition of 'HD in any format' -- a position no other server manufacturer can claim -- providing our clients with yet another means of making a smooth migration into HD," said Geoff Stedman, vice president of worldwide marketing at Omneon. "Any network or affiliate looking for a way to bring HD material into their broadcasts will find that the Omneon Spectrum provides the greatest amount of flexibility in handling the entire HD format range."
In the new workflow made possible by Omneon's HDV support, users can deploy relatively low-cost camcorders to capture HDV footage, ingest that material into an HDV editing platform such as Apple's Final Cut Pro, and then transfer edited content directly to an Omneon Spectrum server system for playout.
Unlike other servers that require time-consuming transcoding prior to storage, the Omneon Spectrum server can handle direct storage of HDV-based material for later playout. New Omneon Spectrum users can make use of HDV within their facilities, and existing HD customers can add HDV at no charge with a simple upgrade to the latest software release.
HDV playout functionality can be combined with all of the other 4000 and 4100 series MultiPort module capabilities, including simultaneous HD and SD outputs and SD and HD on the same timeline. Omneon's 4100 series MultiPort modules allow HDV clips to be played back-to-back with an automatically upconverted SD clip on the same timeline. Both the 4000 and 4100 series MultiPort modules feature automatic horizontal scaling from 1440 to 1920, enabling HDV and other HD-format clips to play seamlessly back-to-back on the same timeline.
