Cobalt Digital's 9061 up/down/cross converter
INDIANAPOLIS
As the media and technology partner to the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the Izod Indy Car Series, IMS Productions supplies a full range of services from HD trucks to support vehicles. Our customers demand the highest level of quality possible, and that's reflected in the cutting-edge technology that we employ.
In addition to auto racing, we also support other major sporting events such as the Indiana Pacers games and Professional Bull Riders competitions.
QUALITY IS EVERYTHING
Signal conversion is an absolute necessity in today's television environment, and when it was time to invest in converters for our HD trucks we selected Cobalt Digital's Compass 9061 format converters. The units reflect the quality of the product we deliver, and also the quality of our staff and the quality that the people we work with expect.
We installed 14 Cobalt 9061 up/down/cross converters in our two trucks, and they provide everything we need, including a 12-bit conversion, analog-to-digital video conversion, an HD/SD-SDI input, video processing, analog and AES audio inputs, audio embedding/de-embedding and routing, frame syncing and user audio/video level controls. The converters also provide AFD functions, full user remote and card-edge proc control, and have a memory feature for saving preferences, including white and black levels, color gain, color phase, audio routing, frame sync and other parameters.
Currently we're using the 9061s primarily for up and down conversion, but occasionally we're asked to convert from 1080 to 720, or even sometimes SDI. We've found Cobalt's converters to be the most transparent units on the market.
We also purchased eight Cobalt 9084 HD/SD-SDI RGB color correctors for processing all flavors of SDI signals. They provide full control of all critical gain, phase, gamma and other parameter settings. Adjustments are very smooth and responsive, and are done in real time.
FUTURE-PROOF FRAMES TOO
Both the 9061 and the 9084 units are part of Cobalt's Compass line for openGear. This platform is also a plus, as we can add video and audio processing cards from multiple manufacturers in the same frame, should we need to.
We use two Cobalt OGCP-9000/CC remote control panels to drive the converters and color correctors. They offer instantaneous adjustment, so our operators can manipulate signals with confidence and precision. Configuration is done through a simple Web interface, where configurations can be exported, backed up, and re-imported easily.
With any new device that enters the marketplace, there's always a learning curve. With Cobalt implementation was seamless and effortless. All in all, we don't think we could have done better than Cobalt when we selected our converters.
Ken Gardner serves as director of remote sales for IMS Productions. He may be contacted at kgardner@brickyard.com.
For additional information, contact Cobalt Digital at 800-669-1691 or visit www.cobaltdigital.com.
