Snell & Wilcox Wins Contract To Supply Standards Converters To NBC Universal For Beijing Olympics
Snell & Wilcox recently won the contract to supply NBC Universal with motion-compensated frame-rate standards converters for coverage of the 2008 Olympics Beijing. Included in the order are the new Alchemist Ph.C - HD converters.
NBCU’s coverage will be originated in 1080i/50 standard for HDTV and 625/50 PAL for SD. To transmit this content to U.S. viewers, it must be converted to 1080i/60 for HD and 525/60 for NTSC. The network will use the Alchemist Ph.C - HD to do this on almost all SD and HD feed during the games.
"Snell & Wilcox frame-rate standards converters are the industry's benchmark for quality, and we're proud that NBC has once again trusted our technology to deliver its coverage of the Olympic Games to viewers in the U.S.," said Joe Zaller, vice president, strategic marketing at Snell & Wilcox. "We're especially pleased to be supplying NBC with a large number of our new Alchemist Ph.C - HDs for the conversion of their HDTV content. The Alchemist Ph.C - HD extends our frame-rate conversion leadership into the HDTV realm, and this order is a powerful endorsement of the quality and reliability of our newest conversion platform."
NBC previously used Snell & Wilcox motion-compensated frame-rate standards converters for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and also supplied converters for the 2004 Athens Games.
"High quality frame-rate standards conversion will play a vital role in the delivery of the Beijing Olympics to our viewers in the U.S.," said David Mazza, senior vice president, engineering, NBC Olympics. "Most of the 2008 Olympic Games will be transmitted in HDTV, so it's critical that we are able to convert this material transparently to the U.S. broadcast standard and that we can deliver the highest possible viewing experience. We're confident that the SDTV and HDTV motion-compensated converters from Snell & Wilcox will deliver superior image quality to our viewers."
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