England-based Snell & Wilcox will launch several new products at IBC2004 in September. The Kahuna is a production switcher that allows users to process mix/effects on both HD and SD outputs and to simultaneously mix SD and HD sources. This product will be mostly likely be used for graphic-intensive production like sports and news.
MXF Express is a free set of developer tools that allows for interoperability among file-sharing products and systems through the MXF file format.
Comet is an end-user, software-based ingest system for servers and asset-management systems. The "engine" behind Comet is the new MediaX PCI card that can run on an off-the-shelf Windows PC.
RollCall Software can be used to network all the IQ Modular and conversion products. RollCall's sister application, RollMap, with RollSNMP, allows the ability to monitor SNMP status information from the products of other vendors.
The Alchemist Ph.C converter uses the company's motion measurement technology and requires 3RU of space.
HDTV up and downconversion products will also be previewed at IBC2004. The HD5400 upconverter will upconvert 525/625 SD video-to-HD at the 1080i, 720p or 480p output formats and provide the standards, aspect-ratio and color-space conversions required by broadcasters. The new HD6300 downconverter can convert SMPTE 292M and ITU 709 HD standards to standard-definition serial digital video.
The CPP1000 Prefix-HD is a next-generation multistandard HD compression preprocessor to be unveiled at IBC2004. This product reduces noise-related artifacts in HD video in the precompression stage.
The other product to be introduced at the event is Niagra, a grain-management and artifact-suppression system designed for virtual-telecine environments. Niagra works with all HD and SD video standards and supports AES, AC3 and Dolby E audio.
Snell & Wilcox will also introduce new infrastructure modules to its IQ Range, including HD and SD converters, synchronizers, distribution amplifiers, routers and audio modules that can operate in SD or HD resolutions.
