Snell at IBC 2010

"Our customers have to get their content and programming to a wider multi-platform audience than ever before while also cost-effectively tackling the transition to HDTV, 3D, and 3Gbps. At IBC2010, we are excited to be introducing powerful new innovations that bring unified control and management to today's complex and diverse operations," said Neil Maycock, chief marketing officer at Snell.

Enterprise Control, Monitoring, and Configuration

A significant launch for Snell at IBC2010 will be Centra, the company's next-generation control and monitoring platform which delivers unified control, monitoring, and playout right across a business. Through enhanced integration with Snell products and leading third-party broadcast and IT technology, Centra brings new operational efficiencies through centralized configuration and control to all areas of real-time content preparation, infrastructure management, studio, and OB productions. Productions can be switched and infrastructure can be reconfigured at the press of a button. Also making its debut at IBC2010 is a new range of control panels for Centra. The highly configurable panels provide flexible user interfaces for standalone operation or work with the system's GUI to enhance operations.

Sirius 830 Router for Centralized Operations

At IBC2010, Snell will introduce the Sirius 830 — the latest in the company's acclaimed Sirius 800 series of large-scale, multi-format expandable routers. The 16RU Sirius 830 offers a more compact 288 x 288 frame size for mid- to large-scale studio or OB productions, with the ability to add an additional 144 independently controllable outputs for connection to any Snell or third-party multiviewer solution. Like all routers in the Sirius 800 family, the Sirius 830 features high-performance modules for flexible routing of SD, HD, ASI, and 3Gbps signals. The intuitive touch-screen interface on the router's front panel allows quick and easy access to a comprehensive range of status and diagnostic information, and Snell's unique Catsii™ technology provides immediate indication of router input and output status.

Multiviewer Solutions

Snell will introduce enhanced audio monitoring capabilities for its recently launched MV-Series of multiviewers at IBC2010. The MV-Series offers flexible and cost-effective solutions for combining and displaying multiple images (or "tiles") on a single or dual video display device. Designed for a range of applications including control rooms, studios, and OB trucks, the MV-Series offers users highly versatile and configurable viewing capabilities. The system accepts up to 64 video inputs, in a range of analog and digital formats including 1080p, which are complemented by powerful audio metering and monitoring of up to 16 channels per tile. The new audio monitoring enhancements include an additional frame that enables discrete AS, analog, or MADI audio signals to be monitored onscreen alongside the video tiles.

Playout

The latest versions of Morpheus and Snell's 'Station in a Box' ICE will be featured at the show. Morpheus version 2 has over 100 new features, including support for virtual machine environments, reducing system complexity, power requirements, and adding additional hardware resilience. Snell is now offering ICE in a number of turnkey packages, providing powerful SD/HD playout, master control and branding performance at a fraction of the price of traditional solutions.

Modular Infrastructure

In preparation for extensive expansion of its IQ modular product line in 2011, Snell will introduce a new IQ platform that will offer increased processing density and advanced control and monitoring capabilities. The new platform will interface seamlessly with Snell's monitoring system, also being launched for the first time at IBC2010, to provide an enterprise-wide control and monitoring solution that can be easily tailored to customers' unique requirements. With improvements in both ergonomic and technical design, the new IQ platform will also be fully compatible with existing IQ and RollCall systems and modules.

Live Production — "Kahunaverse"

To meet the ever-increasing demands of SD, HD and 3D live production for multi-platform distribution, this range of scalable, future-proof live production solutions incorporates leading-edge technologies for the seamless integration of SD, HD, and 1080p. A must-see at IBC2010 is the recently launched Kahuna 360, a revolutionary production switcher platform that breaks away from the traditional limitations of fixed M/Es, resources, and formats and supports up to 16 simultaneous broadcast productions in a single mainframe — an industry first. Engineered for the most demanding production requirements, Kahuna 360 boasts the ultimate in switcher flexibility and scalability to give operators all the functionality they need to target more audiences simultaneously.

Conversion and Restoration

Making its debut to the European market is Archangel Ph.C – HD, an advanced SD and HD restoration system with real-time dirt, dust, grain, noise, scratch, instability, and flicker removal. Archangel Ph.C – HD unlocks the value of existing assets, ensuring that SD and HD content can be distributed in superb quality. The restoration system also brings significant improvements to users' workflows by maximizing the amount of restoration that can be completed in real time. Snell's flagship Alchemist Ph.C – HD, with Emmy® Award-winning Ph.C motion measurement technology, now offers 1080p capability, which empowers users to deliver content to any standard without compromising picture quality or clarity. In addition to Dolby® E transcoding and decoding already offered in Alchemist Ph.C – HD, the enhanced Dolby E Authoring option also enables encoding (PCM>Dolby E) with more comprehensive audio routing control.

Snell is a leading innovator in digital media technology and provides broadcasters and global media companies with a comprehensive range of solutions to create, better manage, and streamline the distribution of content for today's multi-screen world. Snell provides the tools necessary to transition seamlessly and cost-effectively to HDTV, stereoscopic 3D, and 3Gbps operations.
Headquartered in the U.K., Snell serves more than 2,000 broadcasters, post facilities, and global media companies in more than 100 countries through its worldwide team of sales and support personnel. More information is available at