Snell — Snappy Stuff For CABSAT 2010 (SatBroadcasting™)

Snell will showcase a broad array of solutions for creation, management, and distribution of content at CABSAT 2010, all designed to ease broadcasters’ transition to digital, HDTV, and 3Gb/s operations.

In the production switching and switching realm there is the new Kahuna CF+. Housed in a single, compact, 6-RU frame, this is the most powerful and cost-effective 2.5-M/E production switcher on the market. This newest member of the Kahuna family serves as a stand-alone solution for sophisticated switching and offers more choice in space-constrained environments. The Kahuna CF+ shares the same specifications of larger Kahuna systems, as well as a compact full-function control surface and the intuitive interface that makes Kahuna switchers a familiar favorite among technical directors and other users across the industry. The Kahuna CF+ supports external device control without the need for additional boxes, ensuring smooth integration into studios while reducing the cost, complexity, and power consumption of the installation.

Also to be shown are the new CVR800 and TBS800 motion-compensated standards conversion products. The CVR800 frame-rate and format converter and the TBS800 format converter and synchronizer both include support for 3Gb/s operations and composite video I/O and are designed specifically to streamline HD broadcast workflows. The CVR800 offers motion-adaptive frame-rate and format conversion (up, down, cross) and the TBS800 offers motion-adaptive format conversion and synchronization for 3Gb/s, HD, and SD video. The systems include a flexible and powerful set of linear and nonlinear tools for user-controlled enhancements, such as the adjustment of horizontal and vertical attributes during format conversion. As moving video elements are processed by the systems’ motion-adaptive format conversion technology, a stills mode for format conversion enables operators to process stationary items, such as logos and banners, separately from the main picture to ensure optimal quality.

For automation and master control, Morpheus ICE (Integrated Content Engine) is a stand-alone automation and master control system that delivers in a single 3-RU box what would otherwise take several products from several manufacturers to achieve. Based on the company’s Morpheus automation technology — including its Media Ball™ approach to secondary event management — Morpheus ICE provides everything broadcasters need for single-channel playout and, by linking ICE units together, a multichannel environment. As it’s fully compatible with existing file formats, Morpheus ICE is also perfect for adding cost-effective channel backup, preview, or regional opt-out management to existing systems. Morpheus ICE supports a wide range of SD and HD video file formats removing the transcode bottleneck. It also features at least 1 TB of internal RAID storage — plus, connection to external network attached storage. Unlike the fixed capabilities of competing “automation-in-a-box” systems, the modular Morpheus ICE can be scaled up simply by adding more of the compact 3-RU units as the operation expands.