NBC Olympics to use Snell & Wilcox standard converters for its 2004 and 2006 Olympics coverage

NBC Olympics will expand its use of Snell & Wilcox motion-compensated standards converters in its coverage of both the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

The Mach1 converters will convert backup outgoing signals at the IBC and be housed in edit rooms and at certain Olympic venues for conversion of source material shot in 525.

Beginning with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the network has been using Snell & Wilcox Alchemist Ph.C standards converters. For the Athens and Torino Games, NBC Olympics purchased an Alchemist Platinum and two Kudos Plus Mach1 M.Sc standards converters.

The Alchemist Platinum will be housed at the Olympics’ International Broadcast Center to convert outgoing signals and some incoming feeds between 525 and 625 standard definition formats as required. The Mach1 converters will convert backup outgoing signals at the IBC and be housed in edit rooms and at certain Olympic venues for conversion of source material shot in 525.

Alchemist Platinum improves on the Alchemist Ph.C, with 12-bit processing, improved resolution, and an improvement in picture fidelity. The Alchemist Platinum uses Ph.C motion compensation technology exclusive to Snell & Wilcox.