Crystal Vision will be launching a range of interface, keying and control products on Stand Z-41 at CABSAT 2008.
Visitors to the Crystal Vision stand at CABSAT 2008 will have the opportunity to view a live chroma key set featuring the company‘s latest High Definition and Standard Definition chroma keyers. - Safire HD 2 and Safire SD 2. An enhanced version of the original Safire HD providing keying of an outstanding quality at an affordable price, Safire HD 2 now includes processing to allow tolerance to difficult colours in the Foreground. Able to work with transparent and reflective objects, Safire HD 2 has all the essential features required including fine adjustments for optimised edges, sophisticated shadow processing, key shrink, masks, linear keying, mix and wipes and also works with Standard Definition sources, making it ideal for any live chroma keying application and multi-standard environments. Safire SD 2 is Crystal Vision‘s new Standard Definition chroma keyer, which provides an easy upgrade path to HD. Aimed at broadcast engineers not currently operating in HD but planning to do so in the near future, Safire SD 2 uses the same hardware platform as Safire HD 2 complete with all the new processing features, but with its operation restricted to SD. A simple exchange of the module‘s daughter board for a new one provided by Crystal Vision, completes the upgrade.
Amongst Crystal Vision‘s eleven new High Definition products on show at CABSAT 2008 will be two new High Definition video synchronisers. SYNNER-E HD is a video synchroniser for HD or SD video that allows a mixture of Dolby E and standard AES within the same embedded audio group and can also embed and de-embed external audio through the fitting of piggybacks. It is the first Crystal Vision product to re-align the Dolby E data to ensure the guardband is in exactly the correct place, therefore meeting the strict requirements now recommended by Dolby to allow many more stages of processing. The second HD video synchroniser combines the functions of five different products on one board. SYNNER HD can be used as a HD/SD synchroniser, tracking audio delay embedder, de-embedder and audio processor all at the same time. This not only saves the engineer money and rack space, SYNNER HD‘s enhanced flexibility enables it to be adapted for use in almost any application.
Instantly popular on its release and a ‘must see‘ product at CABSAT 2008, Q-Down is a broadcast down converter and distribution amplifier offering a unique level of image quality in its price range. Available in four different versions in combination with an extremely flexible set of outputs means that Q-Down will suit a very wide range of applications. The single slot Q-Down123 gives two reclocked input loop-throughs of the HD or SD input while the ‘double decker‘ Q-Down183 gives eight loop-throughs. Both additionally provide three SD outputs individually link selectable between analogue and digital, with the analogue configurable as composite, Y/C, YUV or RGB. The newest versions - Q-Down123-A and Q-Down183-A - are ideal for those working with embedded audio, with additional features including signal probe functionality and sophisticated audio handling in both HD and SD making them ideal as main signal path down converters.
Designed for asynchronous and embedded audio sources respectively, Up-and-down-S and Up-and-down-A are Crystal Vision‘s latest up/down/cross converters. Both versions provide exceptional performance as a result of motion adaptive video de-interlacing, which maximises the picture‘s vertical resolution and ensures that the best processing method will be chosen based on the video content, resulting in the sharpest output picture possible.
Dolby E users visiting CABSAT 2008 should go along to the Crystal Vision stand to see the new features that have been added to the company‘s High Definition audio embedder/de-embedder designed specifically to benefit those working with Dolby E. The original TANDEM HD-20 has evolved into TANDEM HD-21, now giving the engineer the option to delay the video by a frame to compensate for the delay created by converting to or from Dolby E and providing extensive Dolby E handling. The flexible TANDEM HD-21 can be configured in many different ways using piggybacks and provides embedding or de-embedding for one or two groups of analogue or digital audio.
Released at the same price as the original Standard Definition versions, Crystal Vision‘s first High Definition fibre optic transmitter (FTX HD) and receiver (FRX HD) provide a robust transport medium to transmit either HD or SD signals over large distances. Both boards are dual channel, saving the user both money and rack space and are designed to work primarily with the longer distance single-mode cable.
Crystal Vision has brought a new level of sophistication to colour correction and legalisation with the launch of CoCo HD - the company‘s first High Definition colour corrector and legaliser. With an excellent range of basic colour adjustments, CoCo HD‘s ability to independently adjust the Red, Green and Blue gamma signals sets it apart from other products at its price level. Other important features include advanced correction for gamut errors in which the colour is legalised by desaturating it without changing its hue. The provision of an auxiliary output, which when connected to a monitor enables any illegal pixels to be seen as highlighted and the ability to view a wipe between the processed and unprocessed signals makes it even easier for the engineer to complete the necessary adjustments. Offering the user a choice of control method from either an easy to use control panel ideal for live applications or PC software, the numerous features of CoCo HD have been packed onto a compact, single height board, once again saving the engineer rack space.
The latest additions to Crystal Vision‘s Standard Definition interface range will also be exhibited on its stand at the CABSAT show. The flexible A to D converters - ADDEC-210 and ADDEC-310 - replace its previous versions and have gained the ability to work with an RGB input (with either integrated or separate syncs) allowing them to be used with equipment such as DVD players and analogue cameras. ALLDAC, a 12 bit broadcast encoding D to A converter with distribution amplifier, was developed to replace some of Crystal Vision‘s existing encoders, combining in one their best features and offering the best encoding performance yet, with enhanced analogue accuracy and frequency response. Crystal Vision‘s first bi-directional 10 bit aspect ratio converter ARC-10MC provides broadcast quality aspect ratio conversion at an affordable price, making it ideal for all applications. Introduced following a customer request, the latest feature of the ARC-10MC is video index control. This allows users to auto-switch the board to bypass if the input is already in the required aspect ratio, reducing the need for this to be done manually and making it particularly useful for applications involving external video sources where the aspect ratio is often not known in advance. When used with a particular rear module, the ARC-10MC can now offer relay bypass protection so that in the event of power being lost, the input is directly routed to the output, preventing complete loss of the output signal.
Also demonstrated on the Crystal Vision stand at CABSAT will be two control products. Newly launched by Crystal Vision, REMIND-E is an easy to use 1U control panel with the ability to control an unlimited number of Crystal Vision frames over an Ethernet network, removing the need to buy an individual control panel for each frame. Designed for engineers who require the remote many-frame aspects of Statesman PC software but who do not wish to use PC control, REMIND-E is full of user-friendly features such as being able to program in custom frame names while multiple control panels can be installed to allow different users to operate the same frames. For those who prefer PC control, the latest version of Crystal Vision‘s control software, Statesman 4 will be available to try either on the stand or as a free of charge demo version to take away on a complimentary 1GB USB memory stick. A recently updated manual featuring detailed instructions on Ethernet frame connection and control, Signal Path designer and single and multi-user installations is available for registered users to download from the Crystal Vision website along with a document summarising the features available in the different versions of Statesman.
Based at Whittlesford near Cambridge in the UK, Crystal Vision provides digital keyers and a full range of digital and analogue interface equipment including converters, decoders, encoders, distribution amplifiers and audio embedders to the professional broadcasting industry worldwide.
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Press information: Wendy Windscheffel; Tel: +44 (0)1223 497049; E-mail: wendy@crystalvision.tv