ESPN has purchased five FOR-A FRC-8000 HD/SD frame rate converters for its new transmission facility at its headquarters in Bristol, CT.
Additionally, two more FRC-8000 units are being sent this month to the ESPN facility in Brazil. The FRC-8000s will be used for ESPN’s broadcast of the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer. ESPN chose the new FRC-8000 units based on its experience with its two FOR-A FRC-7000 HD frame rate converters.
ESPN will use the FRC-8000s to convert feeds from 1080i/50 to 720p/59.94. The sports network also will use the frame rate converters for some tape dubbing for SD NTSC and SD PAL to 1080i/50 or 720p/59.94 to 1080i50.
The FRC-8000 features simultaneous HD and SD output. Equipped with FOR-A’s motion-compensation processing technology, the multiformat frame rate converter supports a wide range of signals, including 1080i, 720p, NTSC and PAL. Up/down/crossconverters provide both frame rate and format conversion in a single unit.