While broadcasters around the world migrate their operations towards broadcasting in HD, most do so gradually, adopting HD equipment or READY for HD to the extent that your budgets, your workflows and their trading strategies allow it. Even, those media that allow them to make a great leap towards dissemination in HD, must still be able to accommodate material SD content archiving, external sources, or graphics and incorporate them into your HD streams.
Snell & Wilcox developed the multi-format production switcher Kahuna's SD/HD to simplify this transition, allowing them to to users launching HD services as they continue working with SD equipment and sources. Kahuna, first system in offering simultaneous HD and SD operations on the same mainframe and with the same control panel, provides switching of HD and SD sources transparently. Technology Switcher FormatFusion handles this internally process and eliminates the need to invest in conversion equipment External. With just one delay box throughout the room the lowest latency system available on the market, the Kahuna provides the necessary performance for complex installations, both fixed and mobile.
Kahuna users can work initially in SD-only or HD-only mode, and then evolve to a mixed multi-format SD/HD operation in any moment. In the mixed production environment, the operators can assign the mix/effect (M/Es) banks to SD or HD sources, or mix both in a single M/E. This Operational flexibility extends to Kahuna's ability to connect multiple control surfaces to different mainframes, assign mainframe to different control panels, or operate in SD or HD as required, in order to achieve maximum use of all available M/S.
How Kahuna can produce signals HD and SD simultaneously, broadcasters can generate content feeds in multicasting with much less effort. Likewise, the use of a control panel 1? M/E allows a second operator the ability to create a second output tailored to a display or client particular.
Televisa, the media company of the largest communication in the Spanish-speaking world, counts itself among the broadcasters they have taken out benefit from the flexibility of the Kahuna in mixed production. With the help of Insitel, the Mexican systems integrator, Televisa launched its programming in HD for the coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2006, for which two switchers were available Kahuna production at the heart of the workflow of the the company's broadcast. Televisa had already started its migration to HD, and the Kahuna allowed switcher operators merge content acquired in HD with video captured on cameras of SD or extracted from SD files.
Continuing with the coverage Successful tournament in HD, Televisa integrated its new systems of Kahuna in daily production operations. Now, the supporting news, such as sports and sports programming entertainment, are transmitted in HD by a total of four Kahuna systems, three fully SD/HD units equipped and an SD unit, all installed in the center of transmissions of the company in Mexico City, with which Televisa continues to take advantage of the hybrid operation Kahuna's SD/HD, combining video in different formats in their HD productions.
The exclusive SD unit of Kahuna installed in the Televisa studio in Santa Fe, has been used for the production of Big Brother episodes and more recently he has started working with several of the new reality series launched by the network Television. Televisa invested in this Kahuna for production of SD as part of the transition from analog to digital of the company, and also to provide a future path of migration from SD to HD. This first experience of the company Kahuna's SD/HD systems showed you the flexibility and flexibility and usefulness of the product in facilitating this transition. While the Televisa reality shows are produced now same in SD, a simple software update will allow you to to the network migrate to a mixed SD/HD operation or to production of Exclusive HD when the time is right.
The immense popularity of Kahuna is based on its flexible handling of formats, which is key factor in testing new future infrastructures for broadcast, but the system also offers a range robust DVE options that simplify the creation of dynamic live broadcasts. The Impakt 3-D DVE line from Kahuna includes spheres, tabloids, zooms, wraps, tiling, waves, eddies, glows, warps, fusions and flat, in addition to 3-D fragmentation effects, rolls and shells, fragmentation, lighting effects and corner anchoring, functions that enable the use of effects preset triangulars, and flexibility and lighting with TrailStore and timeline control for the DVE.
While many users opt for a fully produced Kahuna switcher equipped, Snell & Wilcox offers a solution for those broadcasters who want the power and flexibility of switching SD/HD in a mixed environment, but not the size of a 4-M/E. Available in a smaller 6-RU rack for applications 1-M/E and 2-M/E, the Kahuna Compact provides the same functionality that makes the switcher a companion from 11-RU preferred for migrations to HD. Both systems of Kahuna offer an intuitive interface that allows the more experienced switcher users get acquainted soon and to newer users the ease of learning.
Snell & Wilcox offers a full support system to help new users from Kahuna to integrate the system into its operations. In addition to the commercial installation and commissioning of the switcher of Kahuna, the company provides a wealth of information and other services through a specialized support program, the Kahuna Club. Through an online portal, the owners and Kahuna operators learn more about Kahuna updates product, can communicate with other Kahuna users, and get advice from industry experts on how maximize the functionality of the Kahuna at every step of the day the transition to HD.
