Cobalt Digital’s Frame-Accurate Digital Program Insertion Option Wins NewBay Media 2016 Product Innovation Award From TV Technology
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Cobalt Digital today announced that its +SCTE104-FAST digital program insertion and processing option for its openGear® cards and BBG-1000 Series stand-alone processors has been recognized with NewBay Media’s fourth-annual Product Innovation Award from TV Technology magazine.
“We keep a close eye on how our customers use our products and what they require to stay ahead of the curve in a quickly changing broadcast landscape, and then our engineers work to add software options that fill those requirements without the expense of buying new hardware,” said Bob McAlpine, CEO of Cobalt Digital. “We’re honored that TV Technology has seen fit to recognize this one-of-a-kind product, and we share the award with the key customers who helped make +SCTE104-FAST a reality.”
The +SCTE104-FAST (frame-accurate SCTE trigger) software option arose from the need to frame-accurately mark the start and stop points of content. Cobalt engineers worked closely with key customers to develop +SCTE104-FAST, giving them the unique ability to tie timestamped information from automation systems to the timecode information contained in the baseband SDI. +SCTE104-FAST provides frame-accurate insertion for deterministic results when the program signal is used in sophisticated downstream video-on-demand (VOD) and commercial-insertion systems. This precise insertion of pertinent data greatly enhances the performance and accuracy of VOD and server-based commercial-replacement systems. Customers can use +SCTE104-FAST to fully author custom messages and send them to the Cobalt processor via easy-to-read XML-formatted files. The Cobalt processor uses the timestamp data from those files to compare against incoming ANC timecode or UTC time derived from an NTP reference.
NewBay Media’s Product Innovation Award, launched in 2013, recognizes excellence in the manufacturing of products to serve the TV/pro video and radio/online audio industries. Winners are selected by a panel of professional users, and evaluation criteria include innovation of concept and design, creative use of technology, price value, and suitability for use in a broadcast TV/pro video or broadcast/online radio environment.
More information about Cobalt Digital and its products is available at www.cobaltdigital.com.
About Cobalt Digital
Cobalt Digital Inc. designs and manufactures award-winning 3G/HD/SD conversion, terminal, throwdown, and multiviewer technology for the broadcast television environment. As a founding partner in the openGear® initiative, Cobalt offers a full range of openGear video and audio processing card solutions for applications such as closed-caption compliance monitoring, OB production, master control, HD news production, signal transport, audio loudness, and color correction. Cobalt’s Blue Box Group™ line of interface converter boxes streamlines and simplifies a wide range of 3G/HD/SD conversion and signal transport tasks. The company’s multi-image display processors enable multiviewer capabilities in the most demanding studio and remote broadcasting environments. Distributed through a worldwide network of dealers, system integrators, and other partners, Cobalt Digital products are backed with a five-year warranty. More information is available at www.cobaltdigital.com.