Texas Association of Broadcasters (TAB) Austin, TX Aug. 5-6 Cobalt Digital Preview Booth 77
Cobalt Digital Participating on Panel at TAB
Cobalt’s Jesse Foster will join other industry experts for the panel discussion “Emergency Crawls: Text to Speech.” The panel will be held Aug. 6, 8-9 a.m., at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in the San Antonio room. The participants will discuss the best and most cost-effective options for complying with the FCC’s new emergency crawl mandate.
Cobalt Digital’s Products at TAB
Ancillary Data Monitor – For the first time at TAB, Cobalt Digital will show the ANC-MON ancillary data monitor for end-to-end data transmission workflows. Part of a suite of data-processing products that also includes an insertion and extraction tool and a new card for openGear® users, the ANC-MON combines the probing capabilities of multiple pieces of test equipment into a single tool that automatically probes various types of ancillary data and alerts broadcast control room operators when data is out of spec. The ANC-MON plays a key role in regulatory compliance by continuously and automatically monitoring ancillary data such as SCTE 104 messages, active format description, embedded audio, closed captioning, Dolby® metadata monitoring indicating a dialnorm value, and program loudness. In this manner, the ANC-MON gives operators confidence that signals are presented accurately and provides engineers and management with proof of compliance with FCC and other regulations, as well as proof of ad insertions. The tool checks the data at multiple points in a facility’s workflow and alerts the operator when the data falls out of step with any preset thresholds. The operator can then call upon engineering staff to pinpoint and fix the problem.
New Text-to-Speech Software – At TAB, Cobalt Digital will showcase +TTS, a new Text-to-Speech software application. With voice enabled by Acapela, Cobalt worked with the Text-to-Speech from Acapela Group for the Cobalt 9922-2FS 3G/HD/SD-SDI openGear® card. The +TTS option is also available on the 9922-FS, 9902-UDX, and 9932-EMDE openGear cards. Existing users can easily incorporate the software by simply downloading it to the card.
The new +TTS card represents the highest-density frame sync card in the openGear family. It provides audio and video processing, AES/analog audio embedding and de-embedding, and CVBS I/O with two signal paths of frame sync on a single openGear card. Channel density can be as high as 32 channels in 2 RU when deployed in the OG3-FR openGear frame, or up to 40 channels of advanced processing when housed in Cobalt’s HPF-9000 20-slot, high-power openGear frame.
“We develop products based on direct input from our customers, and TAB allows us the setting necessary to reach broadcasters in Texas and across the nation. And now that the FCC has mandated its new emergency audio crawl rule for the visually impaired viewer, the timing is perfect to introduce our text-to-speech software.”— Robert McAlpine, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing