Snell & Wilcox Announces USA Studios as First U.S. Customer of Snell & Wilcox Alchemist Platinum Standards Converter
Broadcast duplication and post-production facility also purchases Snell & Wilcox Premier HD6200 to address cross-conversion needs
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, April 2, 2002 — Snell & Wilcox today announced USA Studios, an industry leader in international tape duplication with two high-volume facilities in New York, as the first U.S. customer of Alchemist Platinum, the next generation of the company's multiple-awarding-winning Alchemist Ph.C standards converter. USA Studios recently installed the 12-bit Alchemist Platinum in its midtown Manhattan broadcast duplication and post-production facility, and has been using the standards converter to create NTSC and PAL broadcast masters, DVDs and edit masters from video originating throughout the world.
Alchemist Ph.C, first introduced in 1993, was the world's first motion compensated standards converter and rapidly became the de facto industry standard for high end conversion. Alchemist Platinum uses newly improved Ph.C motion compensation technology exclusive to Snell & Wilcox to ensure the most precise motion processing possible.
According to Kenny Khan, Director of Sales & Marketing for USA Studios, Alchemist Platinum is a cornerstone in the facility's multi-standard capability to convert customers' material into any possible standard. As a customer of Snell & Wilcox's Alchemist Ph.C standards converter, Khan believes that Alchemist Platinum improves upon its predecessor in several ways, providing enhanced picture quality, improved noise performance, and sharper, more vibrant color, due to its 12-bit color and 4:4:4 processing.
"USA Studios has been the facility to call for state-of-the-art standards conversion for the past 13 years, and the acquisition of Alchemist Platinum will allow us to maintain our lead in this business," said Khan. "With Alchemist Platinum, we can provide both NTSC and PAL edit masters to the customer, so that we can create multiple dubbing masters of American television series in foreign standards. The days of implementing a complete online edit in each standard are over."
To address additional conversion services requested by customers, USA Studios has also purchased a Snell & Wilcox Premier HD6200 cross-converter along with its optional up and down converter modules. The HD6200 offers a choice of high quality up-conversion and down-conversion between standard and high definition television formats plus cross-conversion between the many HDTV formats in use today.
"Some of our existing customers have been asking for up and down-conversion services to and from 1080/30I and 1080/24p," said Khan. "As the other high definition standards become more widespread, the cross-conversion capability of the HD6200 will become highly useful for USA Studios. This unit will also support our post-production facility as it moves into HDTV editorial services."
In addition to its Manhattan facility, USA Studios maintains a high volume duplication and replication facility in Brooklyn, New York. At this plant, the company provides high speed and real-time VHS duplication, plus high volume CD and DVD replication.
SNELL & WILCOX is a world-leading electronics design, manufacture and engineering group with an international reputation for the development of advanced image communications technologies for the world's broadcast television, video, satellite, cable, film and image communications industries. The company is dedicated to preserving the true content of the moving video image. Snell & Wilcox Inc. has offices throughout the United States and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Snell & Wilcox Ltd. is based in Hampshire, England with offices all over the world.
Snell & Wilcox, Inc., 2225 - 1 Martin Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95050. Tel: 408-260-1000; Fax: 408-260-2800.