Snell, the company formed through the merger of Pro-Bel and Snell & Wilcox, will unveil a complete newsroom automation solution based on its Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher at the 2009 NAB Show. Taking full advantage of the Kahuna’s industry-leading multiformat capabilities, the new solution brings heightened efficiencies, consistencies, and cost savings to production operations for flagship newscasts as well as 24-hour news programs.

Deploying technology from Mosart Medialab, the Snell newsroom automation system tightly integrates with newsroom computer systems via a MOS gateway and controls an array of production gear, including the Kahuna production switcher, robotic cameras, audio mixers, video servers, graphics, routers, lights, multiviewer displays, and more. As the world’s first production switcher to enable simultaneous standard- and high-definition operations in the same mainframe, the Kahuna automatically mixes content feeds from any source or format into the news broadcast. The fully integrated system gives producers complete control over the newscast and enables them to drive various devices with the press of a button. The system’s easy-to-use graphical interface offers clear and intuitive news rundowns, views of all story elements, and countdowns to the next story.

“Our newsroom automation system represents a big leap to the next-generation of technology. It allows broadcasters to reduce production costs dramatically while improving the quality and consistency of their news shows,” said Jonathan Goldstein, president of Snell’s Americas business. “Operators can easily react to breaking news stories and maintain a natural show pacing through a comprehensive GUI. Of course, the system also offers full backup redundancy to ensure peace of mind.”

About Kahuna:
Kahuna from Snell is the world’s first and only true multiformat SD/HD production switcher. Thanks to FormatFusion, a Snell technology, the Kahuna enables simultaneous SD and HD operations in the same mainframe and on the same control panel. This vastly simplifies the HDTV transition for broadcasters by eliminating the need for external HDTV up/down/crossconverters in the live production environment, as well as the cost and the signal-path delay associated with these products. Kahuna has the smallest size mainframe, lowest weight, and lowest power consumption when compared with other large switchers, and it has been integrated with dozens of third-party products including routers, servers, automation systems, and controllers.

More information about the newsroom automation system, as well as other products from Snell, is available online at www.snellgroup.com.