Matrox's Convert DVI Used For Push The Button

Matrox's multi award-winning Convert DVI was chosen to assist in the live workflow on Gallowgate's entertainment show Ant and Dec's Push the Button, which returned to peak-time ITV1 on Saturday February 12, 2011.
Gallowgate's Line Producer Marcus McKinlay commented: "We are using Skype to webcast from the homes of four families to Fountain Studios in Wembley. each Skype feed then uses a Matrox Convert DVI to provide live SDI video for transmission… The combination of Skype and Matrox technologies has dramatically reduced our production costs and in turn enabled greater creative freedom."
Matrox Convert DVI scan converts from any DVI source to SD/HD-SDI with support for external bi-level or tri-level sync. It also allows you to output a Region of Interest and scale the source as well as operate in 'stand-alone' mode.
A PC laptop equipped with 16:9 webcams was placed in the homes of the contestants and using their broadband connection, a Skype call was made to workstations based at Fountain Studios.
Marcus went on to explain how Convert DVI met the technological needs of the show: "Matrox knows video well and Convert DVI simply does what it says to broadcast standards. The units are robust and portable and can be pre-programmed as hot-swappable stand-alone devices. Customers know that scan conversion can be prohibitively expensive and impact the show content.
"Ant and Dec's Push the Button demonstrates how a combination of freely available software and low-cost hardware can push the boundaries."
(KMcA/GK)