Cobalt Digital Enhances OpenGear® Advanced Scaler/Frame Synchronizers

Cobalt® Digital has announced that its award-winning next generation 9904-UDX family of openGear® advanced scaler/frame synchronizers has been enhanced with numerous features and functionalities.

Referred to as the company's Swiss Army Knife because it solves so many issues, the 9904-UDX series of Up/Down/Cross Converter/Frame Sync/Embed/De-Embed Audio Processors now accepts 3G Level B-DL signals in addition to 3G Level A (the two main formats for 3G-SDI support), a feature already adapted into the workflow at The Foundation post-production provider. The support for Level B-DL joins a host of other capabilities incorporated into the card-based, multi-function solution.

"The 9904-UDX series, Cobalt’s must-have problem solver, is found in the toolkit of organizations all around the world ranging from post-production and production facilities to sports broadcasters, houses of worship, educational institutions and corporate entities," said Suzana Brady, Cobalt Digital's SVP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "Now we’ve added even more features and support capabilities that place it in a class of its own – unique in its openGear® form factor and at a budget-pleasing price point."

The 9904-UDX series can now accept 3G Level B-DL in addition to 3G Level A, automatically detect the format, and output either 3G Level A or 3G Level B-DL as configured by the operator. In addition, RGB 4:4:4 and YCbCr 4:4:4 formats are also accepted and supported by the built-in framesync as well as all audio de/embed and processing functions.

Prior to the enhancement, the 9904-UDX family already supported all popular formats: 480i, 576i, 720p, 1080i, 1080pSF, 1080p and provided full up/down conversion between HD/3G, ST 2082 12G-SDI single-wire, and SDM/2SI quad 3G-SDI based formats, with ST 2082 12G-SDI single-wire and quad 3G UHD available at both input and output.

This latest version of the 9904-UDX is already in use at The Foundation, a full-service post-production provider located in the heart of Burbank's Media District. Known for leveraging the latest equipment and technologies for a superior customer experience, The Foundation provides picture services and workflows in current and emerging formats, including HD, 2K, 4K, UHD, HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The Foundation is using the power of Cobalt’s 9904-UDX card to capture a variety of film source material from a DaVinci Resolve as Level-B, process the audio by either delaying, embedding or de-embedding, and sending it back to the Resolve for composition.

John Stevens, Engineering Director at The Foundation, explained: "When using a Resolve in dual output mode, HDR & SDR simultaneously, each output is set to Level B and the audio is only embedded on the first output – the HDR. The 9904 is the only openGear® card that incorporates that capability which is a very important feature for us. That coupled with all the formats the Cobalt card supports and its attractive price made it a no-brainer for us!"

www.cobaltdigital.com