Germany’s first free-to-air high definition television broadcaster, ProSiebenSat.1 Group, has installed a Snell & Wilcox Ukon system that will enable it to upconvert its standard definition archival material for broadcast in HD.
The broadcaster is currently upconverting its two most popular free TV channels, Sat.1 and ProSieben, for broadcast in widescreen HDTV.
Ukon simplifies the transition to HD by providing a universal conversion platform that performs format, standard, aspect ratio, and frame-rate conversions all in a single pass. The Ukon includes features such as tilt, pan and zoom, timecode conversion with precise frame mapping, audio handling and 3:2 cadence detection and repair.
“The ProSiebenSat.1 Group was the first German TV corporation to air individual HDTV broadcasts, and the Ukon will be key to our continuous HDTV broadcasts, as it enables simple upconversion of program segments that were either not produced or not available in native HTDV format,” said Dr. Martin Emele, head of technologies of ProSiebenSat.1 Produktion.
