Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA), France’s central audiovisual archive, has expanded its film and video restoration capabilities with a second Phoenix system from Digital Vision. As well as its restoration capabilities the new Phoenix system allows material to be restored in standard definition then converted to HD. “The automated toolset that Phoenix provides significantly streamlines the restoration process, which is very simple,” said Jean Varra, technical manager at INA. “We run a first pass over the entire programme; the second pass enables us to set specific tools and features to restore the media shot by shot; and the third pass lets us work frame by frame to remove any final imperfections. “Phoenix is a very high quality system,” he added, explaining that the latest version, being tested by INA, “not only gives us the new video tools but also provides quicker rendering of the DVO restoration tools.” INA was an early adopter of the Phoenix system from Digital Vision, and contributed significantly to the product’s development. The addition of the integrated video restoration toolset, which was announced at NAB earlier this year, allowed INA to expand its services to bring new life to content stored on analogue tape formats such as 1”, U-Matic and Betacam SP. “Phoenix is now the only high-end restoration and mastering solution that combines powerful film and video restoration in one system,” claimed Torbjörn Dyrvold of Digital Vision. “It provides restoration facilities, broadcasters and archives with new revenue opportunities.”
