Poland’s TVN24 has upgraded its switcher systems, replacing its news studio switchers with Snell Kahuna 360 multi-format SD/HD production equipment. Supplied by systems integrator Studiotech Poland, the Snell systems allow TVN24 to work with both SD and HD formats, allowing for a smooth transition to HD.
“Snell’s Kahuna is the only mixer that does not have any restrictions in handling multiple formats,” said Jarosław Kielmel, technical director at TVN24. “With our Kahuna 360 systems, we enjoy endless freedom in multi-format operations, and this is particularly important in our current migration from SD to HD. Switching the channel to HD is as simple as changing the Kahuna output format. The only criterion we must apply is that of signal quality, which the Kahuna’s high-quality upconversion capability addresses easily.”
The broadcaster’s news production operations receive both HD and SD inputs, and the Kahuna systems readily accept either, eliminating the need to reconfigure inputs and outputs. The switcher automatically detects the format of the input signal and uses FormatFusion3 technology, which supports a mix of SD, HD, 1080p, and now 4K, to provide the output required by TVN24.
Kahuna 360 also features Make M/E technology, and offers up to six full M/Es, seven keyers per M/E, 120 HD/SD inputs, 64 HD/SD outputs, and a clip-store with 40 minutes SD or eight minutes HD. The switcher supports up to 16 simultaneous broadcast productions from a single mainframe.
