UK UNIVERSITY IS FIRST FOR SAFIRE HD (March 2006)

Safire HD has been chosen by De Montfort University for installation in their cutting edge media centre used extensively for teaching and research, making them the first UK customer to purchase Crystal Vision’s newly launched High Definition chroma keyer.

One of the largest universities in the UK, De Montfort University based in Leicester, boasts a centre of excellence for media studies. This is a very exciting time to study or be working in media technology at De Montfort University. Having invested heavily in audiovisual media facilities in the past five years, their research projects have attracted the involvement of prestigious companies such as the BBC and RT Software as collaborative partners.

De Montfort University’s impressive facilities currently include three chroma key sets using standard definition cameras, combined with a large number of standard definition editing PCs and a High Definition editing suite. The newly purchased Safire HD will be installed in their Radamec virtual studio as the chroma keyer to be used with Standard Definition as well as High Definition signals to create realistic virtual images in a multi-standard environment. As the first affordable High Definition chroma keyer, Safire HD will form part of a modular system, offering the user a choice of control options and easily integrated with other Crystal Vision interface products.

The Crystal Vision equipment purchased will be used initially by university staff to perform research into High Definition TV and virtual studio technologies. In the future however, final year students will have the opportunity to complete their projects within the virtual studio. The facility will eventually be used as a teaching environment to enable undergraduate students to gain valuable experience in this exciting emerging technology. In addition to Safire HD the order from De Montfort University included the High Definition video delay line ViViD HD, which can provide over half a second of delay to compensate for the delay caused by the virtual studio graphics. Other modules on the order will enable a more effective operation of the studio. The unique scan reverser Flip, reverses the direction of the video scan to create a mirror image, which makes it easier to interact with virtual objects. During operation of the equipment a HDDA104R High Definition distribution amplifier will be used for the high quality distribution of High Definition signals.

De Montfort University gave several reasons why they chose to order Crystal Vision products over alternative manufacturers. The fact that Safire HD was one of the first High Definition chroma keyers available was a distinct advantage. Dave Paget a lecturer at the School of Engineering and Technology, stated that: “I liked the modular approach to the systems offered by Crystal Vision. Pricing, always a major consideration was very competitive and I was impressed by Crystal Vision’s demonstration of their products. Furthermore, Crystal Vision’s reputation is confirmed through their excellent relationship with respected companies such as the BBC”. Professor Mohammad Ibrahim who leads the research on HDTV at De Montfort University also said that “Crystal Vision equipment will allow the group to investigate the many aspects of the newly emerging HD fused reality concept”. Available to ship now, Safire HD is one of the growing range of High Definition boards available from Crystal Vision.

Based at Whittlesford near Cambridge in the UK, Crystal Vision provides digital keyers and a full range of digital and analogue interface equipment including converters, decoders, encoders, distribution amplifiers and audio embedders to the professional broadcasting industry worldwide.