Imperial War Museum Upgrades Film & Video Archive To HD With ATG Broadcast

Systems integrator ATG Broadcast has commenced work on a technical upgrade commission for the Imperial War Museum.
The contract involves expanded resources for the Video Room at the museum's aviation brand in Duxford, Cambridge, including the supply and installation of a high definition video recorder with supporting infrastructure.
David Walsh, Head of Preservation at the Imperial War Museum, said: "Our archived content is frequently used by television documentary producers, many of whom are now working in 1080i HD.
"We chose ATG Broadcast to upgrade the video duplication and signal manipulation facilities at Imperial War Museum Duxford from SD to multi-definition.
"We are currently augmenting our film transfer operation with a high resolution 2K scanner which will produce files for ingest into a digital data store. These will then be forwarded to mirrored servers in Imperial War Museum Duxford and Imperial War Museum London. The upgrade to HD coincides with an online access project which will make browse-resolution clips from our Film and Video Archive viewable via the internet.
Hitherto we had to rely on transfers to SD videotape carried out either in-house or by Soho facilities."
Alastair MacDonald, ATG Broadcast Proposals Manager, said: "We will be supplying and installing a full broadcast-standard system to meet the highest quality requirements of HD documentary programme-makers.
"This will include a Sony HDW-1800 HDCAM video recorder with integral SD-HD upconverter and HD-SD downconverter, ATG Broadcast and Crystal Vision interfaces, Electronic Visuals HD/SD component and composite waveform monitors plus JVC LCD picture monitors. The task is being supervised by Project Engineer Erik Olafsen, reporting to Projects Director Dave Whitaker. Installation is scheduled for completion by April 9."
The Imperial War Museum is the national museum of the experiences of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since 1914.
The Museum tells the history of modern conflict, told through the stories of those who were there. It is an educational and historical institution responsible for archives, collections and sites of outstanding national importance.
The Museum's five branches are Imperial War Museum London, with six floors of exhibitions and displays; Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, housed in Churchill's secret headquarters below Whitehall; the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast; Imperial War Museum Duxford, a world renowned aviation museum and former Second World War airfield; and Imperial War Museum North housed in a spectacular award-winning building designed by Daniel Libeskind.
Further information is available at: www.atgbroadcast.co.uk.
(KMcA/BMcC)