Snell's Alchemist Ph.C - HD Drives Launch Of Canal+ HD, Spain's First HD Channels

The new company formed through the merger of Pro-Bel and Snell & Wilcox, Snell, has announced that leading Spanish pay television company Canal Satéllite Digital has purchased an Alchemist Ph.C - HD motion-compensated standards converter as a key component in the recent launch of Spain's first HD channels: Canal+ Premium HD, Canal+ DCine HD, and Canal+ Deportes HD. By providing transparent conversion of SD and HD content from the US, the Alchemist Ph.C - HD enables Canal+ HD to offer a rich selection of high quality programming to its viewers.
Canal+ HD prides itself on the variety of its HD programming, part of which consists of sports events, documentaries, movies, musical performances and other content imported from North America.
Recent examples include the US Open and Masters golf tournaments, as well as NBA and NFL games. Canal Satéllite Digital uses the Alchemist Ph.C - HD to convert these programs to the European standard.
The Alchemist Ph.C - HD systems is also used to downconvert native HD video for broadcast on the SD version of Canal+ and to upconvert archived video and live-production SD video for the HD broadcast.
Ángel Pacho Conde, Engineering and Maintenance Manager for Canal Satélite Digital, said: "Typically, we are in extreme multitasking mode when working with live events and video from many different sources for simultaneous broadcast on our HD and SD channels.
The Alchemist Ph.C - HD lets us handle many tasks at once, including HD format conversion and downconversion to SD and always maintain the absolute highest quality levels. With its motion-compensated algorithm, the Alchemist Ph.C - HD is by far the best solution available for meeting the demands of international programming."
Neil Maycock, Chief Marketing Officer at Snell, said: "Canal Satéllite Digital is known for leveraging state-of-the-art broadcast technologies to bring exciting new services to Spain's viewing audiences, and the company's application of Snell motion-compensated standards conversion technology in delivering the country's first HD services is yet another example of its technical leadership and commitment to quality.
"The Alchemist Ph.C-HD is an ideal fit for standards conversion of premium international programming for Canal Satéllite Digital Canal+ HD channels."
Further information is available at: www.snellgroup.com.
(KMcA/BMcC)