Snell Alchemist Ph.C HD Standards Converter Adds 1080p, Dolby E Support

Snell’s latest version of its flagship Alchemist Ph.C HD motion-compensated standards converter will hit the NAB show with enhanced support for Dolby E audio encoding and 1080p production.

“Snell has always led the industry in standards conversion image quality, and the newest version of our award-winning Alchemist Ph.C HD is the latest example of this leadership,” says Neil Maycock, chief marketing officer at Snell. “With 1080p added to the system’s arsenal of conversion capabilities, broadcasters will truly be able to deliver content to any standard, without compromising picture quality or clarity.”

Alchemist Ph.C HD is optimized to prevent the motion-related artifacts that are commonly associated with standards conversion in HD video. Now, with support for 1080p, broadcasters will be able to deliver converted video that takes advantage of 1080p’s progressive scanning and high spatial (horizontal and vertical) resolution — including an inherent match to current flat-screen display technologies and highly efficient compression.

Likewise, conversion of video from 1080p to other formats such as 1080i and 720p results in virtually lossless output. In addition to 1080p, the new version of Alchemist Ph.C – HD features a Dolby E authoring option that builds on the system’s existing capabilities for Dolby E by providing an integrated encoding, transcoding, and decoding solution for up to two streams of Dolby E audio without having an impact on the processing of other PCM audio channels. With the Dolby E authoring option, users have access to the full Dolby E processing capability, integrated within the standards conversion workflow.