Snell’s Morpheus Links Primary Broadcast With Secondary Screens

As second, third, and even fourth screens continue to invade viewers’ living rooms, broadcasters are searching for ways to link the primary broadcast experience with this secondary display. At the NAB Show, Snell will demo how its Morpheus automation platform can be leveraged to drive essential metadata to second-screen apps on the iPad as well as mobile platforms.

“Research shows a large number of consumers are interacting online and on tablets while they’re watching the broadcast,” Chief Marketing Officer Neil Maycock said at Snell’s press conference on Sunday. “We think this is going to be a very significant trend, and we are looking to create value by linking the broadcast with the online experience.”

Snell has partnered with The Application Store (TAS) at its NAB booth, where Morpheus will supply the TAS Screentoo app with real-time data that syncs the primary broadcast with interactive and timeline-sensitive elements within the Screentoo app.

The Screentoo app is available for media and broadcast organizations to distribute as their own branded applications to provide such services as voting, polls, chat, and e-commerce related to and customized for a specific show or channel. The metadata provided by Morpheus enables the Screentoo app to provide the consumer with options that correspond directly to events within the primary broadcast. Metadata about both the program and program contents allow the Screentoo app to trigger targeted advertising, provide information about a character or actor in the show, or launch a viewer poll. With ScreenToo, viewers can vote, enter competitions, participate in quizzes, and purchase items.

A Quartet of Offerings
Snell’s booth will be split four ways this year, with areas devoted exclusively to playout, live production, postproduction, and central operations.

On the playout front, Snell will introduce a family of channel-in-a-box playout solutions based on Morpheus automation technology and Integrated Content Engine (ICE). Tailored to television news, sports, and multilanguage playout, the channel-in-a-box solutions will enable regional media and broadcast companies to bring new channels to air more quickly and at a significantly lower cost.

Headlining the live production area will be two new features for Snell’s Kahuna 360 production switcher — Source Safe and Galaxy Event List — that automate key processing, interfacing, and control tasks.

A new timeline controller feature adds scene-by-scene restoration control to the Snell’s Archangel Ph.C – HD real-time film- and video-restoration system. This postproduction tool enhances Archangel Ph.C – HD’s processing capabilities by allowing users to apply processing in real time on a scene-by-scene basis rather than to all parts of the sequence equally.

Finally, Snell has expanded its IQ Modular 3G product range by launching a new video and audio processing platform and a new range of fiber-optic interfacing modules.