THEALE, ENGLAND —JANUARY 30, 2006—NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the availability of NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 Serial Digital Interface (SDI), the latest in a line of fully integrated graphics-to-video solutions offering uncompressed SDI output from programmable graphics. Chosen by NBC Universal for use on its worldwide financial news channel CNBC, NVIDIA Quadro SDI standardised solutions have enabled the creation of real time, 3D broadcast graphics that enhance live-to-air programming with dynamic content and visuals.
“NVIDIA and integration partner Brainstorm worked closely with our team to introduce NVIDIA Quadro SDI technology to our CNBC live broadcast,” said Chris Halton, VP of NBC Universal Digital News Solutions. “The power and flexibility of this truly off-the-shelf hardware is impressive, and the installation of the systems flawless – everything just worked. We are now broadcasting 12 hours of live-to-air programmes using this industry-proven technology.”
NVIDIA Quadro SDI technology allows broadcasters to enrich their programming with a broad range of high definition content, from real-time 3D effects to full blown virtual sets for news, sports, weather, and almost any other genre desired. The powerful and programmable graphics processing unit (GPU) incorporated in these products can generate and output both standard and high definition television content in real time, which is perfect for use in a live broadcast environment.
The functions of the new NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 SDI including non-linear editing, content creation and colour grading, deliver up to a 50% performance improvement on the previous generation SDI solution[1] . In addition, the support for 2K formats enables next generation film and video post-production, while the digital cinema as a 512MB frame buffer facilitates the delivery of the highest quality images.
Brainstorm, an on air graphics and virtual set solution company with over 15 years experience in 3D graphics and presentation in the broadcast television and multimedia industries, has installed a number of SDI based solutions, including the NBC solution. With customers throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, the NVIDIA Quadro SDI products have enabled the development of turnkey SDI solutions for some of the world’s largest television companies who are helping speed the transition to HD broadcast around the globe.
NVIDIA Quadro SDI solutions have been certified, qualified, or integrated by a number of independent software vendors serving the broadcast industry. These companies include Adobe, ASSIMILATE, Autodesk, Avid, DaVinci, IRIDAS, Nucoda, PVI, Sonic Solutions, Sportvision, and Weather Central. The ability to customise NVIDIA Quadro SDI products to a particular workflow makes them an ideal solution for platforms creation, including video creation, editing, and delivery.
“The flexibility of our SDI solutions and the fact that they can be easily integrated within a broadcast or post production environment is very important to our customers,” said Jeff Brown, general manager for NVIDIA professional products. “Support for output of uncompressed SDI in 2K, HD or SD formats on both Windows and Linux allows users to render stunning video content in real time and deliver material in final form more quickly, with stunning visual quality.”
NVIDIA Quadro SDI products are available now through PNY Technologies (US and EMEA), Leadtek (APAC), and ELSA Japan (Japan). For more information on these and other NVIDIA Quadro products, please visit www.nvidia.co.uk.
[1] When comparing performance of NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 SDI and the previous generation NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 SDI.
