AJA Video, a leading manufacturer of professional video interface and conversion solutions, has installed multiple FS1 converters at Nashville's Sommet Center to enable the arena's conversion to an all-digital broadcast infrastructure. The FS1 is a universal HD and SD, audio and video frame synchronizer and converter supporting virtually any input or output format.

The Sommet Center serves as home base for the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators and was built in 1996 with control room facilities designed for analog broadcast requirements. The facility secured funding to convert to digital in the summer of 2007 and awarded the design contract to M/BITS, a local leading broadcast system integrator.

"As a system designer, I knew I had to provide simultaneous SD, HD and analog video feeds for the many different remote trucks that would be broadcasting the games during the analog to digital transition. Prior to the release of this converter, the options available to support our format needs required a minimum of two to four devices to achieve what we can do with just a single FS1," explained Truett "Butch" Smith, President, M/BITS. "When TV trucks come in to broadcast games from the Sommet Center they may require all three formats of television transmission signals simultaneously. The FS1 manages that requirement perfectly, and at an incredibly cost-effective price point."

The upgrade of the Sommet Center's broadcast infrastructure includes a new all-digital control room, technical center and truck dock where TV trucks pull in to interface with the building and receive and transmit their signals. Twenty FS1s have been placed in the upgraded technical center to ease signal transmission for the upcoming hockey season as well as NCAA basketball, arena football and other events held at the center.

M/BITS has been working with AJA's converters for many years, and has faithfully installed their solutions time and again based on the unparalleled service, reliability and quality of the company's products.

The FS1 is a universal HD and SD, audio and video frame synchronizer and converter. With an extremely flexible architecture, the FS1 can simultaneously support both HD and SD video-all in full 10-bit broadcast quality video and 24-bit audio. The FS1 supports virtually any input or output as analog or digital, HD or SD. This product can up-convert or down-convert between SD and HD while providing simultaneous outputs of both formats, and supports both closed captioning and closed captioning conversions between SD and HD formats. FS1 also includes 10-bit HD to HD cross-conversion for 1080 and 720 formats. For audio, the FS1 supports 8-channel AES, balanced analog or embedded audio with full flexibility. The FS1 is also network ready, supporting SNMP monitoring and web-based remote control.

About M/BITS
Media Broadcast Integration and Technical Services (M/BITS) provides broadcast engineering and technical services to the television industry and related businesses. These services include consultation, design, installation, systems integration, equipment repair and maintenance on both an as-needed and service contract basis. For more information, please visit www.m-bits.com.