Guatemala Adds First HD Switcher Made By FOR-A

March 17, 2009 - PRLog -- MIAMI, FL – FOR-A Latin America, Inc, a division of FOR-A Corporation, a leading manufacturer of video and audio systems for the broadcast and professional video industries, announces a sale of broadcast equipment, including a HVS-3800HS HANABI multi-format switcher, to a subsidiary of TV Azteca in Guatemala. The purchase was made through FOR-A’s distributor in Mexico, Excelencia en Comunicaciones y Tecnología (ECT).

At its Guatemala location, TV Azteca produces news, sports and other live productions. According to Marco Rabadan, Manager of Strategic Accounts for ECT, superior performance and ease of use – combined with FOR-A’s growing presence in Latin America – all factored in to the station’s decision to select the HVS-3800HS switcher.

“FOR-A Latin America, Inc. has demonstrated their commitment to servicing and providing for the unique needs of this market,” said Rabadan. “Securing the installation of the HVS-3800HS at TV Azteca Guatemala solidifies FOR-A’s presence in Central America and our relationship with the company.”

“We are thrilled to have worked with ECT on this project for TV Azteca,” added Pedro Silvestre, FOR-A’s Regional Sales Manager-Latin America & Caribbean. “They are a top station in their market. Our partnership with Excelencia promises to continue our success in Guatemala and in Mexico.”

TV Azteca is modernizing its facility and converting from analog to digital. The station has begun installing equipment with SDI capabilities with an eye on the future need for HD. Before acquiring the HVS-3800HS, productions were considerably limited with regard to DVE effects creation and keying.

“The HVS-3800HS offers a wide selection of features, which the network did not have access to before,” said Rabadan. “Executives at the station first installed the HVS-3800HS switcher on a trial basis and decided to make it a permanent addition to their equipment inventory after realizing how it would expand production capabilities. The ability to save configurations and pre-set commonly used effects has streamlined production, and TV Azteca staff overwhelmingly preferred its user interface over competing products.”

The HVS-3800HS is a multi-bit-rate combination of FOR-A’s well-known HANABI HVS-3000S standard definition and HVS-3000H high definition 2 M/E switchers. The HVS-3800HS features a polygon-based HD DVE and supports all major SD and HD formats, including 1080i, 720p, 24p, and 23.98SF, .

Up to two 3D DVE cards can be installed on the HVS-3800HS. One card can support two channels when working in SD mode or one channel when working in HD. Two cards provide up to two channels in HD and four channels in SD. A DVE channel can be assigned to any M/E or key layer. Users have the option to install a new DVE, the first polygon-based DVE in HD, on the HVS-3800HS. Chroma key operation is supported as standard, with one chroma key operation per M/E, for a total of two chroma keyers. The HVS-3800HS also features two independent key edge/shadow generators and six key channels—two key layers and one DSK per M/E.

The HVS-3800HS is designed for fast paced live television production applications. Its compact 4RU frame size makes it particularly ideal for mobile production. The new switcher can configure up to five main units or control panels, making it easy for users to set up productions from multiple locations. It has 16 standard inputs and outputs, end users can configure the HVS-3800HS with up to 28 inputs. It features four still stores, which can be loaded from the built-in Compact Flash card reader and used as inputs simultaneously. It can also be equipped with optional color correction features, which can be applied to the bus inputs and key layers.

FOR-A is a major manufacturer and distributor of video and audio systems to the broadcast, postproduction and professional video markets. For more information about FOR-A’s product line, call 305-931-1700 or visit our web site at www.for-a.com.

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