Cobalt Enriches Encoders and Decoders with Unique Features

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - April 23, 2021 - PRLog -- Built-in frame synchronizer and support for Dolby AC-4 and Dolby-E offer unparalleled flexibility and add to professional-grade support for compressed formats

Champaign, IL – April 22, 2021—Cobalt® Digital (http://www.cobaltdigital.com/), designer and manufacturer of award-winning edge devices for live video production and master control, and a founding partner in the openGear® initiative,  has announced that several of its solutions have been enhanced with unique features.  The solutions, Cobalt's broadcast-grade 9992 encoder and decoder family are industry standard openGear® card modules that already provide professional-grade support for compressed audio and video. The cards are designed to meet the stringent requirements of today's broadcasters and provide an ideal platform for transitioning to state-of-the-art encoding and decoding capabilities.

9992-ENC encoder now includes a built-in frame synchronizer

Cobalt's 9992-ENC is a software-defined encoder expandable up to four channels  and upgradable with HEVC video encoding technology for a dramatic compression efficiency improvement over previous video compression standards, while also supporting existing MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC.

The 9992-ENC series now includes a built-in frame synchronizer that ensures the encoder keeps on running, either with a  flat field or the last good frame, even If the input video goes away.  This eliminates downstream glitches due to input signal issues, such as unsynchronized video switches. This feature is provided at no additional cost through a firmware upgrade.

"Cobalt is always listening to our customers and responding to their needs with upgrades, enhancements, and often new products," said Chris Shaw, executive vice president of sales & marketing for Cobalt. "Saving money and space are two of the most common requests we hear today, and so it was a logical step to incorporate a frame synchronizer directly into our popular 9992-ENC encoder,  and  we've made it available at no additional cost to our customers."

Dolby AC-4 support incorporated into 9992-DEC decoder

Cobalt's 9992-DEC is a software-defined multi-standard decoder that supports MPEG-2, AVC (H.264) and HEVC (H.265) with resolution up to 4K and offering a full complement of audio decoding capabilities.

The 9992-DEC series is adding support for Dolby AC-4 decoding and pass-through (available soon).  If there are multiple presentations, the user can select which one to decode; if there is an associated channel, the user can determine how it mixes the main presentation.  The 9992-DEC offers an ideal choice for monitoring as it includes a Dolby AC-4 metadata display.

Dolby-E decoding support included in Cobalt 9992-DEC decoder
The 9992-DEC series is adding support for Dolby-E decoding (available soon).  The card can take a Dolby‑E stream, simultaneously decode all programs, and output them as SDI embedded channels.  A metadata display is also provided.