Cobalt Digital’s Future Solutions
Posted on May 22, 2024 by FEED Staff
True blue
Cobalt Digital’s growing product line answers consumer demand while pushing the boundaries of innovative broadcast tech
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Affordability, reliability, innovation – these are all words we associate with Cobalt Digital.
An award-winning designer and manufacturer of signal processing products, Cobalt’s solutions support today’s broadcast requirements and anticipate tomorrow’s challenges.
New and improved
Exhibiting at this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, Cobalt will unveil a stream of new solutions – including additions to its well-established WAVE, INDIGO and UltraBlue lines.
“We have products that simplify the path to ATSC 3.0 [the latest digital television standard in the US],” reveals Suzana Brady, senior VP of worldwide sales and marketing. This includes Cobalt’s 9905-MPx openGear card.
Naturally, the multi-path card saves users the cost of new equipment. “If any TV station wants to convert to ATSC 3.0, they can automatically generate a 1080p HDR feed from their existing SDR feed with this card, which will do the conversion,” explains Brady. “In addition, the 9905-MPx supports native SMPTE ST 2110 inputs/outputs and flexible audio routing with DANTE, AES and MADI.”
For several years, Cobalt offered multiviewers – SDI multiviewers from 3G up to 12G to be exact. Now, the company is launching IP-based multiviewers with compressed and baseband (ST 2110) IP/SDI inputs and multiple outputs. “It’s available as a software package, which is new for us,” admits Brady. “But because of customer demand, it’s also going to be available as a cloud instance. It’s a way to help customers grow their workflows with one flexible product.”
Announced at last autumn’s IBC, Cobalt will display new additions to its WAVE routers and control panels. “At IBC, we unveiled the WAVE RTR-64×64 router; now, we’re announcing the 36×36 crosspoint solution,” states Brady. “It offers an equivalent feature set, except half the size in a 2RU.”
The control panels will also be more compact, with the new WAVE CP-42L and WAVE CP-44 in addition to the existing 78- and 84-button panels, ‘which are less expensive
for the customer’.
Lastly, Cobalt is releasing the INDIGO OG-2110-BIDI4-GATEWAY, a quad-channel bidirectional 2110 gateway in openGear form factor. “That’s something a lot of our clients have been asking for, and it’s finally here,” Brady enthuses.
In their element
In the 27 years since its founding, Cobalt has seen steady growth – a testament to its quality. As a vendor, it promises to always have products on the shelves, offered at affordable prices with a five-year warranty. Small enough to sustain relationships but large enough for an industry-leading reputation: “We pride ourselves on being right in the middle,” affirms Brady. “Above all, we want to help customers grow their businesses.”
This feature was first published in the Spring 2024 issue of FEED.