ICE Channel in a box - IT based playout automation for broadcast

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Overview
Why ICE is cool
What's in ICE
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How to buy

Why Channel-in-a-Box?
In today’s market, you’re likely to be under pressure to reduce the cost and complexity of your operations while finding new ways to increase revenue and protect business continuity. To meet these challenges, you need a flexible, scalable, and highly-efficient system that provides automated channel playout, enables rapid deployment of new revenue-generating services, and facilitates disaster recovery. Above all, you need a no-compromise solution that delivers proven reliability, reduces complexity and cost, enables future-proof expansion and is backed-up by world-class service and support.

Why choose ICE?
ICE is the only channel-in-a-box solution designed to make a great channel, not just a great box. It dramatically increases efficiency while reducing complexity; integrating all of the operational, technical, regulatory, and commercial functionality required for broadcast playout environments. Plus, it is a proven system that helps you lower your costs, rapidly launch new revenue-generating services with ease, and grow your business.

Deliver ‘5 nines’ Reliability
Failures cost you money, or worse. That’s why we engineered ICE to deliver IT efficiency without losing broadcast resilience. Plus we back it up with the best customer support in the business.

Dramatically lower your cost per channel
By combining dozens of formerly stand-alone products into a single system, ICE significantly lowers your capital expenditure.

Pack multiple functions into a small footprint
ICE integrates more functionality than any other Channel-in-a-Box solution - saving you even more money, and delivering you more than just the basic features such as automation, storage, and graphics. It includes extensive tools to help you manage your playout operations, including single channel, multi-channel, multi-region, and multi-platform environments.

Enable rapid deployment of new channels and services
Because it’s an integrated system, ICE requires less wiring, less integration, and less commissioning and training time.

Maintain a scalable and flexible operation
Whether you have 1 channel, 5 channels or 100 channels - ICE scales with you - same interface, same functionality, same reliability, more savings.

So much integrated functionality allows you to create a great channel, ICE is Cool.

Engineered to deliver IT efficiency without losing broadcast resilience, ICE is Solid.

With pricing starting from under $30,000 per channel, the business case for ICE is Clear.

Momentum
Controlling your media assets and repurposing them for multi-platform delivery in an efficient and timely manner, Momentum is a versatile media management system that can be molded to your business needs.

Signal Sentri
Signal Sentri can be used to monitor the outputs of your ICE Channel-in-a-Box, automatically switching to a backup feed and/or informing the Morpheus automation system of the issue. Signal Sentri uses Snell's Hyperion technology, bringing human intelligence to automated broadcast monitoring.

Automated Content Pre-validation
Just because it is there and you can read it, doesn't mean it's correct. In a fsat paecd playuot evniornemnt, cotnent is dileveerd to boradcsaters in mlutilpe fomrtas from a wdie vaerity of proevdirs. But waht if taht cotnent is corurpetd in smoe way?

ICE doesn't just determine that a file is available and readable, it uniquely performs sophisticated QC on the content itself, to qualify it's suitability for broadcast. What's more, ICE performs this process early enough, that operators are informed and can take action to rectify the problem, before it gets to air.

Flexicore
With Flexicore technology, ICE can be sculpted to work in any way you want. In fact, because Flexicore is a software based "virtual router", you can even change your mind about how you want to work, whenever you want.

Our Channel in a Box works how you want it to work, not how we think you should work.

Live Event Handling
Unparalleled live event handling means that with ICE, you can sell advertising seconds before going to air, either on one channel, or across multiple channels.

Manual interventions can be pre-programmed and triggered from hardware or software control panels, making it quick, easy and reliable to react to changing situations.

ICE even allows for live voice overs, either via external audio inputs or with pre-recorded audio content.

Integration toThird Party Devices
ICE has been integrated with hundreds of third party devices, including storage systems, video servers, subtitlers and traffic systems.

What's more, if you have a device which isn't currently supported, our professional services team will develop the driver for you.

We've integrated more... so you save more.

ICE has significantly more of the broadcast transmission chain in the box than any other device on the market. At its core, ICE has Flexicore technology to allow the broadcast chain's functions to be re-ordered and applied in the way you need them to be.

Automated Content Pre-validation
ICE Content Pre-validation eliminates problems with malformed or corrupt files by checking source material as soon as it is available. Using software decoder technology ICE ensures that bad files are quarantined before they can go to air and alerting operators to any problems found.

DVE and keyers
Multiple DVEs and DSKs are available. Used in conjunction with ICE's Flexicore architecture, you can configure your channel exactly as you want.

External Audio Sources
Live voiceovers are supported via either dedicated unbalanced AES inputs, or by using an SDI input with embedded audio.

Text Players
Support for up to 4 Text Players, each providing still or crawling text, with size, color and opacity fully configurable.

SAN Storage
SAN storage for ICE provides high performance shared storage, optimizing media distribution workflows and playout system performance by reducing transfers within a centralised architecture.

Closed Captions
ICE allows pass through of embedded captions, insertion from caption files and up/down conversion to match the final output standard. An optional conversion plugin is available for accepting a wide range of non-standard caption and subtitle formats.

Third party integration
ICE has been integrated to hundereds of third-party systems including storage, video servers, graphics devices and subtitlers. Full BXF support also enables integration with traffic and automation systems.

Multi-Format File Support
Any of the supported SD or HD video files can be played back to back; removing the need for transcoding systems and allowing easy migration from legacy video servers. Snell also provides a service where we will verify your files are supported, so you can enter a project with full confidence.

Advanced Graphics
With the Advanced Graphics option, ICE offer full 3D and 2D live graphics rendering with an integrated dynamic Character Generator. Areas of the graphic can be built to accept text inputs from operators and external data inputs such as RSS feeds, websites or text files.

Ancillary Data
ICE provides more in depth Ancillary data support than any other Channel in a Box, including VANC, XDS, V-Chip, SCTE 104, Cue Tones and WST.

Audio Processing
Audio processing support includes shuffling, gain and Dolby 5.1 downmixing. Flie support for audio overs is also available.

Native Graphics File Support
ICE supports common native file formats including BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG and TGA. We recommend the use of PNG or TGA files, in order to take advantage of alpha channel support. ICE can also accept animated TGAs and GIFs.

ARC & AFD Support
ICE can pass and react to AFD signaling, including WSS, RP186 and SMPTE 2016. ARCing can be triggered via AFD and used to provide, for example, simultaneous SD and HD versions of the same channel, with the correct aspect ratios.

Timecode
ICE supports a wide range of timecode types including VITC, ATC and Track from file. Timecode is a complex area - more information is available in the technical datasheet and Snell support can provide advice where requested.

Subtitles
ICE supports both open and closed subtitling.

Master Control
ICE provides all the functionality you would expect of a traditional Master Control switcher. Multiple DSKs, DVEs and audio overs can be independently controlled and fed from any internal or external source.

Simulcasting
ICE includes the ability to simulcast HD, SD, Clean Outputs and delayed program feeds, all from a single automation schedule.

Emergency Alert System
ICE can insert EAS messages into playout streams.

Commercial Reporting
ICE can trigger alarms to alert an operator when a threshold of commercial content is exceeded during a configured timeframe. This is important in countries which have legislation over the amount of commercial content allowed in an hour.

Backed by Dedicated Support from Snell

Snell takes customer service seriously. We recognize that playout is a mission-critical environment, so we've created a dedicated support function for ICE customers.

Our professional services team is commited to providing the expertise and timely support your business needs.

You can also find out if you have the latest version of software here and request an upgrade if required.

ICE Brochure