Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products and a founding partner in the openGear® initiative, added another three awards to its already robust collection topping out at 60+ earned since its founding in 1997. The awards include Future’s Best of Show from TV Tech for the company’s ARIA AUD-MON audio monitor, a NAB Product of the Year (POTY) for the SAPPHIRE BBG-2110-4Ho/4Sio IPMX converter, and another POTY for the UltraBlue IP-MV multiviewer. All three were presented at NAB 2025.
Winners for both awards programs are selected by industry experts who evaluate products based on their significance to the industry, the value and innovation incorporated into each design, and the promise they bring to the evolving future of media entertainment and technology.
The new ultra-flexible COBALT ARIA AUD-MON Audio Monitor easily met criteria set by TV Tech for a Best of Show which considered feature set, cost efficiency and performance. The 4” deep, 4-pound audio monitor offers support for a wide range of inputs including: 2xSDI up to 12G or MADI, 2 SFP for SDI over fiber, AES, balanced analog audio, and GPI for automation. A robust feature set includes a live video thumbnail, SDI output for monitoring, individual channel volume controls for mixing, and flexible configuration from either a touch display or through a web interface. The unit is powered from the control Ethernet port (PoE++), as well as external redundant power supplies.
NAB’s POTY awards are presented to breakthrough solutions designed to meet today’s challenges while “shaping the future of content creation, distribution and monetization,” according to Eric Trabb, senior vice president and chief customer success officer at NAB.
Cobalt took home a POTY for its SAPPHIRE BBG2110-4Ho/4Sio IMPX Converter in the IT NETWORKING/INFRASTRUCTURE & SECURITY category. This unit is a new addition to Cobalt’s series of mini converters engineered to deliver high-quality design, function, and reliability in a small package. The space-saving converter can be mounted directly behind the monitor and is incredibly quiet, which makes it ideal for small editing or control suites. The unit is ideal for directly displaying incoming IPMX content on HDMI monitors, including content originating from a WAN connection, or for converting from HDMI to compressed or baseband IPMX streams. It also addresses the need to display received baseband and JPEG-XS* content on HDMI monitors in a simple and cost-effective way.
Cobalt’s second POTY at the show went to the UltraBlue IP-MV Multiviewer in the MONITORING & MEASURING TOOLS category. The UltraBlue IP-MV is a software-based multiviewer for compressed and baseband streams over IP that can also be available as a turn-key server. Features include support for receiving audio/video content over IP across a variety of protocols and formats with very flexible audio routing, bringing a multitude of options to suit every application. Support for the most common types of ancillary data, including various types of closed-captioning display are incorporated as well as full audio support, with flexible output audio routing and fully configurable audio bars.
“Winning one award is wonderful, but three is just incredible,” said Suzana Brady, svp of worldwide sales and marketing for Cobalt Digital. “We are honored to receive acknowledgement for engineering innovation from both TV Tech, a prestigious outlet for industry news, and by NAB itself for three different products. It’s reassuring to know we are recognized for delivering solutions that provide our customers with the tools they need to remain competitive today, but will prepare them for the future.”
