Grass Valley Indigo switcher set for sports venue market

Stadium and arena video professionals grappling with delivering high-quality audio/video experiences with less-costly equipment have a new production switcher option courtesy of Grass Valley.

The Indigo switcher, priced at $11,900 for the SD version (with 12 SD
channels) and $14,900 for the HD version (with three HD channels),
includes mixes, dissolves, keys and 2D and 3D effects, giving
low-budget productions a number of high-budget options. And with
lower-priced HD acquisition gear becoming available the need for an
equally affordable production switcher has become a necessity.

This is the perfect for in-stadium productions because it gives the production team the ability to bring in video and audio from a variety of different sources, says Chris Merrill, Grass Valley product manager for live production systems.

The Indigo AV Mixer accepts analog and digital, standard- and
high-definition (SD/HD) video and audio inputs (including embedded
audio in SDI and DV streams), plus high-resolution computer inputs.
Outputs are also available in multiple formats simultaneously,
including DVI and SDI for direct drive of displays, projectors and for
digital recording.

In a stadium one of the really important capabilities is the ability
to bring in a variety of sources, says Merrill. You still want to
handle computer feeds and you still want to bring in video. But it s
the bridge between SD and HD that is important for building to the
future.

And with high-resolution and HD display capability Indigo can put an end to blowing up SD-quality graphics and images. Now they can match the screen resolution, says Merrill.

The switcher currently can t be hooked up to the Grass Valley Infinity camera but it can run the company s Turbo iDDR drive. The Grass Valley CameraMan control system can also be run through the switcher.

One of the top features in the switcher is E-MEM effects memory coupled
with a DVE, allowing for picture-in-picture elements to be layered and
for dissolves and wipes to occur between any source. Color correction
is also available on every input.

It also has an audio mixer with motorized faders and is capable of
mixing multiple audio sources as well as automated audio fading to
match picture selection and automatic audio delay.

Merrill says a wide variety of templates are built into Indigo so less-experienced users can call up graphics and transitions on the run. That s important because a lot of venues can t bring in the full staff for events during the week, he says. Now the B team can come in on Wednesday and simply hit a preset to step up the quality of the production.

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