CRYSTAL VISION S SMART SWITCHER KEEPS BROADCASTERS ON AIR

New from Crystal Vision is Smart Switch, an intelligent 2 x 1 SDI
switch which provides the broadcaster with peace of mind by monitoring
two video inputs with embedded audio and automatically switching to
backup if a fault condition on the main feed is detected thereby
securing the video output.
Smart Switch makes the
best possible decision when switching to backup. Using the Statesman PC
software, Smart Switch can be set to either ignore or create an alarm
on any of the many different features it can measure: video frozen,
video black, audio group missing, silence on a specific audio channel,
EDH missing, EDH full field error and EDH active picture error. The
period of time before the video black, video frozen and audio silence
parameters trigger a switch can be set from 0 to 240 seconds, for
further flexibility.
Having this choice of
switching criteria allows the engineer to switch away from a fairly
subtle fault on the main input, but only if the backup is free of that
fault. The main feed can be set to be re-selected when the fault is
cleared, if required. Should the main and standby inputs have different
alarms set Smart Switch will cleverly work to the most significant
feature to decide which input to select with loss of input having
the highest priority and channel 4 audio silent the lowest.
Alarms
can also be set from the main Statesman Alarm Settings menu to ensure
the engineer is personally notified of any fault conditions allowing
them to send a maintenance engineer along to fix the problem.
Notification can be by a flashing Statesman title bar, a sound through
PC speakers or an e-mail message.
Smart Switch can
also be used with GPI alarms. Two GPI outputs can be configured to
indicate what the switch detects on one or both of the video inputs.
This might be used if the engineer had a specific interest in
monitoring a particular characteristic of the signal, wanted to tell a
different computer system that something had happened, or wished to set
up a buzzer or flashing light to notify them of any signal problems.

Comments Crystal Vision s Managing Director, Philip Scofield: “Smart
Switch is an important addition to our range. Automatic switching based
on user selected parameters and the integration with station control
software make it a unit which simplifies the design of high reliability
broadcast systems.”
Not only does Smart Switch give
broadcasters high reliability, it also saves them rack space. The 100mm
x 266mm module fits in any of the standard Crystal Vision frames,
housing 24 boards in 4U, 12 in 2U, six in 1U and two in a desk top box.
It is used with the RM04 frame rear module to give the switched SDI
output along with a loop-through of the standby feed.
Smart
Switch forms part of the new smart family of products that give
broadcasters the extra help they need, and follows the successful
launch of the Smart DA distribution amplifier and signal probe earlier
this year. Especially popular for broadcasters using embedded audio,
Smart Switch is shipping now.