15.04.2009

for-a is right mix for vivid

FOR-A UK has delivered one of the first HVS-300HS 1M/E HANABI SD/HD portable video mixers off the production line to independent UK production company Vivid Broadcast. Vivid has already proved the mixer’s value, putting the mixer through its paces at a live event.

The HVS-300HS features a compact mixer panel and a 1RU main unit for all the video processing. On-board features including a 16-split multiviewer reduce the need for peripheral equipment. The switcher supports from four to 12 inputs, each with its own frame synchroniser and re-sizing engine, to directly accept any mix of unsynchronised SD and HD feeds.

Stephen Montgomery, Director, Engineering at Vivid Broadcast, discovered the HVS-300HS at London’s Broadcast Video Exhibition in February this year. “What actually caught my eye was the multiviewer,” he recalled. “So I asked FOR-A about it and they said, ‘What multiviewer? That’s a vision mixer.’”

The expanding operations at Vivid Broadcast meant it was already looking for a multiviewer and a mixer. “The price was less than the second-hand SD desk I had been looking at,” Montgomery added. “The FOR-A offers a lot more functionality and includes the multiviewer we needed, as well as giving us HD and SD mixing.”

The first use of the HVS-300HS was at a festival in Wales where Vivid Broadcast provided local coverage for four events per day. Operations included live broadcasting to screens around the festival and making DVDs of the events on site.

Vivid broadcast director Rory Springthorpe said, “The 300 mixer has dramatically simplified our operations. We bought it because we thought it would be a very good fit for the work we do, which includes live events. This first outing has proved we were right. It is a great success.”

With I/Os that include digital HD/SD-SDI as standard and options for DVI-D, analogue HD/SD RGB component, and PAL/NTSC composite, the HVS-300HS can handle most inputs without external converters. Other features include 1 M/E and full preview, making it a true live broadcast mixer. Two channels of still store and picture-in-picture engines, various 2D and 3D DVE transitions, over 100 wipe patterns and a keyer including chroma key and a DSK with 2D DVE complete the picture.

For control, there are four choices. Front panel buttons provide access to the mixer’s functions, and the full control desk panel provides the fast operation needed for live situations. The third control option is from a Windows PC, opening a whole range of possibilities for system integration, running set-piece titles sequences and more. A remote control panel is also available.