Size Matters: Consolidate Your Production Equipment

Recent history notwithstanding, I’ve spent much of my working life on the road. Throughout my travels, I recall regularly having checked luggage that was well in excess of the airline weight allowance and hand luggage that weighed more than a human should really carry on one shoulder. This included my laptop (the heavy kind), music player, headphones, camera, mobile phone, reading books, diary, and of course, all the cables and power supplies needed to connect them and keep them running.

But that was then and this is now: A world where a single device contains my music player, reading library, diary, information access portal, messaging system and telephone. With all of my personal devices consolidated into a single smartphone, complying with newer and tougher airline regulations has been made easier, not to mention making the whole experience much more convenient (and painless!).

Saving Space and Streamlining Control

Size and weight have traditionally been issues for our broadcast customers as well. This is especially true for those in outside broadcast (OB) applications. Typical requirements for an OB van might include a large video router and production switcher, MultiViewers, frame synchronisers and converters, audio embedders and de-embedders, audio mixers and more. While the range of tools required to deliver a top-notch production is ever-increasing, the size and weight limits of OB vans have remained mostly constant.

But what if it was possible to shrink the space required for all that gear from say, five equipment racks to just seven rack units? That would not only save space but also reduce the weight, cabling, power and cooling requirements tremendously. For any production facility, especially an outside broadcast van, the overall savings would be significant.

Operationally, a fully-integrated system means that control can also be streamlined. Simple, unified system control provides better engineering and operational workflows. Not only does this offer more efficient operation, it also helps the production team offer a better and more consistent program to the viewer.

Hyper-Converged Production

As you may have guessed by now, that 7RU, all-in-one, integrated solution exists in Ultrix Acuity – a machine that is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

So, if size matters at your facility, and it almost surely does, perhaps a different, efficient and revolutionary solution is a better answer than just another new box that won’t fit. Think about it.

Learn More

With the recent launch of Ultrix Acuity, one of our early customers, Cinevideo, explained how the integrated solution was perfect for the build-out of their new OB Truck, Waves 12G. Not only does Ultrix Acuity deliver on UHD or HD productions requirements, but it also complies with the size constraints of an OB Van.

For more information on Ultrix Acuity, click here to visit our product page.