Modern Pro AV

At InfoComm 2005, Grass Valley rolled out Turbo — a sleek new iDDR (intelligent digital disk recorder) that brings IT chops to a video server. This launch is the cornerstone of a future line of pro-AV products, Grass Valley says. The launch says much about the market itself.

Turbo iDDR can take in two signals even while it outputs a third. Connect to NLEs and low-cost NAS while you input/output QuickTime, Windows Media Video files (including WMV HD), MPEG-2, and a range of still graphic formats. Unique removable storage—the $60/20Mbps Iomega REV media disks—is offered through a built-in drive.

Manufacturers once saw pro AV as a market that could be satisfied with gear that was “good enough.” Many OEMs didn't think the pro-AV market would ever need sophisticated gear — like broadcast-capable servers, for example.

But this attitude is changing. Thomson is among a number of major players now designing and developing cutting-edge products that bear a strong resemblance to ready-for-primetime gear.

According to Doug Sheer, CEO, DIS Consulting, attendees at InfoComm over the last four years would have had trouble finding a server company at the show. He continues, “But looking at this year's exhibitors' list, it's clear that the server companies have noticed InfoComm and are headed into that market.”

And why wouldn't they be interested? A recent study by ICIA (the hosts of InfoComm) pegs the U.S. market for pro-AV gear at around $11 billion a year, with an astonishing compound annual growth of more than 10 percent.

“We studied the pro-AV market, saw its healthy growth rate, and felt we could be a major player in it,” says Scott Murray, director of market development for Grass Valley. “Up until recently, this market has been greatly underserved. We realize [the pro-AV market] won't settle for anything less than professional-level gear.”

That's just the sort of product Grass Valley is delivering, Murray says, with Turbo, the initial offering in the company's new ProLine family of gear.

Connect a keyboard and mouse via the USB ports, put a monitor on the DVI out, and you can control Turbo as easily as a PC. HD support comes via file transfers—including HDV via the FireWire ports. You can also play SD and HD out over the same channel.

Grass Valley was smart in the way it developed Turbo. It kept costs down using standard, off-the-shelf components and built in some serious IT capabilities. All of this is pulled together into a polished, compact form factor equally at home on a desktop or in a rack — and available for less than $10,000 base.

Grass Valley didn't just plunk a dumbed-down server into Turbo because it's designed specifically for event, corporate, institutional, and worship production, says Murray. Instead, Turbo leverages the digital storage, networking, and clip-creation capabilities of the Profile line of video servers, which has seen more than a decade of development since its debut in 1994.

So, what's inside? You'll find plenty of fast, RAID-protected storage that holds anywhere from 10 to 40 hours of SD, HDV, or HD; control via TCP/IP; a touchscreen panel; DVD burner; DVI port (you'll need that for output to monitors and projectors); AMX and Crestron integration; Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, and USB connections; and a comprehensive software suite described as “10th generation” because it's inherited from the Profile.

Turbo allows multiple formats — a range of video, still, and audio types — to be held in its RAID array, all controlled from a single timeline.

Mixing and controlling those formats is possible because Turbo is a file-centric device, not a VDR or a baseband-centric technology like traditional VTRs. But don't think it's just a PC with storage. Turbo is true to its broadcast server roots: Unlike a PC, its OS works and responds in realtime, so an operator can react to changes in a stage show as they happen, play video clips as soon as the speaker calls for them, or record an event even while playing out that event's video presentation.

Built-in Ethernet and other IT capabilities deliver many more control and management options than standard VTRs and DDRs could ever match.

Video devices such as the Turbo that marry AV and IT aren't merely more proficient pieces of gear, they help transform the pro-AV industry too.

Using Internet protocol (IP), today's digital production technologies can integrate cameras, monitors, projectors, and other gear into one fluid whole. As all video products turn digital — even the last holdouts, projectors, now use DLP chips — IP becomes the common parlance that leverages all those digital standards — MPEG, MXF, and Ethernet — into a powerful synergy.

“Over the past four years [of InfoComm], I've seen many new [digital video] technologies expand their borders and move toward a systems approach,” says Taly Walsh, senior vice president, InfoComm marketing and membership.

Three years ago, streaming media first came to InfoComm, becoming one of the first IP technologies to add value to video distribution and exhibition, says Walsh. This year, another IP-enabled video technology, digital signage, makes its appearance via its own pavilion on the show floor. “Professionals need to be IT- and Internet-savvy and know how AV ties into the network and IT infrastructure,” says Walsh.

So be prepared to join in as AV meets IT. It's bound to be a fun ride.

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