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Broadcast Pix Breaks Live Production Price Barriers with Slate at NAB2006New Slate 100 offers broadcast-quality, live television production for a fraction of the cost by merging a switcher with a workstation BURLINGTON, Massachusetts (April 27, 2006) Broadcast Pix™ Inc. comes to NAB2006 with Slate™ 100, a new system that brings new live production opportunities to facilities with limited budgets. Slate 100 breaks the price barrier for quality live productions by merging a video production switcher with a computer workstation, which brings the company’s user-friendly, studio-in-a-box design to facilities with cost concerns. Now polished, live broadcast video is possible for just under $10,000 for users ranging from small broadcasters and ancillary broadcast studios to compact corporate, mobile and government studios to churches and high schools.  “While the low price point of Slate 100 is a story within itself, the system is truly about the democratization of live production,” said Broadcast Pix President Ken Swanton. “Virtually any live production entity can look as good as a broadcaster because a single operator, with a small budget, can now control an integrated switcher, graphics, clip stores and even cameras. Compared to a conventional live studio, the Slate 100 saves an enormous amount of time on installation, learning and preproduction, while sharply reducing staffing costs.” The heart of the system is the new Broadcast Pix Slate board, the first professional switcher on a computer card (patent pending). It lives inside the workstation, where it is closely coupled to the system’s clip stores, still stores and Inscriber character generator. Unlike previous low-cost integrated studios, the Slate 100 doesn’t compromise on broadcast production values. The system retains the familiar control panel layout of a traditional switcher, with full comprehensive preview capability. Non-stop, on-air operation enables video to stay on-air even if the workstation stops working. It produces pristine, 10-bit quality video, including digital SDI and analog YUV, S and composite. The entire operation is controlled from a mouse or touch-screen, and offers both a soft-panel replica of a traditional physical control panel and a “PixPanel”. The latter provides a VGA screen monitor wall layout, with full motion windows for program, preview and four-camera monitors, plus thumbnails for keys and content. The PixPanel offers a quick learning curve of just five minutes for those new to video production. Soft panels also allow users to control a studio from a distance by simply entering the Internet address of the studio. Unlike other integrated studio products, if a physical hard-panel is desired, the Broadcast Pix control panel can be added as an option. This is the same panel used by broadcasters at CBS, ABC, FOX, PBS, Microsoft, Cisco, HP and many other premier studios. Slate 100 applications include:
The Slate 100 mixes up to six live inputs with up to two clips and five channels of graphics from its included workstation. The live inputs support both timed and asynchronous inputs for a wide range of cameras, video tape recorders, clip servers, DVD players, etc. The switcher has up to three keyers including chromakeys. While it excels in solo production, it can also be used by a team. The Slate 100 joins the larger Broadcast Pix 2000 system in the company’s product line. The 2000 includes the physical hard-control panel as well as a smart break-out-box and supports more inputs, keyers, effects and other features. About Broadcast Pix Broadcast Pix is the leader in integrating switcher and computer technology to provide live television production systems. These are more powerful, easier to use, and much more cost effective than a traditional control room of individual components, yet retain a fast action human interface and robustness. Broadcast Pix switchers enable a single operator to create engaging live video, yet gracefully add operators on its network when desired. It is the only switcher that can be controlled remotely over the Internet. Broadcast Pix is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices in California and Europe. Customers include leading broadcast, cable, corporate, education, entertainment, mobile, faith and government studios. For more information on Broadcast Pix, go to www.broadcastpix.com. Broadcast Pix , Slate, and PixPanel are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Patents pending. |
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©2008 Broadcast Pix and Slate are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Billerica, MA, USA
©2008 Broadcast Pix and Slate are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Billerica, MA, USA
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It was critical to have an integrated production switcher that could be managed entirely by a single operator, as opposed to our main production control room which requires a director, technical director, and audio person.