Options

SX-84
The NewTek SX-84 is the heart of the VT[4] LIVE! Switcher, offering component, Y/C or composite ins and outs, along with audio, preview, alpha channel, tally, GPI and machine control.
There are 8 Video input rows, but that does not indicate the true flexibility of this rack-mountable beauty measuring 18 7/8" wide by 10 ½" high (or 5 rack-units high) and 1 ½" deep. This is a production switcher that saves you both time and money.

All inputs can use whatever cameras you have at your disposal, and unlike most switchers, does not require cameras to be genlockable. VT[4] performs all this internally, with each input having its own dedicated genlock controls in software. This means less gear to haul to a shoot, less time in setup and less investment for you to produce a multi-cam production. There is even an input for house synch, so you can time VT[4] to the other suites.

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RS-8
NewTek appreciates that most Technical Directors prefer to switch by touch. Just for them, we engineered the optional RS-8 hardware, providing the ability to focus on the production rather than the computer. RS-8 provides a fast, flexible and familiar control solution that may be used in place of the mouse or computer keyboard for live switching or editing, in a layout instantly recognizable by video professionals world-wide:

• 8-input Program Bus
• 8-input Preview Bus
• T-bar
• Auto and Take buttons
• Auto and Take Downstream Key buttons

RS-8 works in tandem with the SX-8 Switcher Expansion module to offer great flexibility between composite, Y/C or component inputs and outputs, with high-quality, hermetically-sealed, magnetic-reed switches, as you'd find on any high-end switcher. Just as there are Auto and Take buttons for the transitions, there is a Fade and Take button for the selected Downstream Key device. For example, when you have a logo and need to do page peels, your logo stays in front during each transition. There are also DDR buttons to hot-select between cue lists or loaded CG pages.

SDI
Whether you are editing uncompressed or for DTV output, signal quality is imperative. NewTek's SDI option allows you to send VT's pristine D1 video output in real-time in an absolutely lossless, uncompressed state to any SDI-capable capture device or tape deck using a single coaxial cable. For users of Digital Betacam or Digital-S equipment, this is the perfect solution, providing a direct digital connection between your source or master tapes and VT. The VT SDI specifications include:

• 3/4-length PCI card (requires free PCI slot)
• 1 SMPTE 259M Serial Digital Video in
• 1 SMPTE 259M Serial Digital Video out
• 1 AES/EB Serial Digital Audio In
• 1 AES/EB Serial Digital Audio Out

If you need to send your video to an off-line graphics house for compositing, or simply to another VT for your co-worker to use, SDI offers two benefits: video is never re-compressed and your images are sent via a single coaxial cable, instead of a longer component run of three cables. Even if the source material was acquired in a compressed format, such as DV, you benefit from SDI by eliminating any re-compression until you are ready to print to master.VT's SDI option is a single PCI card to be installed in a PCI slot adjacent to the VT card. The VT SDI Interface uses SMPTE 259M video in and out (EAS/EBU audio capability is present but is not yet activated). The SDI card allows for Reference In and Reference Out in addition to SDI I/O BNC Connectors.