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Broadcast Pix™ (Billerica, Mass.), the company that redefined the production switcher as a live integrated production system, announced that DSF Deutsches SportFernsehen, a sports broadcast network in Germany, is using its Slate™ 2100 switcher for live, high-quality production of its new sports news program, DSF Aktuell. The Slate 2100, installed by German systems integrators CAM GmbH, and Videocation Fernseh-Systeme-GmbH, is the centerpiece of a new production studio built specifically to produce DSF Aktuell and future programs. The Slate 2100 replaces the network's aging legacy production control technology at half the price of a conventional new system.

According to DSF production head Manfred Eisele, the 15-minute nightly program requires two operators due to the rich graphical content and fast-moving nature of the live show. One operator continually adds content via the Broadcast Pix touch panel and integrated clip server, while the main operator handles the live program switching. A typical program uses nearly 20 clips, all with introductory graphics that are seamlessly processed using the Slate 2100.

"The Broadcast Pix Slate 2100 provides our staff with the highly integrated automation in a single, compact platform we required to effectively produce our new sports program," said Eisele. "At half the cost of a traditional production system, the Slate 2100 provides all the tools we need and seamlessly integrates with our Avid Liquid editing pool and DDR playout. The breakout box included with the system provides the additional inputs we need for our cameras and source equipment, creating a clear and uncluttered end-to-end production workflow."

The Broadcast Pix Slate 2100 system integrates a production switcher, production control panel, Inscriber CG, transitional effects, chromakeyer, clip store, and multi-view monitoring, among other functions, in a single workstation-based system. The system can be operated with a production switcher-style control panel or by using a keyboard and mouse interface. The Slate 2100 also comes standard with the intelligent break-out-box (iBoB™) to accommodate secure video and audio I/O connections.

According to Thomas Lehmann, managing director of CAM GmbH, the staffing efficiencies afforded by the new system were also attractive to DSF. "The ability to run the entire program with two staff members is highly attractive, given the tightly integrated design of the new control room," said Lehmann.