At NAB, Grass Valley unveiled the Kayenne Video Production Center, a new family of production switchers that integrates the most powerful features of Grass Valley’s Kalypso and Kayak models and adds features that enable high-end creativity as well as streamline production workflow for high-definition (HD) projects.

Among the many hardware and software innovations Kayenne provides are six keyers per M/E; 20 channels of DPM, including a 4-channel eDPM with two combiner outputs; Source Rules, which associate keys with a source; a Device Control Module with jog wheel interacting with its Q-MEM cue library; and Define E-MEM, providing finer control of E-MEM effects.

“Kayenne is the next phase of evolution in the Grass Valley switcher product line, representing a family of products for worldwide customer applications that will appeal to users familiar with Grass Valley switchers now in the field,” said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president of Grass Valley. “While the Kalypso and Kayak HD switchers will continue to be available for those that need them, the new Kayenne continues our legacy of innovation by being both best-in-breed and the most cost effective in its category.”

New Features and Functionality
Offering up to 96 inputs and 48 outputs in a single frame, the Kayenne Video Production Center is one of the most powerful and capable switchers on the market. Kayenne frames range from 1.5 to 4.5 Mix Effects. No other switcher manufacturer offers a 4.5 M/E frame. A half M/E with six linear/luminance keyers is standard in every model.

Kayenne has a new modular control panel. The hot-swappable panel modules can be removed and replaced quickly without impacting on-air production. The panel’s ergonomic design provides instant access to the many new features. All of the buttons on the panel are RGB buttons so that color designates M/E, key, source and function. Also, two rows of configurable OLED source name displays per M/E stripe provide increased legibility with the clearest and brightest displays available.

Advanced Menu Structure
Grass Valley has been a pioneer in bringing touch-screen technology to video production. With the Kayenne switcher, Grass Valley has taken another major leap forward. Kayenne’s intuitively designed menu structure is accessed through a 15-inch (39 cm) high-resolution 1280x768 pixel touch screen. The menu’s user-focused navigation system is optimized for touch-screen use. It introduces the “favorites” and “history” familiar to users of Internet browsers, and its semi-transparent pull-down tabs allow operators to make quick jumps between related menus. Additionally, no sub-menu is more than two levels deep.

The Most Keyers Available Anywhere
All Kayenne switchers feature six keyers per M/E – that’s 30 keyers in a 4.5 M/E switcher. Each full M/E has four full-function keyers (including optional chroma keys, preset patterns, masks, wipes, borders, etc) plus two linear/luminance keyers. Each full-function keyer also provides two video/key pages (frames) of storage for non-animated bugs without consuming Image Store outputs.

Multiformat Conversion without Consuming M/Es
Kayenne internally converts up to 16 inputs and 8 outputs without tying up M/E resources through the use of the MatchDef and SetDef options. SetDef does not consume any M/E resources and both HD and SD outputs can be produced. Combining conversion with the FlexiKey and DoubleTake options provides a solution for multiple feeds of different formats which could include different graphics or backgrounds for each converted output.

Internal Cache for Stills and Clips
Kayenne’s Image Store for stills and clips offers six input and output channels and holds approximately one minute of HD storage. Grass Valley’s new KacheBack technology allows fast archive/restore operations using real time storage on an external DDR. The internal Image Store can record video, key, and audio independently and then marry into one clip.

Availability
The Grass Valley Kayenne Video Production Center will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009.