FOR-A Corporation of America announced the purchase of 12G-SDI 4K systems by Nationwide Video, a leading provider of cross-rental equipment to the rental and staging industry, with locations across North America. With the goal of providing 12G solutions for everything from corporate events to concert tours, Nationwide has adopted MFR-4100 routing switchers, HVS-1200 video switchers, and FA-9600 multi-purpose signal processors as the foundation of its new rental fleet of flypacks—pre-wired mobile production units, used in combination with its projectors, LED wall products, cameras, playback, and lighting equipment.
Nationwide selected the FOR-A live production package primarily based on the company’s extensive real-world experience transitioning customers from HD to 12G-SDI 4K video. The 12G transmission standard allows users to transmit a 4K signal through a single cable, for easier transport, simplified setup and operation, intuitive workflows, and fewer points of failure in the signal chain. The flexibility of FOR-A’s routing switcher, video switcher, and multi-purpose signal processor work beautifully together to create a smooth, easy migration path to, and selection between, 3G and 12G.
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“Migrating from HD to 4K for live event production has been made much less complex thanks to FOR-A and their 12G single-cable solution,” said Tim Morin, director of technology sales at Nationwide Video. “Choosing the HVS-1200 2 M/E 12G switcher was compelling when you look at the usability and flexibility of it. To have an up to 6 M/E HD switcher and a 2 M/E 12G switcher, there’s nothing out there that compares with it. The same with the routing switcher. It provides the flexibility to do both 12G and 3G. And we can tie it in with the HVS-1200, where you have the tallies available through the routing system. For us it’s important to stay within an infrastructure where the parts work well together and make it simple for our clients. The FOR-A package is, as we say, 'The Right Rig for the Gig.'”
The versatile and powerful MFR-4100 routing switcher lets Nationwide clients choose support for 12G/6G/3G/HD/SD-SDI or DVB-ASI signals via a matrix of 8 video I/O cards with 9 channels per card, while auto-signal detection removes concern about incoming signal formats. Features like SDI input signal error detection, jitter cleaning, front panel control, SNMP support, and outstanding redundancy assures a stable system, while matrix partition capability, GUI-based configuration, versatile crosspoint control, and available interface expansion units improve usability. Designed for integration with FOR-A’s video switchers, multi-viewers, and signal processors, this 7RU-sized routing switcher also offers connectivity with other products through the Ethernet or serial ports via common control protocols. A built-in webserver enables immediate setup without the need to install software on external devices.
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The HVS-1200 video switcher delivers 12G-SDI support as standard with 10 inputs/10 outputs, one M/E; two DVEs in 4K UHD with four DVEs optional; or 40 inputs/10 outputs, two M/E, and 16 DVEs in HD mode. To expand these capabilities, FOR-A’s MELite technology adds one additional M/E in 4K UHD or four in HD mode for AUX transitions. Special FLEXaKEY keyers (one in 4K UHD or four in HD mode) operating separately from standard keyers may be freely assigned to M/E or AUX busses, enabling performance beyond the reach of conventional switchers. This flexible design smoothly handles a variety of signal formats for hybrid production in live events, making it convenient to switch between HD and UHD, or to migrate from HD to a 4K UHD environment. Finally, the built-in web server enables monitoring and control from a PC or mobile device. This functionality and much more is packaged in a compact, portable 3RU form factor that makes it ideal for Nationwide’s mobile flypacks.
The FA-9600 was a key purchase for Nationwide, not only for its numerous processing functions, but also for its industry-leading color correction with adjustment knobs on the front panel—critical for accurately color-matching Nationwide’s LED walls and other displays. The FA-9600 multi-purpose signal processor is designed for live HDR broadcast production, with two 3G/HD/SD-SDI inputs including a frame synchronizer, HDR and Wide Color Gamut support, and conversion of multiple formats, including 12G/4K UHD/1080p/HD/SD. Its 12G-SDI terminals provide support for 4K production (with optional software), while an optional expansion card offers four additional channels of 3G-SDI I/O or six channels of 12G-SDI distributed output. Built-in LUTs—as well as support of 3D LUTs for SDR-HDR, HDR-HDR, and HDR-SDR conversions in mixed SDR and HDR production environments—deliver unprecedented conversion accuracy.
“We are excited to partner with Nationwide Video to bring 12G-SDI workflows to the live event marketplace,” said Satoshi Kanemura, president of FOR-A Corporation of America. “As 4K production becomes the norm for concerts and corporate events, 12G offers an easy and familiar upgrade path for existing baseband infrastructures, with ergonomics and workflows that make our products reliable and easy to use. We look forward to a partnership with Nationwide that enhances and supports both our businesses.”
