The video world can get kinda crazy! We at Life.Church use the switcher so simply that knowing all the fancy terms is not necessary to run a service successfully. This article will list a few key terms and their definitions as a way to deepen your knowledge.
This is not a video engineering college class. It is still very simple and does not go into depth.
The Program Bus - The top row of the larger buttons is what is 'live' or 'on air' - The output goes directly to the side projectors no matter what. The Program box is located in the top right corner of the multiviewer.
Learn More Ross Switcher : Program/Preview Explained
The Preview Bus - Labeled on the switcher as the Preset row is the lower row of large buttons. Preview is an easier way to remember the row as it is the 'preview' of the source coming next with a transition. The Preview box is located in the top left corner of the multiviewer.
Learn More Ross Switcher : Program/Preview Explained
The Multiviewer allows you to view all incoming sources and most outputs as a way to verify what's being sent from the switcher. Each input and output has a label as well as a colored outline indicating what is selected
The 'switcher TV' is professionally called a Multiviewer Output of the switcher.
Learn More - Ross Switcher : Multiviewer TV
For our purposes at Life.Church we rarely use the word key or any other technical form of the effect.
The LifeKids button uses a key to remove the black background and only display the small rectangle containing the LifeKids code. This process is a layer downstream from the program output, in other words it is on top of what the source being sent out program. You see it all the time on TV news or sports when they overlay the players or anchors names.
The technical term for the way we use the key is a Downstream Key or DSK. We use what Ross refers to as a Self key instead of a chroma or luma key. The Self key is very smart and recognizes the black background with little effort. That's as deep as we need to go.
Extra information on how we use the LK button here
The word bus is often used interchangeably with the word crosspoint, although sometimes crosspoint is a little more specific.
We refer to a row of buttons, such as the program or live row as the program bus.
To be honest, we don't need to use these fancy terms, as long as you reference what layer your currently using then the bottom row is always the preview row.
Learn more about the Program and Preview Buses
The term signal refers to the language of digital code being transmitted down the cable. Maybe another way to say signal would be language. What language is being transmitted and received. Cables don't care what language is being sent down the pipe, but the each end cares. The transmitter and receiver need to know what signal they are working with so they can translate the signal.
In the video world, we use a signal called SDI most often. SDI is an acronym for Serial Digital Interface.
For our purposes it does not mean state disability insurance, haha.
The language is a serial transmission, transmitted digitally, all packaged in a specific way. There are all kinds of different forms of SDI (dialects), 3G SDI, HD-SDI, 3G HD-SDI, 12G, etc...
Another signal type we use is HDMI. One major difference between SDI and HDMI is in HDMI the signal is split between multiple channel streams instead of a single constant stream down a single channel. SDI transmits one single channel.
The signal types never refer to the connector. SDI is not a connector. Connectors covered next.
There can be a compatibility conflict between different signal types and connectors especially when talking about high definition or 4K video.
Connectors are used at the end of a cable. In our video world we most often use a BNC connector. A BNC Connector is metal with a single conductor pin in the middle often transmitting an SDI signal. The BNC connector secures into place by rotating the connector and locking into a notch.
A Connector is not a signal type. There are no BNC cables.
Other connector examples that you use often RF Coaxial Connector (or your screw on cable connector on your TV). There are more than ten different connectors when referring to USB; USB-A, USB-B, USB Mini A Male... It can get confusing pretty quickly.
HDMI can refer to the signal type as well as the connector. But there are several different connectors.
There can be a compatibility conflict between different signal types and connectors especially when talking about high definition or 4K video.