Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, has reached a new product milestone, selling more than 1,000 NVISION 8500 Enterprise Routers to broadcasters, studios, mobile production and playout facilities globally.
Often referred to as a “hybrid technology routing platform,” the NVISION router was designed with an eye toward the future and is easily adapted to support increased levels of processing, bandwidth and even connectivity. When the series originally launched, it was a family of one, designed and shipped as the NV8576 that supported SDI over coax and fiber as well as Async AES. Since then, the series has expanded to include four additional frames: the NV8144, the NV8280, the NV8576-Plus and the NV8140.
By creating a family of routers, Grass Valley made more components interchangeable between frames and as a result, the company experienced a significant response from the market. With the growth of the family, the NVISION series became ideal for customers looking to expand into bigger frames without having to replace all of their I/O or crosspoint cards. The series also gives customers the ability to have multi-router systems and only one set of spares.
Customers around the world have come to rely on NVISION routers to keep their operations running at peak performance. A number of major international networks, as well as IMG Studios in the U.K., LeSEA Broadcasting Network and the MLB Network in the U.S., are just a few examples of operations utilizing the power of NVISION routers.
In addition to adding new frames, Grass Valley has also enhanced a number of NVISION features since inception. These include the launch of patented integrated video and audio processing, as well as the award-winning NAB 2014 IP Gateway card. This ensures that today’s investments remain Future Ready, as customers can bridge the gap between SDI and IP infrastructures, preserving their CAPEX investment in SDI and allowing them to transition to IP at their own pace.
By listening to the needs of the customer, Grass Valley has developed innovations that have made the NV8500 series one of the most successful routing technology platforms available on the market today. The advanced level of signal performance and system redundancies is critical for broadcasters and playout alike. Redundant crosspoints, power supplies and control cards help keep the routing system on air at all times. Efficient cooling and unique power distribution designs have increased the lifetime and reliability of the router, ensuring it is working 24/7/365.
As productions become more complex, the hybrid routing with patented integrated audio processing is key to dramatically reducing space, weight and power for studios and mobile production. Integration of disembedding/embedding, frame synchronization, MADI and multiviewer connectivity into the routing chassis means that customers can achieve even greater savings. This reduces both CAPEX and OPEX, all while simplifying signal work and signal flow.
“Since its inception as a coax SDI router, we’ve been able to add fiber connectivity, audio and video processing, and even IP connectivity to the NVISION platform,” said Tim Walker, sr. product manager, NVISION Routing. “This is a true testament to the original architectural design, and we aren’t done—Grass Valley will continue to innovate and add functionality to this field-proven, industry-respected and Future Ready hybrid technology routing platform. This is an exciting milestone for Grass Valley and we look forward to many more.”
