TEL AVIV, Israel—TAG Video Systems has added new visualization resources to its flagship Multi-Channel Monitoring (MCM) system, enriching its Under Monitor Display (UMD) capabilities with expanded UMD and Tally functions, internal timers, and tight integration with a third-party series of production timing devices.
The infusion of live data pulled from multiple sources and visualized in one place provides operators with a clear and quick timeline of the content’s health and lifecycle, the company said. The upgrades will be demonstrated at TAG’s Stand #1.C30 at IBC 2022 at the RAI Amsterdam, Sept. 9-13 along with its recently released and award-winning Monitoring Control System (MCS), and the Company’s new Bridge Technology.
TAG has expanded UMD capability to 8 UMDs per tile element with each UMD taking on roles that extend beyond the simple display of text. In addition to static or external (via API or TSL-5 protocol) text, internally derived metadata and other data can be displayed, including stream information such as service name, TSID, bitrate, resolution, colors pace, HDR format, timecode, codec, stream type, and VCHIP rating, to name a few.
In addition to the usual ‘tally light’ indicators, many display attributes such as border, font, background, etc. can be customized for tally use as well. Operators can custom configure all Tallies and UMDs to reflect their preference for font attributes and display appearance, colors are specified as 24-bit, and user-provided JPG still images can be displayed as well.
The UMDs can now also deliver on-screen timers for production and playout timing applications along with their other display capabilities. Source data for UMDs, tallies and timers from different external sources can be integrated with related information to present operators with a ‘big picture” of the content’s journey. For example, tapping the UMD’s enhanced capabilities playout automation can deliver clip filenames and start / duration times from playout automation, with static text providing context.
A playout-driven MCM timer has been added that counts down to the next event along with live stream-derived V-Chip rating and Closed Caption presence. Together, these offer a simple and effective visualization for channel behavior. All UMD, timer and tally functionality that is supported by the TSL-5 protocol is offered over that service, and all available functionality, including timers and metadata-driven display, is available through TAG’s rich JSON API.
TAG has also introduced integration with the popular Plura series of MTD production timing devices, offering on-screen visualization of local desk timer displays.
