Glossary

Wall Rack

The medium-sized equipment rack mounted on the wall near the corner of the control room.

Power Conditioner

A SurgeX 1115-RT power distribution unit located in the Wall Rack at the very top. This device feeds all equipment in the rack. The equipment that is meant to stay powered is intentionally plugged into outlets which are not affected by the power switch on the front.

Items that are meant to be powered only while in use are plugged into the “switched” outlets, making it easier to turn everything on and off.

Video Switcher

The device that takes all video and audio sources (cameras and computer feeds), processes them and sends the final result to be recorded and streamed. It is a Blackmagic ATEM Constellation HD 2 M/E and is located in the Wall Rack about halfway up from the bottom.

VideoHub

A device that takes multiple video sources and distrubutes them to multiple destinations. It is a Blackmagic Smart VideoHub CleanSwitch 12x12 and can be found in the Wall Rack below the Video Switcher, recognizable as a silver unit with white “rubbery” buttons and a small screen.

HyperDeck

Blackmagic HyperDeck Studio HD Mini video and audio recorder. There are two of these located in the Wall Rack near the top. They have two SD card slots, buttons for ▶️, ⏹️, ⏺️, ⏮️, ⏭️ (among others) as well as a screen showing a video preview.

Live Encoder

An Epiphan Pearl Nano video and audio encoder. It is located in the Wall Rack at the very bottom. It has a screen showing a video preview and buttons for ⏺️ and 📶 (among others). This is what sends our video stream to CivicClerk.

Switcher Controller

The device that controls the Video Switcher. It is a Blackmagic ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 10 and can be found on the desktop below the window (the device to the left of the Camera Controller).

Camera Controller

The device that controls all cameras for both Council Chambers and the Multi-Purpose room. It is a Panasonic AW-RP150 and can be found on the desktop below the window (the device to the right of the Switcher Controller).

MultiView Monitor

One of the two LCD screens mounted directly below the window. These show a number of video sources combined as windows with labels and other indicators.

Touch Panel

Crestron touch panel located to the left of the Switcher Controller

Off Air

When we aren’t currently broadcasting, we send a pretty picture with the current weather, upcoming events, and other information (instead of a black screen).

On Air

When we are broadcasting, we send the signal from the Video Switcher to the all encoders, recorders and our cable channel.

Program Bus

The final output of a Video Switcher (put simply). This is the video feed which will be sent to all recorders and online streams. It can be found on the left MultiView Monitor in the top-right window (labeled “ME 1 PGM”).

Preview Bus

This it typically used to select the “next” source to be sent to the Program Bus, whether through a “mix transition” or a “cut transition”. It is shown on the left MultiView Monitor in the top-left window (labeled “ME 1 PVW”).

Tally

A method commonly used to indicate whether a source is “on-air” or not. A source will be indicated in red 🔴 if it’s currently “live” on the Program Bus and green 🟢 if it’s currently selected on the Preview Bus.

CivicClerk

The online service used to stream video to the public. It is accessed through a web browser at https://mansfieldtx.v8.civicclerk.com.

DSP

Digital Signal Processor. This is the device that handles all of the audio signals throughout the system. It’s not incredibly important to know what it is, where it is, or how it works. I just wanted to include it here to style the text correctly when I referred to it in the instructions 🤓.

Speaker Timer

A DSan Limiter system used to limit the time for citizens to speak. The controller is located on the Dais where the Assistant City Secretary sits.