Grass Valley Company,  Ensemble Designs has received the prestigious NAB 2012 Pick Award from Broadcast Engineering Magazine for the new Avenue Layering Engine. Ensemble Designs debuted its new Layering Engine, a multi layer keyer and mix effect with iPad control for use in master control, flypack and truck applications, at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas on 16 April 2012.

Broadcast Engineering’s Pick Hits are considered to be one of the most prestigious technical awards given at NAB. A panel of independent judges toured the show floor for three days, looking for innovative products and technology. The judges then met to make their selections based on several criteria, including the technical and financial improvements the product can bring to a facility’s operation.

“While I was demoing, one of the systems integrators began listing off all of the system designs he’s working on right now that could use our new Layering Engine,” said Mondae Hott, Director of Sales at Ensemble Designs. “There’s so much opportunity in broadcast, trucks and presentation for a new approach to keying and transitions.”

Keys and background transitions can all be controlled from an iPad, providing a new flexibility in where and how shows and events are switched. Key position and drop shadow can be repositioned on the fly with the iPad and then checked on the preview output before going to air.

Layering Engine inputs can be driven by SDI signals from cameras, remote feeds, character generators, graphic and stillstore systems, and video servers. The full range of SDI signals from SD to HD and 3G formats are supported. Base configuration of the Layering Engine is 8×2 and larger systems can be configured up to 30 I/O ports. Every input has a frame sync which allows use of asynchronous sources. Realtime processing and low latency simplify system integration.

About Ensemble Designs: Based in Nevada City California, Ensemble Designs is a leading provider of signal processing and infrastructure products to the professional broadcast industry. Customers include NBC, BBC, Major League Baseball, Olympic Broadcast Organization, and Sky, ESPN, and CBS News.