Roland V-60HD Video Switcher
Over the last few years the world of video switchers has been favoring the trend of “less is more.” Small-format switchers are becoming more popular with many manufacturers. This is great for the church market, because most churches don’t have the need for huge video production switchers. When it comes to small-format switchers, Roland has been leading the charge and is continues with their new product the V-60HD.
The I/O of this “small” switcher is actually rather large, it supports six input channels via four SDI and two scaled HDMI inputs and a scaled RGB input. These can all be viewed on and standard TV via the built in multiviewer, on a dedicated HDMI output. The scaler on the HDMI and RGB inputs is an excellent feature because it allows the V-60HD to accept video from pretty much any source. This means that odd computer resolutions will play nicely with standard video resolutions without the need for an external converter. On the audio side, it has an 18-channel audio mixer with four TRS/XLR combo jacks with 48V phantom power, an RCA stereo pair, plus audio de-embed from the six video inputs. Audio processing capabilities include a high-pass filter, gate, compressor/limiter, three-band EQ, delay and the ability to select audio-follows-video. It also goes a step further and includes an auto-mixing function which automatically adjusts the audio level based on weighting. This ensures consistent levels for the room mix, recording and web streaming. The audio can also be assigned via the unit’s innovative discreet multi-channel audio embedding function. This allows users the option to select which audio source to embed separately to SDI outputs giving you even more control of the program feed.
While not “Big” by any measure, the V-60HD does have some features on it that are typically reserved for larger production switchers. These include a DSK (downstream keyer), dedicated memory/aux control buttons, and talley output. The DSK on the V-60HD supports both luminance (black/white) and chroma (blue/green) keying for compositing two video sources. It also has an additional layer of picture-in-picture, plus a background video layer, allowing for compositing of up to three layers of video.
One of real drawbacks of most small switchers is the lack of an assignable aux out. The V-60HD has a dedicated aux bus, which may be assigned to any of the discreet HDMI or SDI outputs. This aux is designed to provide seamless switching of any of the input channels. This is an important feature for churches that utilize more than one projector screen, or that want to have an online feed that is different from their room IMAG feed. While the aux out is good, the fact that the V-60HD features a three-row control surface, more reminiscent of larger production switchers, is what makes it work. Based on the button layout the third-row functions as an aux/memory row, so it can either assign auxes or recall memories. We have yet to receive a review unit, so I have to assume these memories are board state recalls rather than macros, but there wasn’t a lot of information on the spec sheet. Including this large-production feature should make the V-60HD feel far more like a full production switcher rather than a small-format switcher.
The last feature that stands out to me on the V-60HD is the tally output. Many small-format switchers don’t include this critical output, but Roland does. I think it’s important for churches that are growing quickly to have great infrastructure that can be reutilized when it it’s time to do an upgrade. Things like tally and com are often not necessary when a church us just starting their single-camera video ministry, so they get overlooked. However, making those connections on the initial install correctly so it can be built upon later, is the only way to really get a good return on your technology investment. Roland goes a step further with the tally on the V-60HD, because it can also be accessed via the LAN port. The LAN port can access Roland’s new wireless tally system, which provides tally on some for PC, iOS and Android devices. All this packed into this small form factor means that Roland will be making a big splash with its new V-60HD.
