Review: NewTek TriCaster TCXD850 Extreme
NewTek的 TriCaster一体化视频混音器在便携式现场制作方面有着悠久的历史(我们在2006年回顾了我们的第一个TriCaster). 但近年来, 流媒体和记录现场制作的能力将TriCaster推向了现场制作的下一个层次. 作为推动的一部分, NewTek has introduced a series of rack-mounted TriCasters, txd系列, with the first and most robust being the TriCaster TCXD850 Extreme (TCXD850X).
4ru(7英寸高)的单元可以安装在标准数据设备机架的四个插槽中，看起来更像一个服务器，而不是一个现场制作视频混频器——至少从正面看是这样. While most TriCasters have all the BNC and XLR audio and video connectors on the front, the TCXD850X “hides” the video and audio connectors on the back, 提醒用户，这台TriCaster倾向于演播室或广播设施集成，而不是现场生产.
TriCaster TCXD850X还具有市场上任何TriCaster中最多的同时视频输入(8个)和同时视频输出(3个). TCXD850X is the second generation of this model, leveraging all the goodness of the original TriCaster 850, which NewTek launched in 2010.
硬件
组成TriCaster TCXD850X的物理部分是一个基于windows的系统和最多两个人类用户界面(HUI)设备.
回族的设备
The TCXD850X is controlled by either a keyboard and a mouse or a large tactile control 表面模仿了许多屏幕上的按钮，这些按钮是TriCaster软件用户界面的一部分. The most popular control surface for the TCXD850X is the TriCaster 850 CS. 大多数用户可能会选择TriCaster 850 CS而不是键盘和鼠标，因为控制界面的按钮很简单, and they provide visual feedback by changing colors when pressed. 用户可能不知道的是，TriCaster 850 CS实际上提供了多达三倍的按钮选项, thanks to the ALT and FTN (function) buttons at the top row. This provides a number of extra shortcuts that would take several clicks of a mouse.
TCXD850X的屏幕用户界面模拟了TCXD850控制面的所有按钮, plus a number of input, 预览, 输出监视器.
For those who may already have a TriCaster, 值得注意的是，古老的LC-11控制面也可以用来控制TriCaster TCXD850X. NewTek的 Dan Parker pointed out that the LC-11 has an ALT button; holding down the ALT button shifts the six- input LC-11 to an alternate set of six inputs, 允许控制TCXD850X的最后四个视频输入以及第二个DDR(数字光盘记录器). The LC-11 lacks a joystick, 然而, 通过在TriCaster界面上只能通过鼠标访问虚拟集合控制，使虚拟集合移动变得繁琐.
One other HUI can be used: the TriCaster 850 TW. A “time warper” of sorts, 当连接到支持媒体播放器(ddr)的TriCaster系统时，TriCaster 850 TW允许慢动作和即时重播。. A separate operator can select, mark, and play back clips at various slow-motion speeds, 而留给TriCaster 850 CS的原始操作员来处理视频混合要求.
一个HUI似乎缺乏这种类型的工作室集成设备是音频混频器HUI. There are several on the market, 这个选项将允许一个人专注于音频混合，而主要操作员专注于视频混合. 目前, the only way to do so appears to be by using of a mouse on-screen, 它占据了NewTek为TriCaster所采用的主要视频驱动混合方法的空间和思想份额. The use of an audio HUI was less of an issue for field-based productions, on the assumption that an outboard audio mixer might be used. 但是TCXD850X处理的音频输入可能需要专门的音频人员.
基于windows的系统
不像早期的tricaster，方形(和较浅)的外形因素适用于桌面和基于现场的用例, TCXD850X的尺寸和体积是这台TriCaster被设计为永久安装的第一个迹象之一. Yet NewTek didn’t waste any space in this Extreme version, offering a combination of Sandy Bridge bus architectures and robust processing, with two Intel i7 quad core 3.4 GHz处理器. That’s a total of eight cores, NewTek在其几个功能中利用了多核/多线程功能.
一个经常被问到的问题是使用基于windows的系统来制作实时视频产品tion mixer is that of redundancy. 在这里, NewTek似乎在努力将Windows和基于pc的实时视频混音问题降到最低. txd850x依赖于Windows 7 Professional 64位操作系统，但将其隐藏在后台, 移动TriCaster程序本身的一些实用程序功能，以尽量减少退出到Windows的需要.
You can fine-tune audio on-screen with advanced mixing controls, but it distracts from the video mixing. An audio mixer HUI would be a great addition.
Power redundancy is robust on the TriCaster TCXD850X; the unit contains two hot-swappable power supplies, each with an audible warning beep that continues until the unit is replaced. 在一个封闭的空间里，这种分贝水平和持续的警告可能会分散注意力, 但我们的测试发现，它在提醒潜在的电力冗余丢失方面做得很好.
On both the TCXD850 and TCXD850X units, only 1GB Ethernet connector is present. A single Ethernet connector makes sense for field-deployed TriCasters, 但对于一个声称流媒体是其关键功能之一的机架式设备来说，这几乎没有意义. 缺少第二个以太网连接器意味着网络交换机之间的故障转移和负载平衡是不可能的.
The video loop-through capability on the TCXD850X is a nice touch. NewTek has included a hardware loop on the video 7 input 在无意中重新启动或断电期间抵消潜在的重大视频信号损失. The video input can be set for analog (复合, 组件, 或Y / C) or SDI via the TriCaster’s software, 所选的视频输入可以与嵌入式AES数字音频(用于SDI)或模拟音频输入7a或7b(用于SDI或模拟视频)配对。. Regardless of the combination of inputs chosen for input 7, the selected inputs are then output to video and audio output 1, for either SDI output (with analog or embedded audio outs) or analog outputs (组件, 复合, 或Y / C).
HARD DRIVES AND RECORDINGS
TCXD850X ships with drives to fill all four front-mounted hard drive bays. The media drives are technically JBOD (just a bunch of [independent] disks), 但从技术上讲，Windows允许在相同大小的驱动器之间进行RAID配置. 除了, the drives are all the same storage size, 更容易估计每个驱动器上有多少小时的视频记录, a key piece of 信息 for recording content to the media drives.
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