Riedel SmartPanels & DataMiner – Signal switching made easy

Thomas Gunkel

Using Riedel SmartPanels for your Riedel Intercom already? Try out Riedel’s Control Panel App to make the Riedel SmartPanel a controller for DataMiner.

• Use the SmartPanels hybrid lever keys to send triggers to DataMiner.
• Get visual feedback from DataMiner on the SmartPanel via key labels, border colors, icons, and LED rings.
• Based on open NMOS standards for Discovery (IS-04), Connection (IS-05), and Control (IS-07).
• Connect to DataMiner and any other third-party controller at the same time and build your own custom workflow.
• Use the Control Panel App standalone or in parallel with other apps on the SmartPanel.

This use case describes a demo Skyline has built together with our partner Otaritec in Japan for the InterBee 2023 show in Tokyo.

The SmartPanel acts as an XY routing panel. DataMiner receives triggers from the panel via our Riedel SmartPanel connector and translates these triggers to control a Lawo VSM broadcast controller (via our Lawo VSM connector). After VSM has acknowledged a crosspoint to DataMiner, DataMiner highlights the connected source on the SmartPanel.

And this is just one very simple example of how the SmartPanel can be used as an interface to send triggers to DataMiner and, based on those, to execute crosspoint commands towards any controller from any vendor or connect the video and audio flows directly from DataMiner. While the lever keys are used to set crosspoints, the rotary knobs on the panel can perfectly be used for real-time parameter control, e.g. changing audio gain on a source or video delay on a destination.

A click of a button can also trigger a whole series of actions or even complete workflows, for example to configure a studio environment or to spin up a production in the cloud. What is more, DataMiner can also manage all your event planning and scheduling of resources, and as such, any of the related metadata (e.g. event names, service labels, etc.) can seamlessly flow all the way to the dynamic displays of your smart panels, without the need for complex integrations.

USE CASE DETAILS

This picture shows the Riedel SmartPanel. With the display on the right, you can switch between the Riedel Intercom and the Control App. With the Control App active, just select a destination on the right and then one of the available sources on the left. For the demo at InterBee show, DataMiner receives those triggers via our Riedel Smart Panel connector and translates those into the correct API command towards a Lawo VSM system to have the crosspoint set. After VSM reports a successful connection back to DataMiner, DataMiner highlights the selected source. It's just like other XY routing panel, but with full flexibility, independent of the underlying signals (SDI, IP, RF, ASI, etc.) or vendors.

At InterBee, Otaritec also showcased a DataMiner low-code app used as software routing panel, which runs in parallel to the Riedel hardware panel, again to control Lawo VSM. With our new Grid component for DataMiner Low-Code Apps, the button style, the panel layout, and much more can be fully customized to your needs and created within minutes.