In the middle of Hall 11 at ISE 2016, Marshall Electronics was showing its typical multi-display racks. The company has been known for its displays and cameras for years. This year, however, it was showing a new switcher, the VSW-2200.
This is a simple four input seamless switcher. The demonstration was impressive. You put in four separate video feeds on SDI and comes out either HDMI or SDI. The thing that makes this switcher remarkable is the list price of $1200.
That price point makes it ideal for the church and education market. For under $5000 you can put together a good little production kit that allows either educational staff or church volunteers to effectively produce a professional level video product.
The seamless nature of this switcher makes it a great product as it does not give the traditional three seconds of black or blanking between sources. This is what makes this switcher ideal for live production environments. This could be either a live to tape, live stream or image magnification (IMAG).
Marshall Electronics also has a number of cameras available in the sub-$1000 range. You have most likely seen these cameras in action. If you watched the NFL championship it was the camera used on the pylons. In baseball they are used for the first base camera. These are small form factors and the optics on them are quite impressive.
Overall, the Marshall Electronics offerings at ISE gives integrators the opportunity to supply their clients with an economic solution for simple video productions.
