We have been dedicated to the development and deployment of control, management, monitoring and automation systems in the broadcasting industry for over a decade, accumulating extensive product and project experience. Our products are highly adaptable and widely applied to system management and control in studios, playout, transmission, Master Control Room (MCR), earth stations, OB Vans (outside broadcast vans), satellite uplink vehicles / DSNG vehicles, flyaway stations, equipment rooms / machine rooms, and more. We also provide comprehensive solutions for building large-scale broadcast command & dispatch centers.
UMD & TALLY System
I. Overview
The UMD & TALLY System is a source naming system software independently developed by our company. Its primary function is to display source names and send TALLY status. The UMD & TALLY System meets the requirements of various system scales, from small systems such as satellite uplink vehicles and EFP setups, to mid-scale systems such as OB vans and studios, up to playout/MCR and even station-wide systems. The UMD & TALLY System provides comprehensive solutions for all of these.
Figure 1: System Hardware Appearance
II. System Functions
The UMD & TALLY System currently supports mainstream matrices (Leitch, Evertz, Thomson, SONY, Dalian Jetsen audio/video matrix, Quntech L-band matrix, etc.), switchers (such as Sony, Snell & Wilcox Kahuna), UMD indicators, tally lights, GPI transceiver modules, and multiviewers (such as Evertz MVP/VIP/VIPX, HARRIS Predator). It also supports multiple physical interfaces including serial and network communication.
1. Stability
Designed for robustness, employing embedded controllers to ensure reliable and durable operation in harsh environments. For station-wide systems, a secure on-site network architecture is adopted to ensure normal system operation.
2. Reliability
The primary and backup UMD drivers within the system operate in hot-standby mode with real-time synchronization of TALLY and source name data. If the primary unit fails, the backup unit takes over control and management of the entire TALLY system instantly.
Supports a minimum TALLY system that ensures CCU TALLY display remains functional when the main system is unavailable.
Supports integration with monitoring systems, providing operational status information of managed modules to the monitoring system.
Figure 2: TALLY System Diagram
3. Convenience
The software features a full Chinese-language interface. If TALLY display devices (multiviewers, dynamic TALLY, etc.) support Chinese characters, the UMD control system also supports Chinese TALLY character driving mode.
Supports multi-segment source name display, allowing flexible combination of content in the UMD display field for on-site staff to identify signal sources.
Supports cascading: TALLY information can be passed via traditional GPIO, and source names and TALLY data can be transparently forwarded over the network.
Supports automatic linkage between video changeover switches and TALLY source selectors. When the changeover switch toggles, the TALLY source selector is triggered synchronously.
Supports multi-level switching modes for primary switcher, backup switcher, switching matrix, and other configurations. Macro commands and batch processing allow users to define presets for multiple operating environments and switch between them rapidly and reliably.
Supports TALLY grouping, with manual selection of TALLY display color and priority. When color conflicts occur in UMD display units, lower-priority TALLY is downgraded. The software allows conditional selection based on operator work zones, preventing ambiguity when two TALLY groups conflict in color within the same display area.
Figure 3: Source Name Display
3. Auxiliary Functions
Source large screen display and scheduling tool.
1. Primary Uses
Scene-switching scheduling for multiviewer signal routing when producing different programs in OB vans or studios.
Multiviewer scheduling verification to confirm routing correctness after signal scheduling.
Maintenance support for technical staff to check cabling when replacing or servicing multiviewers.
2. Key Functions
Provides a graphical display interface showing matrix crosspoints bound to UMD display units such as multiviewers.
Enables crosspoint switching operations on matrix output ports bound to UMD display units such as multiviewers.
Supports editing composite display strings with elements including multiviewer name, multiviewer input port, matrix output port, matrix input port, UMD address, and communication address, and sending them to UMD display units such as multiviewers.
One-click restoration of original Tally display.
Direct import of Tally system resources to reduce editing workload.
Displays matrix input and output port names.
