NAB 2023: Grass Valley expands production switcher lineup with new Kayenne panel 

Grass Valley has added to its production switcher product lineup with a new Kayenne panel that offers improved tactile response, more functionality and more operational flexibility.

“This year at NAB, everyone is talking about the Kayenne panel updates that we’ve made and connecting the control surface to our K-Frame XP processing engine,” said Greg Huttie, VP production switching, Grass Valley.

Launching at NAB is an updated Kayenne switcher control panel that affords technical directors comfort in a recognised layout with the additional flexibility of a touchscreen incorporated within the transition module. Also new is a software update that allows custom assignment of M/E keyers for optimised usage of all available keyers.

The Kayenne panel, like all other Grass Valley switcher panels can connect to a hardware frame such as the K-Frame XP with full raster 4K 2160 I/O and internal processing. Because every Grass Valley switcher control surface can connect to either a hardware or a software processing engine, the Kayenne can also control the K-Frame CS X configuration operating on the AMPP platform.

“At Grass Valley, we are pleased to announce major hardware upgrades and new product releases within our production switchers and cameras,’’ said Louis Hernandez Jr, CEO at Grass Valley. ‘’We are committed to maintaining our industry-leading position in production switchers.”

Operators who are unfamiliar with the Kayenne panel may find it easier to mix audio and video through LiveProducer X, which reimagines the control surface as a series of templates that are accessed and triggered through a keyboard and mouse.

Huttie said: “It is great to see the enthusiasm around these new developments – but we are not resting on our laurels. We continue to push hard on new innovation. Stay tuned for additional announcements regarding SMPTE ST2110 IP, HDR SDR colour mapping and more coming to our hardware-based switching.”