There are some names in the broadcast biz that, while not all that well known to the public, qualify as "venerable" to those who use them. This list includes Harris, Ampex, Ikegami and, without a doubt, Grass Valley. For decades Grass Valley video switchers have occupied the top rank in quality, usability and innovation. For many years I worked in a linear edit bay with an edit controller attached to a small Grass Valley 110 switcher, and once I learned its ins, outs and E-Mems (programmable memory functions), it became a creative partnership I remember fondly to this day.

In the last two decades, technology has sprinted forward. In roughly the same amount of space my Grass 110 occupied, I now find the Indigo. Where the 110 was a basic cuts/dissolves/wipes/keyer switcher, the Indigo offers features that were unimaginable in the early 1990s. For one, the Indigo operates in high definition via HD-SDI, can accept up to 12 inputs in either digital or analog formats, and can up- and down-convert signals at will to fit the needs of the production- including simultaneous output in both SD and HD. It includes a 2D/3D digital effects module, with pre-programmed effects that include page turns and ripples. Need a chromakeyer? It’s built-in. Need to capture a few stills? The Indigo is ready and waiting. In addition, the Indigo is a six-channel audio mixer, with both independent and audio-follow-video operation. And like any pro switcher, it features multiple general-purpose interface (GPI) triggers, will control tally lights on sources and directly controls digital disc recorders, for all of your playback needs.

One of the first things you’ll notice is the large touch-sensitive LCD screen on the upper left of the switcher. More than just a status display, almost any adjustable parameter of the Indigo can be changed with the screen and the four DigiPots (soft knobs) below it. Menus on the Indigo are vast and deep, covering signal input selection, routing, input and output formats and hundreds of other parameters. And the screen will surprise you, especially when you reach the Audio menu, put your finger on the representation of one of the audio pots and watch the actual pot move in concert with your finger. Yes, the Indigo has flying faders that I must say are pretty slick. More on audio later.

The actual switcher portion of the Indigo will be instantly familiar to any experienced switcher user. It’s essentially a single M/E (mix/effects) bus, with the bottom row the preset, the middle row the preview background and the top row a key or aux selector. While there are only 10 buttons across each row, a "shift" button effectively doubles the capacity of each bus. And, of course, the iconic Grass Valley T-bar transition controller sits to the right of the busses. As far as I can tell, it’s the only piece of video gear ever featured in several Star Wars movies. (Remember when the Death Star blows up Alderan? That’s a Grass Valley T-bar the technician pulls.)

For years, the heart of Grass Valley switchers has been the E-Mem. This function is used for setting up complex effects and recalling them by merely punching in their address. My old Grass 110 had 10 E-Mem slots; the Indigo has 160. And where the 110 could only save a snapshot of a switcher setting, the Indigo’s E-Mems can call back a sequence of events to create intricate, complicated effects. For a fairly small, single M/E switcher, this is an enormously powerful feature.

The audio section, while small, is quite capable. There are four XLR mic- or line-level inputs and eight stereo line inputs. Any of the audio sources can be assigned to "follow" any of the video sources. In a situation like master-control switching, this makes a lot of sense. Each channel features a channel on/off toggle, pre-fade listening and a four-band equalizer.

Unlike many past small switchers, the Indigo is a self-contained unit; there isn’t a big processor/breakout box hiding in the racks. One look at the back panel and you can see how dedicated Grass Valley is to the flexible nature of the Indigo. Almost 70 connectors crowd the backplane, including BNC jacks for HD- and SD-SDI and analog composite, S-video jacks, DVI connectors for computer in and out, FireWire jacks, RS-422 machine control interfaces and even an Ethernet jack. USB2 connectors provide space for users to save setups and images, and the switcher’s operating system resides on a compact-flash card slot for easy updating.

At a list price of $16,900 for the HD version, the Indigo certainly isn’t going to qualify as an impulse purchase for many of us. However, its older brother, the 110, was priced in the $11,000 to $17,000 ballpark in 1990s’ dollars, and it’s a safe estimate to say the 110 couldn’t do even a tenth of what the Indigo is capable of. If you’re looking for a flexible, powerful, portable video and audio processing tool, the Grass Valley Indigo is a great choice.

Video-Standard Support: NTSC/PAL: 50/59.94 Hz; HD-SDI: SMPTE 292M (720p or 1080i) 8-bit YUV; SD-SDI: SMPTE 272M (525 lines/625 lines) 10-bit YUV; Composite: (525 lines/625 lines) 10-bit YUV; DVI-I: 640×480 up to 1280×1024 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1600×1200 up to 1920x1080p @ 50/60 Hz

SD Video Input: Processes up to 12 external sources selected from the following input connections:
6 SD-SDI (75Ω BNC); 6 SD-SDI or composite (shared 75Ω BNC); 4 S-Video (4-pin mini DIN); 2 DV25 FireWire (6-pin IEEE-1394); 2 internal digital sources downscaled from hi-res; embedded audio: passed and user-defined de-embedding from SD-SDI; ancillary data: blanked; max. cable length: 300m using Belden 1694A-type cable

High-resolution Video Input: Processes up to two external sources and one internal source selected from the following input connections:
2 HD-SDI (75Ω BNC); 2 DVI-I; up to 3 internal digital sources upscaled from SD; embedded audio: blanked; ancillary data: blanked; max. cable length: 100m using Belden 1694A-type cable (HD-SDI) or 15m using DVI-I single link-type cable

SD Video Output: All output connections are simultaneously active

PGM: 2 composite (75Ω BNC); 1 S-Video (4-pin mini DIN); 2 SD-SDI (75Ω BNC)

PVW: 1 composite (75Ω BNC); 1 S-Video (4-pin mini DIN); 1 SD-SDI (75Ω BNC)

Aux: Aux outputs are pairs of SD-SDI and composite connectors
3 composite (75Ω BNC); 3 SD-SDI (75Ω BNC)

High-resolution Video Output: All output connections are simultaneously active. Both PGM and PVW may be scaled to the following resolutions: 800×600 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1024×768 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1280×720 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1280×768 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1366×768 @ 50/60/75 Hz; 1280×1024 @ 50/60 Hz; 1400×1050 @ 50/60 Hz; 1920x1080i @ 50/60 Hz