Out of the broadcast industry’s transition to new serial VTR control technology in the late 1980s arose the need for a solution that could link broadcasters’ existing control infrastructure with the new technology. DNF Controls responded to that need in 1990 with our first product, the ST60, a parallel-to-serial converter that bridged the gap.
DNF Controls has continued to develop affordable off-the-shelf and customized control solutions to meet the demands of users worldwide specializing in sports, news, live entertainment, production, post-production and other broadcast-related industries. The company’s broad scope of application-specific control solutions integrates with a diversity of third-party broadcast products, utilizing a number of different control protocols.
Each solution developed by DNF has been in response to a direct request from a customer or manufacturer. DNF’s expanding product line now includes VTR and video server control systems, router control systems, graphic playout control systems, monitor wall, and tally control systems. Applications supported include automation backup, commercial break play out, sports control (instant replay & highlight list play out), instant and random access to video clips for production play out, ingest, and QC. Products also include Production Control systems, the Flex Control Network® Ethernet based machine control system, the GTP-32 Programmable-Logic Control Processor, the incredibly flexible Universal Switch Panel, and AnyWhere Interface box.
DNF’s product line covers many areas which manufacturers and automation companies overlook. Our customers often see our products as “the missing link” for increased efficiency in workflow and automation.
For example, production switchers are an important component in the production workflow. The advent of video servers provided the foundation for fast access to stored material. DNF’s aggressive development of control solutions that could tap into the power of the video server and allow it to “talk” with the production switcher was instrumental in bringing new power into the mainstream of production. The combination allows productions to greatly enhance their visual presentation.
To take full advantage of a server’s potential speed in delivering audio and video material, operators require control devices capable of bypassing the PC-based method of recalling stored material. DNF Controls created control solutions that replace scrolling through menus or using a keyboard and mouse to select material for air, providing instead complete control over time-critical playout functions with just the press of a button.
DNF’s new major control solution is the FLEX CONTROL NETWORK®, which blends distributed control architecture with Ethernet technology to provide efficient and affordable control in the development of integrated networks in broadcast, postproduction and audio/video operations. The result is a high-quality network enabling real-time, shared equipment control access between multiple users over the LAN or WAN. The Flex network is designed also to support integration with industry standard architectures, protocols and processes such as MOS, a key part of ENPS.
DNF Controls’ customer list includes television stations, production facilities and mobile production trucks around the globe and is even expanding to non-television applications.