Infopanel: a high-tech clock or something more?
- 10.09.2014
Infopanel (Digispot II Infopanel) is a complex solution of visual information, focused on different target groups from administrators and technical staff to visitor of a radio station.
A new development of the Tract Company is already in use by many radio stations. If you want to know what song is now on air, which studio is broadcasting at the moment, how much time is left until the next advertisement block, or how high is the level of broadcasting signal – visual informing tool Digispot II Infopanel can answer all these questions and even more. 40 branches of VGTRK, a German radio station “Radio Salü”, Moscow radio stations "Vesna FM”, “Vostok FM”, “Govorit Moskva” and "Moskva FM” are nowadays active users of Digispot II Infopanel’s.
What is Infopanel?
Infopanel (Digispot II Infopanel) is a complex solution of visual information, focused on different target groups from administrators and technical staff to visitor of a radio station. A special feature of this solution is a close integration with the broadcast automation system Digispot II. The Infopanel informs about events occurring at the whole station, displaying both static and dynamic graphic information. At the same time, the text values can be extracted from both external sources (xml formatted text files stored in the local file system, or those available via FTP protocol, for example, RSS-subscription), and from internal sources as well (broadcasting schedule). The Infopanel can display text, time, an indicator of elements according to the timer, and the fact of occurrence of certain events, such as switching on of GPIO and the state of broadcasting players. An extensible architecture makes it possible to build in further components of the Infopanel directly into the workplaces of Digispot II complex to solve more specific tasks.
Principle of operation and structure of the Infopanel
The Infopanel evolved from TR-Time dashboard, which included only clock display and the logo of the radio station. As the panel did not provide the integration of modules for communication with the workstations, the next step was to add some special plug-ins to the BSC Editor application.
The resulting module was designed for the largest radio complex "Voice of Russia". It has made it possible to display signal level indicators from 64 input and output channels. In its simplest form, the Infopanel can still play the role of a branding clock with a logo and the name of the radio station. In this case, no integration of operations is required: Infopanel operates autonomously, realizing the least of its features. A more functional structure includes a workstation and a configured infoserver (Digispot II Infoserver), which form the information for the Infopanel and transmit it via TCP/IP. For a large radio complex, an extended service configuration is needed, which may include any number of Infopanels and sources of values, including those from different subnets. You can display the active station - primary or backup, as it is implemented on the radio complexes' “Literaturnaya Collekziya", "Vesna FM” and “Vostok FM”. At these stations, Infopanels are located in studios and in control rooms. In addition to highlighting of an item that indicates what kind of station is on air, the current and the following elements on air are displaying dynamically. The Infopanel at the technical department displays the indicators of signal level.
Infopanel is a flexible system that can be used in different ways. It can solve many unusual visual tasks. For instance, in August and September 2013, on the eve of the mayor election in Moscow, there were debates on the radio "Moskva FM” and “Govorit Moskva”. The radio stations provided their airtime to candidates for mayor, and the Infopanel was used to visualize the course of debate. The visibility of the process was achieved through a dynamic mapping of the duration of each participants' microphone activity and the total time of the debate. You can watch the record of the debates at the radio station "Govorit Moskva" with the use of the Infopanel on the website of the Internet portal m24.
System Requirements
The setting of the Digispot II Infopanel at the broadcasting complex, including the server room, is possible from Digispot generation 2.16. However, the start of the Infopanel is also feasible even if the radio system operates on 2.15.37 generation. There is no need to update the entire complex to the generation of 2.16. Thanks to its autonomy, the Infopanel does not use or edit the general settings of the broadcasting complex.
