Grass Valley, previously known as Grass Valley Group, is a subsidiary company of the French company Thomson. Grass Valley produces technology for the broadcast and film markets, from acquisition through production, postproduction, and transmission.
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History
Grass Valley was founded as a tiny R&D company in 1958 by Dr. Donald Hare in the small town of Grass Valley, California, in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada range. Hare chose Grass Valley after learning about it from his friend, Charles Litton Sr..[1] In 1964, Grass Valley demonstrated its first video product, a video distribution amplifier, in a hotel room at the National Association of Broadcasters convention. By 1968, the Grass Valley Group had introduced its first vision mixer, the flagship product that helped build the company’s reputation. The company merged with Tektronix in 1974, and was very successful for the next fifteen years. Then Tektronix sold its video business to a private investor, who reincorporated it under the name Grass Valley Group Inc. The sale closed on September 241999. In 2002, the French electronics giant Thomson SA acquired the Grass Valley Group. Since coming under the ownership of Thomson, Grass Valley has merged its product line with the existing professional and broadcast products of its new parent company.
Broadcast Products
The company produced some of the first video disk server products on the market in the mid 1990s, marketed under the "Profile" brand and given the name "PDR" (Professional Disk Recorder). Based on Microsoft Windows NT and Wind River Systems VxWorks along with standard PC and custom video hardware, these machines were an instant hit providing up to four video input/outputs in a box about the size of a Betacam video recorder. Grass Valley now offers a number of video server products. The previous Profile family, the PVS3000 and PVS3500, which supported high definition and standard definition video, is now being replaced by the K2 Media Server and Media Client system, which Grass Valley launched in 2005. Alongside the Profile and K2 products, Grass Valley also offers "iVDR" products, such as the M-Series, which are intended as full-featured replacements for analog video tape recorder (VTR) systems.
As well as video disk systems, Grass Valley markets switchers and effects systems, such as the Kalypso Video Production Center and video routers.
- Professional Cameras and Camcorders
- Viper FilmStream
- LDK Cameras
- LDK 6000 HD Cameras
- LDK 8000 Multi-Format High-Definition Camera
- Digital Wireless Triax Cameras
- Servers and Media Storage
- K2 Media Servers and Media Clients
- Profile XP Video Servers
- Profile XP Open SAN System
- M-Series™ intelligent video digital recorder (iVDR)
- Turbo™ intelligent digital disk recorders (iDDRs)
- DVCPRO VTRs
- Master Control Systems
- Maestro
- M-2100
- Saturn
- Monitoring, Diagnostic and Control Software
- C2MD
- Switchers and Effects Systems
- Kalypso Video Production Center
- XtenDD Digital Production Switcher
- KayakDD Digital Video Production Switcher
- Modular Products
- Gecko Signal Processing
- Kameleon Media Processing
- Newton Modular Control Systems
- 7510 Series
- Digital News Production
- Aurora Ingest-Management Solution
- Aurora Browse Asset-Management Solution
- Aurora Edit Fast-Turn Nonlinear Editor
- Aurora Playout Coordinated Playback Solution
- FeedClip Capture System
- NewsBrowse Web-Based Browser/Editor
- NewsEdit Products
- NewsQ Products
- Routers
- Trinix HD/SD Video Router
- Apex AES Audio Router
- Acappella Compact Multiformat Router
- Venus Multiformat Router
- Jupiter Router Control System
- Production Control Systems
- Andromeda Logical Signal Processing
- ProSet Production Setup
- Nennos Signal Management
Post-Production Products
- Scanners/Telecine
- Spirit 4k Datacine
- Spirit 2k Datacine
- Spirit HD Datacine
- Scream 4K/2K Resolution-Independent Grain Reducer
- Shadow Telecine
- Specter FS Virtual DataCine
- Bones Linux-Based Post-Production Environment
- Phantom TransferEngine
- Tools
- LUTher Color Space Converter
Distribution & Transmission Products
Professional Video Products
- Camera Solutions
- Ignite SDC Robotic Camera Systems
- Ignite HDC Robotic Camera Systems
- Infinity Digital Media Camcorder
- LDK 300 SD Camera
- LDK 400 SD Camera
- LDK 500 SD Camera
- LDK 4000 Single-Format HD Camera
- LDK 5000 HD-upgradeable SD Camera
- LDK 8000 Multi-Format HD Camera
- ShotDirector Multi-Camera Joystick Controller
- Desktop Video Editing - Software
- EDIUS Broadcast — Real-Time NLE with Enhanced Video Format Support
- EDIUS Pro — Real-Time NLE - DV, HDV, HD
- Desktop Video Editing - Systems/Hardware
- ACEDVio — Analog-To-DV Converter
- EDIUS NX — Real-Time NLE - Analog, DV
- EDIUS NX with HD Expansion Kit — Real-Time NLE - HD/SD
- EDIUS SP — Real-Time NLE - Analog, DV, HDV
- EDIUS SD — Real-Time Broadcast NLE - SD
- EDIUS HD — Real-Time Broadcast NLE - HD/SD
- Digital Media Converters - Video
- ADVC110 — High-Quality A/D, D/A Converter
- ADVC300 — Pro-Quality A/D, D/A Converter
- ADVC500 — Broadcast-Quality A/D, D/A Converter
- ADVC700 — Broadcast-Quality A/D, D/A Converter
- ADVC1000 — Broadcast-Quality SDI/DV, DV/SDI Converter
- Digital Media Converters - Signals/Formats
- HDSC1 — HD-SDI/SD-SDI-To-Component Signal Converter
- ProCoder 2.0 — Ultimate Format Converter
- Digital Media Distribution Solutions
- MediaEdge2 — SD TCP/IP Video Distributions
- MediaEdge3 — HD/SD TCP/IP Video Distributions
- MediaEdge-LEB — Real-Time Analog/SD Encoding, Distribution
- MVRD2200V — Real-Time MPEG-1, MPEG-2 Encoder
- MVRD4400 — Real-Time MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Encoder
- Infinity Series
- Infinity Digital Media Camcorder
- Infinity Digital Media Recorder
- REV PRO Digital Media Drive
- REV PRO Removable Media
- Integrated Production Solutions
- Ignite Integrated Production System
- Ignite SDC Robotic Camera Systems
- Ignite HDC Robotic Camera Systems
- ScriptViewer — Teleprompter System
- QUICbox Programmable Controller
- XSWITCH — KVM, A/V, and Control Routing System
- Switcher/Mixers
- Indigo A/V Mixer
- Kayak SD HD-Upgradeable Digital Video Production Switcher Family
- Kayak SD Models — 4 RU Frame
- Kayak SD Models — 8 RU Frame
- Kayak HD SD/HD Digital Video Production Switcher Family
- Kayak HD Models — 4 RU Frame
- Kayak HD Models — 8 RU Frame
- Professional Servers/Recorders
- M-Series intelligent video digital recorder (iVDR)
- Turbo intelligent digital disk recorders (iDDRs)
- Turbo-R intelligent digital disk recorders (iDDRs)
- Infinity Digital Media Recorder
- Removable Storage
- REV PRO Digital Media Drive
- REV PRO Removable Media
- Routers
- Acappella Small Single- and Mixed-Format Routers
- Concerto Mid-Sized, Mixed-Format Routers
- Prelude Embedded Control System
- Modular Products
- Newton Modular Control System
- GeckoFlex
- Gecko
- Control and Monitoring Products
- Converters
- Decoder/Encoders
- Distribution Amplifiers
- Frame Synchronizers
- Multiplexers/Demultiplxers
- Noise Reduction
Locations
Grass Valley has engineering centres throughout the world, concentrating on specific products or product groups:
- Cergy, France (World Headquarters)
- Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- Jacksonville, Florida, USA
- Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
- Beaverton, Oregon, USA
- Nevada City, California, USA - (Previous headquarters, near the original home of Grass Valley, California)
- Breda, The Netherlands
- Weiterstadt, Germany
See also
- Telecine
- Digital intermediate
- VTR
- Professional video camera
- Hard disk recorder
- Film production
- Post-production
References
Further reading
- 2002. "Share the News Three New Systems from Grass Valley Group Are Intended to Facilitate Work Flow". Broadcasting & Cable. 132: 35.
- 2001. "EQUIPMENT PURCHASE French Manufacturer Thomson Multimedia Acquires Grass Valley Group". Broadcasting & Cable. 131: 12.
