CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—New from Crystal Vision is Lkey 3, a linear keyer designed for the keying of a real-time graphic generated by an external graphics machine over a 3Gbps, HD or SD video stream. Lkey 3 has built-in video delay, frame synchronizers and enhanced masks for adjusting edge softness.
Lkey 3 allows the key to be generated in two different ways. External key mode uses the luminance of a separate key signal, which permits parts of the key to have varied video levels for a semi-transparent effect. The Self key mode uses the luminance of the Foreground graphic to decide where the keying occurs, meaning only one channel is required and it is not necessary to generate a separate key signal which is aligned in position and time with the graphic. After the key is generated, fill video is inserted – usually the Foreground graphic or alternatively black or a color produced by the internal matte generator. Lkey 3 offers both additive and multiplicative linear keying, allowing the operator to choose a method to suit the graphics. It is possible to alter how the key signal affects the output image, such as compensating for a key signal which does not have enough amplitude to force full keying, by changing the key gain and offset.
Lkey 3 includes flexible internal and external masks – adjustable in position and size – which can be used to prevent keying in particular areas of the picture by masking the visibility of either the Foreground or Background signal. Adjustable edge softness on these masks is useful for blending between masked and unmasked areas for a more natural-looking edge. Masks can also be inverted to force keying to only occur outside a given area.
The keyed graphic can be faded in and out, either manually or as a timed transition – with these fade controls also enabling the graphic to be displayed with a semi-transparent effect. Lkey 3 can also be used to fade the complete program to black if required.
Any timing errors will be automatically corrected by the frame synchronizer on each input timed to an external Black and Burst or tri-level syncs analog reference – synchronizing sources up to one frame apart. Lkey 3 also includes an additional 10 frames of video delay on each input, adjustable in one frame steps for aligning system processing delays which are greater than a frame – for example, the fill and key coming from a graphics machine may arrive several frames later than the background program video.
Lkey 3 is easy to use in a system with embedded audio, with the audio source selection feature allowing selection of audio from either the camera feed or the background graphics to output with the final video.
Hardware control options for Lkey 3 include board edge switches, an integrated control panel on the front of the frame or the VisionPanel remote control panel. Lkey 3 can also be controlled from a computer – using SNMP, the Statesman Lite PC software or the VisionWeb web browser control.
Lkey 3 is shipping now.
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