Magazine:

Review contents:

• Studio furniture and suspension

• Consoles by Forecast Corporation
• Studio furniture and installment racks by I.S.P.A.-Engineering
• Middle Atlantic Products
• Furniture by NigelB Company
• Technological furniture
• Studio furniture by Qualitron Company
• Rubytron stands and racks
• Consoles and stands by TV & Communication Systems
• Studio furniture by Winsted
• Furniture by Ovako Company
• Case-racks for audio and video equipment for mounting TV and audio systems in studio and outside manufacture

625 Content: 2002 : #3

Studio furniture by Winsted
Michael Lvov

Winsted Company has long been holding firm position on the market of studio furnishing. The range of the products is very wide and enumeration of all manufacturing items will require additional catalogue. That's why we will give just main classification of Winsted products and review their most interesting samples.

So, Winsted manufactures the following main types of furniture:

consoles for protection and video control systems;
video consoles;
vertical racks;
stands for archive storing;
trolleys for audio and video equipment;
tables for systems containing computer and audio/video equipment;
tables for computer equipment;
components for all stated above products;
accessories.

All Winsted products are characterized by modularity, which allows receiving configuration, most suitable for concrete areas and tasks. Metallic carcass, covered with wooden, plastic or other panels, most often serves a base for Winsted furniture. However, fully wooden furniture, laminated by material of customer choice, is also available.

Console for a security and video surveillance systems

Although the consoles for safety and video control systems are not directly connected with television, we think it is worth reviewing them anyway. As it is seen from functionality of these systems, main type of equipment, installed in consoles, is control monitors. Besides, there is a space for switchboards and service traffic systems. As a rule, such consoles represent combination of rack with monitors and countertop. By configuration, these consoles may be straight and curve-shaped, including angle. First variant is used in cases when there are not many monitors. If the number of monitors is big, complex consoles are used. This provides convenient operator work. In order to provide easy access to the equipment, installed in the console, it may be fixed on sliding shelves, rigid mounting into the rack being also quite popular. For big-screen monitors Winsted offers wide racks that may be placed in any part of console: in the center, at the bottom or by sides. The company also offers so-called low-profile consoles where equipment is placed obliquely, but not vertically, which allows reducing height of the console.

On-wall monitor shelves

One more type of consoles for safety systems is wheeled console-trolleys. They are quite compact and allow installing several monitors and switching equipment, the wheels allowing easy consoles' transportation.

Shelves and holders, designed for fixating monitors to the walls and ceilings, go last in the list of products for safety and video control systems.

Perhaps, video consoles are one of the main types of studio furniture, most popular in TV and video production field. They look similar to consoles for safety and video control systems; still they are much complex and perfect. This may be easily explained. Equipment that is installed in video consoles, is more numerous: recording and playback equipment, mixers, controllers, titrating systems, audio equipment, etc. There is great variety of Winsted consoles. Two-section consoles are most simple: one rack-section contains recording-playback equipment, another one contains control-measuring equipment, monitors are put upside, and low deck contains controller or video mixer system unit. Console of controlling the system unit, situated below, is located on the countertop. Such two-section video consoles, as a rule, are designed for one-post systems. These may be reviewing systems or scoring complexes. However, replacing control-measuring equipment with one more video post will give us two-post complex that may be used both either for simple edit or for rerecording.

Video console with adjustable incline angle
of a top shelf

Three-section console may be successfully used during completing studio on nonlinear edit. There are consoles with enlarged decks for large monitors.

Four-section model is next in the line of video consoles. It may be used for minimum three-post linear operating room or for digital nonlinear edit studio, since there is enough space in all sections for several video tape recorders, nonlinear edit station's system unit, switching and audio equipment, video monitors and display.

It is worth mentioning that all video consoles, stated above, are two-level. Lower level is designed for system units and other equipment, that is operated by remote devices (keypads, consoles, etc.) located on the table. Upper level, as a rule, contains recording, playback, and control-measuring equipment. The upper level suits perfectly for monitors' installment.

Low profile video console

More perfect and complex systems are multilevel systems, allowing creating full-service three-post linear edit systems containing all necessary equipment: video tape recorders and other playback and recording devices, audio equipment, controller, mixer, titrating system, etc. Video tape recorders may be situated both abreast in central deck table-level and in side rack (in case of full management through controller). Third deck is intended for monitor section, whose incline may be regulated, providing additional convenience to personnel. Winsted offers wide variety of video consoles: straight and angle constructions, as well as variants with separate rack for video tape recorders.

Vertical racks are also very numerous. Winsted racks are manufactured either welded or combined. They also differ by their module structure, allowing creating necessary rack configuration out of standard elements. Full-size (floor) and table racks are available. Floor and table racks feature height within 20...45U and 12...16U respectively. Big number of fastening holes and also accessories (rails, shelves, panels, doors, etc.) make the racks widely adopted. Among the accessories there are special wheeled caps, making the rack mobile: it may be easily transported from one place to another without extracting the equipment.

VRx racks, designed for broadcasting operating rooms, may be of particular interest for consumers.


Rack	Dubbing set rack

They represent welded construction of 45U, whose sidewalls are covered with perforated steel lists. Adjustable rails allow installment of practically any type of TV equipment into such rack. Front door and wheels may be installed (user option).

When describing accessories for the racks stated above, it is worth mentioning the following:

horizontal cooling unit containing three, six or nine coolers;
double cooler unit combined with air filter;
cooling ventilator;
various shelves for equipment fixation;
additional rails;
sliding shelves and boxes;
feeding joint modules with network cables;
perforated protecting panels.

Shelf for cassette storage

Racks for replicating systems are one more peculiarity of stands. They often feature 40U height. Width and depth dimensions of these racks depend on the equipment they will contain.

Systems, designed for storing archives, play very important role in any TV company. Beside the fact that they provide rational usage of areas that are often in shortage, these systems allow prolonging durability of mediums, for their service life depends on storage conditions of videotapes.

Sliding stands by Winsted fully meet requirements as for storing any mediums, used in TV field: videotapes of various formats, audio cassettes, computer magnetic and laser disks. As all other Winsted products, storing systems are also module, which allows their easy expansion. Distance between shelves may be regulated, allowing storing cassettes of various formats (Betacam, Umatic, S-VHS, etc.) in one stand. There are stands sliding out in frontal and side direction. This allows using storing area with maximum effectiveness and obtaining easy access to any cassette.

Cart for a video equipment

There is no point to talk much about trolleys for audio and video equipment. We will just highlight the most important details. These devices are simple and handy. It is enough to look at them and all questions disappear. Such trolleys are used either as transporters of equipment inside TV-company (e.g. from one operating room to another) or as consoles of mini mobile complex, designed for solving additional tasks (e.g. review of shot material). Minimal equipment set (video tape recorder and monitor) may be installed on trolley that always remains in editors' room. Each of the editors may use the trolley for reviewing the necessary material by driving it to his workplace.

As during last years digital nonlinear edit is becoming more and more popular, configuration of edit rooms has changed. Now they do not employ such usual elements as controllers, mixers, and titrating systems, and the number of video tape recorders and monitors often makes one o two, including computer display. This means, that for such operating area much smaller console of other configuration is needed. Winsted does have such products in its assortment. These are edit tables with sidecars. The sidecars contain nonlinear edit stations and video equipment, and computer / controller keypads together with sound control panel remain on the table. Monitors are placed on a small shelf situated above the table's level. Such construction is compact and convenient in operating.

Small video console with rack

Of course, Winsted manufactures large consoles as well. They are installed in broadcasting operating rooms of giant TV companies, performing around-the-clock multi channel transmission all over the world. However, all these consoles are built by the same scheme as those, described in the article. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that among the wide range of products by Winsted Company one will find furniture for any tasks and operating conditions.

Provided by Winsted Company.

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