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I'm trying to keep this question as "non" subjective as possible...

I need to find a very specific piece of hardware (not brand or model, just type), and I'm currently coming up empty handed. I've been cruising around on Google, but all of my search terms are coming up with invalid results. I've contacted the AV suppliers that I know, but they don't seem to have any answers either.

The problem I'm running into is that there are a million consumer grade devices as well as a myriad of software solutions, none of which are useful to me. I need results in the PRO AV grade of electronics.


This is only here to help add context to the above question.

What I'm looking for is a Video Playback Appliance that can be controlled either via TCP/IP or via hard buttons. It needs to play H.264/AAC files, and preferably be able to wire two of them together so that they play simultaneously (for redundancy). I'm currently using an Adtec signEdje, and though it works fantastically (TCP/IP playback controls as well as Ethernet File Upload to internal 80GB HDD), it has no "seek" function, which is a major problem.

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I think your trouble is partly related to using the overloaded, usually inappropriate word "pro" instead of "broadcast". Marketing departments love using the first word, but when you think about it, that word doesn't describe the type of work, nor the level of quality.

The rest of your trouble may just be unfamiliarity with this kind of hardware, which is rather esoteric and specialized. For redundant playback with various control options, I think you're probably looking for "broadcast video playback systems", one example of which would be the Grass Valley K2 Dyno.

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  • This is true, I do use the term PRO over BROADCAST. Commented Jul 12, 2011 at 15:52
  • What gets to me about the word "pro", is that it's commonly used to describe the PERSON doing the work, and not the work itself, which distracts us, since the work is usually complicated enough to deserve all of our attention. Commented Jul 12, 2011 at 16:31
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Google responds to volume, and the fact is that there are a lot more people looking for consumer grade devices than pro/broadcast grade devices. That's part of the problem, and adding "broadcast" to your query may help, but I think what most people in the business would do is not use Google in the first place. Rather, they'd use a dedicated broadcast equipment supplier of their choice (for example, Markertek) and search that supplier directly.

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  • We use VidCom and Applied Electronics for our suppliers. They've been great... I've just been spending time researching so that I don't waste valuable hours asking stupid questions that I should be able to discover the answers to online. Commented Jul 13, 2011 at 6:40

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