There are limited developer resources and limited goals for DVswitch. It is never intended to be:
These are all better handled by other software and hardware.
The name refers to the DV formats used by many video cameras:
Profile | Specification | Video codec | Supported |
---|---|---|---|
Basic DV | IEC 61834 | DV 25 | yes |
DVCAM | Sony proprietary | DV 25 | probably |
DVCPRO | SMPTE 314M | DV 25 | probably |
DVCPRO50 | SMPTE 314M | DV 50 | not yet |
DVCPRO HD | SMPTE 370M | DV 100 | not yet |
HDV | IEC 61834 | MPEG-2 | no |
DV video codecs compress each frame separately (unlike MPEG)
The lack of interframe compression means there is relatively little delay between camera and mixer and we can cut between sources without having to decode all sources all the time. In fact, DVswitch doesn't need to decode even a single source at full frame rate if you just cut between sources without using mixing effects.
Unfortunately, most of today's consumer cameras don't have DV output and may not provide live video output at all.
A simplified view of the typical components: