Abstract:
A control panel comprising a plurality of hard key buttons which are arranged in different groups is suggested. A first group of buttons is assigned to select predefined scene settings. A second group of buttons is assigned to select signals for a currently broadcasted scene. A third group of buttons is assigned to select signals for a next scene which is selectable by operating a button of the first group. The hardware control panel provides an operating interface that matches with the workflow of TV productions. It enables context related direct access to all functionalities which are needed during the TV show. However, it does not provide access to those functionalities which are not needed in a specific scene. Hence, it significantly reduces or even prevents malfunctions during a TV production.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to a hard key control panel for controlling a video/audio processing apparatus and a video processing system including the hard key control panel. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Live video productions such as TV productions are realized today using vision mixers. Vision mixers are commercially available e.g. from the companies Grass Valley, Sony, Snell, and Ross. 
     A vision mixer is a device used to select between different video input signals to generate a video output signal. Besides creating different kinds of transitions the vision mixer can generate a multitude of video effects and comprises keyers, matte generators, text generators etc. By means of the vision mixer the user also controls the routing of signals from various sources to selectable destinations. 
     The vision mixer also performs the routing and switching of audio signals accompanying the video signals. However, since the processing of video signals is more complex than the processing of audio signals the present patent application is focused on the video signal. It is to be understood that in the context of the present patent application the processing of the video signal also implies a corresponding processing of an accompanying audio signal. Only for the sake of better intelligibility of the description of embodiments of the present invention audio signals are not always mentioned in addition to the video signals. 
     In order to enable a multitude of functionalities, vision mixers consist of a huge amount of hardware components to process the video signals. The processing hardware components are located in one housing and are connected with local bus solutions in order to control all video processing hardware in real-time to meet the fast control requirements of live productions. 
     A conventional vision mixer comprises a central mixing electronic, several input channels and at least one output channel, a control unit and a user interface. Such kind of vision mixer is described for example in DE 103 36 214 A1. 
     Live video productions like news, sports and stage events are produced in fixed or mobile TV studios. Conventionally, a TV studio is equipped with a vision mixer, multi-viewer and monitor walls, storage systems and digital video effects devices, external crossbars and the like. All these devices consist of a big amount of dedicated hardware stages, external cabling and specific configurations settings reflecting the internal and external hardware structure and connectivity. The entire TV live production is controlled by operating a control unit controlling the devices. For historical and architectural reasons the operation and configurations of the control interface for these devices is hardware oriented. For this reason the operator of the TV live production has to keep simultaneously in mind two completely different views on a TV production, namely the sequence of the scenes of the TV production on the one hand and the hardware operations required for obtaining the desired workflow of the scenes. These two different views on the same live TV production have nothing to do with each other. Therefore, the task of operating a live TV production is complicated. But it is made even more complicated due to the fact that the operator can influence almost all hardware components. Consequently, there is a significant risk to execute mal-functions such as losing an input signal which is required for a scene which is currently on-air. At the same time, the operator cannot access all functionalities needed for the workflow of the scenes without setting certain delegation levels. 
     Existing operating interfaces for conventional TV live production systems are inflexible because they are tied to the underlying hardware of the devices used for a TV production. This makes them also very complicated and their operation is frequently counter intuitive. As such TV live productions are error prone unless special efforts are made to support the operator. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Obviously there is a need for improving the operating interface for live TV productions. Therefore, the present invention suggests a hardware control panel enabling the user, typically the director of a live TV show, in a manner which reflects the flow of the different scenes in the live production. Specifically, the present invention suggests a hard key control panel. 
     The control panel according to the invention comprises a plurality of hard key control elements which are arranged in different groups. A first group of control elements is assigned to select a predefined scene for being broadcasted. A second group of control elements is assigned to select signals for a currently broadcasted scene being composed of several input signals including camera signals. A third group of control elements is assigned to select signals for a next scene which is selectable for being broadcasted by operating a control element of the first group. The control panel of the present invention enables the production director to control a live video production in an intuitive way. 
     Advantageously, the hardware control panel provides an operating interface that matches with the workflow of TV productions. It enables context related direct access to all functionalities which are needed during the TV show. However, it does not provide direct access to those functionalities which are not needed in a specific scene. Hence, it significantly reduces or even prevents malfunctions during a TV production. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention the panel comprises a fourth group of control elements assigned to scenes and signals remaining in stand-by for future use. The signals include camera signals. 
     Advantageously each group of control elements is illuminated in a different colour to indicate to which group they pertain and their different functionality to the user. In this case the control elements can be illuminated pushbuttons enabling illumination in different colours. 
     In an embodiment of the invention the control panel is communicatively connected with a graphical user interface to control functions assigned to the control panel. 
     According to an embodiment the control panel is communicatively connected with a graphical user interface and a pointing device. A pointer associated with the pointing device is controllable by means of the pointing device to be either displayed as graphical element in the graphical user interface or as highlighted hard key element on the control panel. This embodiment enables to control the control panel in the same way as the graphical user interface by means of the pointing device. In this case it is particularly advantageous to enable the pointing device to control functionalities assigned to the highlighted hard key element. This provides for additional flexibility of the control panel. The hard key element can be a hard key control element or a display. 
     According to a variant of the control panel the pointing device is a computer mouse movable on a mouse pad. The computer mouse is effective to display a graphic element on the graphical user interface when the mouse is situated in a first area on the mouse pad. The computer mouse is effective to highlight a button on the control panel if the computer mouse is situated in a second area of the mouse pad. The same computer mouse enables influencing the graphical user interface and the control panel. It has been found to useful if the hard key element is highlighted by at least one of a distinctive colour, a distinctive icon, a distinctive shape, a distinctive text size, and a distinctive text font. 
     In a further embodiment of the invention the control panel is communicatively connected with a graphical user interface to assign the control elements of the control panel to the different groups. This feature increases the flexibility of the control panel and it can be adapted to the needs for a specific live production. 
     In an advantageous embodiment the first group of control elements comprises a dedicated control element which puts a signal prepared in the fourth group on-air or into the status of a next on-air signal. 
     It has been found useful if each group of control elements is associated with a dedicated display. In this case it is advantageous if the dedicated display is adapted for being illuminated in different colours. 
     In an embodiment of the invention the control element(s) are hard key button(s). More specifically, the buttons can be illuminated pushbuttons enabling illumination in different colours to further increase the usability of the control panel. 
     According to another aspect the invention relates to a video processing system. According to an embodiment, the video processing system includes at least one video processing unit and a control panel for controlling the at least one video processing unit. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       In the drawing an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Features which are the same in the figures are labeled with the same or a similar reference numbers. It shows: 
         FIG. 1  a schematic block diagram of a system for video processing which is operated by a method according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  a schematic layout of the control panel according to the present invention; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are enlarged portions of the control panel shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  the control panel connected with a graphical user interface; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram illustrating the workflow of a TV production utilizing the present invention; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  a portion of  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIGS. 8A and 8B  another portion of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic block diagram of the architecture of an alternative system for processing video and/or audio signals which has been described in detail in the European patent application EP12175474.1 filed by the same applicant. The proposed architecture of the inventive system allows building the hardware platform on standardized IT technology components such as servers, graphical processing units (GPU) and high-speed data links. Typically, these standardized IT components are less costly than dedicated broadcast equipment components. Besides the cost advantage the proposed system benefits automatically from technological progress in the area of the above-mentioned IT components. In the proposed system video processing hardware is split into smaller and flexible video processing units and combines dedicated control, video and audio interconnections into one logical data link between the individual processing units. The data links are designed such that they have a reliable and constant time relation. The data links are typically based on a reliable bidirectional high-speed data connection such as LAN or WAN. The individual processing units work independently as fast as possible to achieve or even exceed real-time processing behavior. Normally, real-time processing means that the processing is finished until the next video frame arrives. Therefore, the term “real-time” is a relative term and depends on the video frame rate. The system ensures that overall production real-time behavior with simultaneous processing is achieved and generates a consistent production signal PGM-OUT. This general concept is described in greater detail in the following. 
     In the video processing system shown in  FIG. 1 , the video processing hardware is organized in processing units  101 ,  103 ,  105 , and  107  according to the geographical distribution of a production i.e. according to the geographical distribution of the resources enabling the production as it is shown schematically in  FIG. 1 . The technical core of each processing unit is a server, one or several graphics processing units (GPUs) and high-speed data links operated by a processing application framework and dedicated algorithms. The processing application framework and the algorithms are realized in software. The algorithms are adaptable and extendable to also realize further functionalities going beyond the functionalities of conventional vision mixers. The video signals are processed by GPUs in commercially available graphic cards. Hence, conventional video processing by dedicated hardware is replaced by software running on standardized IT components. All the processing capabilities of the GPUs are available and enable new video effects. 
     The operator controls the whole production as if it was at one single production site in a single production unit next to the control room. The entire production process is moved from dedicated video/audio and control routing to common data links. The individual wiring hardware such as SDI connections is replaced by standardized data networks. The routing of all signals in the data networks is bidirectional and the production output and monitoring signals like dedicated multi-view outputs can be routed to any production unit which is connected in the network without extra cabling expenses. 
     High-speed data networks are more and more available not only in video production sites such as film or TV studios but also in wide area distribution networks, e.g. multiple of 10 G Ethernet or Infiniband. 
     In studios, professional video networking means that the video content is transferred uncompressed. For HDTV formats 1080i/720p data rates of 1.5 Gbit/s are resulting in studio environment where uncompressed audio and video data are used. For HD format 1080p a net data rate of even 3.0 Gbit/s results. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1  every block represents one of the distributed processing units belonging to the system which is referred to in its entirety with reference number  100 . In the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  processing unit  101  is located in a football stadium in Frankfurt. Processing unit  101  receives as local sources  102  camera signals from the stadium, slow-motion video from a local slow-motion server and eventually audio and video signals from an interview taking place locally. Processing unit  103  is also located in Frankfurt but not necessarily in the same place as processing unit  101 . Processing unit  103  receives camera signals as local sources  104  from a live presenter in an interview room. Processing unit  105  is located in Berlin and represents the main processing room providing additional processing power for the ongoing production as well as access to archives and servers where for example advertisement clips are stored. The archives and the servers are indicated as local sources  106 . The local sources  102 ,  104 , and  106  provide the video and/or audio signals as SDI or streaming data. Finally, there is a processing unit  107  which represents the live control unit (LCU) located in Munich from where the live production is controlled and monitored. The production result is leaving processing units  103  and  105  as video and audio output signals PGM-OUT  108  and  109  for being broadcasted. The processing units  101 ,  103 ,  105 , and  107  are interconnected with each other with reliable bidirectional high-speed data links  110  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The data links  110  enable communication between the processing units  101 ,  103 ,  105 , and  107  and provide constant and known signal delays between the production units. It is noted that the high-speed data links  110  represent logical data links which are independent of a specific hardware realization. For example, the data links  110  can be realized with a set of several cables. In the situation shown in  FIG. 1  the data links  110  are an Internet protocol (IP) wide area network (WAN). In a WAN special measures have to be taken to make sure that the data packages are received in the same sequence as they have been sent over the network to meet the requirements of video processing. Appropriate measures can be taken on the protocol and/or hardware level of the network such that the system behaves like a single big vision mixer. 
     The present invention suggests a hard key panel concept which supports the production director in the LCU (live control unit)  107  in Munich to control and monitor the TV production. The inventive control panel relieves the production director to a large extent of hardware operations and allows him focusing more on the workflow which will be explained in further detail below. 
     TV productions like news, sports, stage shows contain a lot of stories having a well-defined unique appearance of the specific production. E.g. a news production always follows the same structure though it may vary from broadcaster to broadcaster. Typically, there is an opening by the moderator, contributions about national and international politics, and the weather forecast. These parts of the news production are called “stories” comprising several scenes. There may be 5 to 100 stories in a show or news production and there are 5 to 10 scene templates which define the appearance of the production. The production director uses the scene templates and fills them with the story composed of several scenes, e. g. the moderator presents his opening. A filled scene template is an executable scene for the TV production. 
     Taking these scene templates and filling it with the story finally provides executable scenes for the news production. Sequencing executable scenes and controlling dedicated scene transitions is finally under the control of the live production director. 
     Transferring this concept from a live video production into the area of a graphical slide presentation may help to illustrate the new concept of the present invention even better. The slide presentation of the quarterly report of a company corresponds to the video production of a news production. Like a news production the quarterly report always follows the same structure namely the course of business in the last year, the evolution of headcount, income and spending and finally it provides an outlook into the next year. The templates for the slides are fixed and do not change. However, the content of the slides changes and reflects the evolution of the company from one reporting period to the next one. The creator of such a presentation does not prepare the slides each time from scratch but rather uses the predefined templates and fills them with updated contents to generate an “executable slide” for the presentation. The presenter controls when the next content is shown within one template and when the next template is called up. 
     In the context of the present patent application a scene is a predefined composition of video layers in front of a video background. A scene is used to tell the viewer a portion of a story in the way the director has conceived it. Typically, the evolution of the story is a sequence of scenes. While a story evolves, audio and video sources used in a scene can change; the scene can change its layout, size and appearance; video layers can be added or removed. All this is under the control of the production director. If a new story begins within a TV production, normally a new scene is executed. 
     The present invention builds on this general concept and suggests a hard key control panel supporting TV production directors to operate real-time TV productions. A key point of the present invention is to suggest a hard key control panel enabling mapping of the described scene oriented operating philosophy onto a hard key control panel. 
       FIG. 2  shows a top view on an embodiment of the hard key control panel  201  according to the present invention. The elements of the hard key control panel  201 , or briefly control panel, are arranged in a plurality of blocks having a matrix type structure with columns and rows. The columns are labeled with letters D, C, B, A, X from left to right and the rows are labeled  1 ,  2 , and  3  from bottom to top. The blocks in the different matrix rows are assigned with different functionalities and, therefore, matrix row  1  is also called story level  1 , matrix row  2  is called on-air level  2 , and matrix row  3  is called next scene level  3 . The functionalities of the levels  1 ,  2 , and  3  will be described in greater detail further below. 
     The different blocks of the control panel  201  will be described by making reference to the column and row where the block is located in the matrix shown in  FIG. 2 . The blocks having a similar functionality will be described together. 
     The blocks are identified according to the following convention: Block A on level  1  is identified as  1 -A. Several blocks on several levels in the same column are identified by the relevant level numbers separated by a comma and the letter identifying the row where the blocks are located, e.g.  1 , 2 , 3 -A. Similarly, several blocks in several rows on a single level are identified with the level number where the blocks are located and the letters identifying the relevant rows separated by a comma, e.g.  1 -A,B. 
     Blocks  1 , 2 , 3 -X are used to make transitions between two signals either manually controlled with an effect lever  202  or automatically executed. The automatic execution is initiated when the operator pushes a button “Auto”  203 . A default button “Def”  204  allows the operator to select which kind of transition (horizontal or vertical fade, swirl effect, etc.) is used as a default. By operating buttons “In” and “Out”  205 ,  206  the operator selects the transition for the entry into a new story and for the exit from a current story. Frequently, the transition into a new story and out of the current story is different and part of the “look and feel” of a specific TV production. The functionalities of the blocks  2 -X and  3 -X are in principle the same as of the block  1 -X though on different levels of the live production. 
     In the area of columns A to D of the control panel  201  each block is composed of eight pushbuttons  211  and an associated display  212 . As an example block  2 -C is framed with a dashed line in  FIG. 2 . However, it is noted that the layout of the control panel  201  shown in  FIG. 2  is only an example and the present invention is not limited to a particular layout. E.g. in another embodiment of the control panel  201 , each of the before mentioned blocks comprises three rows of buttons  211  and one associated display  212 . Also, the control panel  201  is configurable that each block has less or more than four buttons in a row following the format of the live production. In  FIG. 2  the block  219  having six buttons in rows  213 ,  214  is indicated with a dotted line. However, for the sake of simplicity the following description shall be based on the principle layout shown in  FIG. 2  (two rows of four buttons, one display) without limiting the scope of the present invention. 
     In blocks  1 -A,B there are two rows of pushbuttons  211  and the associated display  212 . For the sake of clarity each row of buttons  211  in the control panel is labeled with reference numbers from  213  to  218 . Row  213  of buttons  211  of blocks  1 -A,B puts a signal on-air when the attributed button is activated. For this reason row  213  in blocks  1 -A,B is also called the “program row”. In the situation shown in  FIG. 2  the signal associated with button  211   1  is currently on-air. If another button in row  213  is pushed then the signal associated with this other button is put on-air which means it is immediately broadcasted. 
     With buttons  211  in row  214  of blocks  1 -A,B the next story to be put on-air is selected. Therefore, row  214  in blocks  1 -A,B is called the “preset row”. When the operator or editor selects a scene by activating an associated button  211   VII , then the scene is displayed on a monitor  615  ( FIG. 6 ) and can be checked and verified by the operator as it will be explained in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The selection of the signal in the preset row  214  has further consequences, namely, the selected source signals from cameras, hard disc recorders etc. are made available and are locked for other users like a coeditor  607  ( FIG. 6 ). E.g. the camera man is informed by a yellow tally light that his camera has been selected for the next scene and it is going on-air soon. The signals from cameras are live signals. 
     The buttons  211  of the control panel  201  are illuminated in different colors, also called “tally colors” or “tally lights”, to inform the user about their functionality. The tally lights have the advantage that the operator can immediately recognize the underlying functionality of the specific button without having to read an alphanumeric display. For formal reasons the different tally colors of the buttons are symbolized by different patterns in  FIG. 2 . E.g. the button  211   I  in program row  213  is illuminated in dark red colour to indicate the on-air signal. Likewise the effect lever  202  is illuminated in red color (indicated by a dark vertical bar versus a light vertical bar in effect levers  202  on levels  2  and  3 ) for the same reason. 
       FIG. 3  shows an enlarged view of blocks  1 -A,B,X in which also the labels of the displays  212  are visible. The displays  212  in blocks  1 -A,B show from right to left seven stories forming the live video production. The stories are labeled “Opener”, “Mission1”, “LocNews” for local news, “Movie”, “Finance”, “StkXChg” for stock exchange, and “Election”. Each of the seven stories is linked with specific scene template which is used for the story. It is to be noted that display sections are illuminated with a tally light too but this cannot be shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     The composition of the scene which is currently on-air is controlled in block  2 -A (block  2 -B remains idle) which is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 4 . The story “Mission1” is currently on-air. The story has an opener which shows the moderator in a first setting. Button  211   II  in row  216  is activated ( FIG. 4 ). Then the wrap-up is provided by a reporter and button  211   III  is activated. During the wrap-up the name of the reporter, here “Brian C”, is inserted by activating button  211   IV . It follows an interview by activating button  211   V  and the name of the interviewed person is inserted temporarily by activating button  211   VI . Finally, at the end of the story “Mission1” the moderator makes some closing remarks. For this purpose the operator activates again button  211   II . Hence, the story “Mission1” is composed of several scenes which use predefined scene templates and input signals including camera signals which are live signals. As mentioned before, the production director controls the evolution of the story simply by activating the buttons  211 . 
     After the story “Mission1” is finished, the operator starts the next story “LocNews” the first scene of which is already prepared in block  3 -A,B ( FIGS. 2 and 4 ) which is indicated by the darker green tally light of button  211   vII  ( FIG. 4 ). The operator puts the story “LocNews” on-air by simply activating the button  211   vIII . At this moment the tally light of button  211   vIII  turns from light red into dark red. At the same time the current setting of blocks  3 -A,B replaces the setting of blocks  2 -A,B and a new next scene (“Movie”) is prepared in blocks  3 -A,B by pushing button  211   IX  ( FIG. 3 ). The transition by pushing the button  211   vIII  is a hard cut from “Mission1” to “LocNews”. However, the editor or operator can execute the transition also by moving the effect lever  202  or by activating the auto button  203  on level  1 . The latter initiates an automatic transition. 
     In this way, the production director controls the live TV production in an intuitive way and can completely focus on the story without being bothered by directly operating hardware components. Another advantage is that the production director is prevented from making malfunctions because he directs the story within predefined scene templates which by default cannot be changed during the live production. 
     In some types of productions like a news production following a script, normally each story with its associated scenes is shown only once. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention the story assignment displayed on the displays  212  in blocks  1 -A,B is shifted one by one from left to right each time a story is terminated. 
     The blocks  1 -A,B;  2 -A,B; and  3 -A,B are connected with multi-viewers providing a complete overview of the input signals and the resulting output signals after processing. It is noted that the output signals which are only displayed on a multi-viewer are not necessarily calculated in full resolution by the processing unit  107  to save processing power. Only the on-air signals have to be calculated by the processing unit  107  in full broadcast quality. The processing unit  107  is taken only as an example and the same applies of course to any other processing unit in the audio and video processing system. 
     Blocks  1 , 2 , 3 -C,D ( FIG. 2 ) are a working area which is used to support a live video production by preparing and verifying scenes to be put on-air. The use of the different parts of the control panel  201  will be explained in further detail with reference to  FIGS. 6 to 8 . The blocks  1 , 2 , 3 -C,D are also connected to a multi-viewer. 
     The different functionalities of the different blocks of the control panel  201  shown in  FIG. 2  are described in connection with a specific position of the respective blocks in the control panel. However, it is to be noted that advantageously the control panel  201  is adaptable so that a certain functionality of a specific block is assignable to any block in the control panel since the physical structure of each block is the same, namely eight buttons  211  and one display  212 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a graphical user interface (GUI)  501  displayed on a monitor  502 . The graphical user interface  501  is communicatively connected with the control panel  201 . The graphical user interface  501  enables the operator to control functionalities  501  of the video processing by means of a pointing device such as a mouse  503  shown in  FIG. 5 . The position of the mouse  503  on a mouse pad  504  corresponds to the position of the graphical pointer  505  displayed on the monitor  502  as it is known from conventional computer applications. When the operator moves the mouse  503  in an area  506  indicated with a dotted line on the mouse pad  504 , the pointer  505  moves on the monitor  502  in the area where the graphical user interface  501  is displayed. However, when the operator moves the mouse  503  beyond the area of  506  into area  507  indicated with a dashed line on the mouse pad  504 , then the pointer  505  disappears on the monitor  502  and a button  508  on the control panel  201  is highlighted. The highlight is for example an increased illumination level of the button  508  or its illumination in a different color. The position of the button  508  corresponds to the position of the mouse  503  in the area  507  on the mouse pad  504 . The transition of the pointer  505  from the graphical user interface  501  to become a highlighted button  508  on the control panel  201  is comparable with the commonly known transition of a cursor from a first monitor to a second monitor when both monitors are connected with the same computer. 
     In the same way as it is described with reference to the highlighted button  508  also a display on the control panel  201  can be highlighted. The highlighting is achieved by the distinctive color, icon, text size or text font. 
     The movement of the mouse  503  on the mouse pad  504  is illustrated with an arrow  509 . The corresponding movement of the pointer  505  across the graphical user interface  501  and its transition into the highlighted button  508  on the control panel  201  is symbolized by an arrow  510 . In this setup the operator can execute various kinds of commands with left and right mouse clicks, turning a mouse wheel etc. including drag and drop functions. By using the functionalities provided by the mouse  503  the operator can also adapt the functionalities of the control panel  201  by changing the underlying software of the control panel. E.g. the graphical user interface  501  comprises widgets allowing the operator of the system to reassign functionalities of the blocks of the control panel  201 . In consequence, the functionalities of the hard key control panel  201  are adaptable in a similar way as a graphical user interface. In  FIG. 5  the mouse  503  is only shown as an example for all kinds of other pointing devices such as a trackball, graphics tablet, joystick, keyboard etc. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention also the physical layout is different. In this embodiment which is not shown in the drawing, the rows C and D are arranged on the right side of column X, such that the sequence of the columns is B, A, X, C, D when using the denomination of the columns defined in  FIG. 2 . In yet another embodiment of the present invention the control panel  201  shown in  FIG. 2  is composed of two separate hardware devices. The first device comprises columns B, A, and X and the second device comprises columns C, D. The two devices are connectable such that in response to the need of the operator the second device can be connected to the left or to the right side of the first device. In the first alternative the sequence of the columns is D, C, B, A, X and in the second alternative the sequence of the columns is B, A, X, D, C. In further embodiments of the invention more than two such hardware devices are used in the live production as it is shown with the reference to  FIG. 6  and described further below. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates in a symbolic way the production process including the people involved and their interactions with the production equipment, in particular with the control panel  201 . The production director  601  (or briefly: director) directs the production by issuing director instructions including “production start”  602  and “story change”  603 . During the course of the production the director  601  can take an “emergency action”  604  to respond to an unforeseen incident like the sudden end of a conference, the arrival of a politician or a movie star, a foul in a football match etc. Finally, the director terminates the production by issuing a “production end” instruction  605 . The instructions of the director  601  are executed by a live editor  606  and a co-editor  607  who control the control panel  201  which is symbolized in  FIG. 6  only by its matrix structure. The responsibility of the live editor  606  mainly is to control the on-air story  608  and the next on-air story  609 . The live editor executes his task by operating the columns A, B, and X of the control panel  201 . If the workload determined by the dynamics of the video production permits, the live editor  606  may also take care of Far1 Story  610 . However, this is not always possible during live productions. This is the reason why the co-editor  607  is present as well who mainly is responsible to prepare the Far1 Story  610  and a Far2 Story  611 . Far1 and Far2 stories  610  and  611  are both still in preparation for going on-air at a later point in time. For preparing the Far1 Story  610  and the Far2 Story  611  the co-editor  607  controls columns C and D of the control panel  201 . The co-editor  607  works on his own control panel  201 ′ which is set up such that it includes only two times columns C and D because the co-editor  607  has no responsibility for the on-air story  608  and the next on-air story  609  controlled by the live editor  606  by means of columns A, B, and X of the control panel  201 . The Far1 Story  610  as well as the Far2 Story  611  can replace the next on-air story  609  or the on-air story  608 . This is illustrated by arrows  612  and  613 , respectively. Thus, the arrows  612  and  613  indicate a preset and change queuing of the production. Director  601 , live editor  606  and co-editor  607  can monitor the signals of the on-air story  608 , next on-air story  609 , Far1 Story  610 , and Far2 Story  611  on associated multi-viewer monitors  614  to  617 , respectively. The multi-viewer monitors  614  to  617  permit not only monitoring in real time the selection of signals, which may include live signals, but also the live composition of the scenes with their dynamic changes and effects that are applied. It is noted that there can be more than two stories in preparation or only one. Far1 story  610  and Far2 story  611  are used only as illustrative example. Similarly, it is not fixed which person works on the preparation of the Far1 and Far2 story. The invention is completely flexible in this regard. 
     The work of the live editor  606  related to the on-air story  608  is illustrated in greater detail in  FIG. 7A . In a first step  701  the live editor  606  activates the next on-air or Far1 or Far2 Story for going on-air. The live editor then controls the story which is on-air by selecting scenes and activities in step  702 . He continues to do so until the on-air story reaches its end which triggers in step  703  the decision of the live editor  606  to continue to control the on-air story by returning to step  702  or to activate the next story for going on-air by returning to step  701 . If an unforeseen incident requires immediate reaction there is a request for an immediate story change in step  704 . In response to the request in step  704  a story which is available for going on-air is activated in step  705 . 
     The preparation of the next on-air story  609  by the live editor  606  is shown in  FIG. 7B . It only requires to select the story in step  706  and to verify in step  707  the scenes and presets of the story. 
     As mentioned before the live editor  606  may have sufficient time to prepare the Far1 Story. However, the working process for preparing the Far1 Story  610  will be described only in connection with the work of the co-editor  607  which is illustrated in connection with  FIGS. 8A and 8B . The necessary steps for preparing the Far1 Story are the same for the live editor  606  and for the co-editor  607 . 
       FIG. 8A  illustrates in a flow diagram the steps for preparing the Far1 Story  610 . In a first step  801  the co-editor  607  selects the story for update or verification. An update may be necessary if the situation has changed during the course of the live production e.g. a politician has started to give interviews after a conference. Then, the co-editor  607  verifies and prepares the scenes and presets of the Far1 story in step  802 . In step  803  he decides if the story is ready for going on air or not. If it is not ready for going on air the co-editor  607  continues with step  802 . If the story is ready for going on air it is shifted into the block  3 -A ( FIGS. 2 and 4 ) of the next on-air story as soon as the current next on-air story actually went on-air. 
     Depending on the video production and the available resources the co-editor  607  is enabled to prepare a Far2 Story  611 . The working process is the same as for preparing the Far1 Story  610  and is shown in  FIG. 8B . 
     During the course of the video production the currently on-air story  608  is replaced at a certain point in time by the next on-air story. At the same time one of the prepared stories  610  or  611  becomes the next on-air story. In this way the live editor  606  and co-editor  607  can sequentially prepare and control the live video production. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 List of reference numbers 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 100  
                 processing system 
               
               
                   
                 101  
                 processing unit 
               
               
                   
                 102  
                 external sources 
               
               
                   
                 103  
                 processing unit 
               
               
                   
                 104  
                 external sources 
               
               
                   
                 105  
                 processing unit 
               
               
                   
                 106  
                 local sources 
               
               
                   
                 107 
                 processing unit 
               
               
                   
                 108, 109  
                 output signals 
               
               
                   
                 110  
                 data links 
               
               
                   
                 201  
                 control panel 
               
               
                   
                 202  
                 effect lever 
               
               
                   
                 203  
                 Auto button 
               
               
                   
                 204  
                 default button 
               
               
                   
                 205  
                 in button 
               
               
                   
                 206  
                 out button 
               
               
                   
                 211  
                 push button 
               
               
                   
                 212  
                 associated display 
               
               
                   
                 213-218 
                 rows of buttons 
               
               
                   
                 219  
                 block 
               
               
                   
                 501  
                 graphical user 
               
               
                   
                   
                 interface 
               
               
                   
                 502 
                 monitor 
               
               
                   
                 503 
                 mouse 
               
               
                   
                 504 
                 mousepad 
               
               
                   
                 505 
                 graphical pointer 
               
               
                   
                 506, 507  
                 areas on the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 mousepad 
               
               
                   
                 508 
                 button 
               
               
                   
                 509, 510 
                 arrow 
               
               
                   
                 601 
                 production director 
               
               
                   
                 602 
                 production start 
               
               
                   
                 603 
                 story change 
               
               
                   
                 604 
                 emergency action 
               
               
                   
                 605 
                 production and 
               
               
                   
                 606 
                 live editor 
               
               
                   
                 607 
                 co-editor 
               
               
                   
                 608 
                 on air story 
               
               
                   
                 609 
                 next on air story 
               
               
                   
                 610 
                 Far1 Story 
               
               
                   
                 611 
                 Far2 Story 
               
               
                   
                 612, 613 
                 arrows 
               
               
                   
                 614 to 617 
                 multi-viewer 
               
               
                   
                   
                 monitor 
               
               
                   
                 701 to 707 
                 process steps 
               
               
                   
                 801 to 803  
                 process steps 
               
               
                   
                 801′ to 803′ 
                 process steps