The ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP is a live production switcher built fully SMPTE-2110 native for high-end broadcast, running eight 100G QSFP28 Ethernet connections as four redundant pairs — each pair carrying eight video inputs and eight outputs — so four fibre pairs stand in for the wall of BNC cabling an SDI switcher this size would otherwise need. Every IP video port is SMPTE-2022-7 compliant: run each side of a pair to a separate network switch and the system rebuilds perfect frames from whichever packets arrive first, with nothing dropped on air.

32 inputs and outputs, with conversion on every input

32 inputs and 32 outputs are all routable as aux, with dedicated frame rate and format converters on every input so mismatched sources lock to the switcher standard automatically. Switching power runs to 16 ATEM Advanced Keyers with advanced chroma keying, four multiviews with up to 64 total views, two SuperSource processors for a total of 12 DVEs, and four media players with fill and key. The 68-channel audio mixer includes 6-band parametric EQ with expander, gate, compressor and limiter dynamics.

Broadcast-grade formats, timing and control

Standards run from 720p and 1080i through to 2160p60 in 10-bit 4:2:2, with the optional Blackmagic IP10 codec handling 2160p59.94 and 2160p60 as 2110 IP video. Timing and control are broadcast-grade: IEEE 1588-2008 PTP v2 with two redundant clock ports, NMOS IS-04 discovery and IS-05 connection management, two 10G Ethernet connections for panels and control plus a separate 1G management port.

A 2RU chassis built for camera integration

The 2RU chassis uses quiet front-to-back cooling with four fans, dual internal 100-240V AC power supplies and a built-in HD LCD with speaker and headphone jack for local programme monitoring. ATEM Software Control for Mac and Windows is included, USB audio integrates with Fairlight Live, and adding a Blackmagic SDI Expander 8x12G brings 12G-SDI cameras into the system complete with programme return, tally, talkback and camera control.