Bridge Technologies Introduces Multi-Service AV Synchronisation To VB440

Bridge Technologies has unveiled a major new enhancement to the AV Sync functionality of its VB440 production probe, adding multi-service AV synchronisation comparison that enables frame-accurate assessment across multiple delivery paths of the same service.

The new feature is aimed at live IP production environments where resilience and redundancy are essential, allowing engineers to compare multiple flows carrying identical services — such as feeds delivered over satellite, SRT or other IP routes — and ensure seamless switching without visible or audible disruption.

The enhancement builds on the VB440's AV Sync Generator feature introduced earlier this year. That original capability embeds machine-readable electronic markers directly into audio and video content rather than relying solely on packet timestamps, enabling the system to analyse physical content markers at the client to verify frame-accurate alignment in real time. The approach ensures synchronisation is measured on the content itself rather than at the transport layer.

The AV Sync Generator was later expanded to include ancillary data synchronisation, providing precise visualisation of timing deltas between video, audio and metadata, including immersive audio. Additional tools such as rolling shutter simulation and blink-and-beep reference cues further improve usability and confidence in synchronisation across complex workflows, supporting accessibility, regulatory compliance and consistent programme boundaries.

The new multi-service comparison capability extends this foundation to scenarios common in live sport and premium broadcast, where identical services arrive over independent paths with differing timing characteristics. Using the VB440, engineers can now stack multiple incoming services onto a shared timeline within the sync client and compare them visually against a chosen reference. Frame-accurate offsets between flows are displayed instantly, enabling precise delay adjustments so that switching between sources can occur without interruption.

The user interface allows new services to be added to the timeline with a single click, creating an intuitive stacked workspace for rapid multi-path alignment. Newly added APIs also allow users to build automation tools that draw frame-accurate data from the probe to support additional synchronisation workflows.

Commenting on the launch, Bridge Technologies Chairman Simen K. Frostad said: "Multiple transport methods carrying the same service is a practical reality in modern IP production, particularly when expenditure and resilience are both priorities. What matters is not eliminating that reality, but giving engineers the tools to manage it precisely and predictably, so that there is no compromise to end delivery."

He added: "This development is yet another example of our commitment to building the most comprehensive multifunctional production probe on the market. In the VB440 we bring together an ever-increasing range of functions and capabilities within a single platform, all designed to represent best-in-class examples of their type. By consolidating what were once multiple standalone tools for audio, video and engineering into one browser-accessible system, the VB440 reduces the cost, space, energy use, and operational complexity associated with maintaining disparate single-function appliances, along with their screens and cabling."

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