This added functionality builds upon the core of the VB440’s AV Sync Generator feature, which was introduced at the beginning of the year.
Bridge Technologies has announced a significant new enhancement to the AV Sync function contained within its VB440 production probe. The new multi-service AV sync comparison feature enables frame-accurate synchronisation assessment across multiple delivery paths of the same service. Designed for live IP production environments where redundancy is critical, but applicable in a range of contexts, the new capability allows engineers to assess and compare multiple flows carrying the same service– for instance, across satellite, SRT, or other IP routes – so that seamless, glitch-free switching can occur when it matters most.
Bridge Technologies has introduced a major upgrade to the AV Sync functionality of its VB440 production probe, adding a new multi-service comparison capability designed to support frame-accurate synchronisation across multiple delivery paths carrying the same service. Aimed primarily at live IP production environments where redundancy and resilience are essential, the enhancement allows engineers to analyse and compare parallel feeds—such as satellite, SRT or other IP routes—to ensure seamless, glitch-free switching during critical moments.
The new feature builds on the VB440’s AV Sync Generator, unveiled earlier this year as a content-based approach to monitoring synchronisation within a single service. Instead of relying solely on packet timestamps, the system embeds machine-readable electronic markers directly into audio and video signals. These markers are analysed once the service is reconstructed at the client, enabling real-time, frame-accurate measurement of audio and video alignment based on the content itself rather than the transport layer.
Since its initial launch, the AV Sync Generator has been expanded to include ancillary data synchronisation, allowing precise visualisation of timing differences between video, audio and associated metadata, including immersive audio. Additional tools such as rolling shutter simulation and blink-and-beep reference cues further support usability, helping broadcasters meet accessibility, compliance and workflow consistency requirements across complex production chains.
The newly added multi-service comparison capability extends this foundation to scenarios common in live sports and premium broadcasting, where the same service is often delivered via multiple independent paths for resilience. Because these paths typically arrive with different timing characteristics, the VB440 now enables users to place multiple incoming services onto a shared timeline within the sync client. Engineers can visually stack and compare feeds against a chosen reference, instantly identifying frame-accurate offsets and adjusting delays to allow uninterrupted source switching.
Bridge Technologies has designed the interface to support rapid, in-the-moment decision-making. New services can be added to the timeline with a single click and arranged within an intuitive workspace, allowing complex multi-path alignment to be completed quickly. The addition of APIs also enables users to develop automation tools that draw on the probe’s frame-accurate data to support wider synchronisation workflows.
Commenting on the development, 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 continued: “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.”
