The Delec Oratis is a powerful, flexible, yet easy-to-use commentary system suitable for broadcast events of all sizes up to the very largest.
COM3 commentary terminals are in the form of a free-standing desktop unit. Each commentator has a simple set of dual-concentric controls (level and pan) defining what they hear via headphones; five central sources (defined in vcms) and three local auxilary sources may be mixed in any manner. Large, illuminated PTT and Studio talkback buttons are provided. Space is reserved on the control surface for an optional 18-button intercom panel, which allows the terminal to act as a subscriber panel for the intercom system. No additional cabling or installation is necessary to achieve this, as the Oratis matrix may be configured as the comms router as well as handling the commentary.
Oratis is based on a system of modular matrix router frames. Each 4U frame may be loaded with up to 12 IF LAN matrix cards, each supporting one commentary terminal. System size may be increased at any time by adding additional terminals and corresponding IF LAN cards; frames may also be used in multiples. System architecture is extremely flexible, and larger systems - both in terms of numbers of subscribers and multiple locations - may be readily realised by interconnecting frames or groups of frames together via one or more R4000 fibre switches. In its largest implementation, Oratis can support over 350 commentary terminals.
Inter-system communication utilises Gigabit Ethernet Layer2, allowing standard industry IT network hardware to be employed for intra- or inter-site connections. Commentary terminals include an integral Ethernet switch, with four downstream 100Mbps ports available to the user for video feeds, internet acess or other purposes.
A high level of redundancy and resilience to partial failure is inherent in Oratis’s design. Instead of central processing, each matrix card has its own DSP allocation and runs independently of all other cards. Failure of a matrix card will affect only that card’s terminal, the remainder of the system continuing to operate normally. In addition, as the configuration of each matrix card is downloaded to it at power-up, any card may be hot-swapped. All frames come with two independent PSUs as standard and all fibre interfaces have dual redundancy.
Audio distribution within the system is 24-bit at 48 kHz sample rate. The Oratis router may therefore be employed as a temporary backup router to a broadcaster’s main router in the event of catastrophic failure or maintenance down-time, with no loss of audio quality.
An Oratis system is configured using Delec’s vcms (Venue Configuration and Monitoring Software) application. This uses a graphical interface, allowing rapid, simple, drag-and-drop system definition. vcms covers all aspects of a system’s configuration including microphone and headphone routing, foldback send levels, auxiliary source selection, etc., for each terminal.