NOVASTAR VX16s | Contrôleur LED Tout-en-Un | 10,4 Millions de Pixels

The NOVASTAR VX16s is an all-in-one LED controller: video processing, control and wall configuration in a single chassis, with no separate sending card. Capacity reaches 10.4 million pixels across 16 Ethernet ports.

Its input set is what sets it apart: one HDMI 2.0 input up to 3840 × 2160 at 60 Hz, two 3G-SDI inputs at 1920 × 1080, and above all four single-link DVI inputs at 1920 × 1200. Four DVI inputs are unusual on a current controller, and that is exactly what makes it compatible with rental inventories and media servers already standardised on that connector.

The VX16s supports Genlock, the decimal frame rates 23.98 and 59.94 Hz, 3D output with the EMT200 emitter, and automatic failover to a backup unit if the signal is lost.

Distributed by PIXELIGHT, B2B wholesaler of LED displays and Novastar controllers, with stock held in France, configuration for your panel fleet and technical support in French.

10.4 million pixels across 16 ports

That works out to 650,000 pixels per port, and it is this figure that drives the layout. A 500 × 500 mm panel at 2.6 mm pitch carries roughly 37,000 pixels, so one port takes seventeen. The headline capacity is quoted at 8 bits and 60 Hz; at 10 bits it drops by about a fifth, by a third at 12 bits, and by half at 120 Hz, because what saturates is the data rate.

Four DVI inputs: there is a reason for that

DVI has disappeared from recent controllers in favour of HDMI and DisplayPort. Yet a large part of the installed event inventory — media servers, control racks, content machines — still outputs DVI. Replacing a controller with a DVI-less model then forces four converters into the chain, which means four power supplies and four points of failure in a live signal path.

The VX16s is one of the few current controllers accepting those four sources natively. On an existing rental inventory, that is often the only argument that matters, ahead of pixel capacity.

Genlock and decimal frame rates: the broadcast criterion

On a studio floor, what shows on air is not resolution but loss of sync. With no shared clock reference, screen and camera drift against each other: rolling scan bars, flicker, tearing between zones. Genlock locks the controller to the gallery's clock and removes the problem at source.

Support for decimal frame rates — 23.98 and 59.94 Hz — goes further. These are the real cadences of cinema and North American television, inherited from NTSC. A controller that only handles round 24 and 60 Hz produces a slow but visible drift over a long capture. This is an acceptance criterion at a broadcaster, not a datasheet detail.

Automatic backup

A second, identically configured unit takes over automatically if the signal is lost. On a live show, that is the difference between an invisible incident and a black screen in front of an audience. This redundancy is prepared upstream: both units must carry the same wall configuration, and the failover must be tested in rehearsal, not discovered on the night.

And the source, upstream?

The VX16s distributes 10.4 million pixels across sixteen Ethernet ports; the content itself comes from elsewhere. Kompass FX3 Pro builds that picture on a control-room PC and presents it to the controller through the graphics card outputs — up to 16,384 × 8,192 pixels on suitable hardware.

Typical applications

• Event rental inventory already standardised on DVI, where replacing the controller must not force converters into the chain

• Television studio and camera capture, for Genlock and the 23.98 / 59.94 Hz frame rates

• Live shows and performance, for automatic failover to a backup unit

• 3D installations with the EMT200 emitter

At comparable capacity, the VX2000 PRO (13 million pixels) goes higher but without the four DVI inputs; the VX1000 PRO (6.5 million) sits below it in drivable surface.

Installation notes

• Connect the Genlock input to the gallery clock whenever a camera films the wall, even for incidental capture.

• If your chain runs at 23.98 or 59.94 Hz, lock that rate in the configuration: setting round 24 or 60 Hz produces visible drift over a long capture.

• Automatic backup is only worth having if it is tested. Run the failover in rehearsal, with the real wall configuration loaded on both units.

• Wire the 16 ports in shielded Cat6a and respect the hundred-metre limit; beyond it you need a repeater or an optical link.

• Decide colour depth before freezing the layout: going from 8 to 10 bits costs about a fifth of the drivable surface.