NovaStar VX16s: driving 10.4 Mpx with three video layers

The NovaStar VX16s is an all-in-one controller: it integrates video processing, control and screen configuration in a single chassis. In practice it replaces the video-processor-plus-sending-card pair still found in many control racks, with an immediate saving in space and points of failure.

Total capacity reaches 10,400,000 pixels across sixteen Gigabit Ethernet ports, with an output width up to 16,384 pixels and a height up to 8,192 pixels. It processes three independent layers — one 4K×2K main layer and two 2K×1K overlays — whose priority order can be adjusted live.

This tutorial addresses show-control and fine-pitch installation teams: video inputs and their exact limits, the DVI Mosaic function, layer management, presets, device redundancy and control through the V-Can software. We also flag what the specifications sheet does not publish.

1. All-in-one: what it changes in the control room

An all-in-one controller removes an interface. In a conventional chain, the source enters a video processor that crops and overlays, then feeds a sending card that splits for the receiving cards. Each hop is a resolution setting, a cable and a desynchronisation risk.

The VX16s performs both operations internally. The gain is not only hardware: configuration becomes coherent, since processing resolution and sending resolution are set in the same device. In event work that means noticeably shorter preparation time.

• Video processing, control and screen configuration in one device.
• Total capacity of 10,400,000 pixels across sixteen Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• Output width up to 16,384 px, height up to 8,192 px.
• Three layers: one 4K×2K main and two 2K×1K overlays.
• Up to ten presets that can be saved and recalled.

2. Official specifications and unpublished items

The figures below come from the VX16s specifications sheet, revision V1.0.0, firmware V1.0.0.0. Several mechanical and electrical figures are not available there in usable form: we flag them rather than estimate.

Colour depth, dimensions, weight and power consumption are not published in usable form in the specifications sheet consulted. If your brief requires those figures, ask NovaStar support before approving the rack layout.

3. The seven video inputs and their limits

The VX16s offers seven video inputs: two 3G-SDI, four single-link DVI and one HDMI 2.0. It is the best-equipped NovaStar controller in that respect, and the variety of inputs is precisely what justifies choosing it for show control.

The two SDI inputs accept interlaced signals with built-in deinterlacing, which avoids an external converter for legacy broadcast sources. They offer no resolution setting: the signal is taken as it comes. The HDMI 2.0 input handles HDCP 2.2 and EDID 1.4, hence recent protected sources up to 3840 × 2160 at 60 Hz.

4. DVI Mosaic: combining four sources into one

The DVI Mosaic function combines the four DVI inputs into a single image reaching up to 3840 × 3840 pixels in custom configuration. It answers a very concrete case: a media server or control PC putting out four 1920 × 1200 DVI feeds to cover a wall far wider than one input could carry.

The assembly is declared in configuration: layout of the four inputs, any overlaps, resulting resolution. The constraint is synchronisation of the server's four outputs: if they are not in sync, tearing appears on the joins during fast movement.

• Combines the four DVI inputs up to 3840 × 3840 pixels.
• Customisable layout: row, column or grid.
• Requires server outputs synchronised with each other.
• Check the joins with fast-moving content, not a still image.

Test DVI Mosaic with a fast horizontal pan. Tearing on a vertical join immediately reveals a synchronisation fault on the server outputs, invisible on static content.

5. Managing three independent layers

The VX16s processes three layers: a main layer up to 4K×2K and two overlay layers up to 2K×1K each. Each layer takes a different source, allowing for instance a full-screen video background, a camera overlay and graphics on top.

Layer priority order is adjustable, including during operation. That matters in show control: momentarily bringing the camera in front of the graphics, or the reverse, without rebuilding the scene. That adjustment should be rehearsed and stored in presets before the event, never improvised live.

6. Presets: prepare before, execute during

The VX16s stores up to ten presets. A preset captures the whole scene: sources assigned to layers, positions, sizes, priorities. Recall is immediate, turning a complex reconfiguration into a single action.

The method that works in show control is to build presets during rehearsals, in running order, then recall them live without ever touching fine settings. Ten presets cover the vast majority of conferences and shows, provided they are named after the running order rather than their technical content.

• Up to ten presets capturing the whole scene.
• Build presets during rehearsals, in running order.
• Name each preset after the moment in the show, not its technique.
• Never adjust a fine setting live: recall a prepared preset.

7. Device redundancy and linking several units

The VX16s supports device redundancy: a second controller, configured identically, takes over if the first fails. On a broadcast show or a high-stakes conference, that redundancy is the only real protection against controller failure.

In addition, up to four units can be linked using a video distributor to cover surfaces beyond 10.4 Mpx. That linkage requires the source distributed identically to all four units and a common synchronisation reference.

• Device redundancy: second controller configured identically.
• Up to four units linked via a video distributor.
• Source distributed identically to all linked units.
• Test the redundancy switch during rehearsals, not on show day.

Untested redundancy is not redundancy. Deliberately cut the primary controller during rehearsals and time the recovery: that is the only measurement that counts in front of the client.

8. Controlling with V-Can

The control software named in the specifications sheet is NovaStar V-Can. It gives access to scene building, layer management, and preset saving and recall from a computer, alongside the device's front panel.

The controller also has a control Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports — a type B for the PC link, a type A for cascading — and an RS232 port for integration into a centralised room control system.

• V-Can for scene building and preset management.
• Ethernet port for network control from the operating position.
• USB type B to the PC, USB type A for cascading.
• RS232 for integration into a centralised control system.

9. Step-by-step commissioning

Order matters. Start with screen configuration — cabinets, sixteen-port wiring, output resolution — before building scenes. Configuring layers on a screen whose mapping is unfinished means redoing all the work.

Once the screen is right, declare the inputs, build the main layer, add the overlays, set priorities, then store each scene as a preset. Finish by testing redundancy and backing up the complete configuration.

• Configure the screen first: cabinets, sixteen ports, output resolution.
• Declare the inputs used and their real format.
• Build the main layer then the two overlays.
• Set priorities and store each scene as a preset.
• Test redundancy and back up the complete configuration.

10. Troubleshooting under show conditions

In a control room, diagnosis must fit inside a minute. This table gives the check order for the most frequent VX16s symptoms.

Deployment procedure

1. Configure the screen

   Load the cabinet configuration, declare the sixteen-port wiring and set the output resolution before any work on layers.

2. Declare the inputs

   Identify which of the two SDI, four DVI and one HDMI 2.0 inputs are used, and check the format actually received.

3. Assemble the DVI Mosaic if needed

   Declare the layout of the four DVI inputs up to 3840 × 3840 pixels and check the joins on moving content.

4. Build the layers

   Place the 4K×2K main layer then the two 2K×1K overlays, and set their priority order.

5. Store the presets

   Save up to ten complete scenes, named after the running order of the show.

6. Set up redundancy

   Configure a second VX16s identically and deliberately trigger the switch during rehearsals.

7. Back up the configuration

   Export the complete configuration, screen and scenes, and archive it with the job file.

Frequently asked questions

Official documentation

• NovaStar V-Can — NovaStar software downloads — Software
• Official NovaStar controller product page — Manufacturer page

Related tutorials

• NovaStar MCTRL4K tutorial: 16 ports and 8.8 Mpx
• NovaStar MCTRL660 PRO tutorial: 6-port controller
• NovaLCT tutorial: LED screen configuration
• VNNOX Standard tutorial: cloud publishing

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