Vendor Spotlight: Guntermann & Drunck

Named after its founders Udo Guntermannn and Martin Drunck and now known simply as “G&D”, this established German company is well regarded in the industry for its KVM extenders, switchers and routing matrix systems. The products are all manufactured in-house, where they undergo extensive testing to ensure a high standard of quality.
G&D solutions are used wherever processes need to be monitored and operated, workflows optimized and ergonomics improved. These products are therefore found in many market sectors. This includes applications for broadcast, AV, ATC, defense, control rooms, and crisis centers as well as in industrial automation and maritime environments.
The company, based in Siegen, Germany, started in 1985 by developing systems for dedicated and direct signal transmission. With the progress of IP technology several years ago and its introduction into many areas and markets, G&D has expanded its portfolio to include systems for reliable transmission in IP networks.
“We’re now able to offer a broad portfolio of classic and IP products, which gives us and our customers and partners the necessary flexibility to adapt to the most diverse applications. Control room applications especially benefit from transmission over IP,” said Jessica Lange, Marketing Director at G&D. “The use of existing cabling, switches and routers not only saves costs, but also provides flexibility and simplification through central administration.”
The company’s KVM devices now include a new multi-stage codec called bluedec, which G&D developed in-house. It ensures that even compressed data is transmitted without packet loss and arrives at is final destination in pixel-perfect resolution. This codec also enables all of G&D’s products to work together seamlessly and be upgraded and expanded easily.
The latest addition to its wide portfolio is the VisionXS series. As a matrix-compatible extender line, VisionXS is much more compact than any previous extender versions. The high-end extender product line includes a range of high-performance KVM extenders with 10G data transfer technology supporting resolutions of up to 4K.
“The broadcast industry in particular uses many different technical systems, and over time, workflows have become more and more complex,” said G&D’s Lange. “This is partly because many manufacturers and systems are part of the overall media supply chain, but also because not all products and workflows can work together. This is often a major challenge, as broadcasters and media companies now face more compatibility issues due to digitization.
“The ability to provide the industry with flexible solutions that easily integrate with other third-party systems and existing workflows is crucial for broadcasters and media companies in order to enable seamless collaboration of independent, heterogeneous systems,” she said. “Here, our devices can serve as a link between IT and broadcast and facilitate the work of broadcasters.
All G&D systems offer high interoperability and can be integrated into existing media or broadcast control and monitoring systems to ensure uniform operation and to simplify complex processes. These KVM devices efficiently and quickly exchange information between systems, thus improving a collaborative workflow for the entire production team.
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