Videohub Smart Control Pro: select destinations, use macros and check the network

Videohub panel: distinguish layouts, macros and routing

Check Smart Control Pro with the intended router and firmware. The behavior of a Videohub 10x10 does not replace that test.

These discussions raise two needs: operating a group of routes and separating the control connection from the signal path. The panel steps were checked against Videohub Hardware Control, March 2025. We cover Videohub controller mode for SDI; NMOS functionality needs its own configuration and video endpoints.

Identify the panel, router and both paths

The description on pages 5–6 and 15–16 of the panel manual covers control of a Videohub on the same Ethernet network. Connect the panel to the computer by USB to open it in Videohub Setup. In Control Panel, check Videohub controller and choose the router using connect via Videohub name or connect via manual IP address. Record which unit you chose; if there are several, its name does not replace the connection map.

In this arrangement, Ethernet carries control between panel and router, while video travels through the router’s SDI inputs and outputs to the receiver. The May 2025 Videohub manual, pages 20–21, shows that panel connection to the network. Page 5 of the Hardware Control manual also allows configuring the panel as an NMOS controller for ST 2110: that control function does not replace the system’s video transport or endpoints.

The March manual, page 6, uses the top-left button as an indicator: flashing pink while searching for an IP address, flashing red until connected to Videohub, then stopping that flashing when connected. Flashing yellow indicates old internal router software. Record the state and versions before taking action.

For the test, first check that the intended router is being operated. Then check an off-air output with a recognizable source. If the panel responds but the monitor is black, also trace the source, SDI cable and receiver; the connection indicator does not confirm the image received.

Fixed destination or XY selection: check Take before operating

To dedicate the panel to one monitor, pages 7 and 16–17 instruct you to set number of destinations to 1. Assign the destination with set destination to, select and set; then assign sources in button mapping. In cut bus, that destination remains selected and you operate by selecting the white source.

For multiple destinations, configure the required number in number of destinations and check assignments in button mapping. In XY, destinations are gold and sources white. Page 31 instructs you to choose a destination before a source. After changing one monitor, select the next destination again to avoid operating the one still selected.

The section on page 18, Enabling the Take Button, allows enabling or disabling Take on Smart Control Pro using Enable Take Button. With Take enabled, the selected source and Take flash until confirmed; with Take disabled, the source or macro changes routes when pressed. Test that behavior off air and record it alongside the button map.

Build the green macro with source and destination pairs

In Control Panel, number of macros adds macro buttons. The procedure on page 19 instructs you to select a green button in button mapping, choose a source and destination in rows A through P and press set. Each row is a routing action. The manual describes up to 16 routes per macro; the Smart Control Pro specifications, Macro Capability, list up to 10 macro buttons. These are different quantities: available buttons and actions for each button.

One example we propose for a conference is sending the same source to the intended monitors with a macro. Write down each input/output pair, including the starting route. Also prepare a return using the recorded map or a different macro you can check. Use the input and output numbers of the actual router and wiring.

The explanation on page 32 states that the green button executes the configured routes simultaneously. If Take is enabled, the change waits for that confirmation; if the macro cannot be executed, the button flashes. Do not present it as a synchronized image transition or automatic restoration of the previous state. Check each receiver after triggering it.

A blue destination and a flashing macro need different checks

For a protected destination in XY, page 32 instructs you to hold its button until it turns blue. If you try to change the source, that destination flashes blue. To unlock it, hold the button until it turns gold again, after coordinating the change with the output’s operator.

The same section says that a macro that cannot be executed flashes. It does not identify a single cause for that notice. We suggest recording the actions, Take state, locks and router connection, then comparing each output’s signal with the expected map. We do not promise that unlocking a destination resolves every macro or claim that part of a group has been applied.

If a program destination is protected, preserve its state until the intervention is agreed. Collect versions and screenshots to continue diagnosis. Close the test with routes and receivers checked, not just a button that stopped flashing.

Save the panel configuration and document the test

The procedure on page 22 allows saving panel settings from Setup’s gear menu with save config and loading them with load config. When applying a copy to another panel, it calls for updating network settings and the name. Keep the previous file and check the unit, router and buttons after loading. That panel copy is not a router save label set or a Control Save Layout.

Complete the blank Smart Control Pro worksheet. It includes control/video paths, mode, Take, button map, macros, locks and return. We have not configured hardware or executed macros, nor examined an actual signal.

Consult the Videohub 40x40 guide for labels and macros on the integrated panel. Add destinations to the continuity plan and event recording. To review source count, operator positions and distribution, link that map to GLMedia’s video processing service.