I agree with Morten Stjernholm and would like to be more specific.
We have a 288 port router. I love what has been done with the interface and the icon based interface can now be very useful with the large router, especially with a touch screen. However, I struggled to find even 10 icons that were even slightly meaningful for our use.
1. Of the 34 icons, half of them are places or people where there presumably would be a monitor if you actually have such a place. They are only useful for one port, usually just one output. That's not much help on a 288 port router.
2. Of the others, several don't make visual sense, at least in our environment.
--clapboard is nice and might be useful but how does that say edit suite?
-- Character Generator Icon does not make sense to me
-- old image of black & white film leader is not evocative of a modern HD monitor
-- CCU icon looks more like a small production switcher
-- Film projector icon is clear but is redundant with telecine. Does not visually transfer to video projector
3. Router ports mainly connect to specific types of equipment or signal sources, not just to places (where there is often just a monitor),and there are not nearly enough equipment icons.
Here is my list of additions that would be useful.
Studio Camera (something that looks vaguely like a camera that exists today,
users under 50 don't recognize an image orthicon camera)
File based recorders (most of our users have never used tape)
Recorders/players-card based (SD, P2 etc.)
Disc based players/recorders (DVD, Blu-Ray, XD-Cam
SSD based recorders (BMD Hyperdeck and others)
The tape cassette icon is fine for those VTR's that remain. Poor for file based devices.
Multi-viewer
Video Server
NLE - (not the same as an edit suite) NLE is a device with I/O. Suite is a room with a monitor)
Satellite / microwave dish
Off air tuner
cable box (could be combined with the tuner)
Computer - PC very useful to represent all kinds of functions
Computer - Mac
Computer - Laptop
Production Switcher - support for a large multiple M/E switcher in addition to existing icon.
General large switcher icon for I/O
Keyer (icon can be used with switcher or stand alone keying device, or to represent key signal)
DVE
Frame Store
NOTE: please keep the existing small switcher icon.
a larger facility will have two or more switchers.
Useful to distinguish Master control from Production Switcher.
Processing Equipment
Teranex
Frame sync
Standards/Format converters
Scan converters
Routing switcher - (we route between multiple BMD routing switchers)
Time Code
BNC connector - PLEASE restore this - most useful for tie lines - we have lots of them!
PTZ or remote controlled camera
Prompter
Digital Signage
Video Projector (film projector icon is not a visually meaningful representation)
video wall
Like others, I would greatly prefer to be able to create our own icons. I was told at NAB that would never happen because BMD feels people would make the interface ugly. If that is a hard and fast position, then please provide us with a hundred or more icons that represent the variety sources that we actually use. That seems like a minimal number to support a router with 576 ports.
I would offer to have our graphics department submit some designs if you are interested and if you provide file specs. Thanks,
Charles Nolley