Green Hippo Shipped New Estuary Media Controllers
The Estuary MC1 and MC2 units allow lighting desks to handle complex video management directly.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Semiconductors
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Green Hippo has begun shipping its new Estuary MC1 and MC2 media controllers. These systems are designed to integrate screen management and live switching capabilities directly into existing lighting desk workflows.
Why it matters
The product aims to enable lighting operators to manage video controls without needing a separate media-control surface. This integration reduces hardware requirements for live event production.
The systems utilize the tvONE CALICO video processing architecture to support one-frame latency and resolutions up to 64,000 x 64,000 pixels. The MC2 model includes modular expansion for high-bandwidth HDMI and SDI inputs.
The players
Green Hippo
This company is a provider of media server technology and video processing solutions for the live entertainment industry.
tvONE
This organization develops video processing, signal distribution, and collaboration technologies for professional audiovisual applications.
The details
The Estuary series integrates with lighting consoles through DMX, sACN, HippoNet, Companion, and a REST API. Users can manage up to 256 layers across four canvases simultaneously on these units.
Timeline
Green Hippo began shipping the new controllers on October 1, 2026.
The Tech Race
The move reflects a growing industry trend toward consolidating video and lighting control into unified, high-bandwidth processing systems. By adopting the tvONE CALICO architecture, Green Hippo positions these controllers to compete against proprietary video-only surfaces.
Lighting operators can now streamline their rigs by eliminating the need for a separate media-control surface. The modular expansion and multi-protocol support simplify the setup process for complex, multi-canvas productions.
The takeaway
The Estuary series highlights a broader shift toward converged control surfaces in the live event industry. Professionals can now achieve higher pixel throughput and lower latency using integrated video and lighting workflows.
What happens next
The company has announced plans for an MC4 model, though a release date has not been set.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest innovations in high-performance hardware at Semiconductors.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 4RFV.
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