Im in the lookout for a sorts of playback device which would be suitable for live event intercuts. Such as " and here is a message from our sponsors" or "and the nominees are" Bam the video plays on the big screen.

More specificly I would like the device to have a layout which mimics a visual sampler like i.e. P-10 Visual Sampler (http://www.rolandsystemsgroup.com/en/products/edirol-by-roland/visual-performance-mainmenu-384/p-10) with the option to load up a bunch of video clips that can be played back with a push of a button.

The unit should prefferably accept various file types, such as H264 mp4 or mpeg2 in high quality SD or HD formats.

Any suggestions?

Here's a company that I have had limited experience with, you can download an interactive demo. There are a number of models of various capbilities and prices:

Broadcast Pix - Home (http://www.broadcastpix.com/)

A competing manufacturer is here: NewTek TriCaster (http://www.newtek.com/tricaster/)

I got a chance to play with both of these products, and the broadcast pix one was purchased for the video studio at the newspaper I used to work for. HTH /Battle Vaughan

Thanks.. Those look big and expensive.. Isn't there anything more "compact"? All I really need is a 3 inch monitor built inside that thing, and 12-16 assign buttons that can enable me to preorganize the clips for ultra quick selection. It should definitelly not be much bigger than the EDIROL P-10 and without any computer hookups.

Infact I would go for the P-10 if only it had european Video standard resolutions. Their specs say 640x480 only.. Had it been a bit higher and accepted other file types than MJpg it would be perfect.

I'll have to leave that answer to someone else, as these are the only switchers with which I'm familiar. Here's a link to an article that may give you some background, but I'm in NTSC-land and don't know what's available for Euro standards...best wishes! /bv

Choosing a Video Switcher (http://www.videomaker.com/article/12581/)

Sounds like you want a 'VJ' type of device. There are some vj forums like VJForums - Powered by vBulletin (http://vjforums.com/) (oddly enough!). They might have a better idea of what's out there.