An ATC Recorder Should Capture More Than the Screen

An air traffic control (ATC) recorder should capture more than the picture on the screen. It should also capture the controller’s inputs and the audio, then replay all three together. Inputs here are mouse, keyboard and touchscreen events. A screen-only recording shows what the controller saw. It can’t show the click or key press that followed. A reviewer is then left guessing about what the controller did.

Choosing an ATC recorder by video resolution and storage alone can leave you with exactly that gap. It can also leave the recorder wired into the video path in a way that puts the live screen at risk. Either outcome can mean a second purchase and rework of the console wiring.

A position, in this article, is one controller’s working place at a console. What a facility has to record, and how long it has to keep the recording, is a question for the authority that runs the facility. This article doesn’t state those rules.

What Should the Recording Capture Besides the Screen?

Three more things, in general. The controller’s inputs, so a reviewer can see the click or key press behind a change. The audio, which adds what was said. And radar data, which can travel a different route than the picture on the screen. Each of those is a separate question for the shortlist.

The listings for Seatronx’s ATC recording systems cover video and radar data capture. The same page lists input capture that records all mouse, keyboard and touchscreen events. It also says that data is replayed in synchronization with audio and video channels, and it describes that capture as non-intrusive.

Here’s the practical difference. A screen recording can show a data block change. On its own it can’t show whether the controller typed that change or clicked it. For a training debrief, that gap is the whole question. Audio closes part of it, because the spoken instruction and the input belong on the same timeline. As a general rule, decide what a reviewer has to be able to prove before you decide which streams to buy.

Where Does Radar Data Fit?

As a general rule, radar data is a separate route from the video. A video recording shows the picture that reached the screen, not the data behind it. Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists radar data capture next to video capture. If a review needs the underlying data rather than the picture, raise that early and ask which positions it applies to.

Where Should an ATC Recorder Tap the Video?

In line with the existing video path, and in a way the live display doesn’t depend on. The picture should reach the controller’s monitor whether or not the recorder is working. The recording should also keep running when the monitor is switched off. Check each model’s page for how it behaves in both directions.

Recording at the glass means capturing the picture that reaches the controller’s screen. As a general rule, the recorder takes the video signal on its way to the monitor. That’s a different thing from reading the data out of the source system.

The display’s dependence on the recorder is the one to settle first. NIST’s glossary describes fail safe as “a mode of termination of system functions that prevents damage”. As a general rule, the same idea applies here: if the recorder loses power or fails, the controller’s screen should keep its picture.

Seatronx’s failsafe dual-link DVI splitter page shows one way that’s handled. It lists a failsafe passive video pass-through from the input to one output, cloned video on the second output, isolation of the display system from the recorder, and isolation of the recording system from monitor power-off or sleep modes. A separate page, for a DisplayPort video recorder, lists an integral video bypass with graphics card and monitor connections in bypass mode, plus Power over Ethernet. Seatronx’s ATC recording page describes DVI recording as having benign failure modes with no impact on the display screen from loss of power or communications.

Keep each of those facts with the page it came from. A feature listed for the splitter isn’t a feature of a recorder, and the reverse holds too. If a model’s page doesn’t state how it behaves when the monitor is off or asleep, treat that as an open question and ask.

The dependence can also run backwards. A recording that stops because somebody switched a monitor off would leave a hole in the record — and the hole can go unnoticed until someone goes looking for the session. The display side of the console has its own questions, and those sit in what an air traffic control screen needs to run around the clock. This article stays on the recorder.

What Does a Training Review Need From the Recording?

Enough to settle a question about a controller’s performance. That means the screen, the inputs and the audio in one synchronized replay, plus a way for more than one person to work from the same session. A debrief turns on what the controller did next, not only on what appeared on the display.

Seatronx’s catalog shows what that review looks like: its recording system at Chicago TRACON is used to review skill enhancement training by recording and replaying training sessions, and supervisors, managers and training staff then work from the recordings to decide whether the training succeeded.

The details are on Seatronx’s page for its Chicago TRACON training system, which also lists at-the-glass recording and audio recording among its features. Its list names live view and debrief as well.

Work backwards from your own review process. Who sits in the debrief? Does anyone need to watch from a desk away from the console? Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists real-time remote viewing of any source direct from the LAN, and the DisplayPort recorder page lists dual redundant LAN. Which network the recorder sits on is a facility decision, so settle it before the order rather than after the install.

Settle These Points Before You Order

Rework on a recording project can trace back to a detail that wasn’t written down. Go position by position and get these on paper first.

• The exact video output and resolution at each position.
• Which input devices sit at the position, and how each one connects.
• Whether audio is in scope, and where it would come from.
• Where people will watch recordings, and which network the recorder sits on.
• How long a recording has to stay playable.
• Who does the wiring and who signs the final specification.

Video formats and resolutions differ by model. The DisplayPort recorder page lists all resolutions including 4096 x 2160, along with lossless compression. The dual-link DVI recorder page lists all resolutions including 3840 x 2160, plus non-intrusive failsafe capture and no impact on the systems being recorded. Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists DisplayPort and DVI models for all resolutions up to 4096 x 2160. Match the position’s actual output to the page for the exact model, not to the category.

Inputs travel by their own connections. The serial data capture unit page lists failsafe in-line capture of serial data in RS-232 format for a mouse, tracker-ball, keyboard or touch-screen, with lossless data pass-through and up to three serial streams captured in synchronization. If a position’s devices connect some other way, ask Seatronx whether a capture route covers them. Don’t assume one page’s connection applies to a different device.

Retention deserves an early answer. The required length is a question for the authority that runs the facility, not for a product page or a recorder’s capacity. That length can drive the storage figure, which is the general idea behind how recording time sets storage in a CCTV system. Get the number in writing, then plan storage around it.

One more route to check. Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists software video recording under remote towers, capturing display screen content with mouse and keyboard inputs. That entry sits under remote towers, so don’t read it onto a console position. An ATC recorder lands in the middle of a working console, so settle who does the wiring and who signs the final specification before the order.

Frequently Asked Questions About ATC Recording

What does “at the glass” mean in recording?

At the glass means the recording is taken from the picture that reaches the controller’s screen. As a general rule, the recorder captures the video signal on its way to the monitor rather than the data behind it, so the replay shows the display as the controller saw it. Seatronx’s Chicago TRACON training page lists at-the-glass recording among its features without defining the term, so ask what a model captures.

How many serial input streams can one capture unit record?

Seatronx’s serial data capture unit page lists up to three serial streams captured in synchronization. That figure belongs to that page and that unit. The same page describes failsafe in-line capture of serial data in RS-232 format for a mouse, tracker-ball, keyboard or touch-screen, with lossless data pass-through. Count the input devices at each position first, then check the figure against the page for the exact model.

Which video formats and resolutions do the recorder pages list?

Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists DisplayPort and DVI models for all resolutions up to 4096 x 2160. Its DisplayPort video recorder page lists all resolutions including 4096 x 2160. Its dual-link DVI recorder page lists all resolutions including 3840 x 2160. The category page shows the range; a model’s page shows that model. Match the position’s actual output to the model page before you order.

Who sets how long recordings are kept?

That’s a question for the authority that runs the facility. A product page doesn’t answer it, and neither does a recorder’s capacity. This article doesn’t state those rules either. Once you have the required length, it can drive how much storage the recording needs and how the system gets sized. Get the retention requirement in writing from whoever owns it, then plan the storage around that figure.

Does every recording route need extra hardware at the console?

Not in every case. Seatronx’s ATC recording page lists a software video recording option under remote towers, which captures display screen content with mouse and keyboard inputs. That listing sits under remote towers. For capture in the video and serial paths at a console position, the pages describe in-line hardware, so plan on equipment unless a page covers your exact case.

Start With Your Position List

Before an ATC recorder goes on a purchase order, write down what each position puts out. Video output and resolution. Input devices and their connections. Whether audio is in scope. Then add the review side: who watches, from where, and how long the recording has to stay playable.

That list is the starting point. With it in front of you, tell Seatronx which positions, signals and review needs you have.