Genlock is the destination locking to the source I,e destination moves
As described Natlock is a slave lock where the source is adjusting itself so that at the designation it is in sync I,e source moves .
Thus if you have got enough detectors at the destination ...all remote sources can be synchronous .
Of course a slave lock can be done manually with the destination talking in the source but doing it automatically is a lot easier....
as synchroniser were coming into service arround 40plus years ago I never got into the delights if natlock but I think you had to be roughly within range before letting the automatics steer you in and there were not that many comparators..
But most TC studio with BBC mixers had the caption scanner gen/slave locked so that you could caption a non sync source ....
With slave locking all remote sources were synchronous at the destination mixer
Genlock meant only one remote source was synchronous,
I'm not certain if all regions could be natlocked hence frame rolls on Nationwide .. but it is over 40 years ago.
SPGS were very expensive.....
but as the price came down it was easier to justify using them ..
And if you knew what you were doing it made many things easier to do both in system design /install and operationally.
A genlocked SPG meant that you had total flexibility on the timing of something ....
But using too many synchronisers was a sin many did .....
and in those day equivalent audio delays were rare !
Last edited by Technologist on 15 August 2020 2:13pm - 2 times in total