Still using an old slate that you plug a 5.5mm jack into at the start of the day to jam, and then have to constantly re-jam throughout the day?  Time to enter the modern age.  The Betso WTCS-1 is a “smart” slate.  It can physically jam using an industry standard 5pin LEMO cable, but really, it’s designed to be used wirelessly.  Generally on set, your audio person is the source of “Master” timecode, usually from their recorder.  One of Betso’s TCX-2 timecode boxes is plugged into the recorder and then it constantly transmits timecode wirelessly.  When the slate is turned on, it searches for that wireless signal and jams to it automatically and continuously, staying in constant sync.  If the slate ever moves out of range of the signal it will keep sync using its very accurate internal clock, and then once it comes back into range it will compare its clock to the timecode signal and adjust if necessary.  This all happens automatically, once the slate is turned on you literally don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day.  Simple and accurate!

The slate has a dimmable display that is made up a matrix of LED dots.  This means you are not locked into only displaying numbers, as with ancient slates.  If you turn the slate upside down to mark the end of a take, thanks to the matrix and not being locked into a fixed display, the tail-slate timecode will be flipped right-side up for your editor.  The slate can also integrate with the MovieSlate 8 application, making it possible to display metadata on WTCS-1’s display such as the Director’s name, frame rate, etc.  Nothing beats the age old non-permanent marker for changing take numbers, but even there the WTCS-1 helps by having a backlight behind the marker surface.  Advanced AND easy: best of both worlds.  Welcome to the revolution.