In Broadcast - February 2013 - 63

ISSUE 16 - FEBRUARY 2013 | WWW.INBROADCAST.COM

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

N E W S

InGEAR

Custom Consoles For 5 News London
Custom Consoles has completed the installation at the headquarters of Channel 5 in the City of London…

wo multi-seat desks have been
installed in the main production
gallery plus a third desk in the
adjacent audio control room. All
are based on the Module-R product
range. The installation forms part of
a major technical refurbishment by
Independent Television News (ITN)
which produces 5 News.
“Custom Consoles’ Module-R
series enabled us to configure robust,
ergonomically efficient desks to
match the operational requirements
and the available space,” said Paul
Flook, ITN’s Head of Broadcast
Engineering. “At the front of the
production gallery is a 5.7 metre
wide five-operator vision control
desk with an integrated Grass Valley
production mixer. Behind this is a
4.7 metre wide four-seat graphics
control desk on a raised platform.
Each of the nine operator positions
includes a monitor display on an
individually adjustable arm.
“The audio control desk consists
of a single-bay Module-R unit
to the left of a Solid State Logic
C10 24-channel sound mixer with
a dual-bay unit to the right. The

The vision control gallery at 5 News

C10 is self-supported rather than
being inset into the desk. The
arrangement works efficiently and
makes very good use of the 2.8
metre width allocation.”
Two operator positions on the right
of the vision switcher incorporate
twin auxiliary equipment pods set
at a sloping angle to the rear of the
main work surface. Each pod has a

5U capacity. Each operator position
to the left of the switcher houses two
3U pods. The graphics control desk
incorporates nine 3U pods.
All three desks are finished in
maple and have hard-wearing
graphite marmoleum work surfaces.
The monitor arms are LX models
from US-based Ergotron.
5 News audio control room

Snell's Kahuna 360 Is At The Heart Of HKJC Upgrade
Kahuna 360 provides multi-format SD/HD switching capabilities for horse racing organisation’s
broadcasts to three million viewers every week…

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

N E W S

By Staff Writer
www.inbroadcast.com

he Hong Kong Jockey Club
(HKJC), one of the world’s
largest horse racing organisations,
has chosen Snell Kahuna 360 multiformat SD/HD production switchers
as part of a major, multi-phase
upgrade of its broadcasting centre
to support HD operations.
The HKJC, which produces a total
of 9,600 hours of TV programming
every year, selected the Kahuna
360 switchers to replace an array
of ageing vision mixers.
The HKJC’s weekly programming
line-up includes more than 36 hours
of programming, including pre-race
and post-race programme and
infotainment content in addition
to live coverage of twice-weekly
race days. Carried by several Hong
Kong SD and HD channels as well
as pay TV and satellite services in
seven other countries, the HKJC’s
broadcasts reach more than three

million viewers every week.
Snell said that following a stringent
evaluation and procurement process,
Kahuna 360 scored highest in
technology and price/performance,
as well as its ability to provide multiformat inputs and outputs for both
SD and HD. Another critical factor
in the HKJC’s selection of Kahuna
360 was its resilience and ability to
auto-fallback seamlessly with no
visible interruption in service – a
major consideration for live racing
coverage that is watched by millions
of viewers. Also, the system’s
ease of use and effortlessness
customisation are important in
the HKJC’s compact production
environment, which requires all of
its producers to be multi-skilled
and perform hands-on vision mixing
without a dedicated operator.
“With such a busy programming
and production schedule, reliable

Snell Kahuna 360 in operation at the HKJC broadcast centre

and state-of-the-art production
switchers are a critical element in
the HKJC broadcast environment.
Kahuna 360 is truly an all-in-one
solution, with the scalability we need
to evolve our operation into the
future,” said Oonagh Chan, Head of
Broadcasting Services for the HKJC.
In phase one of the switcher
upgrade, two Kahuna 360 4 M/E
mainframes were integrated with
HKJC’s existing multi-viewer and
TSL tally control systems. Since
each Kahuna 360 mainframe can
support two or more control panels,
four separate programmes are
produced simultaneously.
One mainframe serves as the
field programme mixer to produce

a clean TV feed from over 40 HD
cameras plus playout sources
during the live race coverage. The
other Kahuna 360 is the master
programme mixer, combining the
clean feed output with playout and
bilingual data superimpositions
to deliver the programme feed in
both Chinese and English for the
ATV Home Channel. Kahuna 360’s
support of multiple layers and keyers
as well as its DVE capabilities has
been essential to this requirement.
Kahuna 360 will be a central
component in phases two and
three of HKJC’s HD migration, which
includes the design and build-out of
a new broadcast centre.

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In Broadcast - February 2013

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