In Broadcast - September 2017 - 48

48

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 7 - Issue 9 | September 2017

InFocus

Rolling Out OB Coverage
of screen types and delivery
platforms is now a major factor during
the production process. "What we
are seeing at the moment is both
sides of the spectrum," he says. "This
is in part due to how audiences are
viewing content now. The devices
range from 4K widescreen television
sets to mobile phones. As a result, we
have requirements to invest in both
premium equipment and lower price
kit that caters to the second screen
viewing or web content, such as online
poker, as well as more traditional TV.
We are also seeing a rise in reality
television, where budgets are lower
than high-end sports programming,
which again calls for more affordable
kit."
Audio Enhancements
While immersive audio has long been
touted as the obvious partner to UHD
images, these are still very early days
for this enhanced form of sound in the
broadcast field. Netflix has announced
a small number of films in DolbyD
Atmos this year, while both Sky and BT
Sport are covering the Premier League
using this spatial sound system.
Arena's OB X and Y trucks feature
Atmos, with audio areas built from
scratch featuring four ceiling-mounted
loudspeakers to monitor the height

cont'd...

Columbus has joined the
Gearhouse Broadcast US fleet

component of the immersive signal.
Telegenic's 4K truck, T25, features
Dolby 11.1 encoding and monitoring
for a full sound picture, while the
Gravity Media Group recently worked
on a project it cannot name in 4K and
Atmos.
Despite this last project, Kevin
Moorhouse, Chief Operating Officer
at the Gravity Media Group, which
includes Gearhouse Broadcast, does
not see 4K/UHD making "so much"
impact on the OB production market
right now. "The buzz is all about
1080/60P HDR," he says. "In the US,
only DirecTV has a mandate for 4K
transmission. Streaming services are
more likely to go 4K on a larger scale
first." As for IP, Moorhouse appears
less convinced and enthusiastic

than others in the market. "IP is a
consideration," he says. "However,
most educated engineers are still
unconvinced this platform works
properly. AoIP is definitely a
feature for programme audio and
communications but interoperability
between different manufacturers'
audio boards, routers and encoders is
still an issue."
Smaller OB Trend
Earlier
this
year
Gearhouse
Broadcast USA introduced Columbus,
promoted as the first OB vehicle in
the US to offer a full 4K monitor wall,
plus 'one-button' hydraulic operation
and an integral RF system. The truck
also features 16 Sony HDC-4300 4K/
HD cameras. Gravity Media Group, like

the other big OB companies, became
known for building 'super' trucks, with
in the region of 24 cameras and two or
three expanding sides.
These beasts of the road still have
their place but Moorhouse identifies
a trend that could see a new style of
smaller truck, which is still able to
provide enough facilities for broadcast
productions. "We're seeing downsizing
to four to six camera jobs because
more content is needed on ever
expanding delivery platforms but the
money remains the same," he says.
"This means there is a strong trend
toward smaller vehicles with some
of the capabilities of a large truck.
ESPN calls these 'REMIs' [REMote
Integration] and Fox Sports calls them
'At Home'."
Such vehicles provide the basics on
site with some key functions, such as
cutting between cameras, performed
at the network MCR over Ethernet.
Gravity is due to launch its latest REMI
on the first day of this year's IBC.
As broadcasters attempt to fill
more broadcasting hours on a range
of platforms - from conventional
terrestrial and satellite services
to streaming on mobiles - remote
production, using switchers and
servers to carry out vision and audio
mixing, is being considered more
seriously by TV stations and facilities
providers alike. The OB truck will never
go away or change entirely, there will
just be a bit of parallel evolution.

Technology On The Move

T

imeline Television's newest OB
truck, claimed to be the first IP 4K
HDR truck in Europe, will be exhibited
on the SAM stand at IBC2017.
A triple expanding vehicle, UHD2
includes two Kahuna IP production
switchers, IP multiviewers and SAM
IP infrastructure. Timeline's UHD2
is designed to support 32 Sony 4K
cameras.
Its two Kahunas allow SDR and
HDR to be run simultaneously along
with down-converted HD. The set-up
enables production teams to work
in VSF TR03 (SMPTE ST 2110 draft).
"Given the increased number of 4K
cameras and replay positions that we
wanted to support, IP made perfect
sense and SAM's technology even
more so as it afforded us the maximum
flexibility and scalability," comments
TimeLine Television MD Daniel
McDonnell.
NEP Australia has meanwhile
entered into an agreement with Lawo
as a technology partner in NEP's new

IP-enabled production hubs in Sydney
and Melbourne.
Lawo produces IP-based audio and
video routing, processing and control
systems. The NEP hubs enable multiple
concurrent outside broadcasts and
are expected to be the world's largest
networked broadcast centres.
Based on an IP core, they will allow
remote distributed production using
cameras and microphones located
at the event venue operated by the
majority of the production team based
at the hubs.
Designed for large multi-camera
sports broadcasts, the hubs will
accommodate
Australia's
Rugby
League and Australian Rules as well
as A-League soccer and other popular
sports from 29 venues across the
country.
Telegenic built its first HD truck,
T8, back in 2002 and played a part in
the launch of BSkyB's high definition
service in 2006 having been involved
in test transmissions throughout 2005.

Timeline Television
will showcase its IP 4K HDR
OB truck on SAM's IBC stand

Commissioning a 3DTV mobile unit in
2010, in 2013 Telegenic was active in
live 4K workflow trials.
T25 is a large triple expanding high
definition 2D/3D/4K scanner designed
to meet the requirements for 4 x 1080
50P/60P with 11.1 audio, within a 3G
infrastructure.
T25 is designed to capture live HD
or 4K. It includes a Sony MVS 8000X
production switcher with 4K upgrade,
HDC-2500 HD cameras, PMW-F55 4K
cameras and Sony PVM-X300 4K LCD
monitors.
With premises in Bartlemy (County
Cork) and Dublin, TVM Mobiles

operates a fleet of five OB vehicles
comprising OB3 and OB6/7/8/9.
Most powerful of these is OB8, a
triple expander capable of handling
up to 30 camera channels. Measuring
16.8 metres in length, 4 metres high
and 5.5 metres in expanded width,
OB8 is configured with a three-desk
production room and two-desk video
capture suite.
Onboard equipment includes a Sony
MVS 8000X four mix-effects switcher,
up to 12 EVS XT3 video recorders,
an Evertz 3G hybrid router, Evertz
multiviewers and a Studer Vista 9
audio mixing desk.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.gearhousebroadcast.com/usa http://www.timeline.tv/services/outside-broadcasts/uhd2/
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