In Broadcast - April 2018 - 24

24

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 8 - Issue 4 | April 2018

InReply

LEMO: Vital Broadcast
Connections
LEMO (UK) Managing Director Peter Dent
discusses the current state of play, and
some of the trends, for the company...
InBroadcast: What can we expect
to see from LEMO in the next 6-12
months?
Peter Dent: We expect exciting
times ahead within the industry, as we
prepare for the start of the Russian
World cup and new F1 session, both of
which will see LEMO connectors play a
key role in the broadcast of the images
we see.
In addition, we are planning further
product launches later in the year and
expect to make some real progress
with further market expansion.
InB: What are the main benefits
of the latest product and service
announcements?
PD: At LEMO, we are continually
in the process of engaging in stateof-the art R&D. In the last few weeks,
years of work have culminated in
two innovative products that we
were delighted to launch at the UK's
foremost Broadcast show at Excel in
London.
We are in the fortunate position
of leading the world in terms of
interconnection technology for the
broadcast market and the first of
these new products launched at the
show was a new range of 3K.93C
SMPTE 304M hybrid fibre connectors.
This product is the next generation of
LEMO's industry standard HD camera
connector, which offers users the

additional benefits of a lower total
cost of ownership. With its reduced
weight and improved internal design,
it reduces both transport and cable
termination costs. In addition, this
new product has been engineered to
be more tolerant of operator assembly
skills and therefore performance can
be more easily optimised during the
termination process.
With our commitment towards
engaging in more dialogue with our
customers, LEMO, wished to provide
more than simply the most robust and
high-performance cable assemblies for
this sector. Ideas came together within
our design teams to create the second
new product launched at the show, the
Compact Spice Tray (CST). Specifically
targeted at the fast-paced broadcast
market where "time is of the essence",
this product offers users the ability
to quickly and easily install a space
saving and robust field terminated
HD video bulkhead interface solution
without compromising performance.
With the capability of each system
accommodating up to eight SMPTE
311M hybrid fibre (HD) camera
cables / LEMO 3K.93C SMPTE 304M
bulkhead connectors, it provides an
ideal solution for mobile production
and studio applications. By means of
a portable automatic fusion splicer
it can be easily field terminated,
making it suitable for projects where
application constraints prohibit the
use of pre-terminated camera cables.
Furthermore, being modular by
design, this versatile system can
be easily configured
to
specific
application
requirements
and therefore
quick
turnaround bespoke
solutions can be
easily supported.

3K.93C SMPTE 304M hybrid
fibre connectors

InB: What challenges did you face
when developing these products &
services?
PD: Like many other hi-tech
niche markets, the main challenge
when developing new products or
services for the broadcast market is
incorporating leading technologies
into versatile product platforms or
assembly lines that can be easily and
quickly configured into customer
specific solutions. At LEMO we are
familiar with this, our business model
is geared towards servicing these
niche markets where the level of
customisation is relatively high and
volumes low.
By design, LEMO's solutions are built
from a configurable modular concept
and therefore a broad market can be
served whilst maintaining affordability
through the economies of scale at a
process or component level. Our new
Compact Splice Tray is a good example
of this; the broadcast industry has
used this type of junction box for many
years, albeit larger versions. Each and
every one being manufactured as an
application specific "one off" design
and expedited through a temporary
production process at great expense,
to meet an ever-increasing demand
for shorter lead-times. At LEMO the
starting point for our new product
was "how to address the market
prerequisite for short lead-times". So
rather than build a dedicated quick
response production cell for oneoff custom solutions, we decided to
change the product from a custom
"made to order solution", to one which
is modular by design and therefore
can be quickly and easily "configured
to order" using "off the shelf"
components and sub-assemblies.
InB: What territories do you think
show interest?
PD: The UK industry is one of the
leading forces behind the
rapid
evolution of the broadcast market

LEMO Compact
Spice Tray (CST)

and therefore LEMO's main R&D
team for this industry are based in
the UK. In conjunction with this local
technology partnership approach, the
company has a global reach covering
every continent. It's a growing market
fuelled by both; fibre upgrade projects
in the traditional markets and new
build projects coming from the Middle
East.
InB:
Any
future
product
innovations we can talk about?
PD:
The
main
technology
developments within the broadcast
market have been the introduction
and subsequent evolution of HD
transmission. Effectively, cameras
and infrastructures will continue
to develop as the boundaries are
continually pushed, as the users
demand greater picture, clarity and
resolution combined with excellent
sound quality. 4K Ultra High
Definition is now widely used and
it will not be long before 8K takes
its place. The industry has already
made the quantum leap to fibre optic
transmission and data transmitted
through copper triax connectors
seems to be a thing of the past. LEMO
has been a key part of this transition
and the development of its fibre optic
technologies continues.
Iconic pattern grip:
LEMO Anglissimo plug
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://www.lemo.com/en https://www.lemo.com/en
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - April 2018
