2007
In the first quarter of 2007 NWE was subcontracted to Sony Professional Services to design and install a 6 camera HD Studio at the headquarters of the Dutch National Broadcaster NOS , their first HD installation. Although the studio is used primarily for sport presentation , it is fully integrated into the existing studio infra-structure with inter-changeability of cameras and other facilities. The studio has the capability of control from a central automation system (Omnibus) with respect to graphics, open-subtitling , vision mixer , and also the under-monitor display system.
The audio system is built as stereo embedded but has been designed for future expandability to 5.1 with Dolby E
Between March and September 2007 - two high-specification 16 camera HD OB trailers for a major Middle East broadcaster.
These double-expanding side units feature LDK8000 HD cameras and LDK6200 high-speed HD cameras, EVS LSM disk recorders, HDCAM VTRs and an all-LCD Production monitor wall with integral HD quad splits from UK manufacturer Vutrix.
Graphics from VizRT.
Each unit has its own support vehicle which in turn houses twin 100kVA generators and a UPS system.
2008
April—We completed a 28 camera triple-expanding HD trailer to be used for live HD coverage of the European Tour PGA Golf on Sky Sports. This complex vehicle was designed specifically for the purpose , and features 2 independent production areas (Main and Sub-mix) , a graphics and live scoring area, and vision control area for up to 8 racks engineers.
The vehicle can accommodate up to 28 Sony HDC-1500 HD cameras and has facility for 6 HDW-2000 VTRs, 9 x 6 channel EVS HD XT2 servers and features a large Pro-bel Cygnus routing system with 312 x 480 HD Video and 192 x 192 AES and analog audio.
The vision mixer is a Sony MVS-8000 with 80 inputs and 48 outputs and the audio console is a Calrec Sigma having the ability to bring in large numbers of remote effects mics from out on the golf course via the Calrec Hydra fibre system. All the monitors are Vutrix LCDs with built in HD quad splits, and there is a fully integrated TSL tally and UMD system with a custom-designed user interface.
The vehicle completed its first successful broadcast at the coverage of the Golf de Andaluz in Marbella, Spain .
2009
During early 2009 we have undertaken the complete refurbishment and conversion from SD to HD of OB4 for CTVOB. This major project involved a total strip down , clean out and re-build in only 4 weeks , including replacement of the A/C plant.
This vehicle was an existing 8 year old OB originally built with an SDI and analog audio infrastructure , was fully refurbished and upgraded to HD1080 and 5.1 digital audio operation , with the view to future further upgrading to 1080p 3G operation.
The upgrade was done in 2 phases to minimise the time that the truck was out of commission. Phase 1 involved installing the routers and carrying out the general refurbishment of the vehicle which included replacement of the air-conditioning plant.
Phase 2 involved replacement of the existing analog audio mixing console with a digital 5.1 console from Calrec Audio and consequent upgrade of all the related signal paths and monitoring from analog to digital. A decision was made to adopt unbalanced coax cabling for the AES audio to simplify integration with Dolby encoders and decoders and improve reliability.
It was a simple matter to specify an unbalanced backplane for the Sirius router.
The cameras and CCU’s were replaced with Sony HDC-1500 from CTVs existing stock of cameras.
The vision mixer had already been upgraded by ourselves 2 years previously to a Grass Valley Kalypso multi format unit and was therefore already HD capable.
The IT upgrade included integration of HD video servers from EVS and editing from Apple Final Cut Pro software , along with shot logging and file management & archiving solution from EVS.
2009 April—December
During mid to late 2009 we have been contracted to Sony Professional Services and have designed and supervised the construction and installation of 4 large HD OB’s for the Russian state broadcaster VGTRK Moscow.
2010
(Feb—Apr) We completely re-fitted the audio installation in CTV OB’s flagship OB trailer OB4HD , removing the old legacy analog systems and replacing with AES/EBU digital , at the same time installing a brand new Calrec Apollo digital console , one of the very first to be delivered in the UK.
A new digital audio routing switcher was supplied and fitted replacing the existing analog unit , and Dolby E encoding and decoding was installed along with 16 track embedding and de-embedding and 5.1 multichannel capability .
The job had to be completed to a very tight timeline to minimise the time the vehicle was off the road and to ready it for it’s new contract providing live HD facilities for Sky Cricket.
(Apr—Jun) Modifications were carried out to OB2HD at the same time upgrading the existing Calrec Alpha console to Bluefin status and fitting 16 track embedding and de-embedding.
