The UHD1 HDR outside broadcast truck built for Swiss production company tpc, using technology from Imagine Communications, has completed its first live broadcast and is now in regular use.
From its base in Switzerland, tpc, the technical service provider for national broadcaster SRF/SRG, manages coverage of a broad range of events, from football to Alpine and Nordic skiing, as well as theatre, concerts and opera. The truck is the first step in tpc’s programme to move to an all-SMPTE ST 2110 production and delivery infrastructure and it uses standards-based IP connectivity. Its debut came in the form of the transmission of – a match in the Swiss National Hockey League in Zürich on 19 October.
When designing a new, large-scale truck, the company said that flexibility was critical, allowing it to switch from sports to arts, day to day. It also comes at a time when tpc’s broadcaster clients are expressing growing interest in acquiring in the highest quality, including 4K resolution and extended dynamic range and colour gamut, to future-proof content and maintain its value for audiences.
Imagine Communications provided the IP-connected infrastructure using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) switches and hardware, which allowed uncompressed Ultra HD production when required. Central to this was the Selenio Network Processor (SNP) gateway and video processor. The SNP provides high-density signal processing with complete freedom to select formats by signal or by production. It also delivers gateway conversion to external SDI signals. The new UHD1 HDR truck also relies on Imagine’s Magella SDN Orchestrator to provide system-level control of the complete network, as well as the company’s EPIC MV multi-viewer for flexible monitoring.
“We are at the beginning of a journey to move all our operations to IP connectivity,” explained Andreas Lattmann, CTO of tpc. “It is great to see our new UHD1 HDR truck on the road, giving us both outstanding production quality and valuable experience in developing and operating IP networks.
"Most important, it does all this while looking and feeling like the trucks that our crews have been operating for years. It gives us the same performance characteristics and operational look and feel as a traditional SDI system, but with all the benefits of IP connectivity and software flexibility — not least, complete format independence right up to uncompressed 4K HDR Ultra HD. Open standards are very important to us, to give us the reassurance we need that we can select best-of-breed solutions for every stage from acquisition to delivery.”
When designing a new, large-scale truck, the company said that flexibility was critical, allowing it to switch from sports to arts, day to day. It also comes at a time when tpc’s broadcaster clients are expressing growing interest in acquiring in the highest quality, including 4K resolution and extended dynamic range and colour gamut, to future-proof content and maintain its value for audiences.
Imagine Communications provided the IP-connected infrastructure using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) switches and hardware, which allowed uncompressed Ultra HD production when required. Central to this was the Selenio Network Processor (SNP) gateway and video processor. The SNP provides high-density signal processing with complete freedom to select formats by signal or by production. It also delivers gateway conversion to external SDI signals. The new UHD1 HDR truck also relies on Imagine’s Magella SDN Orchestrator to provide system-level control of the complete network, as well as the company’s EPIC MV multi-viewer for flexible monitoring.
“We are at the beginning of a journey to move all our operations to IP connectivity,” explained Andreas Lattmann, CTO of tpc. “It is great to see our new UHD1 HDR truck on the road, giving us both outstanding production quality and valuable experience in developing and operating IP networks.
"Most important, it does all this while looking and feeling like the trucks that our crews have been operating for years. It gives us the same performance characteristics and operational look and feel as a traditional SDI system, but with all the benefits of IP connectivity and software flexibility — not least, complete format independence right up to uncompressed 4K HDR Ultra HD. Open standards are very important to us, to give us the reassurance we need that we can select best-of-breed solutions for every stage from acquisition to delivery.”
