N E W S B U L L E T I N – AUGUST 2008
From HD to Mobile TV: The Whole World’s Watching Thomson at the 2008 Summer Games From Beijing
Hundreds of millions of TV viewers globally, as well as those in attendance, will see the first Olympiad to be produced entirely in HD for broadcast rights holders by the host broadcaster. There will be hundreds of Thomson Grass Valley HD cameras in place in Beijing and Hong Kong for the Games, including the latest Thomson Grass Valley offering, the LDK 8300 3X HD Super SloMo camera, as well as a huge complement of Thomson Grass Valley HD production equipment, represent the majority of the HD production gear to be used by Chinese and European outside broadcast (OB) production companies contracted by the host broadcasters to provide coverage to the Games’ broadcast rights holders.
Among those contracted by the host broadcaster for the Summer Games:
From Belgium:
- Alfacam, the premiere OB van company in Belgium, will cover the largest number of events for any single production company at the Summer Games in Beijing, to support the host broadcaster and a variety of broadcast clients. The company will use 56 LDK 8000 HD cameras for the Opening/Closing ceremonies alone. In total, they will use 40 LDK 6000 (triax), 16 LDK 6200 2X HD Slo-mo camera systems, 120 LDK 8000 (triax) HD cameras, 24 LDK 8300 3X HD Super Slo-mo camera systems, and two LDK 8000 wireless HD camera systems. They’ve also purchased 14 Kayak™ HD production switchers, four XtenDD-HD production switchers, and four Trinix™ HD routers.
- Outside Broadcast has purchased a Kayak HD production switcher and a Trinix HD router.
From China:
All of China's major broadcasters are participating in coverage for the host broadcaster, such as:
- Heilongjiang TV - will use a Kayak HD switcher and Concerto HD router under Jupiter software control, in one of the two biggest, most sophisticated OB van in China to date, built by Thomson’s Systems Group.
- Liaoning TV - has purchased a new Kalypso HD switcher for use in one of the two biggest, most sophisticated OB van in China to date, built by Thomson’s Systems Group.
- Fujian TV – Kayak HD switcher, Concerto HD router, Jupiter (VM 3000) control, in an OB van built by Thomson’s Systems Group.
- Zhejiang TV – is using 10 LDK 6000 cameras, two LDK 6200 2X HD SloMo cameras, Kalypso HD and a Kayak HD switchers, and a Concerto Series™HD video router and an Apex™ audio router under Jupiter software (VM 3000) control, in an OB van built by Thomson’s Systems Group.
- Daqing TV – purchased eight LDK 8000 cameras (fiber).
- Dalian TV – has a new Kalypso HD switcher and a Concerto Series HD router under Jupiter (VM 3000) control.
- Qingdao TV – now using a Kayak HD switcher.
- Beijing TV – bringing a Kayak HD switcher and Trinix HD router under Jupiter (VM 3000) control.
- Xiamen TV – using a Concerto Series HD router under Jupiter (VM 3000) control.
- Changchun TV – will send a Kayak HD switcher, and Concerto Series HD router under Jupiter (VM 3000) control.
- Tianjing TV – has purchased two LDK 6200 2X HD SloMo systems.
- China Central Television (CCTV) will set up a full production studio at the Olympic Park Broadcast Center, in Beijing, where it will use 20 LDK 8000 HD cameras on fiber cabling.
- Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will use a Kayak HD switcher in the stadium.
From France:
- EUROMEDIA, one of the largest production companies in France, will send several trucks to cover the 2008 Summer Games. This includes its:
- SFP 732 OB Van – with 10 LDK 8000 cameras (triax), a 2 M/E XtenDD™ HD switcher, and a Concerto Series HD router.
- SFP 740 OB Van – 10 LDK 8000 cameras (triax), a 2 M/E XtenDD HD switcher, and a Concerto Series HD router.
- VCF 21 OB Van - 10 LDK 8000 cameras (triax), a 4 M/E Kalypso HD switcher, as well as a Trinix HD video and a Concerto Series audio router.
- SFP 741 OB Van - 10 LDK 8000 cameras (triax) and a Kayak HD 4 M/E switcher.
- Road 3 OB Van - 10 LDK 8000 cameras (triax) and a Kayak HD 4 M/E switcher.
From Sweden:
- At several Hong Kong venues, OB van company Prisma will bring 45 LDK 8000 cameras (fiber); three Kayak HD switchers; two Trinix HD routers, two k2 media servers, and a full complement of GeckoFlex™ modular products.
- Prisma Outside Broadcast, Scandinavia’s largest live production company, will also be on site in Beijing with 15 LDK 8000 cameras (fiber), eight LDK 8300 3X Super SloMo cameras, and a Kayak HD switcher.
From The UK:
- NEP Visions is sending two of its state-of-the-art flypacks, which each feature a Thomson Grass Valley Kalypso HD Video Production Center switcher, Trinix HD digital video router under Jupiter control, and six LDK 6000 mk II HD cameras.
From Canada:
- Applied Electronics are building temporary broadcast facilities for their clients at the Olympic Broadcast Pavilion using Kalypso and Trinix.
From South America:
- Brazil’s TV GLOBO will establish it own home base at the Olympic Park location, based around a Trinix HD router under Encore™ software control.
Additionally, organizations within China will rely on Thomson Grass Valley HD production solutions and Thomson transmission solutions to bring the Games home to those in the host country.
- CCTV, China’s premiere national broadcaster, will be using 15 Infinity™ DMC 1000 HD camcorders along with several EDIUS® nonlinear editing (NLE) workstations. CCTV’s news production department located in Beijing will be providing live coverage of the Games in HD from numerous venues. CCTV will be using the Infinity’s built-in JPEG 2000 codec to streamline their HD workflow and bring finished segments to air faster.
Clips captured with the Infinity during the Games will be offlined in the field on EDIUS-equipped laptops using an external USB REV PRO drive. Edit lists created from the laptops will then be transferred to EDIUS NLE workstations for online finishing. The finished program files will be delivered to CCTV's news network for storage, sharing, and management.
- China’s Administrative Bureau of Radio Stations (ABRS) will be using Thomson 2 kW Elite 100 and 6 kW Elite 1000 transmitters for SD and HD transmission of the Olympic Games.
ABRS is also using 12 Thomson Elite 100 transmitters in Beijing, Chongging, and Tianjin to cover the main Olympic venues with mobile television with 1 kW transmitters.
- Thomson has also supplied a headend to distribute SD and HD content for the cable network deployed in the Olympic Village. These system carry five HD channels and 48 SD channels.
For more information about Thomson Grass Valley HD sports and live production equipment from Thomson, please click here. |
