Amsterdam, The Netherlands (IBC — Stand 1.D11), September 08, 2011 — Grass Valley™ has recently won four deals in Switzerland for its LDK 3000 high-definition (HD) cameras. The LDK 3000 camera combines Grass Valley's world class digital image processing with its innovative Xensium™ CMOS sensor, allowing it to deliver significantly higher quality than competing products in its price range.

SRG, the national broadcaster in Switzerland, is moving step-by-step to HD in its Medienhaus, which provides coverage of the Parliament in Berne. Medienhaus had already upgraded its Grass Valley production system based on the K2 media server and Aurora™ live production system, one Kayak™ production switcher, and a Trinix™ NXT router. SRG has now added six LDK 3000 HD cameras to one of the Parliamentary chambers.

"We needed to achieve the best possible image quality at a reasonable price, and we wanted the transition to be as smooth as possible, avoiding high investment peaks" said Max Feller, SRG Medienhaus Project Manager. "In addition, we are in the middle of political events, and we must ensure that we reduce down time to a minimum. Because the LDK 3000 connects over triax, it literally took six minutes to swap out a standard-definition (SD) LDK 300 camera and replace it with an HD LDK 3000 camera—we could do it while a director was out getting coffee!"

Also moving to HD is RTR, the SRG broadcaster for the Romanche language. Like the Medienhaus, RTR is preparing its Chur studios for HD broadcasting beginning in February 2012. As with Medienhaus, the simplicity of moving from Grass Valley SD to HD cameras over the same triax cables was a great attraction, particularly when combined with the excellent quality and stability of the LDK 3000.

Outside broadcast company BBM Studios is particularly well known for its coverage of music events. To capture the Country Night of Gstaad in September 2011, as well as 28 additional concerts during November at AVO- Basel in HD, BBM is upgrading its trucks to the LDK 3000 cameras, despite being a previous user of another manufacturer's cameras. It has ordered eight new cameras, selected after technical trials, because of the very high performance for the price and its triax capability.

b.t production | service often works in conjunction with BBM—specializing in event production using large screen video, bringing the action closer to the crowd. The audience expects this video to be in HD; therefore the company has ordered three LDK 3000 cameras.

"These four Swiss orders illustrate the real benefit of the Grass Valley approach to cameras and the infrastructure around them," said Jeff Rosica, Executive Vice President at Grass Valley. "Broadcasters and production facilities have a huge investment in triax which they want to preserve, as well as minimizing disruption and achieving a quick upgrade. That is why our range of cameras, from the LDK 3000 to the LDK 8000 Elite, is available with triax, fiber, and wireless connectivity. We give the user the freedom of choice."

The LDK 3000 camera contains three Xensium CMOS imagers specifically developed for broadcast use. Each imager uses 2.4 million pixels and allows the camera to switch between 1080i and 720p formats. Being physically identical to the rest of the Grass Valley HD camera range, the LDK 3000 is completely familiar to operators and can use all existing accessories, like Grass Valley's unique Ethernet-based C2IP control system, including the OCP 400 camera control panel.

The cameras in all four contracts will be delivered between the end of August and the end of September 2011.

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About Grass Valley – the Premier Video Technology Solutions Company

With a rich history serving the broadcast and professional video industries, the Grass Valley name is synonymous with innovation, leadership, and performance. With a full range of products and services supporting many of the world's most high-profile television events, Grass Valley offers the most comprehensive portfolio of flexible and cost-effective digital technologies and systems available. Customers deploying Grass Valley solutions include most of the world's leading broadcast and teleproduction facilities, independent video professionals, as well as emerging content creators and distributors providing broadband, telecommunications, and transmission services. When you're watching news, sports, or entertainment programming, whether on a TV, the Web, or a mobile phone, you're watching Grass Valley at work.

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