MONTREAL — March 23, 2021 — Sky Italia has put Grass Valley cameras at the heart of its studio operation. The deployment is part of a wider studio camera upgrade, allowing the broadcaster to meet rising demand for live content and enable new services.

The Grass Valley LDX 86^N Series cameras give the broadcaster an easy upgrade route to IP and 4K UHD — as and when it is needed — through a flexible daily, weekly or monthly e-license. Grass Valley's unique DirectIP functionality enables the XCU UXF base station to be located a considerable distance (up to 20,000 kilometers) away from the camera, allowing the team to manage the bulk of production from a remote or home studio.

Enzo Paradisi, engineering director at Sky Italia, commented, "The ability to use our existing studio set-up and move the cameras as needed among various studios is central to keeping our live news and studio production content flowing. We are also laying important groundwork for migration to SMPTE ST2110-based IP infrastructure and can operate in hybrid environments in the meantime. We're excited to extend a long relationship, that spans two decades, with Grass Valley, the team deeply understands our business and operational needs, and we trust the quality and reliability of its solutions."

The LDX 86^N cameras will go live in 2021 and give the Sky Italia team a choice between native 3G/HD and 4K UHD image capture. The DirectIP functionality means that base stations and cameras can be linked through an IP network, allowing any camera to connect to any base station. When combined with SMPTE ST2110 IP infrastructure, this set up gives customers the freedom to optimize equipment usage and allocate camera resources flexibly as needed.

"In this dynamic media landscape, our customers need to know that their investments today support future roadmaps for new technology upgrades," added Marco Lopez, Grass Valley's general manager for live production. "Equally important is trust that Grass Valley has a deep knowledge of their needs and will provide a solution that supports them at all levels. Our customer-first approach means we're committed to helping broadcasters and content producers adapt their services. We're extremely proud that Sky Italia has made Grass Valley cameras central to its studio capability and UHD expansion."

Systems integrator and Grass Valley reseller, Video Progetti, is undertaking the studio upgrade.

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For information about Grass Valley solutions and services, please visit grassvalley.com.

About Grass Valley

Grass Valley's end-to-end ecosystem of reliable, open standards-based solutions helps content creators, broadcasters and media organizations to produce brilliant content and build successful media businesses.

We are the trusted partner to many of the biggest and most creative names in the media and entertainment business, enabling the production of rich, high quality content that brings the viewer closer to the action; engages them with the story and connects them with each other.

Headquartered in Montreal, Grass Valley has been engaged in the media technology business for over 60 years and is owned by Black Dragon Capital.