Spanish broadcasters continue with the transition to HD

TVE

As part of the transition to HD television in Spain, TVE (Spain’s national broadcaster) is leading the way through a series of equipment upgrades -- moving from SD to HD – through the upgrade and purchase of HD OB trucks.

Accordingly, the HD upgrade of the company’s first ever OB truck -- a type-F, TVE’s largest unit type -- was carried out a little over a year ago. Sony supplied 16 HD camera chains, two of which included fibre optic connectors (HDC-1400R) and the remainder utilising triax connectors (HDC-1450R). Another noteworthy addition to this OB truck was that of several HD XDCAM decks to replace video tape for state-of-the-art non-linear HD recording. This OB truck was used, among others, to provide coverage at the Champions League final this year.

At the end of last year, continuing its migration to HD equipment, TVE purchased another type-F OB truck. A brand new unit was acquired, rather than a mere upgrade of an existing one as had happened previously. This OB truck, also incorporates 16 HD camera chains -- six with fibre optic connectors (HDC-1400R) and the remainder with triax connectors (HDC-1450R). Additionally, two Slow Motion camera chains (HDC-3300R) were purchased. The Slow Motion camera chains are primarily being used for sports broadcasts but may on occasion be fitted to other OB trucks as they are fully compatible with the other camera systems.

Finally, Sony has been awarded a contract for the upgrade of a third OB truck (delivery is pending). This unit is smaller than the two others – type-G, according to TVE’s designation – and comprises eight HD camera chains, including four with fibre optic connectors (HDC-1400R) and four with triax connectors (HDC-1450R), one wireless camera head, and one Slow Motion camera (HDC-3300R).

All contracts include grade 1 monitoring.

In total, since TVE began migrating to HD a little over a year ago, forty cameras, three camera heads (two were already delivered during the Tour of Spain) and three Slow Motion cameras have been or are being supplied by Sony.

Telemadrid

Telemadrid has awarded Sony a contract for the supply of production equipment for the upgrade of a studio and a small OB truck (PEL) to HD. This contract includes nine triax camera chains (HDC-1450R) and one MVS-8000G HD video switcher, as well as XDCAM HD cameras and decks as a part of the move from XDCAM SD to HD. Several HDCAM J-H3 players, used to playback the HD material received in video tape format, were also provided.

Finally, and worth noting, both customers have been carrying out HD tests through open HD DTV channels. This means that they require HD equipment in order to increase the amount of content they have from their own in-house productions for playout.