18 MANAGEMENT
March 2018
Ross Video has introduced the Ultrix-FR5 , a 144x144 version of the company ’ s Ultrix routing and signal processing platform .
Ross Video ’ s Ultrix-FR5 finds first home
Ross Video has announced Riverside Studios as the first user of its new Ultrix-FR5 routing / AV processing platform .
Explaining the choice of Ultrix- FR5 in its forthcoming new facility in Hammersmith , London , Duncan Stewart , technical director , Riverside Studios , said : “ We wanted to go with 12G for the new facility because we regularly use freelancers in the UK and the talent base is obviously very comfortable with SDI . 12G is the logical way for us to handle signal routing for 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ).
Sky Sports Cube is a state-of-theart 4,600sqm studio built by Sky Sports Germany in Munich , and which is designed to re-design workflows for the broadcaster .
For the past 17 years , Sky Sports outsourced its sports programmes in the German market and produced live programmes with traditional tools and workflows . Sky Sports Cube allows Sky Sports to bring production in-house , thus creating the flexibility to build a workflow tailored to their specific needs .
Alessandro Reitano , VP sports production , Sky Sports Germany , explained : “ It was very important to have end-to-end control of our products . The workflow is really unique and the show is something between entertainment and live sports . Being away from traditional workflows is allowing us to change
“ Our key priorities included multiviewers , audio processing and clean switching , so the Ultrix looked impressively specified , but we clearly needed something larger than the existing 1RU and 2RU versions of the product . It was therefore very exciting to meet with the team at Ross and discover that the 144 version was next on the roadmap and would fit the timescales for the new facility .”
Launched this January , Ultrix- FR5 is a 144x144 version of Ultrix , Ross Video ’ s routing and signal processing platform . Packed within a compact 5RU chassis , Ultrix- FR5 delivers a routing platform integrated with multiviewers and FrameSync capabilities . Using 12G chipsets throughout the entire router , Ultrix-FR5 allows users to switch from 270Mbps to singlelink 12G 4K / UHD signals within the same chassis . Its internal architecture deploys an FGPA-based design , allowing users to add software-defined processing capabilities , and others , by the order of software licences .
Describing Ultrix as a “ disruptive platform ”, Todd Riggs , marketing product manager for infrastructure , Ross Video , said : “ We ’ ve thoroughly enjoyed working with progressive customers like Riverside who aren ’ t afraid to think a little differently . Even the best products need one customer to be the first and we ’ re delighted to be involved with a project as prestigious as Riverside .
“ We also have a major US network that has just committed to the Ultrix-FR5 and my inbox suggests we ’ re going to see very high levels of interest in this product in the coming months .”
Also involved in the Riverside project was ES Broadcast as equipment supplier , and as systems integrator alongside ATG Danmon . Over a period of 18 months , ES Broadcast and Riverside decided to adopt a 12G 4K / UHD hybrid technology workflow , which will make the new Riverside studio one of the “ most advanced ” facilities in London — while retaining the operator familiarity that SDI brings , concluded Ben Murphy , managing director , ES Broadcast .
Vizrt brings German football to life at Sky Sports Cube
the set design immediately .”
With Sky Sports Cube , there is a three-storeyed studio complex and three fully-contained studios , each with their own newsroom equipped with Vizrt production tools . At the heart of the new endto-end workflow is the Viz One media asset management ( MAM ) system and Viz Mosart studio
Leader simplifies HDR television production
Leader Electronics ’ LV5490 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) high dynamic range ( HDR ) waveform monitor is now providing full direct support for ITU-R BT . 2408-0 Operational practices in HDR television production . Published last October , the ITU document provides initial guidance to help ensure “ optimal and consistent ” use of the Hybrid Log-Gamma ( HLG ) and Perceptual Quantiser ( PQ ) techniques specified in ITU-R BT . 2100 .
The LV5490 4K / UHD HDR waveform monitor supports preconfigured settings to ensure the reference levels are correct for both PQ and HLG production . A 75 % HLG , or 58 % PQ , marker is also displayed automatically on the waveform monitor graticule . This represents the reference level , enabling the vision engineer to ensure that any object placed at the centre of interest within a scene occupies the appropriate signal range and that sufficient headroom is reserved for specular highlights .
Also now added to the LV5490 is system gamma Optical-Optical Transfer Function ( OTR ) functionality for HLG and Sony ’ s SR-Live for HDR production technology .
automation system .
The MAM archive has a 1,000TB capacity , where all the recordings of the football games are stored , and retrieved via the
A video wall in Sky Sports Cube in Germany provides multiple perspectives from the stadium to the studio for in-depth analysis .
Leader ’ s LV5490 offers 4K / UHD , 3G , HD and SD test and measurement features in a half-rack-width by 4U portable unit with a full HD 9-inch front-panel monitor . It provides all the capabilities needed to implement the full potential of HDR in both HD and 4K / UHD , said Leader Electronics .
Signal displays such as video waveform , chroma levels , colour vectors , bar graphs , noise , video patterns , quad-3G phase , data tables , camera picture output , colour chart , multi-channel audio levels and surround-sound vectors can be viewed simultaneously in a user-customisable layout .
If a specific element requires detailed attention , this can be selected quickly for viewing at higher resolution or full screen .
The Leader CINELITE HDR toolset also comes as a standard feature of the LV5490 , allowing easy assessment of relative exposure and overall luminance during production . A focus-assist option allows highly accurate on-set adjustment of camera focus to match the ability of 4K and UHD formats to handle very precise image detail , Leader Electronics concluded .
Recent enhancements to Leader Electronics ’ LV5490 waveform monitor make it easier for users to work with HDR formats .
search capabilities provided by Viz One . The entire live production is controlled by the Viz Mosart automation system , which allows the director to manage and easily control the production from one location .
Sky Sports Cube also includes a 600sqm studio equipped with a 35m-long LED wall , which provides multiple perspectives from the stadium to the studio for in-depth analysis . Viz Multiplay , which controls the video wall content in the studio , allows Sky Sports to show different videos , analyses and interviews on every screen .
Reitano concluded : “ Vizrt for us is a long-standing partnership . Every major project we work on includes Vizrt because it isn ’ t a matter of whether we will use Vizrt — it ’ s only a matter of how we want to use Vizrt .”