SIS Live has unveiled its latest new-generation, super-sized outside broadcast vehicle, OB 1. The 24-camera, 14.6m x 5.65m truck is the largest OB vehicle in the UK.
The state-of-the-art production unit is fully HD throughout and 3G capable. Its first job was to cover ‘Match of the Day’ for BBC Sport and it is now moving on to two more very big BBC broadcast events, the Boat Race and extended coverage of the 2010 John Smith’s Grand National from Aintree on 10th April.
“SIS Live is delighted to launch OB 1, the company’s biggest OB vehicle ever and the most innovative and advanced in Europe. OB 1 has been designed in close consultation with our customers and offers a huge amount of flexibility and advanced engineering features for major sports and other outside broadcast events,” said David Meynell, managing director, SIS Live.
OB 1 is the third advanced OB vehicle designed by SIS Live to offer producers the latest production facilities wherever and whenever they are needed. The elegant modular design of the interior of OB 1 gives producers maximum flexibility to set up the vehicle to best suit their needs.
OB 1 operates up to 24 Sony HDC-1500R multiformat cameras plus radio cameras as required. The 14.6 metre long vehicle has triple expanding sides which open out along the entire length, giving a huge 5.65 metre width when extended. There are two production control rooms, which can become one single space for the largest production jobs. This is combined with two separate audio mixing areas, a large VT production control room, VT slo-mo area featuring 9x EVS hard disk recorders and 8x HDCAM SR recorders. There is also a separate Final Cut Pro edit suite.
OB 1 is based around a powerful 576 inputs x 1152 outputs Evertz EQX matrix with embedded audio, featuring a Sony MVS-8000G video switcher and Calrec Alpha and Omega Bluefin digital audio mixers, which deliver 5.1 surround sound. The EQX matrix also powers the advanced multiviewer technology in the production areas, which allows a producer to set up the monitoring precisely for individual events. A total of 28x 23-inch displays are each able to display up to four pictures, giving a total of 112 different sources if required, plus 3x 26-inch single display monitors for transmission.
OB 1, like the company’s OB 7 and OB 3, is completely HD throughout and 3G capable. This means it can both handle 1080i50 pictures as well as being future-proofed for 1080p50 for progressive transmissions. The double capacity 3G infrastructure also makes the OB vehicle ideal for 3D signal processing and will allow SIS Live to continue to be at the forefront of this format.
