Sony has delivered BBC Northern Ireland’s first IP-based outside broadcast truck.
The technology giant worked alongside the broadcaster, Megahertz, and Nevion (a Sony company) on the project, which began after a public tender in 2022 and was delivered in spring 2024.
It is built around Sony’s Networked Live ecosystem of solutions for live production with hybrid on-premises and cloud capabilities, including the CNA-2 for camera control, HDCU-3500 CCU for SDI-IP adaptation for cameras, MLS-X1 for video switching, and MKS-R4020 remote control panels. The truck also includes a large number of third-party products.
The media network is a fully redundant spine-leaf configuration and SDN (software-defined network) orchestration, based on SMPTE ST 2110, under the control of Nevion’s VideoIPath which controls not only the network, but also the end devices, said Sony. It does so with a combination of custom-made drivers and NMOS interfaces.
The truck will be interoperable with the central BBC facilities in Belfast as it moves towards IP.
