As part of an HD upgrade, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is upgrading its internal infrastructure to support HD production and has selected 162 Crystal Vision interface boards for a new MCR.
79 of the Crystal Vision interface boards are being used in the production studios’ new MCR. Six Q-Down-A 3G are down-converting the signals into the studio, and offer flexible analogue and digital outputs as well as reclocked input loop-throughs. An Up-and-down-AAFD is in use as a multi-functional ‘tool’ for the MCR, with its ability to both up, down and cross-convert between HD and SD sources and also to insert SMPTE 2016 AFD data into the output video to allow downstream equipment to automatically select the appropriate aspect ratio.
40 3GDA digital video distribution amplifiers, which can distribute 3Gbps, HD and SD sources, are being placed before and after the router for the signal distribution in the production facility, while four VDA110M HD analogue video DAs are being used to distribute Black and Burst reference signals. With a delay of up to half a second in HD and three seconds in SD, 14 ViViD HD variable video delays are matching the delay of the multiviewer displays to the regular displays within the monitor wall. Three CoCo HD colour correctors are providing colour correction for the screen within the studio set to match the colours on air, while an SW221 3G 2 x 2 routing switch is in use as a disaster switch between the mixer output and matrix. For embedding and de-embedding up to two groups of analogue and digital audio signals, ten TANDEM HD-21 embedders/de-embedders have been placed before and after the audio mixer.
The other 83 interface boards are being used to distribute signals all over the facility. 25 FTX 3G fibre optic transmitters and 31 FRX 3G fibre optic receivers are transporting the signals between the different buildings, while ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is also using 27 SYNNER-E HD synchronisers – a multi-functional board which includes a video synchroniser, tracking audio delay, embedder, de-embedder and audio processor with special Dolby E processing – for synchronising the lines.
The 162 boards are housed in 15 Indigo 2SE 2U frames which are located within the production facility. ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG is using a centralised monitoring system for its complete broadcast environment, and therefore monitoring and control of the Crystal Vision boards is being done through SNMP.
