Outside Broadcast, one of Belgium’s most active mobile production companies, has purchased nine Leader LV7700 multi-standard SDI rasterisers for use in its fleet of HD and SD production vehicles.
Based at Leuven near Brussels, Outside Broadcast produces a wide variety of music programmes for clients in many countries. Most of its productions are in 1080i high definition. The instruments were supplied by elQuip BV, European Master Distributor Pro-Video for Leader Electronics Corporation.
“The LV7700s exactly meets our requirement for dependable multi-role test instruments,” commented Outside Broadcast’s Technical and Operations Manager, Ronald Meyvisch. “They are intuitive to use and come complete with all the features we need, including embedded-audio monitoring, instead of requiring a string of optional add-ons. We have installed the LV7700s in our four HD OB units. Two instruments are located in units 7, 8 and 9, and three in our newest unit 11 which is equipped to handle 16 Sony HD cameras.
“The LV7700 simplifies the task of colour grading for the various types of display now in common use. The great majority of HD audiences are watching LCD or plasma displays, so it is no longer safe to rely only on CRTs. The LV7700s enable us to check individual component signal levels and colour vectors, ensuring our output conforms fully to standard broadcast parameters. The analysers are fully compatible with every signal standard we use. Each LV7700 is connected to an external screen and used to monitor incoming camera feeds. We also use them to check video and audio on the transmission output. The compactness of the LV7700 means we can get two into a 1RU slot. That’s an important benefit in any broadcast vehicle.”
“Multi-definition signal handling has become a standard requirement for practically all broadcasters and post production companies,” adds elQuip managing director, Paul Vos. “The migration from SD to HD is proceeding rapidly and looks set to become an avalanche. We anticipate that 625 and 525 SD will be around for many years to come, even if only as legacy content, so the LV7700’s ability to auto-sense the standard of incoming SDI will remain a major feature.”
