Mobile TV equips its new 'triple-feed' mobile unit with Grass Valley

The mobile triple feed unit has been designed to carry out three distinct productions based on a single event.

The American audiovisual services group Mobile TV has selected Grass Valley as a supplier of production chambers and mixers for its first mobile triple feed unit. The 33HDX unit, which will be built by sister company Colorado Studios, will include eleven of the new high-performance LDX series cameras and a Kayenne 8 M/E production switcher with three control surfaces: a Kayenne four-band control panel, a Kayenne two-band control panel and a KSP M/E panel. The Mobile TV group selected the LDX Premiere, an affordable, high-performance, dual-format HD camera that has been optimized for today's demanding broadcast applications.

The mobile triple feed unit has been designed to carry out three distinct productions based on a single event. Home shows will be delivered on the 33HDX from the usual one-hundred-monitor production area, while the guest feed will emerge on the VMU33 from a three-seat production room and a third ingest will come from the 33 HDX's usual double-feed room.

A mobile triple feeding unit can also cover Spanish intakes and pre- and post-game programs.

The 33HDX and VMU33 units, which are fully integrated with video, audio and intercom, will have three production areas, three integrated audio rooms and two network broadcast areas.

“The 33HDX will represent a series of firsts for the Mobile TV group, thus being able to provide our customers with an improved service,” commented Philip Garvin, CEO of the Mobile TV group. "The eleven LDX cameras will be the first of the LDX series of cameras in our fleet and we can't wait to get to work with these highly advanced cameras. Along with the Grass Valley K-Frame Kayenne we will have our first triple-feed mobile unit. Until the K-Frame Kayenne arrived, a triple-feed mobile unit was not practical because it requires more than two control panels. We need at least three control panels and enough effects mix buses to power all three. intakes have the M/E power they require to run a quality program. Grass Valley has made the 33HDX and VMU33 triple feed units possible.”

One of the main benefits of the Mobile TV Group's triple feed system is the fact that it requires less setup time, as the video and audio sources only have to be connected to a single mobile unit (33HDX) instead of two or three. Distribution to VMU33 will be through dedicated connection lines. The resources of a single mixer, matrix and intercom system are shared.

“This new triple-feed mobile unit is a great example of how we are helping our customers produce more high-quality content from a single event,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president and CEO of Grass Valley. "The 33HDX, along with the power and flexibility of our Kayenne video production center, enhances the flexibility and image quality of our new LDX camera series. A few years ago the production capacity of an 8 M/E switcher was unheard of, but Kayenne makes 9 M/E with multiple suites possible. This gives rise to a new way of thinking when it comes to the way live programming is produced. And it is why the Kayenne is “Grass Valley is proud to help Mobile TV Group provide its customers with an easier way to produce live content and distribute it across multiple platforms.”

The 33HDX and VMU33 units are currently being built and are expected to be operational by May 2013, thus allowing Fox Sports West to cover the broadcasts of the Los Angeles Clippers, Angels, Dodgers, Kinas and the Anaheim Ducks games.