Sony integrates Polsat's new 4K HDR IP mobile unit

Polsat, one of the largest media companies in Central Europe, has turned to Sony Professional Solutions as prime contractor to design and integrate its first 4K IP mobile unit. The new unit will provide a very powerful and flexible television program production capacity, especially when broadcasting sports, arts and entertainment events in UHD/HD HDR.

In 2007, Sony delivered an HD mobile unit to Polsat, one of the first available at the time. Satisfied with its long relationship with Sony and its technological experience, Polsat has once again trusted Sony as a commercial and technological partner for its new flagship mobile unit. While Sony's expertise and technologies were instrumental in developing the core infrastructure and design of the mobile unit, this project was also carried out in collaboration with local ISIs, 4Vision y Auto containers.

With the exponential demand for content, which has been amplified by the pandemic, Polsat has been working on a future strategy to transform its business model through technological and operational changes. Advice from different local and international partners such as Sony y 4Vision has led to the construction of this unit. It fits perfectly into this business transformation strategy thanks to its full IP equipment and infrastructure capable of producing in any format, such as HDR and 4K, with great flexibility in operations and workflows.

Andrzej Szymański, CTO (Technical Director) of Polsat, states that "we know that the future of the audiovisual and broadcast sector is going to depend considerably on technology to offer excellent content to the audience. Taking this into account, we set out to build a mobile unit prepared for the future, capable of satisfying this need. Sony is our trusted partner for this due to its great knowledge of the sector and its capacity for innovation. However, this project is also the result of collaboration with different implementation partners, such as 4Vision, Autokontener and other technology providers.”

“It is the first step in a long-term transformation of our infrastructure and workflows that will make our content production and supply chain more efficient, flexible, scalable and highly responsive,” he adds.

Power and flexibility

The system offers Polsat a very powerful and flexible television program production capacity, especially when broadcasting sporting, artistic and entertainment events. The addition of the new mobile unit also means that programs can be produced in UHD/HD HDR format.

Hiroshi Kajita, head of Media Solutions at Sony Professional Solutions, states that "Sony is a company with a solid technological foundation. We are excited to be able to work long-term with a client like Polsat and with local partners like 4Vision, not only because of the strength of these relationships, but also because of the common vision of always using the best technology and the best people to improve the viewer experience."

The 14-meter mobile unit will be fully equipped with the latest Sony technologies, including 4K HDR cameras HDC-3500 y HDC-P50, the video mixer XVS-9000, the video server PWS-4500 and professional monitors PVM/BVM. has been selected Live Element Orchestrator e IP Live System Manager of Sony for all system control and monitoring management based on COTS IP switches from Cisco.

The system, as a whole, responds to the latest SMPTE 2110 and AMWA NMOS series of open standards, allowing interoperability with current and future systems based on this mobile unit.

Live Element Orchestrator and IP Live System Manager are designed with native IP systems in mind. These provide all the necessary foundations to manage, control and monitor the cutting-edge devices and infrastructure of the entire mobile unit production. In addition, it also features the XVS-9000 switcher and HDC-3500 and HDC-P50 system cameras, which integrate seamlessly into the main IP infrastructure.

For HDR and SDR production, the workflow will be adopted SR Live for HDR and operational practices. Having built upon the XVS-9000 tool sets and cameras HDC, will be complemented with the addition of HDR converters, HDRC-4000 y NXLK-IP50Y, which adds more resources to the mobile unit's core processing capabilities.

The vehicle also features a range of third-party products, such as a SSL, a communication system Riedel, objectives of Fujinon, a Selenium network processor for multi-screen Imagine, wireless connections Vislink, SPG and waveform monitors Leader, fiber connections BroaMan y Cisco for the network.