Broadcast Solutions designs a UHD IP UM for Supersport

Supersport has commissioned Broadcast Solutions the design and integration of a huge 16 meter long UHD mobile unit completely conceived in IP.

The new IP1 is probably one of the largest outdoor broadcast vehicles ever built.

Thanks to South African traffic regulations, the unit has, in addition to its 16 meters in length, 4.3 meters in height, and 2.6 meters in width, expandable by 5 meters by extending its flask.

The added size means Broadcast Solutions has been able to create unprecedented production power in a single vehicle, while maintaining a very comfortable working environment. Production facilities include a mixer Sony XVS 9000 4 M/E, an audio mixer Calrec Artemis 64 faders and space for 14 repeat operators EVS. The truck is wired for 30 cameras, including cameras Sony 3500 Ultra HD, 5500 super-motion y 4800 ultra-motion.

Internal connectivity uses the SMPTE ST2110 standard throughout the vehicle. The SNPs of Imagine Communications provide SDI/IP conversion, as well as video processing.

General control of the entire mobile unit uses the hi human interface system developed by Broadcast Solutions. This is an extremely powerful control layer that enables automatic detection and configuration of all systems, as well as a very intuitive user environment that allows for quick, secure and accurate configurations and transitions. Broadcast Solutions recently installed hi on two other Supersport mobile units.

Neighbor Naidoo, head of production operations at Supersport, says: “We needed to be able to cover a lot of those events in Ultra HD for global broadcasts, so we needed a new truck that had all the tools we needed and that we could configure very quickly for each job.”

“We spoke to system integrators all over, and Broadcast Solutions impressed us with their understanding of our requirements, their IP networking skills, and the simple way they controlled everything through the hi-human interface,” he adds.

JP Delport, managing director of Broadcast Solutions UK, adds: "Through the use of IP and software tools, the Broadcast Solutions design team is now able to pack huge amounts of production capacity into external broadcast trucks. What makes Supersport IP1 so exciting is that they allowed us to make the body larger than would be allowed in Europe, so we were able to create much more work space. Everyone is together on one truck, but still has a comfortable work space."

The new truck was built in the Broadcast Solutions workshops in Bingen am Rhein, Germany, and then driven with special permission to Hamburg for transport by sea to South Africa.