Cobham called in for World Championships

CHINA: Four of Cobham's Solo H.264 ENG TX transmitters, PRORXD HD receivers, and associated camera control systems were called into action at the recent IAAF World Championships in Beijing. The equipment was supplied to host broadcaster CCTV by the manufacturer's Chinese business partner, CSS Group.

Cobham liaised with CSS for the installation, testing and operations before, and during the nine-day games to assist CCTV produce the pragmatic general multicast (PGM) for regional broadcasters around the world. Video signals from the iconic Beijing National Stadium were sent to the central production compound over standard HD-SDI fibre optic systems. Camera control was achieved with Cobham's specialist four-in-one system enabling four cameras to be controlled over the one UHF channel. The UHF transmitting unit was placed in the stadium and, according to the host broadcaster, delivered excellent performance using minimal power. The UHF transmitting unit was connected to the production compound's remote control panel with a pair of 500m audio cables.

'We were the main broadcast services provider for the host broadcaster and provided setup, operation, and maintenance for the technology used for track and field within the stadium as well as RF production for the marathon, including aerial production and transmission,' said CSS Group president, product and application development, Roger Wong. 'Cobham's Solo ENG and respective camera control systems always provide the very best performance in video quality and robust reliability. We thank them, as well as CCTV for their trust in us to deliver high-quality professional broadcast signals to the world broadcasting community.'

'High quality images are essential for live sport coverage and we are delighted that CSS Group and CCTV had such a high degree of success with our technology in their coverage of a world class event,' added Cobham broadcast sales manager, Asia Pacific, Sue Gilks.

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