BVE 2014: Signal transport and camera innovations on the menu from Bluebell

The BVE show at ExCEL will see the introduction of a new signal transport platform for outside broadcast and infrastructure applications on Stand L62. With the drive to 4K and 3G systems the PW140 Series from Bluebell offers a universal SDI signal transport over fibre in a compact 1RU frame. At its heart is a processor which provides simultaneous multiplexing and de-multiplexing of the signals presented to it from the input/output cards.

The initial base configuration provides 6 x bidirectional HD-SDI signals over two fibres or 10G Ethernet. With the addition of audio, data and Ethernet I/O cards, the PW Series offers an optical backbone for all demanding signal transport applications. When used with CWDM optical multiplexing 96 x HD-SDI signals can be transported over a single fibre.

Bluebell will also be demonstrating Net Caddie, a new compact camera interface using the new Stagebox by BBC Research & Development technology. Net Caddie allows HD-SDI to be injected directly into a standard network environment, bringing IP to the camera. It transforms the entire camera’s bidirectional linear control, audio and video signals into packet based IP protocols, all on a single Cat6 cable to simplify workflows and rigging.

Operators can now plug cameras direct into a venues Gigabit infrastructure for the distribution of live camera feeds. By using Stagebox by BBC Research & Development technology with 100MB/s AVC-I compression, the HD-SDI is converted and carried over the network in full broadcast quality video. This allows a remote camera to be used directly in the production environment and provides video, audio and ancillary information over a time synchronous network. Most importantly the system is completely synchronized, providing an IP equivalent to a genlocked SDI system.