NEP UK plus Grass Valley and Vislink create wireless super slow-mo camera for live action

The first wireless super slow-mo live cameras, using 4K equipment from Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, and Vislink, have been made by NEP UK. The cameras are set to be used this week for ITV’s coverage of the Cheltenham Festival and will be deployed on other sporting events in the coming weeks.

NEP and Vislink worked together with Grass Valley to come up with bespoke camera backs for the Grass Valley cameras that allow the Vislink transmitters to be attached directly and send multiple streams of 4K images. The high frame rate allows the system to transmit live images at 1080p150, which can be cut live (at 1080p50) and also fed directly to an EVS for super slow motion playback.

“Super-Slow or tri-motion images have become increasingly popular, particularly for sports coverage, but we’ve never been able to capture them live with an RF camera before,” said William Norris, senior RF engineer, NEP UK. “By teaming our Grass Valley RF cameras and Vislink HCAM wireless transmitters, plus some NEP imagination, we can now offer clients the ability to capture Super-Slow images, while recording live images at 1080p150 and providing return video to the camera operator.”

Bart van Dijk, product manager, Grass Valley, said: “Grass Valley was very happy to support the keen RF team at NEP in the development of a shoulder mount triple-speed solution based on the Grass Valley LDX 86XS camerahead and the HCAM 4K Wireless Camera integrated with the INCAM-G camera back.”

The OB team at the Cheltenham Festival will use a GV LDX 86XS handheld wireless camera, offering return video and full camera control. It is likely to be used to capture action over the fences as well as winners’ reactions.

Raj Kotecha, VP strategic accounts, Vislink, added: “We at Vislink are delighted to be working with NEP and Grass Valley to push the boundaries of Outside Broadcasting at the Cheltenham Festival using our latest HCAM 4K Wireless Camera System in conjunction with our INCAM-G Camera Back Mounting Solution.”

For other events the team will also be able to use a GV LDX C86N mounted on a Steadicam rig, also with return video and full camera control, that can cover scenes such as team arrivals and crowd action as well as event coverage.

NEP UK now has the ability to offer Super-Slow motion to clients wherever standard wireless cameras are currently used.