New CROATEL OB 3 HD van rolls out with Grass Valley cameras, switcher and routing

Croatian broadcast production and satelilite services company CROATEL has expanded its outside broadcast fleet to include a third van complete with high definition cameras, switchers, routers and other live production solutions from Grass Valley. “Based on the superb video quality we’ve provided from sporting and other live events since we added our last HD OB van in 2011, our business has grown to the point that it was time to expand our fleet,” said Tonko Barac, managing director of CROATEL.

Called HD OB 3, the van will transmit coverage of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa Football League, Croatian Football League, athletics and other international sports events. Kapetanovic Sistemi, a longtime reseller of Grass Valley solutions, was instrumental in bringing together the right equipment and expertise to help CROATEL deliver live production with HD OB 3.

At the heart of HD OB 3’s workflow is Grass Valley’s 3 ME Karrera Video Production Center switcher with control panel and K-Frame video processing engine. CROATEL purchased five additional Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite cameras, making 20 camera units available for OB 3. The vehicle is also equipped with a Densité modular system that includes six 3RU Densité 3 frames for signal processing and distribution, a Kaleido- Modular-X multiviewer, an NVISION 8140 HYBRID router with two NV920 controllers and additional compact routing equipment, two HD/SD master sync generators and a master sync changeover unit.

“We’ve been very happy with the performance of Grass Valley’s solutions, so it was an easy decision to select Grass Valley as our technology partner for the new van. Plus, we can maximise the efficiency of our staff because they’re already familiar with Grass Valley’s technologies.”