Russian broadcaster OTS Novosibirsk upgrades OB van to HD with Grass Valley

Grass Valley has supplied OTS Novosibirsk, a regional television company in Russia, with a suite of HD equipment for its OB van. Grass Valley’s Russia and CIS office, with the support of local system integrator OKNO-TV, facilitated the upgrade, integrating nine LDX Flex advanced imaging cameras, XCU (eXchangeable Control Unit) base stations, Imagestore-Modular master control, the Densité 3 Frame and NVISION routing switchers into the van.

“Upgrading to HD helps us to deliver the best viewing experience possible, which is vital in our effort to remain a leading provider of sports coverage, like ice hockey, in our area,” said Vitaliy Morgunov, general director at OTS Novosibirsk. “We chose Grass Valley equipment because it offers the flexibility and scalability to meet our business needs today and tomorrow for coverage of the biggest sport and entertainment events in the Siberian region—while offering HD services to our customers.”

The LDX Flex studio camera is the entry-level offering in Grass Valley’s line of software-upgradable LDX cameras. The LDX Flex camera is software upgradable through Grass Valley’s GV-eLicense program, which allows customers to trade off between CAPEXs and OPEXs.

The XCU base stations give OTS TV full 3G transmission connectivity for both triax and fibre. The cradles of the XCU are premounted and prewired in the rack, making a secure mechanical and electrical connection. They can easily slide in and out whenever needed and are transferrable between OB vans and studios.

Broadcast infrastructure for the OB van includes the Densité 3 Frame, which can simultaneously process 3G/HD/SD and analogue video, as well as AES and analogue audio; the Imagestore-Modular master control and branding processor (3 Gbps/HD/SD); and NVISION multiformat routing switchers that can mix and match signal types within a single frame, saving space and lowering infrastructure costs.

“When OTS Novosibirsk approached us about helping them make the switch to HD we knew we had the solution they were looking for,” commented Said Bacho, senior vice president, EMEA, Grass Valley. “The Russian market is very important to us, and we take pride in being a trusted partner to our customers and look forward to helping OTS continue their success.”