ABonAir to support Grass Valley Camera Control Unit

Wireless broadcast transmission system provider ABonAir has added Grass Valley camera control unit (CCU) support to its product line. Complementing its support of Sony and Panasonic CCUs, ABonAir wireless broadcast systems now support full protocol for all Grass Valley CCU models operating the camera from the control room.

Camera control units (also known as RCP: Remote Control Panels) allow remotely setting a professional video camera from a media centre and sending control signals to and from the camera. In multi-camera productions, the CCU enables all the cameras to be monitored and synchronised in terms of colour balance, picture intensity, saturation and iris control from the control room.

In wired setups, the control room CCU is connected to the camera through a dedicated cable (SMPTE or Triax), causing distance and field deployment limitations. ABonAir’s wireless video link systems allow broadcasters to transmit content from cameras to mobile production trucks or control rooms quickly and easily without cables. Supporting the CCU standards of Sony, Panasonic and Grass Valley, ABonAir solution replaces the need for CCU cables.

The ABonAir product line is fully automatic: no external components or setup to support the specific CCU model or camera, supplementary antennas or different frequency allocations are needed. The system utilises the same frequency channel for video transmission, intercom and CCU signals.