TV3 Catalonia upgrades to HD-HDR production with Leader LV7300

Catalonia’s public broadcaster, Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals or CCMA), has chosen Leader’s LV7300 rasterizer as the master reference instrument as part of an upgrade to HD-HDR at its Audiovisual Production Centre in Barcelona.

The CCMA’s primary channel is TV3 Catalonia which is transmitted to viewers in Catalonia, Andorra and the Balearic Islands, and which includes Esport3, TV3’s sports channel.

Supplied by Leader distribution partner SetUp Electrónica, the LV7300 will be used to check video and audio signal quality in a newly equipped studio equipped to support 4K, HD and super slow motion. The studio’s primary role will be to create high quality HD-HDR content, futureproofing the CCMA’s broadcast resources and confirming the corporation’s commitment to supporting the Catalan language and culture.

“We are sourcing from 4K-native Sony cameras with SMPTE-2110 IP connectivity and ITU-R BT 2020 color gamut, enabling use to create very high quality productions in HD-HDR and at high frame rate. This will allow us to capture images with very rich colours, greater than ever contrast and high detail,” said TV3 area of exploitation director, Ramon Sangrà.

“Leader’s LV7300 rasterizer gives our operators all the tools they need to ensure that these enhancements are carried right through the production process from capture, post and archiving to actual transmission. The instrument’s ability to handle 4K helps to safeguard our investment as the broadcast industry embraces ever higher standards,” Sangrà went on.

The LV7300 rasterizer and its equivalent LV5350 waveform monitor incorporate all the SDI facilities of the top-of-the-range LV5600 and LV7600 minus the IP measurement capabilities which are currently required by only a minority of production and post-production teams. These include engineering-related features such as test pattern generation, closed-caption monitoring, CIE color chart, high dynamic range measurement, focus assist, configurable screen layout, tally interface, 4K/UHD operation and 12G-SDI interfaces.

Also incorporated in the LV7300 and LV5350 are Leader’s Cinezone and Cinelite. These are designed for intuitive use by camera crews, editors and colorists. A focus detection algorithm enables the two instruments to sense edges across a very wide range of image contrast levels.