Apantac LLC, a leading designer and developer of high quality, cost effective Multiviewers and signal processing equipment, announced that Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) has installed Tahoma-LE Series of High Definition Multiviewers in their newly refurbished HD mobile television production truck.
The 40-foot mobile production truck is a state-of-the-art Mobile Production Lab used to produce live sports events that are telecast to high-profile outlets such as ESPN. The truck also focuses on concert production, and local charity events including the Ronald McDonald House telethon. In addition, the truck is used as a lab for MTSU mass communication students. Recently, MTSU students produced a 1-hour NASA documentary for PBS Nashville on the ARES-1 rocket launch.
The MTSU mobile production truck is equipped with advanced technology and equipment, including the Apantac Tahoma-LE Multiviewers. MTSU trains their students on state-of-the-art equipment that's actually being used by working video and audio professionals. This improves their teaching capabilities, and provides an outstanding learning environment for the students.
At events, the student crew handle all production aspects of the event coverage. The new Apantac HD Multiviewers provide students with the multi-image display processing tools they need to visually monitor all feeds from cameras out in the field and content being fed from tape decks and digital disk recorders. The feeds are displayed on a monitor wall, which includes two 46” LCD screens. One Tahoma-LE-16 HD (16 input) Multiviewer module is used for the preview monitoring, another Tahoma-LE 16 HD is used for program monitoring, and a third Tahoma-LE-16 is used for monitoring 8 inputs of video for the engineering monitor and 8 inputs of video for the audio booth monitor. Two Tahoma-LE-4 (4 input) HD Multiviewers are used for monitoring the playback sources.
Each Tahoma-LE Multiviewer displays 4 - 16 SD, HD-SDI or composite inputs, and the production crew can configure each display using Apantac’s intuitive and easy-to-use configuration layout software. The Tahoma-LE series incorporates a built-in CATx extender, which allows the output of the Multiviewer to be extended up to 115 feet. Tahoma-LE supports DVI, HDMI and VGA outputs up to 2048x1080 (incl. 1080P), and includes built-in video and audio alarm detection, borders, the ability to insert graphics (e.g. logos) and display window labels.
“The Apantac Tahoma-LE Multiviewers have proven to be an excellent teaching tool, and an excellent addition to our mobile production truck. Our students are mastering the complex task of technically producing shows, giving them real-world experience and confidence,” comments Marc Parrish, Director of Technical Systems at MTSU. “When we brought in Apantac’s Multiviewer for evaluation, it was instantly clear that the feature-set provided us with the functionality we needed.”
