SALT LAKE CITY — Dec. 14, 2009 — Utah Scientific today announced that New Century Productions, a leading North American provider of mobile television production facilities, will place a UTAH-400/XL routing switcher at the heart of its upgraded HD broadcast truck, NCP IV, which is now being refurbished in Pittsburgh.
Since the 53-foot truck with a 42-foot expansion began life as an HD truck in 2004, it has carried analog cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. The main purpose of the upgrade is to install a concave, flat-panel, HD monitor wall, which will be cooler, lighter, less bulky, and more energy efficient — to say nothing of being more flexible for NCP clients.
"We selected a router from Utah Scientific because they are incredibly reliable," said Mike Mundt, NCP director of engineering. "These routers come with a 10-year, no-fee warranty, but in actuality they are much better than that. We still get good support on routing switchers we purchased 20 years ago. No other vendor comes close to offering that."
The 528-frame UTAH-400/XL router (configured 204x384) is being implemented chiefly to accommodate the new monitor wall displays throughout the truck. Besides being all HD, there are now a great many more of them. The UTAH-400/XL is powerful but compact with only 20 rack units, and needs no special cable or connector arrangements. In NCP IV, the 500 output UTAH-400/XL is not significantly larger than the 96x96 router it is replacing and it fits in the same rack allowing NCP engineers to reuse all the existing cabling.
"There's no room for unreliable equipment on a broadcast truck — and not much room period," said Tom Harmon, president and CEO of Utah Scientific. "We designed the UTAH-400/XL with the needs of mobile production in mind — our signature bulletproof reliability, low power consumption, and modest space requirements. As a result, it's ideal for a busy operation like NCP's."
NCP IV carries 12 cameras and covers sports for Fox, ESPN, and NASCAR, among others. After spending 50 days in the shop undergoing the upgrade, it will return to duty Jan. 20 to endure a grueling, nearly seven-day-a-week schedule of NBA basketball, NHL hockey, college basketball, and Supercross racing.
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About New Century Productions (NCP)
New Century Productions is a premier vendor for OB vans and mobile television production facilities in North America. NCP operates a fleet of 12 SDI and HD production trucks providing facilities and equipment for live broadcasts as well as taped, live-to-tape, and post-produced events.
About Utah Scientific Inc.
Utah Scientific is the world's leading specialist in analog, digital, and HDTV routing switchers, master control switchers, and related control software. For more than 30 years, the company has provided industry-leading products and best-in-class service and support as recognized, again in 2009, by Frost & Sullivan with its Customer Service Leadership Award and demonstrated by the industry's first no-fee 10-year warranty. Additional information about the company can be found at www.utahscientific.com.
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