When the Czech Republic’s third-largest private TV station, TV Prima, decided to decommission its analog desk, it reviewed several options for its digital replacement. In a country where broadcast sound engineers regularly migrate between the public TV network and commercial stations, most are accustomed to Studer consoles, such as the Vista 7 and Vista 8; it was no surprise when they selected the Vista 5.
The new Vista 5 is located in the main control room, which connects to two studios, with news, sporting events and even game shows all mixed to air using the Vista 5. TV Prima also owns the exclusive rights for to the British Premier League, which requires a complex system configuration, with all sends and returns compressed in two layers on the desk plus four live studio mics.
“Since the Vista 5 is used for home production as well, there are some 12 portable microphones connected to the matrix,” says Libor Havlicek of Auditech, Studer’s Prague-based distributor. “The two studios have all their microphones wired to Ghielmetti patch bays, which are also connected to the Vista system 5.”
Prima TV had originally chosen the Vista 5 on the basis of its reliability (which would safeguard long-term investment), easy access to frequently used functions and excellent sound quality. With the planned move to HD, it will be a natural process to implement multichannel sound (with expansion such as SDI embedder/de-embedder already in the planning stages). “It helped that the engineers could make a seamless transfer,” Havlicek says.
Studer’s 32-fader Vista 5 consists of 20 channel strips, optimized for input channel operation, and 12 additional versatile strips for operating output and input channels. Using the Vistonics screen, up to 52 outputs are under immediate control. Up to 240 channels can be accessed and laid out in any order, with the Vistonics system giving instant control over all related channel functions. In addition, the Vista 5 offers full surround capabilities, with an internal 5.1-to-stereo downmix function for simultaneous live productions in both formats.
