Tim Lewis
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA —Proshow Broadcast provides mobile production facilities for coverage of sporting and other events. We recently enlarged our vehicle fleet with the addition of “Maestro,” a 40-foot HD truck that’s based in the Pacific Northwest and is used for NCAA sports, MLS Soccer, NBA, NHL and a variety of entertainment and corporate events. The predominant monitors in this new truck are from Marshall Electronics.
The largest Marshall installation in the truck is the main production monitor wall. These walls are often the biggest “wow factor” in a truck and this all-Marshall wall doesn’t disappoint. It’s anchored by three Marshall V-R371-IMD 37-inch displays, with each having a 10-input multiviewer feeding it to provide the director and producer with the 30 principal camera and tape sources.
In addition, there are 10 Marshall VP- 201TE 20-inch units for preset/preview/ program and other full screen and quad-split viewing. We also have six Marshall V-R171-IMD 17-inch monitors in both quad and non-quad versions located in front of the technical director/video switcher position. These units offer a DVI input in addition to the four BNCs, making them perfect for displaying an EVS Spotbox desktop.
The other “all Marshall” wall in the truck is at the EVS bench for displaying the EVS server desktops, as well as all of the EVS I/O and any other source required by replay operators.
FULLY FEATURED MONITORS WITH AN EASY BOTTOM LINE
One of the many reasons we chose Marshall monitors is their price to features/performance balance. Marshall has managed to hit a practical price, while at the same time offering you a truly professional product.
This starts with a proper metal enclosure that’s easy to mount, with the VP-201 “truck edition” monitor being a good example. Marshall supplies their proprietary rackmount for this monitor. It’s equipped with slides that allow you to place a 20-inch diagonal monitor in a 19-inch rack space. And the slide system gives you easy access to wiring and menu controls from the front of the rack. This is a truly smart design and demonstrates that Marshall is in touch with the industry for which they’re building products.
Next on the list is a proper HD-SDI BNC input. HDMI inputs are cheap and plentiful on many monitors, but they’re very difficult to deal with in a truck installation and usually require the use of additional external conversion devices that add cost and reduce reliability. All of the Marshall monitors have loop-through BNC inputs.
NO UMD SYSTEM NEEDED HERE
The Marshall monitors also feature a unique IMD (in-monitor display). With this built in, there’s no need for a separate UMD (under monitor display) system that would add significant cost and occupy additional rack space.
A simple RS-422 looping connection ties every monitor back to our truck engineer’s computer, eliminating the need for a bulky data router or homerun wiring. A simple software program can rename every source in every monitor in the truck in just moments, providing us with a huge productivity boost on busy set-up days.
Thanks in part to Marshall Electronics, we’re able to deliver industry-leading broadcasters and producers the high-quality facilities they need at a practical price with our new Maestro mobile production facility.
Tim Lewis is the president and founder of Proshow Broadcast and has been in live production for 30 years. He may be contacted attimlewis@proshow.com.
For additional information, contact Marshall Electronics at 800-800-6608 or visitwww.marshall-usa.com.
