Capturing history in the making, a variety of Thomson Grass Valley HD production equipment was used to cover the 2008 Wimbledon Championships live July 6. It was an HDTV first for some of the broadcasters involved, including NBC and the Tennis Channel.
At the famous All England Club, UK-based NEP Visions helped produce the event and transmitted live HD feeds back to the United States for ESPN, NBC and the Tennis Channel. The company used three of its all-HD trucks (HD2, HD4 and HDR3), each of which features a Thomson Grass Valley Kalypso HD Video Production Center switcher, Trinix HD digital video router under Jupiter control and a combined total of more than 40 LDK 6000 mk II HD cameras.
Prisma Outside Broadcast, based in Gotenburg, Sweden, was also on-site at Wimbledon with an HD OB van built by the Thomson Systems Group. The truck, which was used by Japanese broadcaster NHK, includes LDK 8000 HD cameras, a Kayak 4.5 M/E HD digital production switcher, Trinix HD routers and GeckoFlex signal conversion modules.
HD tennis coverage for Europe and the rest of the world was provided by UK rental house Presteigne Charter, which supplied Thomson Grass Valley LDK 8000 HD cameras, multiple LDK 6200 2X Super SloMo HD cameras and Trinix routers to several international broadcasters.
For more information, visit http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/.
