feature live news & sport Feature sponsored by
The live coverage of news and sports events has traditionally been expensive and logistically cumbersome. Investing in specialist satellite trucks, or using satellite service providers, is beyond the reach of many media outlets. Even the live presentation of a single camera from field-to-studio typically requires an uplink to satellite, which necessitates booking costly transponder space. What’s more, the steep cost and complex challenges of deploying satellite trucks or using fibre transmission can limit the way events are covered. While producers may want to get the audience as close to the action as possible, the need to site RF cameras within a certain radius of a receiving station restricts the editorial options. In addition, many personal stories surrounding global news events from war zones, urban areas or remote locations go untold because of the impracticality of access with conventional microwave trucks, or the sheer expense of BGAN operation. But there’s an answer: widening cellular networks and new video uplink technology can now bridge the divide. Technology in this field has advanced to such an extent that broadcasters and online video professionals no longer have to rely on the expense or logistical headache of a satellite OB to achieve broadcast-quality video and audio. Ronen Artman, VP of marketing at LiveU, reports.
Live cellular uplinking for TV and Web
effective alternative to streaming SD and HD video via traditional satellite and fibre, provided users deploy the correct technology. There are immediate advantages:
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uplink technology can be lightweight and therefore highly portable. Everything required for uplink-over- mobile in the field can be contained in a unit weighing around 5kg, including battery, and be packed into a single backpack with minimal time required for set-up and go. The latest mobile HD uplink technology for online applications can even offer
he growing connectivity of terrestrial wireless networks including 3G, 4G LTE, WiMAX, and Wi-Fi can provide an increasingly resilient, comprehensive and cost-
cellular video transmission in a handheld device weighing less than 700g. This can transmit video to a main hub, such as a studio or broadcast centre, or directly to an online video player for live streaming. A second major advantage is cost.
Since the infrastructure can be carried, trucks are not required. Satellite space is substituted by payment for mobile operators’ data plans meaning robust high-definition video uplinks can be achieved at a fraction of the traditional cost.
Wireless network challenges
But wireless technologies can be fickle. For voice the instability of cellular networks is a fact of life but
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