The Turkish Athletics Federation spent 32 million TL building facilities that would grace any international event
Turkey’s national broadcaster dares dream of Olympic glory
TRT delivers World Athletics Championships with brand new HD OB trucks
THERE IS a small group of international sporting events that capture the public imagination like no other. In this Olympic year, March saw the athletic world’s focus drawn to the IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul. These games, however, were also notable in that it was the first time that Turkey has hosted such a prestigious international event. The Turkish Athletics Federation spent 32 million TL building facilities that would grace any international event. And another first saw Turkish
national state broadcaster TRT unveil a sophisticated new high definition outside broadcast facility, used to provide HD signals to well over 100 countries and a global
viewing audience of many millions. The facility comprises two identical and very large OB trucks that were designed, built and commissioned by UK-based systems integrator Gearhouse Broadcast. “These new OB trucks are
very comfortable for broadcast — they make the production of fantastic HDTV programmes so much easier,” says Deniz San, sports director at TRT Sports Channel. “It is still early days but already we can say that TRT is totally prepared to televise this event and many other types of event in high definition. “The world is migrating to HD — it is inevitable. For a director details are all important and the ability to show the tears on the faces of competitors as they win, or lose, is so important.
“HD helps to communicate the emotions felt here in Istanbul to a worldwide viewing audience. Also, HD Slo-mo is so much better than its SD counterpart and this is a key to my abilities as a director,” San continues. The two OB trucks are identical and can operate independently or be dovetailed to create a single integrated OB facility. Each vehicle is a 14m trailer with a single expanding side, providing a comfortable working environment for 16 people. Both trucks support 11
cameras, which comprise nine Sony HDC-1450 HD cameras (of which one operates as an HD RF camera) and two Sony Super Motion cameras, all of which operate a range of Canon
lenses. Each vehicle operates a Snell Kahuna 360 vision switcher and features a fully featured Studer Vista 5 5.1 Dolby surround audio system. The vehicles each feature three EVS XT2+ servers, which maintain the production workflow, as well as supporting the operation of the Super Motion camera systems. The backbone of both vehicles is provided by numerous integrated Harris systems, including its Platinum HD Video (176 x 256) routing system, Platinum HD audio (192 x 160) routing system,
L/R: Eamonn Dowdall of Gravity Media Group and Deniz San from TRT Sports Channel
its customisable Navigator monitoring and control software alongside Harris test and measurement systems, its 6800+ up, down and cross conversion and distribution systems as well as extensive application of Harris’ QVM multiviewing systems throughout the trucks’ production areas.
Trucks for all seasons Gearhouse Broadcast first became aware of TRT’s intention to acquire HD OB facilities in 2009. The company started working with TRT’s