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By: Jason Dachman, Managing Editor Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 1:16 pm |
As hockey fans worldwide watch the race for Olympic medals during the final days of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Boxx TV’s Meridian HD “Zero Delay” digital wireless system is there bringing them all the action. The Games mark the debut of the Boxx TV Meridian system on a worldwide stage.
Every hockey game played at General Motors Place, home of the Vancouver Canucks (renamed Canada Hockey Place for the Olympics) is taking advantage of the system’s abilities to provide live-to-air uncompressed HD signals from untethered cameras located at multiple points throughout the arena.
Whether the broadcast requires a player close-up from the arena floor, or pictures from a locker room hundreds of feet away, the Boxx Meridian system delivers uncompressed HD transmission in real time. Its unique multiple receiver system enables directors to pick shots virtually from anywhere in the facility, even through multiple concrete walls and similar obstructions.
The system was installed at General Motors Place by Sony Systems Integration Group, which was selected by the Canucks as the systems integrator to upgrade and relocate the control room and video capabilities. The Boxx technology was an integral part of the upgrade. Multiple receivers were placed at key spots in the arena, including the player bench on the arena floor, and also in the player change room, gym, and the press center, allowing wireless pictures in uncompressed HD to be integrated into any event. In addition, Sony cameras using a wireless remote camera control system were able to communicate directly to a Sony remote control panel (RCP); another unique Boxx feature which allows original manufacturers’ RCPs to be used with its system.
“The zero delay latency of our Meridian system, plus the flexibility of being able to shoot uncompressed HD virtually anywhere, wirelessly, and at low cost were big considerations in the decision of the Canucks to install the Boxx system for General Motors Place,” said Boxx CTO Scott Walker. ”We thank them for their confidence in our technology–especially now with the world watching during the Olympics.”
Boxx Meridian systems are designed for use in any venue, such as indoor arenas, outdoor stadiums, auditoriums, and television studios, where short haul wireless transmissions are vital. With a typical operational range of a football stadium, Boxx uses MIMO antenna technology to handle numerous channels in the 5.1-5.8 GHz spectrum, enabling single cameras to shoot from multiple positions, and multiple cameras to be deployed throughout an arena or similar facility. No frequency licenses are needed.
The Boxx technology also features the exclusive “daisy chain” signal system. Similar in concept to the way that cell phone systems pass conversations transparently from cell to cell while a person is moving, Boxx signal technology passes uncompressed HD signals through a series of receivers along long pathways: a hallway, a field, etc. An untethered camera can follow a player from the arena, through long hallways into a locker room, shooting continuously in HD, with no trailing cables or cable wranglers.
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