View Master Events in Greece equipped the country’s first 4K UHD OB truck with 12G UHD HDR signal chain, starting with 12 Grass Valley LDX 98 cameras, a new standard for the region.
View Master Events, a production company in Greece, has equipped the country’s first 4K UHD Outside Broadcast (OB) truck, owned by Live Productions. Already successfully deployed for a variety of live productions in Greece and internationally, the vehicle features a full 12G UHD HDR signal chain, starting with 12 Grass Valley LDX 98 cameras, and achieves a new standard for mobile live production in the region.
View Master Events manages all of the truck’s operations, emphasising flexibility and efficiency in order to deliver complex live broadcasts.
12G Workflows and HDR Features
John Zarganis, CEO at View Master Events, said, “Grass Valley’s LDX 98 cameras are versatile and achieve the image quality we need to compete in modern live production environments. Whether covering sports, cultural events or major international broadcasts, these cameras perform consistently across multiple formats and frame rates.”
View Master Events’ Technical Director John Protopsaltis said that, from an engineering point of view, integrating Grass Valley’s LDX 98 system has made a substantial difference to the team. “The integrated 12G workflows and robust HDR capabilities give us the technical confidence to handle most project types now,” he said. “The cameras’ adaptability simplifies setup and operation under tight production timelines, which is crucial in a live OB environment.”
Especially for Live
The LDX 98 is designed specifically for live production. Its ergonomics and its controls are intended for operators to work naturally, with assignable buttons and an integrated lens zoom control in the handle. It supports native 4K UHD capture and the three main HDR formats - HLG, PQ and S-Log3 – plus wide colour gamut compliance with ITU-R BT.2020 standards.
Their ability to operate across 1.5G, 3G and 12G workflows, combined with 3X and 6X super slow-motion options and simultaneous live 1x and high-speed outputs, means members of a production team can adapt quickly to varying broadcast requirements. For 3X and 6X speed slow-motion under artificial lights, the LDX 90 series has a live flicker reduction system.
These features and a modular architecture give the cameras built-in flexibility that makes operations simpler and more productive for smaller teams, while maintaining image quality. They also mean the LDX 98s will retain their investment value for longer as live broadcast evolves. For instance, extensive connectivity options make it possible to integrate the camera into most existing workflows, and prepare the team for future trends in acquisition and production.
Connectivity
Signals between the camera head and Grass Valley’s XCU camera base stations, used to recall previous settings, are transmitted via an IP-based XF Fibre transmission option. In this configuration, the camera systems have wide analogue and digital audio connectivity with embedded audio.
As well as fibre connections with the XCU base stations, LDX 98 also supports DirectIP, a direct interface of the complete transmission protocol between the cameras and XCUs over IP networks for remote applications, managed by network orchestration software. Any of the cameras can be assigned to any XCU via the GV Connect Gateway.
As a result, one central command/control centre can be used to manage several different production facilities. Meanwhile, control room staff do not have to work on location
The system was designed and integrated by Telmaco S.A., Grass Valley’s partner in Greece for more than 25 years. Telmaco supplied the full Grass Valley camera package and integration services, working closely with View Master Events to create a scalable, modern OB platform.
Just Getting Started
Drossos Kyriazis, COO at Telmaco, said, “This represents the first brand-new 4K camera package deployed in Greece and is a landmark for the broadcast industry in the region.”
With the truck now fully operational, Live Productions and View Master Events are preparing for upcoming national and international events and are exploring the potential for future expansions of their Grass Valley equipment across the OB fleet. www.grassvalley.com
