Mobile TV Group Officially Enters the 1080p HDR Era With 51FLEX Mobile Unit for Bally Sports New truck is MTVGs first to launch specifically for nightly 1080p HDR productions By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 2:45 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
in December 2017, Mobile TV Group dove into the HDR waters with DirecTV's first live 4K UHD HDR broadcast in the U.S. - which earned a Sports Emmy nomination. Since then, MTVG has rolled out a caravan of 4K and 1080p HDR-capable mobile units. Its newest truck, 51FLEX, however, marks a new era for the company: it is the first to launch with the express intent of producing 1080p HDR shows on a nightly basis.
51FLEX is serving Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal.
When we did that first 4K HDR broadcast, we knew it was the beginning of something special, says MTVG COO Nick Garvin. And our years of experience have culminated with this mobile unit. We're extremely proud of not only our history as a leader in the HDR space but also where we are headed in terms of building high-quality 1080p HDR mobile units.
51FLEX, which debuted at the end of 2022, is currently serving Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal coverage of the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Angels.
Bally Sports is very excited to launch another new mobile unit with our partners at Mobile TV Group, says Kendall Burgess, VP, technical operations, Bally Sports. We are currently producing the majority of our broadcasts out of 51FLEX in 1080p SDR. Shortly after the truck launch, we had a successful 1080p HDR test game, where we learned a lot about the new technology. We look forward to getting our L.A.-based technical crews and production teams more experience with the new workflow as we produce more 1080p HDR events in the future.
As is the case with all of MTVG's FLEX series trucks, 51FLEX is accompanied by a visitor's mobile unit (51VMU), which can be deployed by the visiting team's RSN production crew in person or remotely via MTVG's Cloud Control platform. As a result, Bally Sports West and Bally Sports SoCal's production teams can broadcast home games in 1080P HDR while providing the visiting broadcaster their format of choice.
51FLEX is accompanied by 51VMU (visitor's mobile unit).
Inside 51FLEX: An IP-Powered 1080p HDR Beast Built onsite at MTVG's headquarters in Colorado, the 1080p HDR IP-based mobile unit is built around a Grass Valley Kayenne K-Frame X IP switcher (7M/E, 96 inputs/48 outputs) and 128-port Evertz NATX IP router. The production team can use up to 32 sources during each broadcast, including 12 1080p HDR cameras with four running in super-slo-mo.
In the replay room, 51FLEX has four 12-channel EVS XT-VIA IP full-editing replay servers with 16 channels of embedded audio. The truck is capable of 16 HD inputs/12 HD outputs when the truck is running in super-slo-mo mode or 32 HD inputs/16 HD outputs when it is running in HD mode. Two XT-VIAs can also be split into two operator positions (each with 4 inputs/2 outputs), and two positions use LSM Connect (no VGA). The truck is also equipped with a four-channel EVS XS-VIA server for Spotbox (two channels per show during dual feeds).
51FLEX is equipped with four 12-channel EVS XT-VIA replay servers.
The truck rolls with an arsenal of 12 Grass Valley cameras, including six LDX82 Premier 720p/1080i triax cameras with twin XCUs (two more if the VMU) and four Grass Valley LDX86N Universe super-slo-mo HD/3G fiber cameras - all with Canon lenses. An LDK 8000 Elite triax camera is also in the booth with a Fujinon lens. The truck also leverages a Grass Valley Creative Grading system for HDR and SDR camera shading.
The audio operation revolves around a Calrec Artemis Beam audio-mixing console (56 fader) with 256 routable inputs via IP. A 10,240 10,240 Evertz audio router is connected via IP to the Calrec audio board, which can output multiple channels of surround sound. A bevy of Sennheiser shotgun and stick mics are on hand, along with Sony lavaliers and Crown cardioid mics.
Other key gear includes an RTS ADAM-M Matrix System (with 64 ports of OMNEO, 64 channels of MADI, 48 analog ports, and 16 ports of RVON), nine AJA frame sync/crossconverters with fiber inputs/outputs (two AJA FS1-X's and seven AJA FS-HDR's for a total of 30 paths), Telestream Prism video test and monitoring equipment, Vizrt graphics, and a FOR-A HD touchscreen telestrator.
The 51FLEX production control room features a Grass Valley Kayenne K-Frame X IP switcher
Flipping the 1080p HDR Switch Although MTVG has been putting 1080p HDR-capable mobile units on the road for several years, 51FLEX is the first to actually be 1080p HDR-ready each and every night.
There is a big difference between 1080p HDR-capable versus actually being 1080p HDR live, says Dale Canino, VP, technology, Mobile TV Group. There is a lot of equipment that is billed as 3G, but it doesn't actually come out of the box that way. You have to license it, prepare for it, and, in many cases, you have to wire things in completely different order to accommodate it. From the camera heads to the CCUs to the router to the switcher to the EVSs and all the way into the encoding - everything has to be able to be licensed for 1080p HDR and to handle 3G signals.
The video-shading area here utilizes a Grass Valley Creative Grading system for HDR and SDR camera shading.
With this in mind, MTVG has created custom HDR guides for its EICs to use. in troubleshooting issues with the truck.
It is definitely a lot more complicated when you're doing HDR and you have to make sure everything is correct every step along the way, says Canino. We rely heavily on Telestream's Prism scope technology, and then we have a lot of tips and tricks that we
Most recent headlines
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Mobile TV Group Officially Enters the 1080p HDR Era With 51FLEX Mobile Unit for Bally Sports New truck is MTVGs first to launch specifically for nightly 1080p HDR productions By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
