Hardware Analysis based on the 503 HD OB Trucks listed on Live-Production.TV posted: 11/02/2018
by Reinhard Penzel
Our online catalogues currently present 503 HD OBVans/Trucks. These 503 HD OBVans are distributed accross all five continents and represent trucks with two camera channels up to trucks with more than 24 camera channels. We have analyzed the installed hardware and present following the market shares of 12 product groups.
Cameras - Lenses - Vision Mixers - Displays - Multi-Viewer - Digital Glue - Video Routers - Video Tape/Disk Recorders - Video SloMo/SuperSloMo Devices - Audio Mixers - Audio Monitoring - Audio - Intercom Systems
With SD officially dead and HD the status quo, 4K- and HDR-capable trucks - as well as units featuring IP-based infrastructure - are on the rise. Of the 503 mobile units covered in the survey, 49 are listed as 4K-capable.
281 trucks are based in Europe (incl. 27 from Russia), 133 in the Americas (with 19 from Canada and 105 from the U.S.), 65 from Asia (with 21 from China and 12 from the UAE),16 from Oceania (mainly NEP Australia) and 8 from Africa (mainly SABC). Europe is listed with 37 trucks from Germany, 36 from the UK, 25 from Italy, 20 from France, 19 from Belgium, 15 from Spain and 11 from The Netherlands. Norway, Sweden and Switzerland a re represented with 10 trucks each while the other European countries show up with 1 - 8 trucks.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Of the 503 trucks whose camera complement was identified by brand 52% use Sony 31% deploy Grass Valley 3% Ikegami and 4% have other cameras on board (Panasonic, Hitachi, Blackmagic, etc.)
The battle for lens-market share remains a two-horse race. Of the 503 trucks that identified lens brand, 50% exclusively carry Canon lenses, 30% have only Fujinon, and 14% have a mix of Canon and Fujinon lenses. 6% of the trucks carry lenses from other manufacturers e.g. Agenieux.
Among switchers, Grass Valley continues to dominate, with its units found at the center of 44% of the mobile units. Sony switchers are in 39% of the trucks, SAM switchers are in 11% of the trucks while Ross is represented in 2% of the units. The remaining 4% represent Blackmagic Design, EVS and FOR-A.
The video-router sector presents the following picture: 23% Grass Valley, 17% SAM, 15% Evertz, 11% Imagine Communications, 5% Pesa, 4% Cisco and 3% Riedel. Behind the 22% others we find Utah Scientific, Ross Video, Sony, Blackmagic Design, FOR-A, etc.
In HD replay devices, EVS is once again the industry standard: 87% of the HD trucks were identified as relying on some form of EVS system as its primary replay/ SloMo device. Cur rently, 8% of the trucks carry Grass Valley K2 Dyno replay systems and 5% carry systems from BLT. Although the majority of them also offer EVS replay systems if the customer demands. Three of the Russian trucks offer Slomo.TV systems.
Calrec Audio remains the number-one audio console (25%) on the trucks. Yamaha (mainly used as the backup console) is second with 21%, followed by Lawo 21%, Harman Studer 18%, Stage Tec 8%, while the remaining 10% show Avid/Euphonix Behringer, DiGiCo, SSL, Harman Soundcraft and Mackie.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
Hardware Analysis based on the 503 HD OB Trucks listed on Live-Production.TV posted: 11/02/2018 
