Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

HD Broadcast UHD 2 Begins Working Life With DFB Pokal, Bundesliga Coverage

23/09/2020

HD Broadcast UHD 2 begins working life with DFB Pokal and Bundesliga coverage By Fergal Ringrose, SVG Europe

Monday, September 21, 2020 - 17:55

Print This Story

German outside broadcast provider HD Broadcast's new flagship UHD 2 truck has taken to the road this month, covering first-round matches in the DFB Pokal German knockout cup and the start of the new Bundesliga season.

HD Broadcast chief executive and chief technology officer Constantin Novotny told SVG Europe the truck was originally commissioned last September with a view to being on the road earlier this year in time to cover UEFA Euro 2020 matches in Dublin, working alongside fellow German OB provider TVN.

However, when Euro 2020 was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis, HD Broadcast decided to delay the launch of the truck so that it would be ready for the start of the 2020-2021 football season in Germany.

The new truck, designed by HD Broadcast and built by Broadcast Solutions, is one of the largest units available in Germany. It can work with a maximum of 30 UHD/HDR cameras, and with an interior space of around 60 m2 the OB offers up to 28 staff members a spacious working environment.

Wide-angle view showing the spacious design inside UHD 2

The vehicle uses a multi-format production system based on 4K/3G-SDI Quad Link/HD/HDR formats. It is designed as a trailer with three extensions covering the complete trailer length, providing two control rooms, numerous engineering and slomo workstations and VIP spaces. A third control room is available with the support van.

Last weekend we covered Stuttgart versus Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, and then Heidenheim versus Braunschweig in Bundesliga 2 on Sunday, said Novotny. The first production for the OB van was not in the Bundesliga, it was the previous weekend for the DFB Pokal German soccer cup. We covered three matches on our first weekend: Augsburg versus Eintracht Celle on Saturday 12 September; Kaiserslautern versus SSV Jahn Regensburg on the Sunday and W rzburg versus Hannover on the Monday.

It all went very well. The set-up for the DFB Pokal was not as big as for the Bundesliga. But it was very nice to see how the new truck works, and that all of the equipment and programming is working well.

Are there any differences in the coverage plan for the new Bundesliga season?

We covered the Bundesliga matches like the re-start last season - there are no differences. We still have the pandemic plan from Sportcast from the last nine match days of last season.

Of course now we have to learn to set up with fans in stadiums. The number of fans depends on the [federal] state; in Stuttgart, we had almost 8,000 fans and the next day between 2,000 and 3,000 fans. The second division is obviously smaller.

It turns out the new truck lends itself well to production during COVID-19 restrictions. But it was designed to be a very spacious working environment long before any of us had heard of coronavirus?

The design of UHD 2 is based on our first truck, HD 1. We wanted to set up different rooms - production rooms, technical and audio rooms. In the new truck we have a lot more space with new dimensions, but we have seen over the last couple of years [with HD 1] that this is the way we want to work with our customers.

We decided last September to build the truck. We would have had until April to make the design, build the chassis and make all the equipment installation. That was the original timeframe.

Audio production area with Lawo mc 56 mixer, Riedel Artist comms and Genelec 6.1 surround sound speakers

When the Euros were postponed we slowed down the building of the truck. Because of our contract with Sportcast for HD 1 we have another big OB van in HD, so now there was no need to finish the new truck quickly. We delayed it in all for three months, so that the new truck could be finished during the summer and be ready for the start of the new season.

We wanted to build a truck that was very comfortable, where all customer operators would have more space than in the older truck. We wanted to make comfortable workspaces, and we also have a tender truck with two separate rooms which can be set up as an edit room or highlight room, or as a third production room. So we have enough space together in both trucks to make each place very comfortable.

We all know there is a big trend now towards remote production, accelerated certainly by the COVID-19 crisis. Do you wonder if this will be the last big truck you build?

That's a very interesting question. Maybe this is the last decade for big trucks? Maybe.

But on-site, on big daily sporting events like Bundesliga, Champions League or Europa League, you have to set it up in a big truck. I think for concerts or other productions where you have much more time in one place - maybe days or even weeks - in the future these will be covered by remote production.

The next step for HD Broadcast is to cover everything in UHD. Maybe UHD and HDR. These are the two next big steps, and now we have prepared our company to be very comfortable for the future. Each investment we have made in the last couple of years has been based on UHD.

It was great to get the truck on the road. With this size of truck there are small things you have to fix from week to week. This is quite normal, to adjust and refine the programming from production to production in order to get a better set-up for the future, said Novotny.

View from back row of production gallery in action for Bundesliga

HD Broadcast's UHD 2 houses 10 EVS VIA servers, located under the desk of control room 1 - fully air-conditioned and soundproofed. It's equipped with a UPS unit, which ensures 15 minutes of autonomous operation of the complete OB in case of a power failure.

The truck carries Sony HDC-4300 cameras with Canon lenses, Sony XVS-9
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/hd-broadcast-uhd-2-ob-begins-...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 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...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

27/03/2026

FCC Opposes Emergency Motion to Stay Nexstar/Tegna Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

NAB Pans Netflix's Coverage of MLB Opening Day

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insight: Netgear

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI POV Cameras at NAB 2026

Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...

27/03/2026

Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Updates to Monitor & Control and Catalyst Tools

Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...

27/03/2026

GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance

GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance Brie Clayton March 27, 2026 0 Comments NAB marks global launch of servic...

27/03/2026

GatesAir Expands AirWatch365 Managed Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Dejero, Eutelsat, Others to Offer 'Field to Air' Demo at NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Global NextGen TV Takes Center Stage at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

USSI Global Opens Media Transport Solutions Lab

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/03/2026

Net Insight Elevates Nimbra Edge to Govern Live Media Sys...

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...

27/03/2026

Harmonic Delivers Winning Live Sports Streaming Innovatio...

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...

27/03/2026

Bitmovin s Player Web X Expands with Performance First Ad...

Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...

27/03/2026

CS live Builds Future Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet...

Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...

27/03/2026

MPTS 2026 Unveils First Wave of Speakers Featuring BBC Sk...

130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...

27/03/2026

Grass Valley and NVP Elevate LALIGA Broadcast Production...

Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...

27/03/2026

Appear Business Momentum Drives Leadership in Live Produc...

Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...

27/03/2026

Lightware MX2 delivers rock-solid 4K60 HDMI 10-bit signal...

San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...

27/03/2026

Clear-Coms EQUIP Wireless System Keeps Youth With A Missi...

Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...

27/03/2026

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo

Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo Brie Clayton March 26, 2026 0 Comments Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...

27/03/2026

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway

Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...

27/03/2026

RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April

RT Supporting the Arts RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...

27/03/2026

Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT2

Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2 Over one million streams on RT Player Highest number of streams for any single eve...

27/03/2026

Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center

March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...

27/03/2026

Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4

March 27 2026, 03:30 (PDT) Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4 Delivering greater fidelity, clarity and detail to Dol...

26/03/2026

Audio-Technica and Extron Announce Microsoft Teams-Certified Enterprise Solutions

Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...

26/03/2026

SPORTEL Asia Returns to Singapore with 370 Participants from 35 Countries

SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: LTN to Showcase Satellite-to-IP Migration Solutions

LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100). The C-Ban...

26/03/2026

Seattle Mariners Upgrade Center Field Video Display at T-Mobile Park with Daktronics

The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...

26/03/2026

Esports Nations Cup 2026 Names National Team Partners Across 100+ Countries

The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: Telestream Expands Vantage Integration with Adobe Premiere, Media Encoder, and Frame.io

Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...

26/03/2026

NAB 2026: FOR-A Brings Nippon TV's viztrick AiDi AI Production Tool to Market with NVIDIA

FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Reaches New Long-Term Multiplatform Rights Agreement with the WNBA

CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...

26/03/2026

Zac Brown Band to Perform Sunday Night Baseball Open on NBC and Peacock

Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...

26/03/2026

2026 MLB Season Opens With Full Slate of National Games

Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...

26/03/2026

DIRECTV Adds Nine MLB Team Channels for 2026 Season

DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...

26/03/2026

Nationals.TV Now Available on Charter, Comcast, Cox, DIRECTV, Verizon Fios and More

Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...

26/03/2026

MLB.TV Launches on the ESPN App Starting Opening Day

Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...

26/03/2026

What's Next for Spotify and NAVER in Korea After a Stockholm Summit

Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...

26/03/2026

EastWest DrumX: Early access

Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...

26/03/2026

Dynamic Range Day 2026

Friday 27 March Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...

26/03/2026

ASMR Choir from SRM Sounds

Includes four separate instruments Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...

26/03/2026

IMPORTANT FEEDBACK: PESP 6

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...

26/03/2026

Why YEP Changed My Career (And Why It Might Change Yours)

By Matt Klein Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...

26/03/2026

CBS Sports Inks New WNBA Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...