FIBRE BOARDS BOWL THEM OVER AT TRENT BRIDGE (June 2008)

Crystal Vision products are often to be found in interesting sporting applications. Technographic Displays has installed an 83 square metre video replay screen and scoreboard system at Trent Bridge, the home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club in England. At televised matches, such as the recent Third npower Test between England and New Zealand, there is a requirement to show on the screen live video originating from an outside broadcast truck located in the broadcast compound.

The SDI signal from the OB truck is being converted to a fibre optic feed by Crystal Vision's FTX HD transmitter and carried over a 300m long fibre optic cable to the screen where it is converted back to SDI by the FRX HD receiver.

The DDA108 SDI distribution amplifier is additionally being used to distribute the video signal to a number of monitors as well as to the screen's video processing system.

The FTX HD and FRX HD work with both High Definition and Standard Definition. This means they are able to fulfil the current requirement of transporting the Standard Definition signals supplied by the OB vehicle, but also allow future-proofing with the LED screen capable of receiving HD video.

Technographic Displays selected one of Crystal Vision's Indigo 1-DP 1U frames with dual redundant power supplies. Explained Technographic's Arthur Jackson: "Because the video transmission system is used at important events such as international matches, we wanted a system with broadcast-quality video transmission and the highest reliability."

Arthur Jackson continued: "We have used Crystal Vision products at similar installations at Twickenham Stadium in London and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, and have found them to be compact and reliable. We like the modular approach, enabling multi-function systems to be built by adding cards to a common enclosure."

Technographic Displays is involved at all levels in projects involving large-screen light emitting diode (LED) displays - from the design of customised display hardware through user interface and control software to system integration and on-site installation.