Outside Broadcast grabs Leader rasterizers

By Andrew Lippe

Outside Broadcast, a Belgian TV facility company, has purchased nine Leader LV7700 multi-SDI rasterisers, (on-screen monitors) for their nine production vehicles. The LV7700 is a multi-format instrument used to detect HD and SD signals. It costs around $10,000 per unit and is compatible with 17 SD and HD standards.
This makes the instrument ideal in the kind of mixed HD and SD environment we will see in studios, OB-Vans and edit suites for the next couple of years, said Paul Vos managing director at elQuip BV.

The LV7700s were installed in Outside Broadcast s four HD OB Unit trucks, specifically three instruments in their new Unit 11 truck which is equipped to handle 16 Sony HD cameras.

The LV7700 comes fully equipped. No extra options are needed to measure Wave form, Vector, bar graph, or embedded audio errors. The LV7700 contains a CF-card slot to store screen snap shots, and fix error logging.

The LV7700 is capable of decoding embedded audio. No option is needed to use this feature, said Vos. Embedded audio monitoring features include monitoring surround sound, multi-lissajous images and bar graphs.

Using the LV7700, all screens can be captured and stored to a flash card or bmp file. The instrument connects to an Ethernet port with an adjustable IP address for two-way communication using TCP/IP or SNMP protocol. Power used to operate the LV7700 is from a 100-250 V universal AC adapter or directly from 12 V DC (3A) via an XLR power input connector.
Each LV7700 is connected to an external screen and used to monitor incoming camera feeds. Using a XGA output is more fitting for Outside Broadcast for most of their broadcasts are produced in 1080i high definition.
More and more viewers are using flat screen monitors with plasma or LCD technology. This means that even experienced color graders need to measure the video signal to ensure optimal picture quality, said Vos. The LV7700 can convert Y/Cb/Cr to Y/R/G/B or NTSC to assist in color correction.

The LV7700 incorporates Leader s bar graph feature which provides warning against cable feed parameters. Most signals are converted to PAL and Leader makes sure camera men stays within correct levels. All composite signals are displayed in vertical bars. All compatible levels meeting broadcasting parameters are displayed in blue on the bar graph.

All levels outside the (adjustable) limits show up in red, indicating a gamut problem. This helps non measuring experts, like camera men and editors, keep their work “legal” and in optimal viewing quality, said Vos.