TV Magic helps San Jose Sharks bite down on HD

By Andrew Lippe

HP Pavilion at San Jose, the home of
the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, upgraded its facility to HD when broadcast
system integrator TV Magic installed a brand new high definition control
room inside the arena. The new control room was built prior
to the start of this season and features an array of equipment including
TV Logic video displays, an Evertz MVP, a Thomson Grass Valley HD production
switcher, a multichannel EVS as well as a Chyron and Apple Final Cut Pro editing
station.

TV Magic became the system integrator
when it won a public bid for the project. TV Magic also worked with
Auerbach Pollock Friedlander the design consultant who represented HP
Pavilion at San Jose.

“You will be challenged to find a
better HD venue,” says Frank Geraty, general manager and vice president
of TV Magic. The TV Magic installation included the relocation of the
arena’s existing control room, scoring video system, and coaches’
video review equipment.
“We decided we needed to move the
control room closer to the truck,” says Greg Carrolan, technical director
of the HP Pavilion at San Jose. The old control room was too far away
from the mobile units and required a cooper connection. “We wanted
to wire the new control room with triax so we went with Thomson
Grass Valley for their triax adapter,” adds Carrolan. The Sharks primarily use NMT as their mobile unit.

“We also installed a new Daktronics
HD 10mm board,” says Carrolan. The center hung scoreboard utilizes
Grass Valley HD sports production cameras with Fujinon lenses.

The Sharks wanted fans to get the HD
experience so HP high definition TV’s were also installed inside the
arena. They installed HP high definition sets in the concourses and
in the suite areas. Their infrastructure is now all 720p. “Working
in HD allows us to increase productivity and improve our creativity,”
adds Carrolan.