WORCESTER, Mass. -- Sept. 9, 2008 -- Advanced fiber optic systems from Telecast Fiber Systems played a pivotal role in providing venue distribution feeds at the three equestrian events of the Beijing Summer Games. Telecast's Viper II(TM) and Rattler(TM) portable fiber optic production systems were in action at both equestrian venues: the Hong Kong Sports Institute, site of dressage and jumping events, and the Beas River Country Club, which hosted the cross-country event.
The Telecast equipment supplied HD and analog video along with audio feeds to the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Company (BOB) for distribution throughout the venues. The Viper II and Rattler systems were used for transmitting high-quality signals for various judging locations, public address (PA) systems, and video walls.
"The equestrian venues presented exactly the type of challenge for which fiber transmission and our Viper II and Rattler solutions were designed: large and complex layouts spanning long distances, the requirement for high-quality HD video, and the ability to supply feeds to multiple types of outputs," said Richard Cerny, president, Telecast Fiber Systems. "We're pleased that Telecast has played such an important role in helping viewers outside the United States experience these events."
Hong Kong-based Mediatech, a Telecast dealer for more than 10 years, provided systems integration services for the fiber optic network and equipment, including sourcing of the Telecast Viper II and Rattler systems. Because of the interoperability of Telecast's HD video transport systems, Mediatech was able to use a mix of Viper II 6292 HD transmitter sets with Rattler mini HD transmitter/receivers to create a flexible system with a very small footprint.
At the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Telecast equipment provided three primary links, all originating from the main judging tower. From there, Telecast 5142 and 5060 modules fed the PA system and BOB's technical operations center, which in turn fed HD signals back to the judging tower. A pair of Rattlers fed HD to the arena's Panasonic video wall.
Compared with the more self-contained dressage and jumping events at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Beijing Summer Games equestrian cross-country event sprawled across many acres at the Beas River Country Club and the adjacent Hong Kong Golf Club, creating a different set of challenges for broadcast coverage. The cross-country course was 3.5 miles long and 33 feet wide throughout, requiring cable runs that often were more than a mile. The Telecast Viper II and Rattler systems provided multipoint PA audio and video feeds to cover various grandstands located around the course, as well as 16 HD feeds to a central distribution point from which BOB distributed the signals to individual broadcasters and to judging and VIP areas and a Panasonic video wall within the venue.
"The Viper II and Rattler components made system design a very straightforward process," said Raymond Mo, president of Mediatech. "Having common parts everywhere provided a layer of redundancy and ease of use not available with other systems, and through passive optical splitters, we were able to achieve optical redundancies at minimal cost."