Case Study: Broadcasting the West Asian Games
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by Andrew Murray
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 In December, broadcast systems specialists Presteigne Broadcast Hire provides high definition (HD) broadcast facilities for the 2005 West Asian Games in Doha.
They werecommissioned by BBC Outside Broadcasts to provide HD facilities and HD cameras to shoot all the events within the Hamad Aquatics Center, which hosted all the swimming and diving competitions.
Organized by the West Asian Games (WAG) Organising Committee, in joint collaboration between the Qatar National Olympic Committee and the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee, the third West Asian Games were held from 1st-10th December, 2005. These games are seen as a great opportunity to test broadcasting techniques and systems so that everything will be ready and perfected for the larger Asian Games, which are held every four years.
The organisers of the WAG wanted to record the event in HD for a number of reasons. First, they felt it was vital that the big and important events were captured at the best quality available to broadcasters today. Also, capturing in HD means that the event is ‘future proofed’ so that in 10 years time when HD is commonplace in homes, TV stations will be able to show footage from the 2005 and 2006 Games at the same superb picture quality that viewers would have expected from their HD television sets. Finally, video captured in HD actually looks better than video captured in Standard Definition (SD), even when viewed on a Standard Definition TV.
Of course, HDTVs are still very rare in most of the Middle East, so the WAG organizers wanted to make sure that the live broadcasts would be available on Standard Definition TVs. Therefore, the video was downconverted for SD broadcast. Presteigne used the Leitch X75 to downconvert the HD SDI signal, and the unit also Aspect Ratio Converted at the same time from 16:9 to 4:3. Al Jazeera TV and some other Asian satellite TV channels were on site and took their live SD feeds directly from this unit.
The BBC contracted Presteigne to provide a 15-camera HD de-rig system. The HD cameras used at the event were the Thomson LDK 6000s Worldcam, which were all set to capture the action at 1080/50i resolution and frame rate. However, two of the fifteen HD cameras supplied by Presteigne were the Thomson LDK 6200s which captures HD pictures at double speed 1080/100i, providing the true HD slow motion replays that the organisers wished for. Both the LDK 6000s and the LDK 6200s are made by Thomson Grass Valley and match in terms of their setup and the pictures that they produce.
In total, four HD EVS XT [2] hard disk recorders were used, with two of them allocated to the 6200s for the Super Slow Motion replays and the other two for replays from the LDK 6000s. At the heart of the systems was the Sony MVS 8000A with a 4ME control panel. The organisers wanted 4ME capability along with multiple inputs, and the MVS frame and control panel provided a good solution for all of the requirements.
However, the biggest problem which Presteigne encountered was after their 4ME mixer panel was badly damaged by the freight company on-route to Doha. Three of the hundred-plus flight cases sent by Presteigne from the UK were smashed by a fork-lift truck at the airport. One of the three cases happened to contain the 4ME mixer panel, which arrived on-site with major damage to the buttons and frame. The crew immediately phoned Presteigne in the UK and a new replacement 4ME panel was subsequently shipped out that afternoon, which arrived on an express service in Doha the following day.
The monitor stack for this project used Sony screens. Two Sony 24” HD CRT monitors were used for PGM and PVW with Sony LMD 17" LCD monitors used for all other positions.
During the games Presteigne also carried out the world's first wireless HD transmission with their Wireless cameras/RF systems. In total, Presteigne supplied two Link HD systems which were directly mounted onto LDK 6000 camera heads. This new RF system from Link Research also allows full camera control of the LDK heads, meaning that the two RF cameras could be racked along with the other LDK triax cameras. The two RF systems sent live HD pictures back to the receivers with a tiny delay of only 60ms. The wireless camera/RF systems were very important for the medal ceremonies, allowing the director interesting shots which, would not have been possible with a cabled camera.
The RF systems were a big success in Doha, and their pictures delighted the organisers. The Hamad venue aided the performance of the units because of its small and compact size. This meant that the RF signals were contained within the venue and reflected off the walls, allowing the antennas to receive the signals. One issue that needed resolving on site was the distance from the receive point to the main system’s hub. HD signals cannot travel as far as SD signals on the same cable (40-60m max), which meant that standard BNC cable was not suitable. Presteigne used Image 2000 video cable to cover the 90m from receive point to the hub.
This December, Presteigne will be providing similar HD facilities for the BBC at the aquatics venue for the 15th Asian Games in Doha.Andrew Murray is the broadcast development manager at Presteigne Ltd. in the United Kingdom.
He can be reached at:
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