Imagine Communications to Outfit First-of-its-Kind Production Vehicle for tpc

Imagine Communications, empowering the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation, has entered an agreement with Swiss broadcast service provider tpc, technology and production center Switzerland ag, to provide the distribution core, processing and multiviewer technology for a next-generation mobile production vehicle that is expected to be the first in the industry to support uncompressed HD and UHD signals over IP based on the SMPTE ST 2110 standard for the transport of video and audio over IP networks.

The new vehicle will provide tpc, a leading producer of major international events for the Swiss and global markets, with a standards-based mobile production unit capable of simultaneously supporting HD and UHD production requirements at the highest video quality and seamlessly evolving to retain its state-of-the-art status for the next decade or more. The truck is being designed and built by SonoVTS, a leading European systems integrator based in Germany.

“Recognizing the rapidly evolving nature of the video production landscape and the need to construct a mobile vehicle with the ability to meet both today’s and tomorrow’s demand for cost efficiency and high production quality, we conducted a lengthy selection process to find a solution that would deliver next-generation capabilities today and seamlessly adapt new capabilities, such as HDR, as required in the future,” says tpc CTO Andreas Lattmann. “Tpc’s and Imagine Communications’ commitment to SMPTE 2110 enables us to meet these high expectations and deliver a solution that will reside on the cutting edge of mobile production for years to come.”

At the heart of the installation is breakthrough technology from Imagine Communications that will be the first to support the processing of uncompressed UHD signals over IP in conformance with SMPTE ST 2110, the industry-consensus standard for the transmission of video, audio and meta data over IP networks. SMPTE 2110, which is being finalized, is the current destination of the IP standards roadmap endorsed by the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS).  The entire solution is designed to support a variety of SDI and IP inputs, as well as HD and UHD formats, enabling tpc to process uncompressed high-quality video signals to meet all customer preferences without requiring a mezzanine compression scheme or relying on nonstandard, proprietary hardware.

The new tpc vehicle will also rely heavily on next-generation monitoring and control technology from Imagine Communications. The highly scalable and UHD-ready EPIC MV multiviewer helps tpc to effectively monitor the signals of a large number of dedicated screens, with inputs and monitor outputs all in IP.

“Imagine Communications enjoys a long and successful track record of fulfilling the technology requirements of tpc and is proud of playing a role in the company’s rich history of bringing the Swiss and global markets some of the most compelling content in the world,” says Brick Eksten, Chief Product Officer, Imagine Communications. “We are extremely excited to be providing the innovation behind this breakthrough achievement and meeting tpc’s challenge to build a mobile production facility that will be relevant today and a decade in the future by delivering the agility and flexibility to withstand the blistering pace of technology advancement.”