EMG has unveiled four new sustainable outside broadcasting trucks dedicated to remote production.
The vehicles – NOVA 51, NOVA 52, NOVA 53 and NOVA 54 – can be used standalone or scaled up to work together, and have been designed to fill all styles of production; traditional, remote surface, full remote, cloud and simplified production, said the company.
NOVA 51 has already made its debut at the Oval on 11th May, providing coverage for Sky Sports on the LV County Championship first division between Surrey and London rivals Middlesex for the start of the domestic cricket season. A core team of vision engineers and audio were set up in the truck with signals going back to the Sky Sports production team at Osterley.
All equipment purchases for the trucks have factored in power efficiency, weight and size, added EMG. Using less power-hungry equipment has been a major factor in this design along with the use of hyperconverged (multi-use) integrated SI equipment resulting in smaller form factor, flexible workflows and more efficient use of power, the company added.
The vehicles use biodiesel which significantly reduces CO2 emissions compared with regular diesel. EMG estimates each vehicle will save in excess of 2000 litres of fuel per annum, thereby reducing the CO2 emissions further. They each have 1700w solar mats fitted to their rooves to help create fuel efficiencies and internal battery power. EMG said it plans to install an internal UPS system within each vehicle in the near future for hybrid use of shore power and battery when required which will be used instead of diesel generators on certain broadcasts.
External panels are made from recycled polypropylene and the internal acoustic wall coverings are made from 100 per cent recycled P.E.T felt, added EMG. Additional thermal insulation has been installed to maintain better cabin temperature and minimise the workload of air conditioning.
All of the front-end OB vehicles feature four bays of equipment including a gallery space and can accommodate up to nine people. Video and audio signals are captured in the truck and backhauled either to a remote production centre or to the cloud for programme production. They all include equipment efficiencies, added EMG, such as a single router handling multi-viewers, embedders, de-embedders, MADI channels and more, drawing only 2.5kw instead of 8kw.
Sean Mulhern, EMG UK’s chief technology innovation officer, said, “We have been engaged in conversations with our clients to identify the most cost-effective and energy efficient solutions for each type of production. These remote production vehicles have been specifically designed with efficiency and sustainability at their core, at a time when broadcasters are becoming more open to the possibilities of remote production.”
