Turner Studios decided to upgrade its facility in order to improve their ability to produce in HD. In addition to editorial, mixing and graphics services, it added HDTV commercial integration for live programming and converted one studio control room to full HD capability.
AZCAR designed and integrated the new control rooms. The work included increasing the size of the routing systems, considerably, as well as upgrading a significant amount of infrastructure from SD-only to SD and HD capability. The routing switchers presented a challenge because the operation is virtually 24/7. To accomplish the transition, it used the DAs and splitters to feed both the old and new routers simultaneously, and then migrated outputs one-at-a-time when they were not in use.
The control system is one of the largest in existence, with 52,000 lines of custom programming and 52 levels. The new integration control room was first used for the NBA Western Conference Finals in May. The studio control room first went online in October with NBA broadcasts.
Key technology: Thomson Grass Valley Trinix multiformat HD/SD with Apex audio routing, Kalypso HD production switchers, Dolby E encoders and decoders, Evertz modular equipment and MVP series monitor processor, 40in NEC LCD displays, Sony HD cameras.
Key technology: Thomson Grass Valley Trinix and Apex routing switchers, Pinnacle Systems HD servers, Sony Flexicarts, Pro-Bel automation, Dolby E encoders and decoders, Sony SRW series VTRs, Quartz QMC HD MC switchers with 5.1 surround support, Snell & Wilcox modular equipment and MPEG encoders, Roll Call control and monitoring system, Chyron HD clip servers, Barco Hydra projection displays, Evertz provides QC ingested feeds.
Key technology: Evertz crossconverters and frame syncs, PESA 128×128 HD routers and 256×256 SD composite routers, NVISION 144×144 AES audio routers, Thomson Grass Valley Kalypso 4M/E HD switchers, Calrec Alpha 100 audio consoles, Sony HDCAMs, Canon lenses, Utah Scientific 128×128 HD routers, 256×384 SD composite routers, 208×176 AES audio routers, 256×256 analog audio routers, Yamaha PM1D audio consoles, Ikegami HD cameras.