this was the biggest sporting event for sound intention so far.

at the heart of the main audio systems for the bbc, itv and espn were lawo cores and surfaces which were supplied through presteigne charter and gearhouse broadcast. The espn system was the largest which comprised of 4 hd cores and three mc² surfaces all networked together.

bel were the main supplier of audio monitors to many of the national broadcasters. There were over 50 bma2-e8shd units monitoring stereo, 5.1, and dolby feeds.

itv and bbc were also using the new sam-64 from 4hm. the sdi feeds were having the audio de-embedded and processed into a madi stream which provided an excellent interface to the main audio router.

the south Africa fifa world cup experienced proved that the sound intention business model provides outstanding broadcast solutions to an industry where value is also a priority.

gearhouse broadcast limited are using the lawo mc2 56 audio mixing desk to provide the optimum sound quality and control.

the red bull air race, established in 2003 and created by red bull, is an international series of air races in which competitors have to navigate a challenging obstacle course in the fastest time. pilots fly individually against the clock and have to complete tight turns through a slalom course consisting of pylons, known as "air gates".

the races are held mainly over water near cities, but are also held at airfields or natural wonders. they are accompanied by a supporting program of show flights. races are usually flown on weekends with the first day for qualification then knockout finals the day after. the events attract large crowds and are broadcast, both live and taped, in many nations.

bskyb has commissioned telegenic to build its first outside broadcast truck specifically for stereoscopic 3d production.

all 16 of the vt operator positions are using bel audio monitors. dave rowley commented “the bel 1u audio monitor gives the best and truest sound available in todays market”

4hm product made its debut performance. the signals from the 3d camera rigs were fed to a sam-64 in which the audio was de-embedded to aes for further mixing.

the winter olympics in vancouver provided a great platform on which to launch 2010 as a huge year in sporting events for broadcast.

all products supplied by sound intention played a vital role in bringing the stunning pictures and sound from vancouver to a worldwide audience.

bel ‘s audio monitoring and dolby monitoring in the toc (technical operating centre) provided the worlds broadcasters the confidence in the stereo and 5.1 sound transmission.

through sound intention some of the world’s biggest broadcasters including bbc, itv, nrk and orf were using lawo mixing desks to bring the Vancouver magic to the pictures.

lsb provided the control system on the downhill to co-ordinate the cameras and sound, so the viewers at home could enjoy the experience to the full.

at this year’s wimbledon lawn tennis championships nep-visions ob vehicle provided mcr facilities for a number of major usa tv stations. nep-visions chose bel rack mount audio monitors to de-embed and verify the main hd and sd sdi feeds. paul fournier, head of sound, made the decision to use bel based on the product’s reliability, “we use bel because we like the reliability of the equipment in such a mission critical environment. the product just does what it says on the box and we can forget about it.”

the monitors used by nep-visions were the bm-a2-4shd (a 2U audio monitor with 2 x sdi inputs and separate AES and analogue inputs) and the bm-a2-e8shd 2U dolby® e monitor. Audio levels are metered via 53 segment tri-colour led bargraphs

bel (digital audio) ltd., delivered the 200th production unit of their flagship bm-a2-e8sdh in-rack dolby® d and e audio monitor to milton keynes based sis live. sis live (europe’s largest ob and uplink supplier) use the bm-a2-e8shd to de-embed, decode and monitor the incoming and outgoing hd video streams in their dual antennae uplink trucks.

david george of sis live commented “bel’s dolby monitor offers simple and intuitive operation of what is, in reality, a complicated requirement. sis live operates the largest fleet of uplink vehicles in europe and it is imperative that operation within each is as straight forward as possible.”

bel’s dolby® d and e monitors are fast becoming the monitors of choice for decoding dolby sources across many broadcast facilities within Europe.

the south african broadcasting corporation (sabc) has taken delivery of the first of four new outside broadcast vehicles, commissioned for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and other prestigious events. all four OBVs have been equipped with identical Lawo mc²56 digital audio consoles and the vsm controler.

the first two vehicles have been delivered by sony basingstoke, and have immediately been put to use on the premier soccer league broadcasts for sabc, and international fixtures that were broadcast in stereo in other countries. these events were the perfect warm-up for the 2009 fifa confederations cup, which, in turn, gives sabc and host broadcast services (hbs), the host broadcaster appointed by fifa, a testing rehearsal ahead of the 2010 world cup.

the 4-yearly ‘confed cup’ tournament runs from 14th to 28th june and sees the national teams of brazil, italy, spain, usa, egypt, south africa, iraq and new zealand descending on south africa with games being played in four cities across the country. broadcasters in all these countries take audio and video feeds from the host broadcaster in south africa, so hbs cannot risk the slightest technical uncertainty.

mervin buthelezi, the technical manager of the OB Units for sabc, highlighted reliability as one of the chief reasons for choosing lawo for the sound side of the ob vans. “after evaluation, research and testing by our own sound engineers, we all felt that the lawo mc²56 had the power, flexibility, reliability and redundancy we were looking for. it also integrates perfectly with virtual studio manager.”

bel (digital audio) ltd attended ibc in amsterdam in style as they showed off the new company image with a fresh new look. ibc was the first exhibition where bel exhibited solely under their own brand. earlier in the year bel developed a new marketing strategy, bringing in house all sales and marketing activities to better meet the needs of their customers. feedback from delighted customers at the show clearly confirmed that better product availability and commercial terms now available on bel products were assisting the dramatic growth in market share currently being experienced.

the new bmav3s was on display for the first time which created even more interest at the front of hall 9 of the ria. the bmav3s is a 3u audio video monitor with a big sound and a big 7” 16:9 screen to give ultimate confidence monitoring with sdi and composite video plus analogue and aes audio.

europe’s largest broadcast exhibition brought to bel more new business opportunities ever experienced from a single trade event in the past. over the next 12 months the company will be launching new products to enhance the portfolio with the hope ibc 2009 will be even better!

in august, beijing will resound throughout the world — and also in our ears. for when this year's biggest sports event takes place, the audience will experience an outstanding performance from the audio. no surprise then that lawo will be present in the chinese capital, providing its excellent technology from Rastatt/Germany.

while teams from over 200 nations compete for fame and honour in their chosen disciplines, lawo will also have a top squad on the starting blocks. this team, however, will not excel with fast sprints and high jumps, but with superb technology, maximum reliability and perfect audio quality. we are talking about the multiple lawo mc² consoles that will give excellent results and create contented faces in the ‘land of smiles’.

cutting edge technology from lawo has not only won the race for 17 surround control rooms in beijing. many european and asian ob vans will also employ mc² consoles, which sums up to a total of more than 50 mc² consoles that will be in use — the sheer number reveals that these latest-generation mixing consoles have become an international reference.

the OB van fleet from europe with mc²66 consoles on site in beijing for broadcasting the world feeds includes many alfacam trucks as well as ob vans of outside broadcast and prisma ob. yhe mobile audio technology is expanded by several audio control room cabins with installed mc²66 consoles. two of them will be also used by the finnish broadcaster yle. among the asian companies that will use mc²66 desks for the olympic games are the chinese state broadcaster cctv (chinese central television) and ob vans of fujian tv and hainan tv.

lawo's subsidiary for the rental business audio broadcast services (abs) is installing 17 surround control rooms with mc² desks in beijing for the sound mix. abs is also responsible for planning, delivery, project engineering and on-site support.

this summer more products than ever are on the move sporting the bel digital audio logo. maintaining their association with major international sporting events, 2008 sees bel in-rack monitors, delays and utility products in high demand for the key sporting events of the year. the recent uefa euro2008 championships saw bel digital audio providing full audio monitoring facilities, across all venues, within the toc's (technical operation centres). bel, a dolby E partner, provided the tools necessary to monitor multi-channel audio encoded into dolby e streams and embedded into both hd and sd video sources. bel products will also be in operation at the 2008 olympics in beijing, where once again they will give confidence to broadcast engineers worldwide. beijing 2008 has generated the largest production demand bel has ever received. the products travelling to the olympics in large volume include the new bm-a2-e8shd+, monitoring audio from aes to high definition with the ability to decode dolby e and ac3 encoded sources; the very versatile 2120B sdi audio shuffler and a range of synchronisation delays including the very popular 7150, which is bit accurate enabling dolby streams to be delayed.

bel has once again proved that they can offer products that meet the technical demands of broadcasters whilst still providing the user an interface that makes sense at a glance. kevin moorhouse, technical director of gearhouse broadcast ltd elaborates. “we like the bel products, not only can we rely on their quality but engineers all over the world can operate the intuitive user interfaces fast, which we require in big live events”. following this summer’s international events, bel digital audio products will continue to assist outside broadcasters to bring football and rugby to our screens from all over Europe.

one of the most prestigious international tennis events, the french open, is in full swing. traditionally, the toughest games always take place on the red clay of paris, as clay courts are significantly slower than, for example, hard court surfaces. in order to provide the right audio backdrop for broadcast, the presteigne charter group, a prominent worldwide provider of broadcast rental equipment based in london, picked lawo mixing consoles; certainly no cracking serves or balls skimming the edge of the net will be missed by tv viewers.

for the first time ever, two mc²66 consoles, capable of accessing shared inputs and outputs, are being used for the roland garros grand slam tournament. each console has 56 faders and 144 dsp channels that can be routed via a 3072 x 3072 matrix. during the french open, the consoles are being used for programmes broadcast by espn and ttc (the tennis channel). the consoles are located in a ‘container village’, built by the organizer specifically for this event. apart from live broadcasts of the matches, the mc²66s are also used in their container control rooms to mix the sound for panels of experts and interviews with the tennis players.

the presteigne charter group deliberately decided on the mc²66 consoles from lawo, as it was imperative to have an easy-to-set-up, highly flexible system, with low weight but the full performance specification of a broadcast console. another crucial factor was the networkability of the two consoles, and common access to all inputs and outputs; these two points ensured that lawo became the winner of the game, set and match!

formula one motor racing is one of worldwide TV’s top events. to meet the complex requirements for a perfect broadcast, the fom, short for ‘formula one management’, has decided to use a lawo mc²66 as the mixing console used to produce the international formula 1 host feeds. so, from now on, lawo will be the proud ‘supplier of mixing console for formula one host production’.

when a formula 1 racing car accelerates on the racetrack it sounds more like a jet fighter than a car. in few seconds, the car is travelling at more than 300 km/h, and this is accompanied by the deafening noise of the engine — an unforgettable experience for anyone who witnesses this at the actual racetrack. when the engine reaches 19,000 rpm, tv viewers at home should also hear — or even better, feel — this sound; the lawo mc²66 will now deliver this overwhelming sensation into racing fans’ homes around the world.

the mc²66 convinces on the highest possible level — its usability in mobile sound control rooms. the console used by the fom is installed in a container that, together with all the necessary technical and peripheral equipment, is transported to all the formula 1 races around the world. in this situation, the mc²66 will demonstrate that it can not only release its full mobile potential when installed in an ob truck, where it has pretty much established itself as the standard, but also when housed in a container-based control room.

with a full set of features, an unbeatable audio-follow-video function, and the convincing performance of its hd core, the mc²66 will be on the road for the complete racing season, producing international feeds for use worldwide.

the ‘high-speed’ Lawo console is fitted with 48 physical faders, 5 dsp cards with over 240 audio channels, full redundancy within the signal path, and a router providing the required 1920 x 1920 inputs and outputs.

another feature widely used in ob trucks is direct control of camera microphone gains via a so-called gpc (general purpose channel) fader on the mixing console. conversion of gpc values to mic gains is also carried out by the vsm controller. a more comforting operation of all audio-relevant settings is hardly imaginable.