Grass Valley HD technology to support Asian Games

Chinese equipment broker Beijing Zhongheng has placed the largest single order to date for high-definition production and playout equipment from Grass Valley. The equipment will support the installation of dozens of digital signage systems in stadiums across GuangZhou, China.

With installations to be completed by the end of October 2010, Beijing Zhongheng will have taken delivery of 50 Grass Valley Kayak HD production switchers, 18 Grass Valley LDK HD cameras and 91 Grass Valley T2 multiformat Intelligent Digital Disk Recorders (iDDRs).

The cameras and switchers will be used to capture and create original programming while the T2 iDDR systems will help manage digital clips and also be used to display live and prerecorded HD video images on large screens inside the stadiums for those in attendance.

The Grass Valley HD production and server systems are being installed to support an on-site large-screen display content service being implemented and operated by Asian Games. The technology chosen was used during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China and at numerous sporting events since.

The Grass Valley Kayak HD is a multiformat switcher featuring a compact design. The Kayak HD family includes 14 systems with two frame sizes and up to 4.5 M/Es designed for live production. The switcher is capable of full up/down/crossconversion of HD input and output, including aspect ratio conversion.