EMG UK announces Nick Dyer as new Head of Sales

are fully aware of the company’s capabilities, achievements and culture. He also aims to collaborate closely with EMG’s diverse business units including EMG Connectivity, specialist camera company ACS and interactive solutions developer, Origins Digital, in order to create a more unified approach to service delivery. Furthermore, he will be part of the team working on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies and will contribute to EMG’s international outreach efforts.

EMG has announced the appointment of Nick Dyer as EMG UK’s new Head of Sales. With a career spanning nearly three decades, he brings an unrivalled depth of knowledge and technical experience to the role, backed by a proven track record for business development. His role at EMG UK will be to enhance the company’s leadership in delivering high-quality content to audiences around the globe.

Dyer began his career as an audio broadcast engineer in 1996 before moving to CTV in 2002, gaining experience across the whole business, most recently as Senior Unit Manager working closely with clients in Technical Planning & Delivery. As Head of Sales, he will lead the company’s sales team, leveraging his extensive technical experience to further the company’s growth.

Well-respected in the industry for his in depth understanding of technical delivery, Dyer will help build EMG’s presence in the US market, ensuring clients

Commenting on his appointment, Dyer said, “Starting this new role as Head of Sales during another busy year of international events including the Champions League Final, the Open Golf Championships and Wimbledon Championships is an exciting prospect. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues across the business and building on the excellent track record we have developed in recent years.”

“Nick is a seasoned professional whose technical knowledge and vast experience of client delivery will prove invaluable to EMG as we build for future growth,” said EMG UK Sales Director, Angela Gibbons. “We are delighted to have him on board to lead our sales team as we implement plans to expand our diverse client portfolio and continue to grow.” 

Up to the present time, providing for new formats or advances in compression performance announced an update of outside broadcast (OB) provision. Now the global stage is considerably more complex, and service providers need to consider additional factors, including readiness to adopt new technology, outsourced service provision and, last but not least, costs optimization.

New technical developments as IP brings flexibility to Outside Broadcast, but it presents unique challenges as covering programmes creatively, comprehensively and to the highest quality standards.

In a market that is obviously in transition, every broadcaster should make the right choices for critical deployment factors since a wrong way could mean staying out of the market. On the other hand, if a company take on too high a risk it could be immersed in an abrupt learning curve evaluating technology, exploring service infrastructure and different standards and best practices at a solutions level. And let’s not forget budgeting control and costs reducing.

In this fast-paced environment, it is essential that broadcasters have reliable, flexible tools that fit seamlessly in to their operations and offer ease of use and familiarity as personnel shift and move between productions. This stage ask for more information and sharing knowledge, and this is way TMBroadcast brings its readers different insights about outside broadcast industry from different outstanding companies as Media Mania (UAE), Toutenkamion and AMP Visual from France or Broadcast Solutions from Germany.

Media Mania is a major player on United Arab Emirates, developing its own solutions and OB trucks and offering broadcasting services for all the Middle East region. They have covered Football World Cup, World Economic Forum or the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission to Mars, on July, 2020. And they are growing. TM Broadcast had the pleasure to interview Roland Daou, Media Mania CEO, to know how the company evolved and in what stage are its Outside Broadcast units right now.

The first question is for our readers to know better your company, how long since you started as a broadcast company?

I came to UAE first time, it was 1996. Then, at 2001, I start to go all over the world for a few years, producing, filming, doing entertainment show for a few years. Then, I decided to come back to UAE, because it was a good place, and there’s opportunities. Then, in 2001, after I went all over the word for a long trip, I came back to UAE, and then I joined a company that we do production.

We were having projects all over the world, but after few years, one or two years, I decided to start up my own company here. Though because there was a need for broadcasts. Like anything you want to do, like any outside broadcasting, you need to have OB vans or any production or anything. That’s why I started, and then it was little bit small try and beginning.

Then, it took few years to pick up, because the market was growing in different ways. Usually, it was TV station only that own big trucks and all these equipment.

Not everyone has an idea about broadcasting, and it is big investment. It’s not something easy, and it’s risky, because you have to follow the technology, you have to pick the equipment. Then, by 2015, we decided to start coachbuilding ourselves. We decided to build our truck, where we started. Before it, we were buying and selling vehicles.

That’s so interesting.

By 2015, we took the decision that we want to be the first people in UAE building OB vans from scratch. I mean, drawing, building, coachbuilding, installation, cabling, everything.

Right. So did you develop everything related for

Outside Broadcast?

Yes, picking the equipment, the right equipment. It was good. It was like challenging the people because there were some people that believed in us, and other people that did not, because we’re not UK, we’re not like America, where they have more market there…

But you did know the market and requirements here, in UAE.

Yes. We took the decision to start building the OB trucks. We are the only company that build vans, we train people, we rent the mobile units, and we do services for TV station. This is the whole idea. We speak Arabic, and this is multinational.

Because you know the language and the culture. Yes. The reason why we’re so close, whenever you get something. We are in UAE, but we are too close to anywhere.

Well, now that was another question about the lack of skills and how does Media Mania manage to include talent but you already answered that you have your own plan for training your staff.

Yes, we train our staff. There are lots of people, they think that internet, and small streaming equipment will replace OB trucks. It could be, but not on a sport scale, not on big projects, proper production, like if you’re doing marathon or big events, you could use remote camera and maybe remote production, like cloud or something. It could be an option, but even in this situation also, you still need operators, and you will still need the expertise managing the equipment, you still need people to know what are they doing. Broadcasting, it’s not only the trucks, it could be flyway, it could be truck, it could be LCR, it’s a global service, it’s not like one part of the service, it depends about how you build your relation with TV station, with the clients, with producers. It could be like all kinds, but it depends on people and talent.

It’s a good initiative to create from zero, to build the team and coaching them. My following question is, how do you develop your trucks? I mean, what kind of partnerships have Media Mania established, in order to deploy the latest tech on the market?

See, when we decide to build the cars, there is a few phases. You have to do market study, you have to do research, and you have to check who’s your target and who you want to serve. For that reason, we start picking our equipment. We have all categories, and all our fleet is up to, maybe we have six trucks plus a few flyaway kits. We depend on the customers.

We have from normal small trucks that can do normal jobs like easy jobs, to the biggest event even, and sports event. Sports is the most delicate production, where you have to use all your lenses, replays, and all your equipment. It needs heavy equipment and proper stuff. Entertainment, you need to have music, it’s big. That’s why we start picking our equipment, so we have diversity in the company. We do eSports, and we do football sports, and we do entertainment, we do cultural events, we do races, marathon, so different types of jobs. When you are a TV station, you have your equipment in one place, but when you are a service provider, you need bigger niche and wider range of services to offer.

We are the only company that build vans, we train people, we rent the mobile units, and we do services for TV station. This is the whole idea. We speak Arabic, and this is multi-national.

You have to spread your wings more, and you have to please the clients more. You have many customers, and everyone has own taste or his own requirement.

So your company is very flexible.

Yes, we’re very flexible. Exactly. We have affordable equipment, but expensive equipment too, to meet the budget of all the producers, and ultimately the producers, they are our salesman. For me, honestly speaking, I’m TV director, I do sports. That’s why, when we start the company, it was like, I want to build something that serves my work and the way I like it. This is where we started and it went very well, and we serve lots of directors and producers.

We try new things together because they are friends, and they work as my salesmen, because whewhen you wear the hat, the producers’ or the director hat, you know what you want, and what make you happy and whatnot. We try to know their taste and ways, and meet their budgets, meet their requirements in a fixed budget, so this is why we are flexible, and we like to please everyone.

Recently we could read that Media Mania insert 4K HDR in its OB vans.

Yes. During pandemic times we saw that technology can help us but at the same time, final viewers got used to different ways of delivering, maybe with a low quality. In the meantime, technologies were advancing a lot. So, after pandemic things went again were they were and companies started to implement new tech.

All our customers want the high quality, they want the latest, with all the details and high-quality deliver. When you sit and watch in your TV, you want to see the best quality, you want to see proper, so that’s why-- You have to follow the trend, especially regarding sports. See, in this part of the world, to be honest, we have a lot of sports events, and government really, really give good attention for the new generation, and support the sports, and support the education sector, and so on.

When you do all this kind of things, you have to present the proper quality, or the best quality, so people can see it. We are building history, because in 10 years we are going to see a big leap in technology development, as it was when cassettes disappears as CD’s were introduced in the market.

I see my kids watching the old things, “Oh, what’s this? Why the quality is not good? Why this? Why that?” So you have to follow the technology, and keep on trying new things.

So your company is always learning and adapting.

Yes. Everything is going digital. Everything is going HDR, everything is going that to the highest level, so you need to follow and keep your clients, keep yourself updated in order to keep your client updated too, and make them happy, so this is basically the whole idea.

What do you think of NDI protocols for the compression and transport media video, do you think NDI is going to stay in the market?

Of course. Nothing will leave. See, people always go further, not backwards. For sure, there will be more discover things. They will discover more and better things, NDI will be improved as everything will be. It’s the same with, from that age, we went to SP to digital. Digital to SD, SD to quad 4k, and now we’re going to 12G 4k and 8K, like all the camera providers, they are coming now with big sensors and more details.

NDI was something. See, to be honest, with people that they don’t know, they tell you, “Oh, what is the different? Why the OB is more expensive?” When using the 12G, and using the cable, and implementing everything to have highquality, and delivering a very good picture, you increase the costs; it’s not something cheap.

You pay, you invest a lot in your cabling, in your thing, even in network, even in routers, so proper broadcast equipment is not cheap. There is some equipment are affordable, yes, I do understand. For talk show, for small things, even for medium size, okay, but when you produce a big event, you need to go higher. Let’s say NDI, we use a lot of NDIs in our eSports, because when we do eSports, you have to connect many people. You have to connect many computers and this way equipment has proper use, and it’ll serve you. I think now the world is going to a mixing zone, where you mix the broadcast with the digital world with like NDI, eSports, digital, everything, the internet use, the cloud.

And we could see that Media Mania offers every service, even virtual producing.

Yes, virtual technology is trendy. I think it’s going to be a mix of everything, so it’s up to you. Before we go to produce movies, you have to go to every single location. Now, we’re using a new technology like the screens, the things, it depends about what you like, and what you want to do. Let’s say, Tom Cruise in his last movie, he jumped six times. He made it three. He could make it on chroma, and make it CGI, but it depends on what you like, and what you want, and what you can afford, it’s his production. And the higher you invest, the higher you get. The return of investment, and to who you want to present it, so that’s little bit.

So Media Mania are always investing in new technology.

We are in a place, where we are holding the bars from the middle, like we have the new generation, the new technology, and the old, like we’re trying to bridge the old and the new, the past with the future. We don’t know what is going to happen, but we have to keep walking, going forward, and see what the future get us.

When you produce events for Africa, for Middle East, you have to bear in mind that there are high temperatures to deal with. Does your fleet integrate any special solutions for cooling, in order to get over the heat?

When you go to any coachbuilder-- Usually, people, either they buy used car, and they import it. They import it to this region, and they work with it, or they go to brand new manufacturer, and they build the car based on this region specification.

So you build your equipment with the regional specific requirements.

Exactly. That was the first challenge. Before we start coachbuilding here, we had a few challenges, because we got cars, and the cooling was not ready for this part of the world. We faced some problems and challenges, but we solved them.

You developed your own solution.

Exactly. One of the things, to do all the solutions that you needed for this part, it’s costly, it’s taking time outside. Always the client, they are busy and they want their things very fast, they wanted for yesterday. But to build a car, that will take at least six months to a year, then you need to ship it, and then you need to approve the design. That process will take a long time, so by traveling, going, emailing, conference call, checking the things.

When we decide, maybe we’re not an international player yet, but for our service that we are providing in the region, we got the edge. When we decide to do an OB van, we have different type of vehicles. We have extendable car. We have a small size, medium size, and extendable, like a big van, so to produce, and to make these trucks, if you want to keep going and come, it will take you time.

We cut the edge between time ourselves, because we got projects we want to deliver, we want to reach that target, in the exact moment. We only have time, and time is a luxury that we cannot afford.

Time is gold.

That’s why we start building here. Of course, nobody will know your need better than you. As I told you, I started the whole idea, because I direct, and I do small job and I do big job. When we start, we thought “I want an OB van that serves my purpose without high cost. Not to be very expensive but fast, and able to go to anywhere”. The idea started little a bit small, and we started developing from there. That’s why we know our place now. We know what we want to use.

You know your territory. Exactly. We know how big the walls should be, how to make it, how to isolate the car, isolate the equipment, make everyone comfortable, working under 50 degrees. It’s not that easy. You have to maintain, keep everything working properly. This is a challenge also. That’s why cooling is one of the main issues.

A lot of good work. Let’s come back with a tech question. Do you think it will be possible in the near future to produce all coverages, or all events on IP without increasing costs? How long until it will be fully implanted?

See, 12G and IP, people, they say that IP is cheap, and the other is not but if you want to use proper IP servers or routers, you can minimize the equipment somewhere but you will pay a lot in your proper router, because everything should be planned. For an IP coverage, everything should be planned. Outside broadcasting, it’s the same as using an iPhone. After you used your iPhone, and you want to shift to another new brand, it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a little bit of conflict, because not all components are compatible. It’s the same as happens with OS as Window and Mac, or Android and iOS.

You need to standardize the process.

Exactly. The IP is something good. I’m not saying, “No”. It’s amazing. Let’s say, in our job, when you do IP, it’s good.

Maybe in Europe, or any part of the world, they are used to it, because they start to have infrastructure for this. Here, as a company, today we are covering football, and the director want his setup this way. Tomorrow, you will go to cover a tennis game, or cricket, and it will be another setup.

It’s like you finish nighttime with this job, and immediately you need to go and installing directly to do second production. It depends. Sometimes in the season, team and trucks are working from place-to-place, maybe there is not even 24 hours between.

So you think it will take a long time to standardize for going full IP.

Exactly. To reconfigure everything with IP, I think this, it’s going to take more time on the engineers and all this, but I’m not saying IP is not going to stay. It’s just we will need to integrate all tech and workflows. Now, you’re using everything with its controller; if you take Lawo audio mixer, you can control it from anywhere. If you take, let’s say, your Ross audio video mixer, you can control it. Even Sony camera, even your engineer can control it from any place. Even let’s say, Clear-Com, you can use your mobile phone and put the Clear-Com, and you can use the real ClearCom system.

You mean there are solutions to help manage broadcast equipment that make it easier to produce any event.

The network and computer and software, this mix between hardware and software make things easier on people, and this is good. But until you will have a proper generation with IP knowledge, it won’t be of common use. Let’s say, Blackmagic as in example, they are providing easy-to-use equipment for influencers, but when you have a router with a low transmission power, 300 or 500 Mb, just to configure this IP by 12G or 3G, whatever, by cable, by hardware… It demands expertise. By the end, it’s a software, and this one goes to this way, and you have hardware to connect.

When you go IP, just to configure this, it will take time. When you go on site it’s a challenge for the team to achieve all the integrations.

Of course, the next generation, of course, is going to use IP, and will understand the IP very well, because from the age of three or four they will be using this tech.

In comms, everything evolves fast. When we got the beeper, it was wow. When we started using satellite phone, wow, it was something…

I’m sure that you remember when we used to go around all over the world for filming, and we had the satellite mobile. It was something unusual.

Now, kids work with mobile phone, they’re used to. They’re generation Z that will be full digital and they’ll play easily with it. For us, we are doing that transition, and I think we’re doing good.

Finally, I would love to know details about a case of a special coverage your company has done recently. The one that is more telling, or the one that you find more obstacles, and you overcame it.

Every coverage has its own, even if it’s small, it has its own requirements. Let’s say when we went to produce Football World Cup, we were there giving our trucks for worldwide TV channels.

But I’m thinking on Mission to Mars, it was one of our best works. I was directing this, as we were the host broadcaster giving the feed for many TV channels. We used the OB vans for this, coverage when they reached to Mars. We are doing very big events, and every coverage is a challenge. It may seem easy but come and make it under 50ºC degrees here. You always meet challenges when you cover like 100 kilometers, or 120 kilometers by sea, live. It’s not something easy as only RF engineers understand the signal and can see and decide where to go, what to do.

So every production has it special requirements.

Last week we were doing here the Tom Cruise’s last film premier. Yes, he was in Abu Dhabi. Even we were the host broadcaster. He came back to the same place where he shot his movie. Some people they were thinking, “No, this is something, maybe it’s not real.” No, he shot here, he came back, real airport, real place.

We have lots of big events here that ask for outside broadcasting. Especially, when you have big conference, like World Economic Conference. We are part of this, and we do provide services for different events, each one in its kind.

I would like to add a little question about, can you share with us if you have a referent company in tech advances?

See, honestly speaking, we have different conditions here but we have all the knowledge, talent and technology here at our disposal. Now, we are starting to grow here, the business started to grow among all the countries in GCC, and they are trying to make it easier to cross borders and all these.

Okay, let’s say in Europe there are no borders, you cross from place-to-place, so that is easy.

That, it was not so easy here. We can say, we serve and we expand very fast like people outside to invest, and now we are reaching international level.

Maybe now you see every now and then UAE Warriors, and worldwide champions coming to compete in UAE. You see lots of teams coming, Barcelona, Real Madrid, they are coming to play here. You see Egyptian Super Cup, also coming here. It’s starting to be a big step. For sure, UAE government spent a lot of money to put the UAE on the World Map, and this is very noticed, and we are in a place that give us opportunity.

It’s ready infrastructure, so we are expanding. We have friends in EMG, in NEP, and we have worked with them. We work with them, and we serve them, collaborate and share knowledge. Maybe they use us in this part, we use them in other parts.

You have to take in account that here we’re a small investor. We may have big companies, investors and shareholders, and countries that come and invest. It’s starting to develop. Before, it was few country in GCC focusing on big event, and big sports event. You could count them with one hand. Now, it’s starting to expand, and it’s not only to UAE.

In Europe or United States population is big. Here, the whole population in UAE it’s 11 million people, plus Saudi that is 35. If you combine them both, they are not as much as Europe, as much as America or Canada. They can be as similar to one country.

But now it’s expanding. People start to give attention to sports, to big music or cultural festivals, attracting the international market, getting international spectacles. But it’s going a little bit slower. That’s why we cannot watch out what are other companies doing in Europe or America, because we are different markets and we go at a different pace. 

TM Broadcast speaks with Rainer Kampe, CTO at Broadcast Solutions, one of the largest system integrators in Europe. Mr. Kampe told us about recent developments and share with us his views about the future.

Mr. Kampe, as our readers know already your company, Broadcast Solutions, we don’t need you to make an introduction on Who Are You, but we would like to know what are the main developments that Broadcast Solutions has done during the last year.

In the last 12 months, we have delivered one- the biggest ever OB van, which we have ever built to South Africa which is a fully IP SMPTE 2110

In the last 12 months, we have delivered one- the biggest ever OB van, which we have ever built to South Africa which is a fully IP SMPTE 2110 OB van.

OB van. Because of the road regulations in South Africa, it’s 2 meters longer than what we are used to build or to have in Europe, and it’s even higher. For us, it was the biggest OB van ever built. On the other hand, it was the biggest IP system or IP OB van we have built.

We are very proud that our control solution, which we developed, we started to develop a couple of years ago is the core system controlling the IP infrastructure.

This is a fully SMPTE 2110 IPbased OB van and fully NMOS controlled. With our control system, we have our own high-availability NMOS registry deployed in that OB van in a high-availability cluster. From a technology point of view, most of the vendors are using the Easy Sony NMOS registry which might not scale to that size, and we developed a standalone NMOS registry service in a high availability cluster.

It’s a lot. This year was productive.

Yes. On the other hand, in this year we started with cloudbased systems, especially GV AMPP, Grass Valley GV AMPPbased systems, and we won a couple of very big projects, mainly in terms in the field of playout and repackaging content.

These are big developments. How do you develop OB trucks and integrate these technical advances? You share knowledge with or have any partnerships with other suppliers, other manufacturers?

One of our core ideas is to partner with our suppliers to be a reliable partner and therefore when we develop new systems, we have a close relation with them and they are helping us and they’re willing to help. On the other hand, they benefit from our experience from the field.

I guess this relationship help you research and take in account about requirements of your clients and work on how to fulfil them with suppliers, sharing knowledge and challenges.

We try to develop ideas, what could be beneficial for our customers because we have a better market overview than our customers. We try to develop ideas and innovations and present them to our customers and to check if that would be a valuable thing for them.

This makes the industry grow. This is sharing. It’s collaboration. It’s collaboration.

This question maybe a little tricky, but can you tell me what supplier you always trust on because you are sure it’s going to do the work?

That’s a very tricky question, but… Yes, there are some key suppliers with which we work since many years. It is based on mutual trust and personal relationships and longterm developing systems and helping them in improving their products. We are a long-term partner with Cross Valley, as well, as Sony.

I’d say because of our German origin, it has always been easy to communicate and relate with the brands like DirectOut, Riedel, and Lawo as well. For the software support, we worked closely with CALREC as well. We are a privately owned company. That’s our core. There are other privately owned companies on the market like Ross, like Riedel which share the same vision. This goes perfectly together. A vision of Ross, a vision of Riedel.

Sharing the vision and the language always facilitates workflows. My next question is related to your crew. How do you train your crew for broadcasting for the OB trucks? Do you have a training program or career development plan, or do you take the talent from outside?

From our history, I have been an OB Van engineer and an EIC, and so we had very good relations to operators and on the other hand Media University. Our core idea was always to get talents on board, which know the production, and production experience. Coming from the technical production side as an operator, vision engineer, audio engineer, we trained them in designing systems.

This is the benefit for our customers that our engineers know how productions work. They come from the production perspective and help the customer to build the best possible work or tool for his production.

We can say that you take people with talent and knowledge that you train in the specific solutions and the specific workflows developed in your company. Yes.

Do you think NDI is here to stay?

[laughs] That’s like looking in the glass bowl. There is a certain market for NDI. We are currently integrating an NDI in our control solution to control NDI systems. That shows that we believe in NDI, but we believe in open standards and we believe that standards like ST 2110, proprietary standards like NDI, and Dante will stay because there’s a purpose for that. They are quite useful tools for certain sizes of production. They are not the solution for all needs but for certain needs. Therefore, NDI will stay.

We have an engineering team which works especially on aircon and sustainability of the trucks, and truck build.

You spoke about super size OB track for South Africa SuperSport. I wanted to know if you are integrated to incorporate any solutions specific for that region, for the climate, maybe the weather, maybe the circumstances. You mentioned before that long roads in Soutth Africa asked for a larger and longer OB truck. Do you integrate any specific developments for each region?

I think that is one of our core benefits for the customer.

We have deployed a lot of OB vans for various regions. For hot climates, for humid climates, we have deployed-for northern areas. We have an engineering team which works especially on aircon and sustainability of the trucks, and truck build.

We developed a special solution for that. We have developed a solution for a very cold climate to help the aircon and we developed aircon systems for very hot climate like MiddleEast climate. We have an engineering team dealing with these tailor-made solutions for different climates, for different regions.

In terms of sustainability and environment care, what actions do you integrate in the OB trucks? That’s a bit difficult to answer because we need to integrate what is on the market in terms of power consumption, but together with the customer, if the customer is willing to invest in greener technology, we give advice and we help them to find the right products.

What we do have done, which is not about sustainability, but on health and environment we developed air purifying solutions and fresh air solutions for our OB vans this was due to COVID. We tried in a very early stage to help our customers to work in these very dense conditions like in an OB van with enough fresh air and with purified air.

That sounds good. Okay, my last question was going to be about fully IP but you told me that the last of the trucks you developed was fully IP, do you think the market is going to be fully IP in the next season, in the next year maybe, or how long until we can produce everything all IP without increasing costs?

What we currently see, you have to differentiate, you mentioned NDI which is an IPbased solution as well which is on a lower price level, and with a compressed format we have SMPTE ST2110 too… I mean, we will see different standards living side by side for different production needs but more and more of the devices will be standard IT devices be it standard FPGA platforms or be it standard CPU/GPUbased platforms and the streaming format or the transport format in between these units can be SMPTE ST 2110, uncompressed can be compressed, can be NDI can be…

It will be evolving according to the industry tech development.

Yes. That’s the thing, definitely, we’ll see but the green cable still has its attraction because it’s rock solid and easy to use. Finally, we would like to know details about one case of special coverage, in which you met a lot of obstacles but you overcame it and how did you do it?

One of the most complicated things we have done was two IP-based OB vans for a Belgian customer because the commissioning started right at the time when COVID came, and we did the complete commissioning of that OB van with all the manufacturers in COVID times and all the manufacturers and all the different entities which had to work in this OB van usually work on-site in the OB van, we were working remotely and some of the engineers were in Australia, some in the United States… This was a 24/7 job to deliver all the requirements, better said, to ensure all the access to the different units and to coordinate all that remote work and connections… It’s the most complicated work I remember, due to COVID times. 

Toutenkamion is a French company with a long history on developing all kind of mobile units for every requirement; they realized more than 2.000 special vehicles delivered into 40 countries in the world acting in the most complex fields such as defense, security, medical and, of course, broadcasting. Its OB Trucks are equipped by AMP Visual TV, a French technical company that specialize in broadcast technology, and among its clients we can find France Television, Euromedia, RTBF, Nigeria TV or TVN. TM Broadcast spoke with Stephane Girerd, Toutenkamion CEO, and asked about his vision about the future of the OB van market.

Photos copyright AMP Visual TV

First question for our readers is, how did Toutenkamion and when did Toutenkamion started in the broadcast market?

We started in the broadcast market in 1995. That’s when we designed and built our first broadcast truck because it was a request from a prospect which is called France TV in France. This is how it started. Then we had been very busy in I997-1998, with many broadcast trucks because of the World Soccer Cup, which was held in France in 1998 and which we won, by the way.

We remember, congratulations.

That was a long time ago. That’s how Toutenkamion started. Because we have a special way of designing our trucks, at this time, we were much faster to do the design and more agile compared to our competitors in France. After two or three years, we were the only one company in France able to do OB trucks left.

We saw you have health, catering, military trucks, all kind of trucks. We are focusing on Outside Broadcast. We know you have an alliance with AMP Visual TV for developing the trucks. How these trucks are developed?

They’re developed jointly between AMP Visual TV design team, their sales team, and our design team. It started in 2009, this partnership with AMP, since when we have developed our way of working together on our partnership. A few years ago, they were in every week during the design and the manufacturing phase. Since then, we have developed building blocks, and now we add them up, and it’s easier. So, we go faster in terms of design and manufacturing. That’s how we worked with them a few years before. There was a third part included in the design a system integrator which was always part of the deal. Now we work directly with AMP Visual TV.

AMP. Which technologies you use to build your OB trucks?

I’m talking about what kind of platforms do you trust on? What kind of protocols do you usually work with?

We design and we manufacture a rack-ready trucks. It’s customer choice to adapt and to transfer the platforms and the networks, and so on. Our aim is to actually offer them OB trucks in which

Equipment Latest OB Truck Millenium 9 (developed between Toutenkamion and AMP Visual TV)

Millenium 9 made its first performance in Nancy for the broadcasting of France-Germany match of French women’s handball team on BeIN Sport.

The latest mobile work tool developed by AMP Visual TV in collaboration with Toutenkamion is not only efficient but also allows the teams to have optimal working conditions in a spacious and comfortable environment.

It was designed and manufactured on the same model as the Millenium 3, 4 and 6, delivered before to Toutenkamion.

Each OB van has a total capacity of 27 people, in an area of 49 m² including a 16 m² extension.

A mobile unit is composed of an entrance and 5 workspaces:

Video production, accommodating 14 people, with 6 in the extension

VIP Audio Technical, located in the extension Vision, including cold and technical bays

Cameras : 16

Recorder(s) : 6 VTRs

Audio mixer : STUDER VISTA 8 / YAMAHA O2R96

Video mixer : SONY MVS 7000x

Servers : 8 EVS XT-3 8-channel servers

Length : Semi: 13.90 m + Towing vehicle: 16.50 m

Width : Fully expanded: 4.53 m / Fully stowed: 2.50 m

Height : 4.00 they can adapt any kind of platform and technology. The main important points in our design are the weight, the insulation because it has impact on air conditioning needs.

There are also standards so that they can plug in any kind of equipment and also very easy way for connecting and putting all the cables and so inside the truck for the wiring of the cable of the truck. No special technology. A company like AMP, they will change the technology inside the truck many times during the lifetime of the truck. Some of our OB trucks, the latest one, are still being used, so they’re almost 20 years older, and they have already had many tech-lives.

So you can change, and you can apply any technology, any platform in your OB trucks.

Exactly. Exactly. It’s more question on powering the signs of the power installation and the power of the air conditioning installation.

Can you change these technologies for an event or for another?

Yes. Most of our customers, that’s what they are asking for easy way to unplug and plug other equipment depending on the number of cameras, the number of servers they need. It has to be very easy. All the accesses have to be very easy for the users so that they can connect. With IP technology now, it’s even easier because now there is only one kind of connecting way for all this equipment.

Aside from the technology, how is your team built and trained? Which skills they have?

It’s mainly internal training because there’s no school for learning on how to design and build OB trucks. It’s only internal training, and it’s also because we have a strong share of the market in France which means that we always have OB trucks to build so that we can keep training our new employees, and that’s the way we do it. Secondly, we go more and more into details during the design phase to make sure that development is very accurate to the design, I would say. We can also have people who are less trained working on this kind of very complicated trucks.

Do you think it will be possible in a near future to produce all coverage on IP without costs increase?

For now, I think nobody is ready to move to full IP. People think it’s too risky. Technology is not mature enough yet. That’s what I understand from our customers, but might move to full IP in the coming years. Most probably, because again, it’s more agile. You can switch equipment much more easily. For now, we have built a new one full IP OB truck last year. That’s all, and the ones where I agreed trucks with some IP parts and some standard broadcast connecting and the equipment.

So you believe it will be full IP in a few years.

Yes. I know that already some OB trucks are equipped to this full IP technology, but people-- I don’t know. It looks like the biggest players are still afraid of moving to 100% IP technology. We will see.

What suppliers and manufacturers do your company trust always with no doubt?

We do not provide the equipments, but I know most of our customer work very frequently with major brands and players in industry.

We would love to know the details about a case of special coverage your company has done recently. The one case you think is more telling about what problems can you find and how did you resolve them.

This case was for AMP, they were in a hurry because they needed two big, big trucks ready for the coming 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, and we developed a double expanded OB truck from the design of a simple extended OB truck we had just produced for them. We were able to reuse major part of the design and to capitalize on the experience we had with the simple expanded, the singlesided truck.

You are doing workshops, how are your workshops?

Actually, we have 30,000 square meter of workshop dedicated to manufacture special trucks. In total, we have about 45,000 or 46,000 square meter of workshop in four different locations but with the same kind of knowledge in each team. We, I mean, people, I mean, welders, painters, all the kind of knowledge we need to build these kind of OB trucks.

Our main workshop is located about an hour and half south of Paris, where are located the biggest fleet of OB trucks in France, which is very convenient for our customers in order to get maintenance and modifications, because sometimes they need some modifications when new technologies are being used or first implemented.

It’s a way to put together ideas and sharing knowledge, maybe.

Yes. Exactly.

Finally, what do you think is the future for OB trucks? What’s next? What tech development is taking OB to the next level?

I hope the future for OB trucks is to be brilliant with a lot of OB trucks to deliver but unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be like that. I think due to the

Our main workshop is located about an hour and half south of Paris, where are located the biggest fleet of OB trucks in France fact that technology is moving very fast to IP technology, we might see remote adaptation to procure more and more with stadium equipped. They will just need to move the cameras with the cameramen, and these stadiums will be connected directly with fiber to main broadcast centers in big cities. This means it will reduce the number of required OB trucks for big events.

That’s actually what our customers think. It looks like it’s not ready yet. The technologies and the people are not 100% ready for the moment, but that’s how we imagine the future. We will still need some broadcast events for special events where there’s no need to connect these places remotely forever, but yes, the market will be reduced for sure. 

Most professionals in the audiovisual broadcast sector already know -in one way or anotherwhat HDR is. Firstly, because the world of photography, smartphone capture and fixed-image retouching techniques have accelerated the use and enjoyment of this type of technology; secondly, because manufacturers of audiovisual equipment, both for professionals and consumers, have made this term popular in their promotional and marketing campaigns.

But, at what point is HDR on Broadcast TV? We will learn through this article how HDR is gradually conquering the current landscape of professional audiovisuals.

By Carlos Medina Audiovisual Technology Expert and Advisor

Every time a technology is developed there are many factors that determine its level of success and implementation. In the image/ video scene, we have been experiencing many changes in recent years. Some, with greater luck, have been accepted, used and seen feedback of high satisfaction among users/viewers, such as, for example, the resolution of images/videos. In a very short time we have gone from SD (PAL= 720 × 576; NTSC= 720 × 480) to FHD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), 2K (2,048 x 1,080 pixels), UHD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), 4K (4,096 x 2,160 pixels), or even 8K (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) throughout all phases of the audiovisual process, from capture to reception, distribution and broadcast of contents.

Surely, resolution is a notion that is easier to understand, or at least to assume. This is one of the main reasons for its success. So then, what’s going on with HDR?

The first thing is to know what we are talking about.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It is a technology that is harder to understand since it involves knowing and grasping other technical parameters. Simply put, HDR allows for greater tonal richness between illuminated and dark areas in an image/ video in terms of exposure.

The purpose behind this technology is to provide greater realism to the image being viewed. Therefore, we want to improve the recording and playback of the maximum values/levels for white, gray and black (what we usually refer to as brightness or luminance). When we watch HDR videos, our assessment is usually conveyed through such popular expressions as “such a good quality”, “everything looks so good”, “how vibrant the images are” or “what a strength”, among others.

Brightness or luminance is measured in “nits”, or candelas per square meter (cd/m2); thus there are variations from very dark values -0.00005 nits- to very bright values -about 10,000 nits or more. Therefore, HDR involves working with images with greater nit ranges as compared to SDR (Standard Dynamic Range), that is, it works with a range that goes from the maximum level of brightness, which corresponds to pure white, to the minimum level, black.

For example, a TV whose maximum brightness capacity is 100 nits and a lowest value of 0.1 nits has a contrast ratio of 100/0.1 i.e. 1000:1 (standard in HD TV). If the maximum brightness is increased up to 400 nits while keeping the black level at 0.1 nits, we will get a contrast ratio of 4000:1. That is, the contrast ratio and therefore the dynamic range have been increased. Thus, we get a new visual experience in the perception of images/videos and come a little closer to what happens with human vision when looking directly at reality. *Thus, the viewing experience increasingly comes closer to the direct perception of reality by the human eye.

The implementation of HDR means having control of this technology during all phases of audiovisual production. A clear improvement as compared to the use of SDR, where the result of an image showed “high areas -white level- that were burned” and/ or “pasted in blacks or dark areas”.

The HDR format involves in some way reinventing the TV or, at least, changing the rules of the game for production of SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) content. FHD/ UHD images feature some modifications in issues such as:

 The improvement in capture devices, both regarding sensitivity of the sensors and in the way of processing images using the different logarithmic gamma curves existing in the audiovisual market.

 Full image standardization with a color depth (bits per pixel - bpp) below 10 bits or greater.

 Working with new color spaces that are wider under ITU-R BT.709, ITU-R BT.2020 and/or DCI-P3 standards.

 Knowledge and practice of illuminating with logarithmic gamma curves and raw images.

 The final finishing process of the image and color-grading in the visual content.

 Implementation of codecs that allow the dissemination of HDR for different deliveries.

 Using SDR/HDR and HDR/ SDR production workflows in parallel.

 Marketing of HDRcompatible viewing devices, i.e. monitors, video projectors and consumer televisions (whatever the technology used: Full LED, Nanocell, OLED, OLED+, QLED…).

All broadcast organizations are strongly committing on UHDTV and HDR production, as recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the American Society of Film and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Consumer Technology Association (CTA, the former Consumer Electronics Goods Association - CEA), the Moving Image Expert Group (MPEG), the BluRay Optical Discs Association (BDA), and even VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association).

The HDR TV standard reminds us of some situations experienced in the past when implementing a new technology, that is, the appearance of several solutions and denominations in a short period of time, for example:

Hdr10

In August 2015, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced this open standard (no need to pay license fees) for the adoption of HDR, supported by most manufacturers, distributors and content creators, including Sony, Samsung, LG, Sharp, Vizio, Hisense.

Its main features are the use of the Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) in the SMPTE ST 2084 standard, a Rec. 2020 color space, color luminance up to a maximum of 1,000 nits, color depth of 10 bits and global image instructions in addition to a single layer of content with static metadata and a minimal interface to GET signal – HDMI 2.0a.

This system has no backward compatibility with SDR TVs, although it is the most widespread standard, and even mandatory on UHD BluRays.

In April, 2016 the UHD Alliance (a partnership made up of different industry sector, including major movie studios, manufacturers of consumer electronics and technology companies as well as content distributors) established the Ultra HD Premium certification to ensure a correct HDR10 implementation with the following resolution features:

3,840 x 2,160, color depth of at least 10 bits, BT.2020 color space, maximum luminance of more than 1,000 nits, black level of less than 0.03 nits and implementation of the SMPTE ST 2084-EOTF standard.

The main creators and distributors of HDR10 content are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, HBO, Google

Chromecast Ultra, Playstation 4 PRO, Xbox One, Vimeo, You Tube. And the Hollywood studios: Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate.

HDR10+

2017 saw the updating of the HDR10 format, thanks to the cooperation between Samsung, 20th Century Fox and Panasonic which has Amazon Prime Video as the major streaming service provider.

The great novelty is that it features dynamic metadata, which allows to adjust the settings of the scene parameters frame by frame. This new functionality is called Dynamic Tone Mapping; it integrates the HEVC x265 codec, an HDMI 2.0 connection and is supported by UHD Blu-Ray.

DOLBY VISION (DV)

This is a reference and a standard in HDR, which draws on the conclusions obtained from a series of experiments with viewers so as to determine how much dynamic range human vision needs. The result was that a satisfactory level (90%) is reached by playing back within a range of 0 to 10,000 nits.

Dolby labs have determined to use the BT.2020 SMPTE ST-2084 standard, color luminance up to a maximum of 10,000 nits, 12-bit color depth (allows to use 68 billion colors) and partial metadata instructions per individual frame.

It features backward compatibility with SDR TVs and is -optionally- HDR10 compatible TVs. It is also optional on UHD Blu-Rays. This standard has an added cost that usually affects consumers, due to the need to pay for a special Dolby Vision chip, a certification process and playback licenses.

The main creators and distributors of HDR Dolby Vision content are Netflix, Warner, Universal Pictures, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, Google Chromecast Ultra…

The Hollywood studios: MGM, Sony, Warner Bros. Universal.

Hlg

Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) is a standard sponsored by British public broadcasters BBC and Japan’s NHK. One of its great successes for implementation is the compatibility in SDR/ HDR environments with REC 709 for terrestrial, cable and satellite television transmissions. It is an open standard (no need for license fees). It uses a hybrid logarithmic gamma (HLG) Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) with no metadata and 10-bit color depth.

Its distinguishing factor is that it is mainly geared towards live content, on television or sports broadcasts, for example, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Advanced HDR

This is the proposal from one of the technological giants directly associated with cinema, Technicolor (HDR Technicolor), and for the time being it has not caused any impact, although it relies on the support of content creators. Since CES 2016, Philips became its great ally, and this resulted in the SLHDR1 format (formerly Prime Single).

It is backward compatible with SDR televisions, through an external decoder device. It uses the Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) of the SMPTE ST 2084 standard and includes a single layer of content with static and dynamic metadata; as usual, it is also optional in UHD BluRay.

HDR Converter

It is not an HDR standard as such, but a technology developed by LG for its televisions that allows converting and scaling a content from SDR to HDR by emulation, in which basically some settings are retouched, such as contrast, to give the image an HDR feel.

VESA DisplayHDR

It is simply a certification for proper HDR compliance within the field of monitors. VESA’s DisplayHDR and DisplayHDR True Black specifications provide an important benefit for the screens industry and end consumers.

It consists of an open industry standard to determine the quality of HDR viewing on monitors so as to determine what is the image quality that we will have on each screen.

There are three levels of certification: DisplayHDR 400 (low range), designed for laptops, DisplayHDR 600, for mid-range laptops and monitors, and DisplayHDR 1000, for high-end equipment.

The path is not being easy due to a myriad of solutions that are being proposed, which in many cases can confuse both professionals when generating content or marketing HDR images and videos, and end users when it comes to buying a television set, updating the technical equipment or enjoying audiovisual proposals on their screens.

Even in the field of consumer products, many manufacturers use proprietary names that continue to cause confusion: Samsung with SUHD Precision Black Pro; Panasonic under Dynamic Range Remaster; LG with Wide Color Led; Sony with X-tended Dynamic Range; Philips by naming it Bright Premium and Micro Dimming Premium, among others.

However, it is necessary to highlight the effort that these manufacturers of TV sets and video projectors are making to introduce the HDR ecosystem in our homes with screen devices capable of showing 1,000 nits of brightness at color depths of 10 bits or even with 17 bits, although Dolby continues to recommend reaching 4,000 nits to achieve incredible images.

In the broadcast TV sector, the International Telecommunication Union published recommendation ITU-R HDR-TV, BT.2100-0, so professionals are under two standards worldwide: Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and Perceptual Quantizer (PQ), which are then translated into the different above-mentioned denominations.

Finally, when producing and marketing in a broadcast environment, it is essential to determine whether we want to maintain compatibility between an SDR/HDR stream or also use static or dynamic metadata.

And, regarding standards, there are releases that already support the assurances provided by HDR production for the professional sector:

 ARIB STD-B67 Essential Parameter Values for the Extended Image Dynamic Range Television (EIDRTV) System for Programme Production.

 EBU Tech 3320 User Requirements for Video Monitors in Television Production. Version 4.1 (9/2019).

 ETSI TS 103 433-1 HighPerformance Single Layer High Dynamic Range (HDR) System for use in consumer electronic devices.

 SID ICDM IDMS 1.1 SID International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM) Information Display Measurements Standard v1.1.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.601-7 Studio encoding parameters of digital television for standard 4:3 and wide screen 16:9 aspect ratios. ITU-R. March 2011.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.709-6 Parameter values for the HDTV standards for production and international programme exchange. ITU-R. June 2015.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.1886

Reference electro-optical transfer function for flat panel displays used in HDTV studio production. ITU-R. March 2011.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.2020-2

Parameter values for ultrahigh definition television systems for production and international programme exchange. Oct. 2015.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.2035

A reference viewing environment for evaluation of HDTV program material or completed programs.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.2020-2 Image parameter values for highdynamc range television for use in production and international programme exchange. July 2018.

 ITU-R Rec BT.239011 (03/2023) High dynamic range television for production and international program exchange.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.2124

Objective metric for the assessment of the potential visibility of colour differences in television. ITU-R. Jan. 2019.

 ITU-R Rec. BT.2408-0 Operational practices in HDR television production. ITU-R. Oct. 2017.

 ITU-R Rec. H.273 Codingindependent code points for video signal type identification, 2016.

 ITU-R BT.2381-0 (07/2015): Requirements for High Dynamic Range Television (HDR-TV) Systems.

 ITU-R BT.2077 Real time serial digital interfaces for UHDTV signals.

 OpenEXR High-dynamicrange scene-linear image data and associated metadata format. www. openexr.com.

 SMPTE ST 2036 1 Ultra High Definition Television Image.

 SMPTE ST 0196-2003

Motion-Picture FilmIndoor Theater and Review Room Projection - Screen Luminance & Viewing Conditions.

 SMPTE ST 0431-12006 D-Cinema Quality

- Screen Luminance Level, Chromaticity and Uniformity.

 SMPTE RP 0431-2-2007

D-Cinema QualityReference Projector and Environment.

 SMPTE ST 2084:2014 and CEA-861.3-A-2016: High Dynamic Range (PQ) Electro-Optical Transfer Function of Mastering Reference Displays. SMPTE 2014.

 SMPTE ST 2086:2018 Mastering Display Color Volume Metadata Supporting High Luminance and Wide Color Gamut Images.

 SMPTE ST 2094-0:2017 and CEA-861-G: Overview Document - Dynamic Metadata for Color Volume Transformation. DOI: 10.5594/-SMPTE.OV20940.2017.

 SMPTE ST 2048-1 2048×1080 and 4096×2160 Digital Cinematography Production Image Formats FS/709.

 SMPTE ST 2065 4:2013 ACES Image Container File Layout. HDR Production File Format.

 SMPTE ST 268-2 DPX format extensions for high dynamic range and wide color gamut pictures.

 VESA DisplayHDR: VESA High-performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (DisplayHDR CTS). Rev. 1.1 (2019).

 ARIB STD-B67 (2015, Japanese standardization agency): Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) Essential Parameter Values for the Extended Image Dynamic Range Television System.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), under the ATSC 3.0 terrestrial transmission, the MPEG Committee under the HEVC standard, DVB Europe and the Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) are already working on the preparation of HDR standards for dissemination of this type of content.

Any professional in the audiovisual sector, both in the broadcast field and in digital cinematography, must be clear that HDR is a technology that has to be taken care of throughout the entire work process (HDR Workflow): from origin and development of the project (Project Development), through pre-production, contribution (production, recording/ shooting and post-production), delivery

(distribution, broadcast and/ or retransmission) and, of course, up to the displays or image output devices used by end users or viewers (monitors, televisions, tablets, cell phones…).

The HDR standard has very important implications in regard to all the decisions that have to be made to obtain quality broadcast content. At present, we must continue to promote HDR content versus SDR content, given the level of satisfaction generated by their enjoyment. However, this is a boost that still needs collaboration between the players involved in the technology (developers, engineering, equipment manufacturers…) and those who promote visual creativity (producers, directors, photographers, camera operators, postproduction and color grading technicians…).

The success of HDR means that technology and creativity shpuld go along hand in hand, a conversational dynamic between the research drive of new image quality options and the requirements of increasingly demanding viewers. 