Thomson’s Grass Valley line shines during 77th Academy Awards broadcast

Grass Valley brand digital equipment from Thomson played a major supporting role in this year's Academy Awards presentation.
Grass Valley acquisition and production products helped deliver the high-definition (HD) telecast on ABC, while Grass Valley postproduction products also enabled several high-profile films to look their best.
With the broadest line of acquisition, production, digital postproduction, and networking technologies available, no other company touches more points of today’s digital workflows than Thomson.
Handling the graphics-intensive 720p HD Oscar telecast was the veteran mobile truck company NEP Supershooters, which used four 52-ft. multi-format production trucks to cover the event. The trucks were equipped three Grass Valley Kalypso HD Video Production Centre switchers, four GVeous HD digital video effects systems, two PVS 2000 Profileâ XP Media HD servers, several PVS 1000 Profile XP Media SD servers, and at least 20 LDK 6000 mk II WorldCam multi-format digital cameras. Another dozen Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk II WorldCam cameras were used to cover the evening’s outdoor 'red carpet' pre-show events, being switched through the trucks.
Also supporting the Academy Awards broadcast was audio-video specialist ProQue, which used six PVS 2000 servers and half a dozen Profile SD servers to provide random-access playback for the show’s pre-taped segments, lower-third graphics, commercials and billboard packages, as well as the dozens of film clips that appeared on screen during the telecast. ProQue has used the Profile server to support both the Academy Awardsâ and Grammy telecasts each year for the last nine years.
“This year’s Academy Awardsâ telecast provided a great look at the breadth and scope of Thomson’s Grass Valley technology and the impact it is having on the Hollywood and television production communities,” said Marc Valentin, Executive Vice President of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions. “We’re proud to be providing the tools to bring Hollywood’s biggest night into the homes of millions of viewers around the world.”
(GB)