This article was originally published by TVB Europe on May 10th, 2018.

NEP UK has announced its two newest OB vehicles have been built to be compliant with SMPTE 2110 standard.

Both of the vehicles, named Venus and Ceres, have been built with Grass Valley (formerly SAM) IQ UCP 25GbE Gateway cards, which provide two-way links between the the IP-based equipment and the existing baseband technology that is still needed to accommodate clients using SDI feeds. The trucks can also offer dual level UHD and HDI-SDI simultaneously.

They also employ PHABRIX’s HDR and IP-enabled test and measurement solutions, including three Qx 12G signal generation, analysis and monitoring solutions. NEP has invested in four Rx2000 units, with each Rx providing up to four channels of 2K/3G/HD/SD-SDI video/audio analysis and monitoring (dual inputs per analyser).

Other equipment installed in each vehicle includes Grass Valley Kayenne Video Production Centers and Kahuna vision mixers, Calrec sound desks, PHABRIX HDR and IP-enabled test and measurement solutions, Telex Talkback system, Arista 7504 IP switches and Axon Cerebrum control systems.

Venus recently completed its first job and both trucks will be supporting several major live events over the summer.

Rob Newton, engineering and technical director, NEP UK, told TVBEurope: “NEP UK are ready for an IP future, our new trucks mark a new direction for OB vehicles and a shift in thinking – following the first-generation OB trucks built to support SMPTE ST 2110.

"NEP is helping to define a new methodology from which others across the industry will benefit and are very happy to be doing so. We envisage that our ‘building block’ approach leads to a future, where trucks from different suppliers can work seamlessly together for the benefit of event organisers and broadcasters, scaling with IP to meet the increased demands of delivering 4K viewing experiences for the world’s largest global events”