CCTV Leads the Field with state-of-the-art equipment at IAAF Championships

CCTV China was the host broadcaster for track and field coverage of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing from 22 – 30 August. Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance and its Chinese business partner, CSS Group, provided Cobham’s Solo H.264 ENG TX transmitters, the new PRORXD HD receivers, and associated camera control systems on behalf of host 2015.

The historic Beijing National Stadium, known as the “bird’s nest” that hosted the  2008 Summer Olympics, was the focal point for CCTV’s coverage where CSS Group deployed four  Solo H.264 ENG TX, PRORXD HD receivers, and respective camera control systems.

Cobham liaised with CSS for installation, testing, operations before, and during the nine-day games to assist the host broadcaster produce the pragmatic general multicast (PGM) for regional broadcasters around the world. Video signals from the stadium were sent to the central production compound over standard HD-SDI fibre optic systems. Camera control was achieved with Cobham’s specialist four-in-one system enabling four cameras to be controlled over the one UHF channel. The UHF transmitting unit was placed in the stadium and, according to the host broadcaster, delivered excellent performance using minimal power. The UHF transmitting unit was connected to the production compound’s remote control panel with a pair of 500m audio cables.