Ski-jumping, cross-country, biathlon, snowboarding and freestyle skiing – just a few of the medal contests that will be televised around the world with a Lawo-produced soundtrack. One of Europe’s leading TV service providers, the Belgian company Alfacam, is deploying nine OB vans for the Winter Games in Canada, and all of them feature Lawo mc²66 consoles and Nova73 HD routers.

Dome Productions had set up 27 cameras for OBS to cover the the men's figure skating at the Pacific Coliseum. The set-up included one Ultra Motion Camera, one Polecam, two crane cameras, one dolly-crane camera, two wireless cameras and a remote head camera above the ice ring.

With its Thunder HD OB Truck Dome Productions is covering the Ice Hockey games at Canada Hockey Place with 27 cameras including two UltraMotion cameras, one from Arri Media (the HiMotion) and one from DVS (the Super Loupe). The 15 goals on the Switzerland - Norway and Slovakia - Latvia games were delivered in stunning playback quality.

Clear-Com® Communication Systems, a Vitec Group brand, is the star of the show when it comes to communications at Russia’s Zvezda television channel. Launched in 2005 by the Russian Defence Ministry and serving the Moscow metropolitan area, the broadcaster counts on a 96-port Clear-Com Eclipse® Omega digital matrix intercom to keep communications running smoothly as staff members produce the channel’s 24/7 roster of programming.

 Thomas Riedel, founder and Managing Director of Riedel Communications, carried the Olympic Torch during the ceremonial Olympic Torch Relay at this year's Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
 "This was probably the most emotional moment I've ever had in event productions," said Riedel shortly after the run.

The Swiss SNG provider NewsCam expanded its four camera HD SNG vehicle with a Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom. Riedel Communications, one of the leading manufacturers of intercom, fiber, audio and radio technology, delivered an Artist 32 system. Tele Comm Sportservice, Riedel's partner in Switzerland, was responsible for implementing the project.

The Mubadala Development Company, sponsor of Etihad Airways' Scuderia Ferrari Formula One in Abu Dhabi, recently held its signature dinner at the Emirates Palace. The dinner was arranged inside the world's largest freestanding Dome Truss, built from Eurotruss elements. For control, Lighting Designer Paul Smith chose a grandMA2 system consisting of 1 x grandMA2 full-size console and 1 x grandMA2 light console, 2 x MA NPUs (Network Processing Unit) and grandMA2 onPC software.

ARD/ZDF (Germany), YLE (Finland), Avtoradio (Russia), NRK (Norway) and other broadcasters are using MAYAH codecs such as C11 Audio Codec, SPORTY Reporter Codec, as well as the Centauri II for their production during the Winter Olympics 2010.

A workshop on Helicopter Shooting and Safety will be held by the Guild of Television Cameramen on Saturday March 27 at Denham Aerodrome, west London. The event will be hosted by broadcaster Mike Smith, founder and Managing Director of Flying TV which owns and operates the only freelance ready-to-go fleet of television helicopters in Europe. Mike will explain the principles of flight and safety, and will cover everything cameramen need to know about working in the air with gyro-mounted and hand-held cameras.

Clear-Com® Communication Systems, a Vitec Group brand, proudly announces that its Hybrid Network (Hybrid Time-Division Multiplexing [TDM] Matrix/IP Server Intercom Network) was chosen as the intercom solution for the opening and closing ceremonies and other events of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The P.A. People, a premier AV supplier and integrator managing the ceremonies’ entire communications setup, selected the Hybrid Network for the unique level of flexibility it offers ─ a critical factor in meeting the high demands of this event.

Nowhere is space more precious than on a mobile video unit. Even the 53-foot expando HDTV trucks are densely packed with gear and extremely crowded at air time. And many studio control rooms aren’t much roomier. So one of the most common complaints and requests that manufacturers hear is to pack more firepower into ever smaller boxes.

Have you been watching the 2010 Winter Olympic Games? Over 80 nations are competing in 15 different sporting events taking place in and around Vancouver, Canada, through Feb. 28th. The Olympics provide captivating drama that only sporting events on a massive, global scale can provide. From Alpine Skiing, Curling, and Figure Skating, to Ice Hockey, Ski Jumping, and Snowboarding, there’s an incredible amount of action going on, and NVIDIA and Sportvision are helping deliver that action via NBC to TV and Internet audiences in unique ways.

Chinese broadcaster Shenzhen Media Group (SZMG) has chosen Snell's Kahuna multiformat SD/HD production switcher as the centerpiece of its strategy to expand its outside broadcasting (OB) capabilities. With the Kahuna switcher installed in SZMG's new, state-of-the-art HD vehicle, the broadcaster is well-equipped to cover even the largest sporting and entertainment events and to perform the complex hybrid SD/HD conversions such major events require.

Lawo consoles and routers are currently major players in the production of international and national feeds in studios and OB vans in Vancouver and Whistler. Some of Lawo’s on-site customers include:

A man is enjoying his coffee in a picturesque winter setting in front of a ski lodge. Suddenly, he is showered with snow and falls back, startled. A ski jumper is using the roof of the lodge for another leap into the deep snow! This is a completely normal commercial from German public broadcaster ZDF, who use its coverage of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler as an underlying theme. Some details, such as individual snowflakes, and the mantle of snow covering the lodge, which stands out in sharp contrast to a bright white escarpment, will, however, only be seen by viewers with HD TV sets.