Cutting costs without cutting corners: How Hyperconverged solutions help OB teams 

Outside broadcast teams are under enormous pressure right now. Event coverage is more complex than ever, with clients expecting higher production values, extra feeds, UHD and HDR options, and quick turnaround times for multiple platforms.  

At the same time, budgets are not growing to match those demands. In fact, many engineering managers and technical directors are told to make do with fewer resources while still delivering flawless productions. That kind of squeeze causes a ripple effect of challenges beyond draining a team’s morale and forcing difficult choices.  

• You might delay upgrades even though your gear is aging.  
• You might run heavier trucks that burn more fuel and cost more to maintain.  
• You might spend weeks planning around the limits of hardware rather than focusing on the creative or operational goals of the event. 

The traditional way of building out a mobile unit used separate boxes for routing, multiviewing, and signal processing. For OB crews, every piece of equipment on a truck is there for a reason. Yet every extra rack, switcher, or signal processor adds weight, consumes power, and drives up costs. It can also create a steady drain on resources, time, and money. 

The economics of live production have changed dramatically. Clients want the same level of quality they see in a top-tier studio, but from a rolling truck expected to handle multiple events in quick succession, sometimes within the same weekend, without downtime or reconfiguration delays.

Support for UHD and HDR, sophisticated replay systems, and flexible camera configurations are increasingly expected from modern OB setups. Yet the same truck must still fit into tight spaces, operate efficiently in varied venue conditions, and hit the road with minimal setup time.

Each new capability often means more gear—like adding frame syncs, multiviewers, or format converters. Supporting new transport types such as SRT, NDI, or ST 2110 can also require specialized hardware or integration steps. Over time, those additions create a heavier, hotter, more complicated truck.

With more hardware comes more cabling, more integration time, and more failure points. That means bigger bills, not just upfront but every time you roll out. Fuel costs rise with weight. Cooling systems work harder, pulling more power. Maintenance intervals shorten.

The situation becomes even more challenging when you consider staffing. Many operators, engineers, and technical directors are already stretched thin. When you need to constantly reconfigure the truck between shows, you eat up hours that could be spent on rehearsal, testing, or creative production.

Complexity becomes the enemy of efficiency, and the cost of that is measured not just in money but in stress and lost opportunities.

Traditional Outside Broadcast builds rely on stacking discrete systems. You might have one unit dedicated to routing, another to audio embedding and deembedding, a separate switcher, and multiple external processors for tasks like color correction or HDR conversion. Each device is optimized for a single job, but together they create a web of interconnections that must be maintained and managed. 

Whenever you need a new function, you are faced with a familiar dilemma: add yet another piece of gear, or go without. Adding gear involves several steps: buying hardware, finding room for it, powering it, cooling it, and cabling it into the existing system. It also means more potential points of failure and more time spent troubleshooting in the field. 

Over time, these layers of equipment make it harder to stay within budget. You might have the technical capability, but the cost to achieve it erodes your margin on every event. And because trucks often need to be fully outfitted from the start, the upfront build costs can be just as steep—there’s rarely time to take a vehicle off the road for retrofits. 

Hyperconverged technology is changing that model. Instead of building a truck around stacks of single-purpose boxes, you start with a single platform that handles multiple critical functions. Multiviewing, signal processing, audio embedding, signal connectivity, and even production switching can all be integrated into one system. 

Ross Video’s Ultrix family is a prime example of how this works in practice. With Ultrix, you can load additional functions through software licenses rather than bolting in new hardware. That means when you need to add HDR processing or scale up multiviewer capacity, you don’t have to buy, mount, and cable another device. You unlock a feature, and the existing hardware is ready to handle it.  

This shift reduces both capital and operational costs. Instead of planning a truck build around how many devices you can afford, you plan around a flexible platform that can adapt to your needs. That flexibility extends the lifespan of your hardware investment and avoids the cost and downtime associated with large-scale upgrades. 

Every OB engineer knows that space inside a truck is at a premium. Rack units fill up quickly, and once you reach capacity, you must make tough decisions about what to include, or plan for an additional support unit. Hyperconverged systems shrink your footprint dramatically. 

Here’s how that translates into real savings: 

• Fewer individual devices mean far less cabling and fewer power supplies. 
• Reduced gear lowers heat output, so smaller cooling systems are enough. 
• A lighter overall load cuts fuel costs and reduces wear on the truck. 
• Less equipment frees up rack space for additional operators or new tools. 
• Fewer components simplify integration, reducing build times for new trucks and speeding up changeovers between events. 

These advantages stack up quickly, giving you a truck that costs less to run and is easier to adapt to different productions.

Another key advantage is how quickly you can scale up for a particular event. With traditional systems, adding a new function often means ordering new gear well in advance, scheduling installation time in the shop, and conducting extensive testing before the truck can roll out. With a hyperconverged system like Ultrix, you can add functions through software licenses. 

If a client suddenly wants HDR processing or additional frame syncs, you do not need to rip out boards or add bulky gear. You simply activate the feature when needed, which means you can defer costs until a client request comes in—no need to invest in everything up front. 

For OB teams, that agility can be a competitive advantage. You can respond to client demands faster and with less risk, which strengthens relationships and builds a reputation for reliability and innovation.

Keep Reading: How Ross Video’s Ultrix Platform Can Transform Your Outside Broadcast

The move toward hyperconverged platforms is not theoretical. OB operators around the world are already proving that you can achieve high-end production while keeping costs under control.  

For example, companies have reported significant reductions in cabling weight and rack space, which directly lowers transport and fuel expenses. Others highlight how software-defined upgrades eliminated the need for costly board replacements when adding new capabilities. 

These operators are not sacrificing quality to save money. In fact, many are delivering higher-quality productions because their teams can focus on creative output instead of wrestling with complex hardware stacks. They are showing that with the right technology, you can reduce your operational footprint and still meet or exceed client expectations. 

If you are responsible for an OB truck or a fleet of them, it is worth taking a hard look at your current setup.  

• How many single-purpose devices are you maintaining?  
• How much time do your engineers spend integrating or rewiring devices between shows? 
• How much rack space is taken up by gear that could be replaced by a software license on a platform you already own? 
• Can your current setup adapt easily to new signal types or client requirements without major hardware changes? 
• How much time and money could you save by simplifying integration and reducing the number of different systems your team has to manage? 

By consolidating functions, you free up not just physical space but also mental bandwidth. Your team can spend more time on planning, testing, and producing great content rather than managing a tangle of equipment. That focus on quality is what keeps clients coming back.