Ross and ARET Deliver New 4K-UHD OB Van for Qatar Cultural and Heritage Events Center

Ottawa, Canada, August 4^th 2020 – ARET Video and Audio Engineering is Ross Video’s Platinum Premier partner in Italy, but the Milan-based company has also carved out an international reputation for the supply of OB vehicles. ARET is currently delivering a nine-meter 4K-UHD OB production unit to a client in Qatar with an innovative workflow that will offer new creative potential to the operators and enhance the quality of productions.

This OB unit features a layout that maximizes the internal space, allowing interoperability between the different production areas: the main production area (comprising a monitor wall and a replay and character generator station), the audio room with its custom acoustic insulation, and the engineering and camera control area that enables control of up to eight fibre plus two wireless cameras.

Each area, including the racks, has a fully redundant air conditioning system in order to help the unit endure the challenging weather conditions and operate under any circumstances. In addition, as per ARET standards, the OB unit has an automatic levelling and stabilisation system that can be operated by remote control, and a logic system for controlling mechanical movements and transport conditions.

The signals workflow was engineered to realise the maximum potential of the unit, and with operator ease of use top of mind. To achieve this, ARET engineers relied on Ross Video solutions for UHD in 12G-SDI. The Acuity production switcher installed onboard is designed to handle the world’s most challenging live events, easily adapting to evolving technology in the video production industry. At its side, the XPression Studio character generator is an industry-standard real-time motion graphics generation system, fully compatible with the new 12G format. In addition, the Abekas Tria+ replay server fits perfectly into the workflow, with the real-time monitoring function and its support for a huge spectrum of resolutions and formats (including 4K-UHD, HD and SD).

At the core of the system, is the Ultrix 12G routing/AV processing platform. Ultrix has an unprecedented number of features packed into a modestly-size chassis, and provides significant savings in terms of space, power, time and cost. Its MultiViewer functionality lets the operator check the quality of all audio and video signals, while the frame synchronization and the UHD gearboxing makes this device perfect for handling any external signals you need to bring into the production. Moreover, since redundancy is at the centre of the design philosophy for ARET, all the video sources are accessible both from the video switcher and the video router. This choice, together with Ultrix’s quiet switching functionality, guarantees a backup production solution in the extreme case of video switcher failure.

The system is enriched by a wide variety of audio and video glue products: the natural choice here was the Ross openGear platform.

Finally, the DashBoard control interface enables the whole system to be configured and controlled very easily, all via a mixture of prebuilt and user-designed touchscreen control panels. Of particular note here is the Ultritouch monitoring and control solution – a fully customizable touchscreen control solution capable of operating as a normal router panel and also as standalone DashBoard interface, allowing the operator to control and configure whatever is in the Dashboard workflow in a new and unique way.

“We are very proud of the result: this project is one of the first (if not the first) fully 12G UHD OB units in the Gulf Area, and it is proof that you can build a cost efficient 4K-UHD facility using 12G-SDI, with no compromises in terms of quality or workflow,” notes Umberto Asti, Vice President of ARET. “This was thanks to our technology partner Ross who today represents the state of the art in broadcast technology.” 

Ross Video – High Impact, High Efficiency Production Solutions
Ross powers video productions for billions of global viewers daily with the industry’s widest range of high impact, high efficiency production solutions. Ross makes it easy to create compelling news, weather and sports broadcasts, engaging material for sports stadium screens, entertainment shows and rock concerts, educational institutions, legislative assemblies, corporate applications and inspiring content for houses of worship.

Ross solutions have impressed the audiences and marketing partners of NBC Sunday Night Football, Eurosport, BBC World, Google YouTube Space London and China’s eSports powerhouse VSPN. Ross delivers an unrivalled range of products and services comprising virtual studios, real-time motion graphics, cameras, robotic camera systems, production switchers, video servers, infrastructure and routers, social media management, newsroom systems and mobile live events.

Ross Video Media Contact:
Stuart G. Russell
Senior Communications Manager
Tel: +44 7827 019494
Email: srussell@rossvideo.com
Twitter: @ross_video
www.rossvideo.com

About ARET
ARET Video and Audio Engineering’s unique approach to OB Vans is ‘end to end’ since it also incorporates the coachbuilding facility, ARET Coachworx. The job starts from consultancy, structural design, electrical engineering, air-conditioning, system design and proceeds throughout all the phases from coachbuilding to systems integration, commissioning, training and after sales support.

All these phases are 100% carried out by ARET personnel and resources only, allowing the customer to instantly have a single point of contact that will always be assigned to him for the future for any kind of need. ARET keeps a full record of every OB Van delivered: drawings, SW and firmware releases, a full HW inventory both for the equipment and mechanical components and this represent a very big added value for the customer.

With regard to coachbuilding, ARET has developed a special coachbuilding technique, which is dedicated to OB Vans working in harsh weather conditions.

You can find more about ARET video and audio engineering on the website (https://aret-engineering.com/) and on the Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/aretengineering).