Leader Electronics is pleased to announce a new addition to its team with the appointment of Neil Coles as European Regional Development Manager. Based in London, he will be working directly with customers and via the Leader network of distribution partners to extend the company's presence across the continent.

"Neil is a popular and highly respected member of the broadcast industry with a good knowledge of the creative and commercial aspects as well as the technology on which our customers depend," comments Leader Europe Managing Director Koichi Fukagawa. "His areas of responsibility will include promoting the wide range of test and measurement solutions to the existing Leader user base and helping increase our share of the broadcast, digital film and web-TV market."

"Accurate, repeatable and cost-efficient test and measurement are essential in the highly competitive sphere of content creation, postproduction, storage and distribution," Neil Coles adds. "I am delighted to be joining a company which is clearly living up to its name as a world-leading producer of innovative, intuitive and affordable instrumentation. Leader has already made significant advances in the OB market which we see as an area with considerable growth potential both into the 4K UHD domain and, longer term, into 8K Hi-Vision."

Leader LV5350 portable waveform monitors and LV7300 rasterizers have been chosen as reference test instruments for broadcast television coverage of a major football tournament scheduled to be held next year in Cameroon. The games are scheduled to take place in January and February at city venues for live transmission across Africa and around the world. The instruments are being provided by Leader Europe's Brussels-based distribution partner Studiotech SA.

"The LV5350 encapsulates in a compact and portable unit all the features OB and studio gallery colorists need for matching multiple camera channels," says Studiotech's General Manager Nicolas Tardieu. "Live stage and sports events send adrenaline levels very high for TV production teams as well as the contestants. Dependable and easy-to-navigate tools are essential. With its integral multi-view monitor screen, the LV5350 is exceptionally easy to configure and control. The LV5350 and LV7300 incorporate practically every reference tool OB technicians need for live signal evaluation plus the drill-down facilities required during initial system line-up and continuity checks."

CTV, one of Europe's longest established providers of mobile television production facilities, has chosen Leader LV7300 and LV7600 rasterizing waveform monitors as master reference instruments for its OB3 and OB12 outside broadcast vehicles.

"Leader test instruments have proved highly reliable, efficient and operator friendly right back to our first purchase of LV7770 multi-SDI rasterizers six years ago," comments Paul Francis, CTV's Chief Technical Officer. "Some of the projects we work on are massive in scale, taking in feeds from well over 100 cameras. High-precision monitoring of HD and UHD signal flow is vital, both to achieve accurate matching of incoming feeds and to ensure that we are maintaining the full available dynamic range from source right through to output. This latest purchase comprises 12 LV7300 and two LV7600 instruments. Both models can be fully operated from the front panel which, combined with their compact size, makes them ideal for use in OB suites.  The LV7300 and LV7600 have a very similar control menu structure so operators can move freely between them. The resultant measurements are precise, repeatable and can be copied off to USB memory for easy logging or sharing."

Leader Electronics announces a new addition to its portfolio of broadcast test instruments and signal generators. Designed for use in both SDI and IP infrastructure, the LT4611 is a 1U full-rack-width generator producing analog video sync, audio word-clock signals and SMPTE ST 2059-2 profile.Based on the established and proven LT4610, it has a lower entry price point giving broadcasters the freedom to select the features they need as the industry progresses from SDI to an increasingly IP-dominated world.

As well as providing both a 10 GbE and 1GbE PTP interface, the LT4611 comes as standard with three independent synchronized analogue black and burst outputs. This overcomes the challenges of requiring both IP and SDI timing references. The LT4611 also supports a stay-in-sync function which maintains the phase when GPS reference is lost, plus a slow-lock function to reduce quality-of-service issues that occur when genlock is restored.

All LT4611 functions can be managed from the front panel or remotely. Up to 10 preset configurations can be saved within the generator. The LT4611 can be started with the same settings each time. Logo data and preset data can be written to and recalled from plug-in memory devices via a front-panel USB port.

Leader Electronics announces the introduction of enhanced IP measurement for the LV5600 waveform monitor and its LV7600 equivalent rasterizer. The video over IP measurement function specified in SMPTE ST 2110 and SMPTE ST 2022-6 now provides nine extra tools:

1: Buffer measurement based on SMPTE ST 2110-21.2; Packet error and packet jitter insertion to the IP test signal generator; 3: Addition of lip-sync test pattern to the SER32 option; 4: IP to SDI conversion insertion of payload ID; 5: Simultaneous display of ports 1 and 2 packet jitter and PTP measurement; 6: Event log displayed in PTP time; 7: PTP grand master clock information is displayed from the PTP announcement message; 8: Graph data such as packet jitter and PTP are output as a CSV file; 9: Audio and ANC can also be displayed on the ST 2110 packet jitter graph. The toolset is available as a freely downloadable upgrade.

Enhanced measurement of SDI is being introduced for all five models in the ZEN series. The SDI measurement function specified in 12G/6G/3G/HD-SDI now provides two new extra tools. First of these is a BT.709-compatible vector scope scale. UHDTV (ARIB STD-B66) and HLG color bars (ARIB STD-B67) contain BT.2020 and BT.709 colors. A scale has been added to allow the vector coordinates of BT.709 color bars to be checked easily. This feature is intended for use in BT.2020 and BT.709 video content production. Second of these two new features is enhanced support for EIA-708/608 close-caption data in 4K, with support for both 3G-SDI quad-link and 12G-SDI. This too is available as a freely downloadable upgrade.

Also new is plug-in module SER31 for the LV5600 and LV7600, providing enhanced measurement of 12G/6G/3G/HD-SDI. This allows operators to check chroma levels beyond the BT.709 or DCI-P3 gamut. The new feature simplifies the task of identifying the reproduction errors which can occur when transmitting video content produced in BT.709, DCI-P3 or BT.2020 wide color gamut or when converting content from BT.2020 to narrow color gamut. With the colorimetry zone feature switched on, chroma signals exceeding the legal gamut are made immediately apparent using a false-color substitute.
 

A Leader LV5900 HD/4K/8K multi-standard waveform monitor was chosen by BT Sport to monitor the signal feed from the UK's first public demonstration of live 8K sport. The UEFA Europa League match between Arsenal and Olympiacos (round of 32) on the 27th February was transmitted live by BT Sport and its partners using the LV5900 to check signal quality in a BT Sport 8K broadcast production truck located just outside the venue.

BT Sport Ultimate, launched in 2019, was the world’s first service to feature regular programming in high dynamic range as well as 4K UHD and Dolby Atmos. BT first demonstrated its 8K capability with an hour-long live relay of a Premiership Rugby Sevens match from Northampton, England, to the September 2019 Amsterdam IBC.

"We are pleased to have partnered with BT Sport at these two events," comments Leader Europe Business Development Manager Kevin Salvidge. "8K HDR is the pinnacle in terms of television production quality, creating a picture 16 times sharper than HD. Our LV5900 waveform monitor is a highly compact instrument designed for checking video and audio signal parameters at any point in the production and delivery chain, from studio right through to transmission and reception."

Arena Television has purchased four Leader LV5350 waveform monitors for its new OB17 vehicle which operates from Arena's Redhill Aerodrome headquarters in Surrey. One of Europe's largest and most capable HD trucks, OB17 is a 16.5 metre long 32 tonne articulated vehicle with twin full-length expanding sides.

Primarily operating in HD-SDI SDR and HDR, with Quad HD as an option, OB17 incorporates an IP layer in key areas to add extra flexibility. Onboard features include a 240 square foot production gallery, 16 camera channels, an 80 input Sony vision mixer, a Grass Valley hybrid router with 365 video inputs and 798 video outputs, a monitor wall with up to 180 configurable video preview windows, and a Calrec Artemis Beam audio console.

"OB17 is a powerful HD-HDR/SDR truck built for assignments such as light entertainment," says Dafydd (Daf) Rees, Deputy Director of Operations at Arena Television. "Its first job was for ITV's coverage of the Royal Variety Performance last November. HD-SDR is still the dominant production format but we are seeing a steady increase in demand for HD-HDR. We chose Leader LV5350 waveform monitors for the shading suite because they support both standards."

Leader Europe has provided two LV7300 rasterizing waveform monitors to the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. They were chosen as part of an extensive UHD/HDR upgrade carried out to the facilities used to relay stage performances for live viewing by cinema audiences in Europe and for distribution to other venues around the world.

"We needed instruments that would operate reliably in our current HD-SDR production environment and in the 4K-HDR standard to which we aspire," comments ROH Media broadcast engineer and production mixer Mark Thackeray. "The Royal Opera House in London has been broadcasting live to cinemas in 5.1 surround sound for 10 years. In any one season we transmit 12 or more productions."

"Our first 4K-HDR project was a documentary in 2017 for NHK. Leader lent us an LV5490 portable waveform monitor for that production as we needed the ability to capture, monitor and deliver Rec. 2020 wide color gamut video. The instrument functioned well both as an engineering reference and with its intuitive CINEZONE and CINELITE toolsets which are particularly useful during live production.

"For permanent installation, we decided on two LV7300 rasterizers which provide a full set of 12G/3G/HD/SD-SDI measurement facilities that our production staff can view on a larger display screen. The instruments are useful both to ensure accurate color matching of camera channels and for ensuring that we are delivering the best possible signal quality right through the production chain."

Following recent investment in Leader LV7600 UHD HDR rasterizers for its UHD and HDR capable grading and finishing areas, dock10 has purchased a Leader LV5600 SDI/IP waveform monitor as part of ongoing technical development of the production resources supporting MediaCity UK in Salford. The LV5600 was supplied by Leader Europe UK channel partner Jigsaw24. It will be integrated into dock10's newly completed UHD HDR live production system, checking incoming camera feeds from multiple studio cameras to ensure uniform alignment and color matching.

"Ultra high definition and high dynamic range each have an important role to play in the television industry as it progresses to meet rising viewer expectations," comments John O’Shaughnessy, Head of Technology Operations at dock10. "The greater quality made possible by originating content in higher resolution and wider illumination span opens up many new opportunities for content creators. It also increases the long-term value of their productions. Leader's LV5600 incorporates the tools our operators and technicians need to ensure the full impact of UHD and HDR is carried from the point of capture in the studio front end right through to each viewer's display screen."

Catalonia's public broadcaster Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals or CCMA) has chosen Leader's LV7300 rasterizer as the master reference instrument as part of an upgrade to HD-HDR at its Audiovisual Production Centre in Barcelona. The CCMA's primary channel is TV3 Catalonia which is transmitted to viewers in Catalonia, Andorra and the Balearic Islands.

Supplied by Leader distribution partner SetUp Electrónica, the LV7300 will be used to check video and audio signal quality in a newly equipped studio equipped to support 4K, HD and super slow motion. The studio's primary role will be to create high quality HD-HDR content.

"Sourcing from 4K-native Sony cameras with  IP connectivity and ITU-R BT 2020 color gamut will allow us to capture images with very rich colors, greater than ever contrast and high detail," says TV3 Area of Exploitation director Ramon Sangrà.

"Leader's LV7300 rasterizer gives our operators all the tools they need to ensure that these enhancements are carried right through the production process from capture, post and archiving to actual transmission. The instrument's ability to handle 4K helps to safeguard our investment as the broadcast industry embraces ever higher standards."

TVN MOBILE PRODUCTION has chosen Leader LV5600 test instruments as the technical reference for its newly completed UE6 4K HDR OB truck, reported to be the largest of its kind in Europe. Built in partnership between TVN and Sony, the vehicle is optimised for high quality UHD, HD and mixed format production in both HDR and SDR. Its first deployment was at the Northern Ireland v Germany UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier in Belfast in September.

Leader LV5490, LV5350 and LV5333 test equipment formed the core signal monitoring resource deployed by Barcelona-based television production group Mediapro for its coverage of the recent UEFA Champions League Final in Madrid. Selected by UEFA as the host broadcaster, Mediapro fielded multiple OB vehicles, 42 cameras and more than 150 crew to capture the match for 4K and HD simulcasting. The project was accomplished in cooperation with system specialist and production services provider Mediaburst.