As broadcasters continue to push to improve the wow factor of their content for viewers, they are increasingly taking to the air. At Domo Broadcast Systems, our aerial technology solutions have proven to be the sought-after choice by those looking to take their live broadcasts to new heights — literally.
Helicopter shots and, ever-increasingly, drone shots have quickly become must-haves in immersive coverage of any major global sporting or cultural event. This past summer, NEP Australia was breaking viewing records with its coverage of the Women’s World Cup, which included flawless downlink reporting from Gravity Media using Domo solutions via a helicopter. In January, they used two aerial-linked helicopters to help expand their coverage of the Tour Down Under, the road cycling stage race that takes place in and around Adelaide, South Australia. They plan similar coverage for the upcoming Tour next January.
Gravity Media have been using our Nano transmitters and ProRXD receivers for their video broadcast downlinks for the past five years for a variety of sporting events.
“The specialty RF Links team at Gravity Media Australia have been deploying Domo equipment across a range of applications for many years,” states Greg Littrich, Director of Operations at Gravity. “The performance of the kit used on our multiple helicopter links for the live broadcast of high-profile cycling and marathon events has been reliable and effective, delivering outstanding results for our clients.”
Domo’s Nano transmitter provides an exceptional quality encoder with DVBT COFDM transmission. Its slimline, lightweight design makes it perfect for mounting on smaller cameras or unmanned aerial vehicles. With 3G-SDI input, you can connect the Nano transmitter directly to HD equipment. Excitingly, Domo will shortly launch an enhanced version that will offer HEVC encoding and 12G/3G inputs, allowing for a direct connection to HD and UHD equipment.
Domo’s ProRXD-1RU is a feature-rich COFDM receiver/decoder with dual optional receive and HD decoding function in one enclosure. We’ve designed it especially for the demanding broadcast market. Its excellent RF performance is complemented by an extremely flexible decoding platform, with low-delay SD and HD MPEG2 and H.264 decoding, ensuring compatibility with all Domo Broadcast Systems encoders and most third-party encoders.
“We have a long history or providing aerial broadcast solutions,” explains Mike Budge, Broadcast Unit Director for Domo Broadcast Systems. The tech we’ve developed and continue to enhance allows for high-quality aerial transmissions in real time, whether that be from fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft, or from UAV/drones.
“In fact, our solutions can be used on almost anything that can take flight! It’s been almost a decade since one of our more unconventional deployments, when a light-weight camera was mounted on a trained eagle to capture BBC’s amazing coverage of environmental issues around Dubai.
“Over the course of the next year, we may not see our products on eagles again, but viewers will continue to get an eagle-eyed view of some of the most exciting events on the planet. From next year’s Olympic Games to a host of world-class tours and championships, our solutions will proudly be flying high.”