CATV TOKUSHIMA, Inc. in Tokushima, Japan, replaced its 2K live broadcast system with a new 4K live broadcast infrastructure built around and Blackmagic Design products. This included URSA Broadcast, ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K, ATEM Camera Control Panel and HyperDeck Studio 12G.

CATV TOKUSHIMA produces local news, high school baseball games and various live broadcast programs such as the recent Awa dance festival. Tokushima Awa dance is one of the traditional Japanese performing arts that has been around for 400 years, since the Edo period. The city of Tokushima, with a population of approximately 260,000, is a festival that attracts more than 1.2 million tourists from around the country every year.

With the new 4K live broadcast workflow, CATV TOKUSHIMA, Inc. set up four URSA Broadcasts at the main dance venue. Each camera was equipped with a Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter connected via an SMPTE fiber optic cable to a Studio Fiber Converter at a relay headquarters several dozen meters away.

The feed from the URSA Broadcasts was sent to ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K, which then sent signals to an ATEM Camera Control Panel, SmartView 4K and SmartScope Duo 4K. The ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K was used for switching, inputting titles and logos and to manage talkback direct to the cameraman, with a HyperDeck Studio 12G providing backup recording.

Takushi Ichisaka, Program production manager of CATV TOKUSHIMA, Inc., said, “ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K supports eight 12G-SDI inputs with format conversion, so you can format any signal and it’s really easy because you don’t need to convert. The switcher area has become very clean, as no additional equipment like cables or converters is needed compared to before. The ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K has a very easy to understand interface, so anyone can operate it intuitively, and the combination of ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K and ATEM software control makes it easy to manage titles and logos. The 2K material titles and logos are also converted to 4K automatically, which is very useful.”

He added, “Blackmagic products are all very compact and all the necessary functions are in place. The amount of equipment has been reduced to one-third compared to before, and we have been able to improve efficiency in various ways. Live broadcasts have different environments every time, so I think that saving space for equipment is a great advantage. All these products can be stored in a 20U rack, making it a lot more easy on the move side.”