U Nebraska Upgrades to High-Def Production Gear for Giant Screens

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/08/10

A Nebraska university has moved to fiber optic audio and video equipment as part of a high-definition upgrade in its athletics production facilities. HuskerVision, the AV and broadcasting unit of the University of Nebraska Athletic Department, has installed gear from Telecast Fiber Systems, a division of Belden, as part of its $4.2-million high-def upgrade of the HuskerVision master control and production facilities. The Telecast equipment includes fiber optic transceivers, adapters for using single-mode optical fiber, and power adapters, to enable the cameras to be remotely powered and centrally controlled.

That network now links production operations with the university's Memorial Stadium and Bob Devaney Sports Center, allowing operators to control big-screen high-def presentations during games from a central location. At 117 feet wide by 34 feet high, one new Mitsubishi replay screen in the stadium, according to the university, is the largest in a college setting in the United States. It contains 3.67 million LEDs.

"Our relationship with Telecast Fiber Systems has been a long and productive one. In fact, with the completion of this project, we're now on our third generation of Telecast gear," said Shot Kleen, assistant athletic director for HuskerVision. "We have always been able to count on Telecast equipment to reliably deliver the highest-quality signals possible over our fiber network, so Telecast was the natural choice when it came time for our HD upgrade."

The upgrade, managed by Alpha Video, a systems integrator, was completed to coincide with the start of the college football season. A master control center receives signals over the fiber network from 30 camera sites in the two sporting venues and then transmits the live and instant replay feeds to large-screen HD video displays at both locations. The new system also ties directly into HuskerVision's media asset management and archival system, a project completed by Alpha Video in 2008.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • cloud and circuit patterns with AI stamp

    Cloud Management Startup Launches Infrastructure Intelligence Tool

    A new AI-powered infrastructure intelligence tool from cloud management startup env0 aims to turn the fog of sprawling, enterprise-scale deployments into crisp, queryable insight, minus the spreadsheets, scripts, and late-night Slack threads.

  • human figures surrounded by precise arcs with book and gear icons

    Kennedy-King College Rolls Out Holistic Student Support Program

    Chicago's Kennedy-King College is expanding student support services through a collaboration between City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees (OMD), a Chicago-based nonprofit serving low-income community college students.

  • college students in a classroom focus on a silver laptop, with a neural network diagram on the monitor in the background

    Report: 93% of Students Believe Gen AI Training Belongs in Degree Programs

    The vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development.

  • laptop and fish hook

    Security Firm Identifies Generative AI 'Vishing' Attack

    A new report from Ontinue's Cyber Defense Center has identified a complex, multi-stage cyber attack that leveraged social engineering, remote access tools, and signed binaries to infiltrate and persist within a target network.