Game Creek Video completes first phase of major HDR upgrade

Investment delivers 1080p HDR capabilities and accelerates remote workflows for major U.S. sports broadcasters

Game Creek Video, a leading provider of state-of-the-art mobile production units for large-scale live events, has recently completed the upgrade of one of its flagship HD production units to full HDR capabilities based on EVS’ LiveCeption® and MediaCeption® solutions. The upgrade of PeacockOne, a 53’ expanding mobile production unit, is the first of many in the company’s fleet and has been fast-tracked to support NBC Sports’ delivery of upcoming events in 1080p and UHD-4K.

Driven by increased demand for higher resolution live productions from major U.S. sports broadcasters such as FOX Sports, ESPN and CBS, Game Creek Video is forging ahead with continued investment in EVS solutions across its entire fleet of high-end mobile television production units. The intensive upgrade programme to LiveCeption Signature is due for completion by 2023, and will see 40 new XT-VIA® live production servers deployed to enable crews to replay, edit and produce content of game-day action in the highest quality. As part of this powerful integrated solution, these new servers will be teamed up with LSM-VIA®, EVS’ all new IP-based replay and highlights system, to create super slow-motion in-game replays.

“With this latest investment in LiveCeption and MediaCeption, we’re leading the way in agile HDR sports production and it’s an exciting road ahead for our teams who can now efficiently collaborate wherever they are.”

Garrett Sullivan, SVP Production & Finance at Game Creek Video

Designed to meet the most demanding live broadcast requirements, LiveCeption Signature combines the latest EVS technologies to provide the power, scale and versatility needed to achieve full HD 1080p or UHD-4K production in either HDR or SDR with the most accurate, fast-turnaround and high-quality replays on the market. It leverages the XT-VIA production server to support all new formats and protocols from HD to 8K, SDR to HDR, and SDI to IP in a single versatile solution. XT-VIA guarantees an unmatched level of speed, control and precision and offers a boosted capacity of up to six channels of UHD and 16+ channels of HD.

Working together with the XT-VIA server, LSM-VIA replay and highlights system sits at the heart of LiveCeption Signature. LSM-VIA provides fast and direct access to all the content on the network and effortless control for live operations. With full IP connectivity and software-defined technology onboard, the system enables full production resources to be made available anywhere at speed, opening up flexible highly-collaborative workflows that adapt perfectly to each production and scale as needed.

LSM-VIA guarantees replay operators working from remote locations a truly seamless Multiview user experience – even in 4K/UHD. Leveraging the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) network protocol through certified integration with Haivision’s Maktio X series of real-time video encoders and decoders, the system delivers very low latency and high enough quality over any managed network or public internet connection to let them create replays and highlight packages without compromise. This remote workflow has been successfully deployed for the GCV Anywhere platform that was used this summer to cover CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Productions supported by Game Creek’s PeacockOne unit will also benefit from simplified live media content browsing, control, live edit and playout delivered by EVS’ MediaCeption production asset management (PAM) solution. Open, modular and tightly integrated with third-party MAM, automation and post-production solutions, MediaCeption allows production teams to quickly and easily manage assets from just about anywhere, facilitating multisite and remote collaboration for publication across digital platforms.

Garrett Sullivan, SVP Production & Finance at Game Creek Video said, “For us, EVS is the gold standard for mobile production, providing the power, reliability and flexibility to create our best work. As our business has grown, integrating EVS solutions into our roadmap has enabled us to continually adapt to client demands and stay competitive. With this latest investment in LiveCeption and MediaCeption, we’re leading the way in agile HDR sports production and it’s an exciting road ahead for our teams who can now efficiently collaborate wherever they are.”

“Game Creek is a true pioneer in large-scale production and we’re proud of their continued investment in our solutions,” said Quentin Grutman, Chief Customer Officer at EVS. “Our LiveCeption and MediaCeption solutions are opening the door to incredibly powerful, flexible and scalable workflows, which enable broadcasters to deliver ground-breaking live viewing experiences and keep audiences engaged.”