RTVE Institute renews its studios with Sony XVS-G1 production mixers, HDC-3170 HD studio camera, RCP-3500 remote control panels and PC-MSU software

The RTVE Institute (a state-owned public corporation that manages Spanish public radio and television) is refurbishing its studios through two new XVS-G1 production switchers, 9 HDC-3170 HD studio camera units, RCP-3500 remote control panels and PC-MSU (HZC-CSM10) software, all from Sony.

Basingstoke, 14 March 2023 – The audio-visual industry is facing multiple challenges. The sector is changing rapidly, and the introduction of new technologies is a key factor for its development, but also poses a major challenge. Sony has always been part of this process, providing cutting-edge technological solutions and partnering with the sector’s leading players.

The lack of professionals with technical skills tailored to current market needs is a key factor in this change, and the RTVE Institute has had a clear vision regarding this path forward since its beginnings in 1975. The Institute, which reports to the Corporación Radio y Televisión Española – the largest public radio and television audio-visual group in Spain – understood that a constantly evolving sector required professionals with up-to-date knowledge in keeping with industry needs.

The story begins with the RTVE Institute contemplating a radical overhaul of its facilities and technology. 2007 saw a revamp of their facilities’ infrastructure and architecture, and the studios upgraded to digital technology. Over ten years later, in 2019, the decision was made to upgrade to HD technology. However, it was not until after the pandemic, in mid-2021, that this concluded with the award of the tender to Sony for two new XVS-G1 production switchers, 9 HDC-3170 HD studio camera units, RCP-3500 remote control panels, and PC-MSU software.

“In April 2022, we finished upgrading the two main television studios we have at the RTVE Institute. The refurbishment of the two satellite dishes to HD technology was done in a progressive, organised fashion so students could continue with their regular classes,” explains Víctor Luzón, from the RTVE Media and Operations Directorate engineering team, who oversaw the project’s implementation.

RTVE Institute’s main activity involves internal employee training and advanced education courses regulated for the Community of Madrid: Advanced courses in Production, Sound and the recently added 3D Animation.
The Institute also focuses on external training. Through its partnership with Sony, it is further qualified as a leading entity both in terms of the company’s audio-visual production system and in terms of its training programmes for future external professionals.

“We have been working closely with Televisión Española to upgrade their RTVE Institute studios, as they were looking to combine efficient workflows with future production technologies. We are thrilled they have chosen the XVS-G1 as their main switcher. Sony’s switchers have a long history and an excellent reputation for reliability and robustness. The XVS-G1 continues this trend with a more compact, modular format, adding new future-proof features. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the RTVE Institute as a technology partner and helping to guide them through this process of change,” says Héctor Sierra, Regional Sales Head South in Sony Media Solutions.

The project saw the implementation of the following Sony solutions:

XVS-G1 production switcher : Designed for live production needs, such as sports, news, events as well as entertainment programmes, the XVS-G1 system, launched in Spring two years ago, is a perfect fit for the small to mid-size studio, and fly-away production units. Extremely flexible in production, it offers excellent capabilities in both HD and UHD, a notch above its competitors, where UHD tends to reduce the operator’s creative capacity. Its hybrid structure combines a central processing unit (CPU) with a graphics processing unit (GPU) with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA). This combination offers maximum performance and reliability without affecting processing or experiencing delays, while maintaining high capacity in HD and UHD formats.

HDC-3170 HD studio camera: This camera captures premium HD images and offers the versatility of digital triaxial transmission. It has a 2/3-inch CMOS sensor with global shutter technology that eliminates the ‘jello effect’ and banding noise. This allows the HDC-3170 to capture pristine images with low noise and excellent sensitivity. It can output 3G-SDI signals in a range of formats right up to 1080/50p, with 4K available via the CCU’s 12G-SDI and Quad 3G-SDI interfaces.
The HDC-3170 can capture High Dynamic Range images to integrate in Sony’s SR Live workflow for simultaneous HDR/SDR production.

The RCP panel offers improved visibility with a higher resolution and brighter LCD device. These factors make it a remote-control panel that offers both ease of operation and multi-functionality. The iris and master black adjustment block has joystick-type control.

HZC-CSM10 software: This powerful software tool, also called PC-MSU, has the same features as its hardware twin sister, the Master Set Up (MSU) unit.
This software is also a perfect preventive diagnostic tool for a multi-camera environment that, using a simple PC, offers a highly intuitive interface allowing camera engineers to control all settings and monitor the status of the elements that make up the camera chains from a single point, and to transfer files, store these settings, or create reports.