The Ministry of Culture and Information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ordered six Mentor XL master reference sync pulse generators from Trilogy Broadcast. The SPGs are part of the ministry’s programme to upgrade Saudi Television to HD, and were purchased and installed through leading systems integrator First Gulf Company. Three of the […]
The Ministry of Culture and Information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has ordered six Mentor XL master reference sync pulse generators from Trilogy Broadcast. The SPGs are part of the ministry’s programme to upgrade Saudi Television to HD, and were purchased and installed through leading systems integrator First Gulf Company.
Three of the six were for a studio upgrade project being run by First Gulf. Existing standard definition studios have been completely re-equipped with the latest HD equipment, with Trilogy Mentor SPGs providing the master timing reference in each studio. All three studios have been on air since December 2011.
The second batch has been ordered for three new hybrid HD SNG and outside broadcast units, being built by First Gulf. These are primarily news-gathering vehicles but each has the capacity to control up to five cameras, so can also be used for smaller live productions from locations around the Kingdom. Again, each carries a Trilogy Mentor SPG as the source of reference timing.
“Trilogy systems have been in successful operation at Saudi TV for more than a decade now,” said Orlando Castro, broadcast systems manager at First Gulf Company. “Their intercoms have an excellent reputation in the region, and when we proposed Trilogy SPGs to Saudi TV for these two projects they were happy to accept them.”
“This is a great order for us,” added Barry Spencer, general manager, of Trilogy.
“A good SPG should be a fit and forget piece of equipment, but that means it has to be absolutely reliable: without it the whole system stops. That is the design philosophy behind the Mentor XL, and we are delighted that our friends at First Gulf Company, with whom we have worked on many projects, have recognised this security, simplicity and reliability.”
Designed to satisfy the demands of critical broadcast installations, including mixed analogue and digital, standard definition and HD installations, including 3Gb/s 1080p, Mentor XL is the most sophisticated and reliable master reference generator available. Its innovative architecture avoids the need for numerous options boards or factory upgrades by implementing features in software and upgrading over IP, thus making it future-proof as well as enhancing reliability.
