Panavision Canada has a new wireless microwave video receiver system for rent, and their camera department assistant manager Scott MacDonald thinks the applications for the system will ‘be limited only by imagination.’ The Dynapix triad multi receiver diversity system promises to dispel the notion that wireless video systems are unreliable and prone to breaking up.

The first real test of the prototype unit came during the Michael Johnson/Donovan Bailey race at Toronto’s SkyDome June 1 where it was used on a field-level, hand-held camera feeding video to the Jumbotron. MacDonald says Dome Productions technical producer Dan MacPhee told him it was the first time they had used a microwave link in the Dome that had worked.

The product has obvious applications for sports broadcasting, events coverage and eng, but MacDonald also sees the triad system being used for video assist in filmmaking. ‘For the director, it means no fallout on the video, which is tremendous, but add on the fact that they’re cable-free all the time. On a film set things happen so fast, this is the best way to go for quick repos because it’s just lift and go.’

Designed and manufactured by Dynapix ­ an arm of DTC Communications based in Nashua, New Hampshire ­ the triad system was unveiled at this year’s nab. Until now much of dtc’s market has been fbi and cia surveillance equipment, but when Panavision approached the company with the task of creating a reliable mobile microwave video system, Dynapix was happy to oblige.

To have cameras unencumbered by cable has always been a goal of technical producers for obvious reasons. Single-channel units designed to be fixed from point to point had been perfected but the problem of reliable video from mobile cameras still remained.

MacDonald says Dynapix engineer Matt Pierson came up with the solution. The triad ‘true’ diversity system he designed can simultaneously evaluate up to five received signals, ensuring higher quality video with no luminance fluctuations, and requiring less crew.

Wireless microwave video systems are often plagued by video signal inconsistency and dropout. They also require the time and staff to man a ‘pitcher/catcher’ situation with dishes when trying to find the best spot to receive the microwave signal.

The traditional approach to solving the problem was using ‘diversity’ receivers which would switch from antenna to antenna based on the frame rate. Using the frame rate as the basis for choosing the best signal can sometimes lead to a switch that is noticeable to the human eye.

The triad system uses video synchronized switching based on the horizontal line rate. Dynapix says its system is the first example of ‘true diversity’ as the signals from each receiver are simultaneously evaluated and switched automatically at the horizontal line rate of 15,734 times per second as opposed to the frame rate of 30 times per second.

MacDonald says this is a huge improvement over past systems. ‘This thing switches between video sources at the horizontal line rate so the absolute worst you’re going to lose at any point is half a line of horizontal video, which is an extreme improvement over previous microwave systems.’

The new triad system offers stereo audio and an optional ltc time code window. ‘It’s beautiful,’ says MacDonald. ’50 dB noise separation, full 22k band and on top of that time code, it’s great.’