MEDIASTAR GETS ITS FIRST INNINGS UNDERWAY AT NEWLY REFURBISHED ROSE BOWL

October 16, 2007


Source: CableTime

MediaStar Evolution, the comprehensive IP-based TV/AV and multimedia distribution system from Cabletime, is delivering live cricket action direct from the pitch to screens throughout The Rose Bowl, home to Hampshire Cricket.

The Rose Bowl is soon to undergo a massive £35 million development, transforming the 150 acre site into one of the best international cricket and leisure venues in the world by 2010. As part of this, The Rose Bowl last year went through a complete overhaul of its IT systems, putting in place a huge IP network, over which the management team wanted to stream live cricket and other events at the venue.

Having researched IPTV solutions, The Rose Bowl team selected Cabletime’s MediaStar Evolution, and appointed specialist local integrator Taylor Made to manage the installation. “We were delighted to be selected as the IT partner to The Rose Bowl and to implement an IT infrastructure that provides the platform for their exciting expansion plans,” said Nigel Taylor, Managing Director of Taylor Made.

Mike Santer, Operations, Event and Leisure Manager at The Rose Bowl, said: “We were looking for a very flexible and robust solution that could run on our IP network and service an unlimited number of screens. When the development is complete, we will have the capacity to entertain at least 25,000 cricket fans and we don’t want them to miss any of the action, whether they are in a stand or not.”

Part of the refurbishment includes a new Media Centre, providing permanent, state-of-the-art broadcasting facilities. The Evolution system, which combines two encoders, two decoders and a number of soft decoders, takes feeds from cameras focusing on the square; it then digitises the stream, and sends it over fibre optic links to the Media Centre, where it is decoded and played out live on plasma screens.

As well as the facility to cater for 25,000 cricket fans within the ground, The Rose Bowl is also a vibrant business centre, offering conference facilities and function rooms for events and parties. By 2010 a 175 bedroom, 4 star hotel will open with 75 hospitality boxes built over-looking the playing area.

“Streaming live sports action is only one of the things we can do,” continued Mike Santer. “We can also change the format to play out content suitable for our business customers, or for example, pre-load our web site, which lists forthcoming events at the bowl. We can of course, also stream concerts onto screens around the venue when we host events with 35,000 music fans in attendance.”
MediaStar Evolution features an IP Browser/RS232/USB control interface, built around a solid dual-core computing engine.

The encoder can generate either a single MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 ‘dual output’ encoded stream. This ensures best performance and minimises the impact on the network. Where displays at The Rose Bowl require the best quality image, such as large plasma screens, a high bit rate stream is directed, and for desktop PC’s and small displays, Evolution encodes and directs a lower bit rate stream. The system allows The Rose Bowl administrator to configure the settings in advance.

“We have had no problems with the hardware, and the installation was very straightforward,” said Mike Santer. “Because of the distances between the various buildings within The Rose Bowl complex, an IP solution was strategically necessary, and we are very excited about what Evolution is able to do and how this will impact positively on visitors attending our events.”


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