NEP Australia Orders New EVS Servers to Power UHD-4K First for Cricket

An initial order of 18 XT-VIA and four XS-VIA servers will be delivered to power live production of the premium UHD-4K matches. They will be deployed in four of NEP Australia’s mobile production trucks as part of a major upgrade to make them fully UHD capable. 

Foxtel’s dedicated 4K channel will see FOX SPORTS deliver cricket matches broadcast in ultra-high definition for the first time. The channel will feature every men’s Test match in Australia as well as One Day Internationals, T20 matches and selected Big Bash League games.

NEP Australia’s new servers add to the 27 XT-VIAs already deployed inside the company’s Andrews Hubs production centres in Sydney and Melbourne. Following this initial season of UHD cricket, the XT-VIA servers’ ability to operate in SDI or IP means they can migrate from NEP production trucks into the hubs, where UHD cricket will be produced for subsequent seasons alongside over 500 sporting events annually via the hubs’ SMPTE 2110-driven IP remote production network.

“It’s important that we address the market’s demand for higher-resolution content and use the latest technology to provide our customers with industry-leading services,” said Marc Segar, NEP Australia’s Director of Technology. “This deal shows how committed the NEP Group is to providing the best possible UHD-4K facilities. We already have nearly 50 UHD-capable EVS servers in place, so we can confidently say NEP has the largest higher-resolution replay infrastructure in the world.”

NEP Australia’s new XT- and XS-VIA servers will be delivered and installed in time for Foxtel’s FOX SPORTS first live UHD-4K cricket match on November 4.