Production company i&u TV Produktion is relying on Dejero EnGo mobile video transmitters and Dejero’s LivePlus mobile apps to deliver breaking news to some of Germany’s largest TV stations from remote and hostile environments such as war-torn Ukraine and the Kalahari Desert in Botswana.“We can work much faster remotely than previously possible and in limitless locations,” said Tobias Schütz, DoP and coordinator camera department at i&u TV Produktion.
“Dejero’s connectivity has opened new doors for us to be able to go live, even from the remotest parts of the world, and to immediately edit received material in our studios in Cologne.
“A second plus point is to watch the recorded content directly in the edit and, if any shots are missing, we can get those missing shots in just minutes.”For its news coverage in Ukraine, the i&u TV field crew uses Dejero EnGo mobile video transmitters fitted with six international SIM cards to blend connectivity paths from diverse cellular networks that create a mobile hotspot for reliable video transmission.
If an LTE network is not available, the EnGo can also access satellite networks, such as Starlink. Dejero Smart Blending Technology powers the EnGo mobile video transmitter by simultaneously blending together multiple wired (broadband/fiber) and wireless (3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, satellite) connectivity from multiple providers to form a ‘network of networks’.In the case of i&u TV, a blend of six cellular networks creates a secure and reliable transmission path with considerable bandwidth in order to send video, in real-time, to a Dejero WayPoint receiver located at the ingest centre in i&u TV’s post production facility.
The content is then quickly packaged and distributed to the production company’s broadcast and OTT clients. i&u TV uses Dejero’s Control cloud-based management system to remotely configure and control the EnGos should the news crew need to focus on relocating or staying out of harm’s way.Dejero EnGo mobile video transmitters are also used to send live feeds from roaming reporters to i&u’s weekly live magazine show, stern TV.
A Dejero CuePoint return video server provides low-latency, live program video to stern TV’s on-air presenters, camera operators, and other production personnel in the field to help them stay synchronized with central production while live. The EnGo’s Store & Forward feature is also utiilized in the field to effectively transmit high-quality recorded material for all of i&u TV’s feature films directly to its post production facility.
With Store & Forward i&u TV news gatherers do not have to rely on the live feed recorded on the server back at HQ; up to 60 hours of high quality recordings can be stored on the video transmitter’s internal drive.i&u TV mobile journalists also use Dejero LivePlus mobile apps to capture live content on their smartphones.
The LivePlus app, available on iOS and Android devices, enables them to go live with broadcast-quality video from virtually anywhere, with minimal equipment.
To optimise this content, i&u TV reporters are equipped with custom-built smartphone rigs so that lights, microphones and headphones can be attached.