Planar ep55L Displays Capture Attention of Mobile Production Industry

Producers and directors of today's sports and entertainment events – professional football, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf and more – demand the best in digital video display technology to deliver top picture quality to TV and film viewers. Lyon Video has surpassed industry expectations by selecting Planar ep55L LCD displays for its mobile production trucks that provide television production facilities, full service video and film production, post-production and DVD authoring for virtually every major television network in the United States and Canada.

Established 25 years ago, Lyon Video of Columbus, Ohio, outfitted its first truck with Planar plasma displays. Lyon has launched more than 10 of these massive trucks since then, each with the most advanced display technology available from Planar at the time. This summer, its newest truck – dubbed Lyon 12 - hit the road sporting Planar's very latest video LCD display: the Planar ep55L, a 55" commercial-grade LCD display incorporating edge-lit LED backlight technology.

Displays create live-to-tape or live-to-air content

Producers, editors and technicians use Lyon's mobile production trucks to develop live-to tape or live-to-air content. This digital capture of a game or event is either broadcast live, sent to Columbus for post- production or given to the network or broadcast client to edit. "Most important is that producers and directors like what they see on our displays: bright, crisp images, true colors – especially black. This is exactly what they see on the Planar ep55L," says Bob Lyon, company founder and president. "And, invariably, they simply say 'Wow.'"

Niles, Ill.-based broadcast electronics distributor Joseph Electronics is a partner in the selection and installation process, as well as a long-time provider of Planar displays. With Joseph's involvement, the Lyon 12 truck has been outfitted with eight Planar ep55L displays in a four-wide-by-two-high (4 x 2) configuration. The displays are installed edge-to edge, measuring approximately 80 square feet.

"This is a lot of precious real estate in a typically crowded broadcast truck," says Yohay Hahamy, senior vice president and owner of Joseph Electronics. "But the Planar ep55L's slim profile (depth is less than 2 inches) is the right form factor for this application; the display offers good wide-angle viewing, and has the high resolution that producers and directors need to closely review video."

Planar ep55L delivers latest features needed in mobile broadcast industry sector

Planar ep55L displays support the multi-image, multi-viewing capabilities that broadcasters require. Producers and directors can monitor as many as 100 different images, of different sizes, at any one time. Image management is handled through an Evertz processor. The Planar ep55L adds important standard features, including ambient light control, landscape or portrait orientation, Ethernet or RS-232 control and a wide array of connectivity options (VGA, HDMI (x2), DVI, Displayport, Composite Video, Component Video and S-Video). Full high-definition resolution with 120Hz refresh rate reduces blur on fast-motion video and scrolling text, and edge-lit LED backlighting requires up to 50 percent less power than CCFL monitors.

Bob Lyon says Planar listened closely to the needs of the broadcast industry—the mobile production sector in particular—in the design of the Planar ep55L. "They have improved on power consumption, unit weight and dependability. We can put these displays in our truck, bounce them down the road and expose them to significant climate extremes. I have no doubt that 10 years from now, the Planar ep55L will be performing as well as it does today. We will strongly consider it as each of our older trucks needs a technology upgrade."

A proven enabler of new business opportunities

Hahamy says the Planar ep55L has already generated new business opportunities for Joseph Electronics. "Our broadcast customers know it works well in a demanding mobile production truck environment, and believe that it will be the next generation of displays in their studio applications. They know it's from Planar Systems, so they know when it arrives that it will work perfectly, right out of the box. It's not going to need adjustments or maintenance; it's just going to work."

Find out more

Lyon Video is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For more information on the company, visit www.lyonvideo.com. Joseph Electronics is headquartered in Niles, Illinois. For more information about the company, visit www.josephelectronics.com.