ZDF covers news with LiveU

German public broadcaster ZDF has deployed LiveU's LU60 cellular uplinking technology for a range of broadcast news applications, the US-based provider of portable video solutions announced. ZDF's central news operation in Berlin has relied on LiveU for several news operations including last year's Pope visit during which LU60 units were used to transmit live feeds from the Olympic Stadium. The LU60's store-and-forward technology was also employed at this occasion. The LU60, which ZDF uses on a day-to-day basis, is a 3G/4G LTE backpack system with proprietary RF technology enabling live coverage of events with up to 1080 HD video images. "The LU60 backpack technology allows us to increase the reach of our live transmissions as we can cover events that we can't get to quickly with OB vans", said Martin Uhlman, production engineer at ZDF Berlin, adding that the teams are able to transmit as soon as they get to the site. ZDF has also tested the technology for use on its digital channel ZDFkultur. For this project, the broadcaster has deployed the LU60 system via LAN/DSL lines enabling it to transmit SDI signals for use on the cultural channel.