Matrox gets pole’ in the race control room of the Australian Grand Prix of Formula 1

The company The P.A. People, Specialized in communications for events, supplied the organization of the Australian Grand Prix of F1 of 2012 a Matrox-validated Trenton TVC4401 video wall controller system that controlled a Matrox video wall controller system that controlled a 12 Monitors. The system had three Matrox Mura MPX-4/4 cards, each with four outputs and four inputs, and with two MPX-V16 cards, that can capture up to 16 NTSC/PAL/SECAM video channels each. Matrox Mura MPX cards captured the signals of 10 universal inputs (including sources that recorded lap times, the race position, Etc.) and 32 Cameras on track, and managed the viewing of the images in a configuration 6×2 of monitors.

The Australian Formula Grand Prix 1 It is traditionally the first race of the season of this competition, which means that every year many eyes are aware of everything that happens. And it's not just the public that comes to the circuit or watches the race from home.. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation was looking for a high-performance video wall solution to monitor camera signals and control the logistics of the sporting event in the race control room.

The company The P.A. People, Specialist in the field of professional audiovisual systems, was chosen by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to install a large-scale video wall that would allow easy access to essential information, including driver and race details, Weather forecasts and closed-loop imagery. Such a facility would allow race officials to monitor everything that happened both on and off the track.. Flexibility and profitability were additional differentiating factors in The P.A.'s decision.. People, who sought the help of Matrox Graphics and specifically of its Mura MPX Series cards to realize the cost-effective integration of a system that was capable of directing the desired installation of 12 Monitors Samsung 460Ux, arranged in a configuration 6×2, with 10 universal tickets and 32 Composite video sources.

The challenge

The officers in charge of the career control room must make important decisions that may affect the outcome of a given test and, consequently, to the entire Formula World Championship 1. Decisions of such magnitude are usually taken when the regulations are violated and pilots must be sanctioned for it.. Other situations involving career control include the management of medical emergencies, tracking individual pilot speeds and monitoring changes in weather conditions.

Officers can take care of all this by tracking what's happening through a network of closed-circuit cameras and other input sources.. A video wall simplifies all these efforts and also the work of the race director, who is the person responsible for all the logistics of the event. When a problem occurs or, ideally, when it is going to be produced, Immediately communicated to the race director.

To ensure that the race would run smoothly from an operational point of view, was commissioned to The P.A. People, Specialized in communications for events, to respond to the needs of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation with a mural formed by 12 monitors with a total of 32 Composite video sources (Track cameras) and 10 universal inputs: 2 Vision-changing sources, and 8 Varied data sources (lap times, Race position, meteorology, Etc.).

nevertheless, Other conditions had to be met: "Part of the challenge was that the video wall had to interface with the existing analog camera system and, at the same time, be flexible enough to accommodate an IP-based solution in the future", explained Chris Dodds, CEO of The P.A. People.

The solution

The P.A. People soon started looking for a viable and secure video wall solution.. Matrox Mura MPX Series was the first to attract your attention for its cost-effectiveness and impressive feature set. After some further investigation, The P.A. People concluded that his initial instinct was the right one..

"The Mura platform was an improved solution halfway between analog and IP-based that avoided having to resort to a very expensive ready-to-use product as a last resort.. When using the Matrox-certified chassis solution, the Trenton TVC4401 system operated with virtually no prior installation.", Dodds pointed out.

The Trenton TVC4401 video wall controller system is validated with up to six Mura MPX Series PCI Express x16 Gen2 cards. At the Australian Grand Prix of Formula 1, three Mura MPX-4/4 cards managed 10 universal tickets and 12 Samsung 460UX monitors arranged in a configuration 6×2. Two MPX-V16 cards were responsible for the sources of the other cameras. while, Mura's network API provided operators with an easily accessible means with which to remotely control the wall.

The wide selection of validated systems for Mura MPX and interoperability between different Mura models gives system integrators the flexibility to create custom video wall solutions with up to 16 Cards, 56 HD monitors and 56 HD inputs. These are parameters that, needless to say,, more than met the Australian Grand Prix Corporation's stringent audio-visual requirements for the event.

The result

About the race itself, the winner was McLaren-Mercedes driver Jenson Button, teammate Lewis Hamilton came third and Red Bull-Renault's Sebastian Vettel completed the podium. Mura MPX Series video wall controller cards captured and flawlessly displayed Button's victory from start to finish in the control room. In the process, Mura also achieved levels of processing power and flexibility in inputs that fully met the budget and stringent needs of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, who were so delighted with the final result that they have requested The P.A. People their participation in the Australian Grand Prix of Formula 1 of 2013.

"We found in Mura MPX exactly the kind of effective and cost-effective solution we had been looking for.. We look forward to implementing a solution with Mura MPX technology just as effective next year!!”, has concluded the CEO of The P.A. People.

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