Live Video Production
Overview
Live production has always been constrained by the cable. Camera positions are decided by where triax and fiber can be run, and every additional position adds hours of rigging and a length of cable that has to be recovered afterwards. Wireless alternatives - COFDM radio links and bonded public cellular - each trade one problem for another. COFDM needs licensed RF coordination and dedicated receive sites per camera. Bonded cellular puts the show on a public network that is congested by exactly the crowd the production is there to cover.
A private 5G network changes the trade. One network, deployed once for the venue, carries every camera position, the return video, the talkback, and the production data. Because the Onyx Edge terminates the 5G Core on site, contribution feeds break out directly onto the production LAN - they never traverse a public network or a backhaul link to a distant core. Camera operators roam the venue on a shared cell that has no internal cell boundaries, so there is no handover gap to drop frames at the moment a presenter walks between zones.
This workflow was proven at scale at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, where a private n77 network carried contribution alongside POS and operational traffic for a weekend event.
How It Works
The signal path
What each component does
Camera + encoder
Compresses to H.264/H.265 and wraps in SRT, RIST, or Zixi. The encoder's configured ceiling - not its average - is what the network must reserve
5G module
Carries the SIM, holds the PDU session, and transmits at typically 23 dBm. That figure sets the uplink range and therefore where cameras can work
Onyx RU
The radio cell. O-RAN 7.2x low-PHY, placed for uplink coverage at camera positions rather than for even area coverage
FHM
Aggregates every RU into one logical cell with 1588v2 PTP and SyncE timing. This is what lets a hand-held operator cross the venue without a handover gap in the feed
Onyx Edge - DU / CU / 5G Core
High-PHY through PDCP, then the UPF terminates the session and enforces a 5QI 71 GBR bearer per camera
Local breakout
Puts the contribution feed onto the venue LAN. It never traverses a public network or a link to a distant core
Decoder
Absorbs jitter and drives SRT/RIST retransmission. Its buffer setting is the largest single term in the latency budget
Production switcher
Where the feed becomes part of the show
Onyx Portal
Per-camera throughput, RSRP, SINR, BLER, and alarms - displayed in the production gallery beside the multiviewer
Mesh Node
Wireless backhaul to RUs at temporary venues where fiber cannot be pulled for a short event
The contribution path, hop by hop
1
Camera → Encoder
SDI or IP
Baseband video into the encoder
2
Inside the encoder
H.264 / H.265, SRT / RIST / Zixi
Compressed to the configured ceiling; FEC and ARQ applied for loss resilience
3
Encoder → 5G module
Ethernet, USB, or integrated
Contribution stream handed to the radio
4
5G module → Onyx RU
5G NR Uu, uplink
Transmitted on the camera's 5QI 71 GBR bearer. The GBR reservation must match the encoder ceiling, not its average
5
Onyx RU → FHM
eCPRI, O-RAN 7.2x
RU completes the low-PHY; FHM aggregates all RUs into one logical cell and holds PTP timing
6
FHM → Onyx Edge DU
Aggregated fronthaul
High-PHY, MAC, RLC. No handover decision - the operator has not crossed a cell boundary because there isn't one
7
DU → CU → UPF
F1 / N3, internal
RRC and PDCP; the UPF terminates the session and polices the QoS flow
8
UPF → Production LAN
N6 local breakout
The feed lands on the venue LAN, on site
9
LAN → Decoder
IP / SRT
The buffer absorbs jitter and drives retransmission of lost packets
10
Decoder → Switcher
SDI, NDI, or ST 2110
Feed enters the production chain
Return path. A switcher aux or multiviewer output runs back the other way - encoded, sent downlink on its own 5QI 4 GBR bearer at 2–5 Mbps, to a camera-mounted monitor. Talkback rides the same network on 5QI 1; see Wireless Intercom & Talkback on 5G.
Where the latency goes
Glass-to-glass is a chain, and the 5G segment is a small part of it. This is the most commonly misplaced assumption in the workflow.
Camera → encoder
1–3 ms
Encode
15–40 ms
5G uplink
5–15 ms
Fronthaul and Onyx Edge
1–3 ms
SRT / RIST buffer - 2.5–4× RTT
40–120 ms
Decode
10–30 ms
Total glass-to-glass
~80–200 ms
Why uplink is the whole design
Nine of ten workflows on this site are uplink-dominant; this one is the most extreme. A device transmits at roughly 23 dBm against an RU's far higher downlink power, so uplink range is much shorter than downlink range. A coverage map drawn from downlink RSRP will overstate where cameras can actually work. Two consequences follow: place RUs from uplink throughput at camera positions, and configure an uplink-weighted TDD pattern - DSUUU on a 2.5 ms period gives roughly 60% uplink, against a default downlink-weighted pattern that cannot carry a camera load at all.
Network Requirements
Uplink per camera, 1080p50/60 H.265
8–15 Mbps sustained
Uplink per camera, UHD/4K H.265
25–50 Mbps sustained
Aggregate uplink, 8 HD cameras
~120 Mbps sustained
Downlink per camera, return video
2–5 Mbps
Glass-to-glass latency
< 200 ms typical; < 100 ms where talent interacts on air
Network contribution to latency (one-way)
< 20 ms
Jitter
< 10 ms
Residual packet loss before FEC/ARQ
10-6
Availability during show window
99.999%
Primary QoS
5QI 71: GBR, live uplink streaming, 150 ms PDB, 10-6 PER
Return video QoS
5QI 4: GBR, 300 ms PDB
TDD pattern
Uplink-weighted, e.g. DSUUU (~60% UL)
Bands
n77, n78, n79, n48 (CBRS), n40
Deploying It
The architecture above is the what. This is the sequence that gets it running.
Survey to camera positions, not to area
Walk every planned position and hand-held route with the GXC survey application, recording achievable uplink throughput - not just RSRP. Roaming routes define the coverage that must be continuous, not merely present. Flag grandstands, metallic roofing, and tree canopy, which cost uplink margin exactly where cameras want to be.
Onboard cameras
SIM or eSIM per encoder in Onyx Portal, assigned to the Contribution group on 5QI 71, with GBR matched to the encoder ceiling. Assign reserved addressing. Record camera number to IMSI to IP in the production runsheet - faults are reported by camera number, and the operator needs to reach the right subscriber in seconds.
Monitor in show
Achieved uplink against reservation per camera; BLER as the leading indicator - uplink BLER above roughly 10% precedes visible artifacts by several seconds, enough time to cut away. Put the Onyx Portal dashboard in the gallery beside the multiviewer and route alerts to the RF engineer on the crew channel.
Devices & Ecosystem
Camera-back transmitters - Sony PDT-FP1, which takes HDMI from the camera and carries it over the private network on n48, n77, n78 or n79.
5G CPE - for a camera with no integrated 5G path, a compact unit at the camera position provides an Ethernet handoff.
Transport protocols - SRT, RIST, or Zixi for error-resilient contribution; NDI where the production is fully IP on site.
Receivers and decoders - hosted on the venue LAN, or as containers on the Onyx Edge where the appliance has capacity.
Return video and talkback endpoints - camera-mounted monitors and belt packs; see Wireless Intercom and Talkback.
Design Considerations
The uplink budget is the whole design. Device transmit power is typically 23 dBm against an RU's far higher downlink power, so the uplink range is much shorter than the downlink range. A coverage map drawn from downlink RSRP will overstate where cameras can work. Plan RU placement from uplink throughput at camera positions.
Sustained, not peak. Encoders are configured against a ceiling and will use it. Size the network for every camera at its ceiling simultaneously, and keep committed GBR below roughly 70% of cell uplink capacity so mobility and interference have headroom.
Latency is a chain, not a number. The 5G segment contributes under 20 ms one-way. The encoder, the transport buffer, and the decoder contribute far more. An SRT latency setting of 4× RTT is the single largest term in most glass-to-glass budgets - tune it deliberately rather than leaving it at default.
Roaming routes deserve more margin than fixed positions. A locked-off camera needs coverage at one point. A hand-held operator needs it continuously along a path, including through doorways, under structures, and in the gaps between RUs. The shared-cell architecture removes handover as a failure mode, but it does not create coverage where there is none.
Plan redundancy per camera, not per network. For cameras on the critical path - the ones that cannot be cut away from - provision a second path: a dual-SIM encoder, a second encoder, or a cabled fallback. Network-level redundancy does not help a camera whose single radio path is obstructed.
Spectrum authorization drives the schedule. CBRS SAS registration is routine. A license or exemption for n77 in a jurisdiction that does not yet license it for private use is not, and it can dominate the project timeline. Engage the regulator early.
Validation Checklist
Next steps
Size it. Take these requirements through Plan Your Network: capacity, coverage, architecture, and a preliminary bill of materials.
Compare it. Network Requirements at a Glance puts every workflow side by side, for sites carrying more than one.
Talk to us. For a validated design and a quote, contact GXC.
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