Teradek Bolt 6 approved for 6GHz in EU and UK
September 13, 2023
The European Union (EU) and the UK have officially approved the 6GHz frequency band to be utilised in Teradek’s Bolt 6 Series of products, ushering in a new era of low-interference, zero-delay wireless connectivity for European productions. Existing Bolt 6 users can now harness the full potential of their systems with a free firmware upgrade, immediately enabling operation in the newly-approved 6GHz frequency band while preserving compatibility with Bolt 4K systems in 5GHz.
“Our technical teams worked extremely hard to make Bolt 6 the industry’s first and only 6GHz solution, and now European productions can finally take full advantage of 12 new channels in the new UNII-5 band,” says Greg Smokler, VP of Cine Products at Creative Solutions. “It’s hard to understate how impactful these new channels will be to on-set wireless performance; productions will realize that they can achieve excellent connectivity in locations that used to be absolute RF nightmares.”
The opening of unlicensed 6GHz spectrum represents a significant leap forward in wireless connectivity, offering users a wealth of untapped bandwidth while retaining full compatibility with Bolt 4K on traditional 5GHz bands. Bolt 6 can utilise twelve 40MHz channels in the 6GHz UNII-5 frequency band, in addition to the industry-standard 5GHz channels used by Bolt 4K systems, doubling the total number of frequencies available in any production environment. This wide capability dramatically reduces signal congestion in challenging RF environments and increases the overall number of transmitters able to coexist. Bolt 6 also includes new video-quality algorithms and troubleshooting tools. Bolt can be controlled over Bluetooth with the Bolt App for iOS and Android, which offers a built-in software spectrum analyzer.
6GHz Mode is now available on all Bolt 6 XT and LT models (750, 1500, and MAX) that have been upgraded to the latest firmware (4.3.4). Users can upgrade their Bolt 6 systems by using the most recent Bolt Manager app (3.6.31) for Mac and Windows.
Bolt 6 LT HDMI models and Monitor Modules will receive 6GHz firmware updates later this year.