The cruise ship Ovation of the Seas is the third Quantum Class vessel for US shipping company Royal Caribbean International. Onboard, Lawo’s VSM Broadcast Control System (VSM) provides overall control system for the vessel’s own TV system of 36 IPTV channels, as well as routing of all cameras of the entertainment areas – including theatres and nightclubs.

Finnish systems integrator TV Tools Oy is responsible for the implementation, in line with all Quantum Class ships’ use of HD video. As an independent control system, VSM integrates all relevant technology on the ship to produce, route and transmit the TV signals, as well as providing footage for use in theatre productions.

The heart of the system is a Riedel MediorNet signal routing system with 27 nodes. There are onboard entertainment systems across the entire ship, and depending on which event is active, the cameras of the relevant area are routed via Mediornet to the Broadcast Control Room (BCC). Here, the content is produced and distributed via Mediornet to large screens and various internal distribution channels and recording servers for later redistribution. The BCC has access to all onboard production systems and allows operators to work on two different productions simultaneously.

The VSM system controls a wide array of equipment, including all Riedel hardware, the video router, multiviewers, audio router, signal processing equipment by Evertz and the AJA KiPro Rack recorders. All signals on the ship are processed in the BCC, where the main routing system is an Evertz 128 x 128 HDSDI routing matrix. A Lawo crystal console in the BCC, connected via Madi to the Mediornet, has access to any audio signal in the whole shipwide broadcast Mediornet network. In case of emergency, VSM can mute all speakers across the ship to allow the PA system to deliver important messages. Any source on the ship can be routed to any destination with the sophisticated routing and Tieline management offered by Mediornet nodes and the Evertz router. To the operators, it is just as if they have one single, flat router.

Additionally, VSM is used with Coolux show control systems creating the playlist for shows in the Two70 theatres at the rear of the ship with a 270° view of the Ocean behind the stage, and the Royal Theatre at the front of the ship. Coolux connects to vsmStudio and the two systems collaborate to trigger various events like turning projectors on and off, dropping and lifting screens, recalling presets on scan converters and turning on and off LCD televisions and projectors at the end of shows. All of these positions have their own touchscreen TTP panels to control their local area. vsmGadgetServer is also used as a standalone converter for Coolux, who have implemented Ember+ natively into their system and control third party devices, using vsmGadgetServer as a Proxy.

Further deployment of VSM includes the Music Hall for live shows, where the system is used to route the required signals. Facilities above the Royal Esplanade shopping area host a DJ Booth. From there the DJ also has screens and projectors where he can route events from anywhere on the ship onto the local screens.

vsmStudio also controls various recording/playback devices throughout the ship and in case of an emergency at sea, vsmStudio can ‘muster’ people by routing a safety instruction video to relevant projectors, dropping the screens and ensuring that the projectors are turned on.

Ovation of the Seas will make its maiden voyage in April 2016.