Construction and commissioning of Czech TV’s Brno broadcast studio complex is now complete, and the facility is ready to go into service later in 2016.
The studio’s former inner city location and the history of the building itself had placed restrictions on production work. Requiring a future-proof studio with sophisticated IP-functionality, the public broadcaster selected a new site on the outskirts of Brno for its new facility. In their own words. Czech TV wanted ‘the TV complex for the 21st century’. To achieve this goal, the broadcaster looked to equipment and workflow solutions from Lawo.
In the new studio, all audio is produced, transmitted and controlled using Lawo’s network, audio, video and workflow control technologies. Overall control is achieved using Lawo’s VSM Broadcast Control and Monitoring System, which handles all audio and video signals plus additional functionalities.
In all, two mc266 Mk.II and an mc²56 Mk.II console (all with HD Cores) have been installed across three studios and three control rooms. For audio embedding/de-embedding, four Lawo V__pro8 video processing units have been installed and connected to the Cores via redundant Madi lines. The VSM system is using software panels for configuration and management of a number of Lawo V_pro8 8-channel video processors. All audio signals are routed via a Lawo Nova73 HD, including those from some legacy equipment. Key to the success of the installation is the flexibility of its workflows, which can be instantly recalled for different productions without time-consuming reconfiguration and time-outs.
The VSM Control and Monitoring System controls the switching of the audio and video router, using both hardware and software panels running on standard PCs. An Imagine Platinum router (VX 4RU) serves as the central video router, while three Sony (MVS Series) video switchers are employed in the studios where VSM has access to Crosspoint Connect, Key Assignment, Output Assignment, Source Labels as well as Tally signals.
VSM also defines and controls the tally signalling system. The on-air camera’s output is highlighted into the multiviewer. The Tally system includes the above-described video routers and three For-A MV-4200 multiviewers with VSM handling the labels.
In order to ensure that workflow settings can be changed quickly and easily, the control system allows the definition, storage and recall of tally system configurations – particularly those for various display layouts on multiviewers, including a description of sources. The same applies to the video and audio router, where the VSM system allows the definition, storage and recall of at least 20 different configurations.
All equipment in the facility is addressed and controlled by the VSM system using Ethernet, RS422 or GPIOs, or proprietary protocols. Due to its large base of implemented protocols, VSM can talk with certain equipment via proprietary protocols – as, for instance, with the Imagine Platinum routers using the Leitch protocol. With VSM, the customer is able to perform configuration changes in real time – without the need to disconnect the device.
Additionally, the control system defines the audio-follow-video function – switching a camera on the video switcher output causes the respective fader to open on the audio mixing desk.
Although the equipment monitoring function is not yet required in the Brno facility, Czech TV requires the control system to be expandable and ready for this functionality by using SNMP, which is an integral part of the VSM system.
More: www.lawo.com
