InBroadcast - April 2022 - 86

86
www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 12 - Issue 4 | April 2022
InForm
Future-Proof always
Starts with A Vision
Lawo V__matrix8 vm_udx+hdr
Lawo V__matrix C100 vm_dmv
F
or an upcoming presentation, the
product manager of Lawo's Media
Infrastructure division recently looked
up the number of C100 processing
blades that have been installed since
the release of the V__matrix softwaredefined
IP processing & multi-viewing
platform. The figure is impressive:
world-wide, over 4,500 Lawo C100
processing blades are being used
almost around the clock. Oh, and
the best month ever for the media
infrastructure portfolio was January
2022.
V__matrix's FPGA-based, softwaredefined
approach has been adopted
by broadcasters, content producers
and distributors, corporations, the
performing arts and even telecoms
providers that transport
coverage from arenas
distribution center, and from there to
the various stakeholders, including
a virtual assistant referee center in a
different city.
The inspiration to use
ST2110
IP as a transport medium rather
than satellite uplinks came when it
became clear that video, audio and
control essences were not restricted
to on-site distribution but
could
easily be sent over a wide-area
network, spanning thousands
miles.
An equally bold move was
the decision to design a host
device whose sole function
was
and control
connectivity
processing blades that have
no dedicated function. What
they do is determined by the
software app operators upload
to them-hence the " softwareof
defined "
moniker. As a result, Lawo's
C100 processing blades are still as
current today as when they were
released well over five years ago.
The first virtual modules released
for them were the vm_avp gatewaycum-processing
(initially
name)
different
the
cross
and
the
converter and the
flexibly
is
that
significant
under a
vm_mv
multiviewer apps. They were later
joined by
scalable multiviewer.
vm_udx up/down/
vm_dmv
The
second advantage of virtual modules
(vm)
updates
and upgrades can be released at
regular intervals to address customer
requests and extend the feature set.
Ancillary data handling (ST2110instance,
40),
for
V__matrix
live
sports
to their
was
has
crucial, while support
almost
an afterthought
first
become
for it was
when
released.
Similarly, the ability to connect MADI
audio sources and destinations to
the BNC rear plates was requested
by customers and implemented by
Lawo on a software-only level. Other
technical
specifications
can be
changed, too, without the slightest
hardware retrofit.
The applications
for which
V__matrix and its C100 processing
blades
are used
Lawo's
diverse. Some broadcasters
software-defined
to produce radio and TV shows from
are amazingly
use
platform
two different cities, with
the production control
room in city A and the
hosts
presenting the
show in city B, where the V__matrix
Silent
frame is
used
as
on-set
stagebox.
Some customers use the vm_udx
up/down/cross
conversion tool
to produce 4K programming for
premium subscribers
4K
based
on
soccer footage coming from
Britain and the run-up and postmatch
analyses
produced in an
HD studio whose signals, along
with those of the commercials and
announcements, are upconverted.
Operators agree that the quality of
the upconverted signals is so good
that the broadcasters in question see
no immediate need to upgrade their
production infrastructure.
Another staple are remote
to provide LAN, WAN
for
Lawo V__matrix Multiviewer with the WALL at NEP Australia
production scenarios that span the
entire Australian continent in order
to cut down on travel expenses and
use the most talented crew members
for a larger number of productions.
One customer working on behalf of
the Belgian soccer federation has
gone as far as to install two V__matrix
units each just outside 18 stadiums,
which are used to transmit raw video
signals to the central production and
distribution center near Brussels as
well as to the virtual assistant referee
(VAR) center thirty miles further
down the road. V__matrix is
instrumental in allowing the
referee on the pitch to discuss
and review contested scenes
on a screen at the stadium.
This obviously also involves an
intercom system whose signals
also travel through the same
V__matrix units. For a clear
understanding, the VAR can
Lawo V__matrix vm_udx
transmit recorded footage back to the
stadium using signal compression,
meaning that
V__matrix
actually
works in both directions: from the
stadium and to the stadium as far as
the VAR is concerned. And guess how
the signals are transported from the
production center to the customer
(the TV channel owning the rights to
the live coverage) and other stations?
The software-defined
the C100 blades
obviously
allows to use any given blade for
one task (upconversion, say) in the
late afternoon and for multiviewing
purposes during the big Saturday
night
show. International
processing
content
production providers are known to
use their
resources in
Asia for productions in the Americas
or Europe. WAN connections indeed
allow operators
to leverage idle
resources sitting in one part of the
world for hectic production times in
another part.
Similarly, distributed
production
workflows
involving two or more
operators working on the same
project from different locations, are
no longer the exception that confirms
the rule. And just imagine populating
your multiviewer PiPs with footage
coming from different parts of the
world. Or all those planetary sports
events in Europe, Tokyo, etc., where
V__matrix is part of the production
mix.
As stated earlier, the V__matrix
ecosystem sparked a revolution that
is still ongoing-stronger than ever
before. Not bad for a six-year-old...
https://lawo.com
nature of
also
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