State TV Station Builds Russia’s First ST2110 Studio

TV Center (TVC) in Moscow, the state-run TV station with the fourth largest coverage area in Russia, has embraced IP with Lawo video, networking and control systems.

Owned by the city of Moscow, TVC’s programs highlight various aspects of Moscow life, aired across the complete Russian territory. In a first phase for the transition to IP technology, TVC has embarked upon a major technical renovation of their central control room and two additional studios. Moscow system integrator DNK was trusted with the implementation of IP video, networking and control technology.

First ST2110 Studio Project in Russia

DNK, in cooperation with TVC and Lawo, installed Lawo VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) IP Broadcast Control and Workflow Solution, as well as V__matrix software-defined IP Core Routing, Processing & Multi-viewing Platform. For network supervision, DNK installed Lawo smartDASH System Monitoring and Realtime Telemetry for Broadcast Networks, and smartSCOPE Deep Packet Media Inspection & Network Analyzer. A__digital64 units provide abundant I/O connectivity. This installation at TV Center is notable as the first ST2110 studio installation in Russia.

Lawo IP Solutions for TVC

Lawo’s VSM brings IP-based control and workflow to OB, studio and MCR applications in TV and radio. Device-agnostic VSM controls all major video/audio routers and mixers, intercoms, UMDs and multiviewers, glue and other third-party baseband and IP devices. SMART System Monitoring and Realtime Telemetry software for broadcast networks provides network and data health transparency across all-IP, all-SDI and hybrid WAN/LAN infrastructures. For signal monitoring, the V__matrix based vm_dmv distributed IP multiviewer app provides high-quality functionality for 4k/3G/HD/SD. Lawo’s LVP LiveView Multi-Image Processor enables the vm_dmv multiviewer to show both production (SDI/ ST2110/ ST2022-6) and transmission (MPEG-2/H.264/HEVC/OTT-ABR) formats on a single screen for OTT/playout.

Lawo’s V__matrix software-defined IP platform uses multiple cores and a high-capacity COTS switch with redundant 10GbE/40GbE connectivity as a distributed IP routing / processing matrix for frame-accurate switching. C100 processing blades provide physical signal connectivity; virtual module apps with a VSM control layer allow remapping entire workflows in minutes. Virtual modules handle streaming, video processing and multiviewing, with the V__matrix vm_udx app providing SD, HD and 4K format conversion with HDR capability.

The A__stage64, a part of the A__line Audio-to-IP interface family, provides WAN capable transport of analog and digital audio compatible with ST2110-30/-31 and AES67/RAVENNA audio-over-IP standards.

Voices from DNK and TVC

“An important part of this first phase was to create an IP Routing core which could take 40×40 feeds from the existing main SDI router and transfer them to the IP infrastructure using Encaps/Decaps via six Lawo C100 processing blades”, explains DNK’s CTO Maxim Krivtsov. “These C100 blades are also dedicated for 4-channel format conversion using vm_udx functionality.”

TV Center’s CTO Alexey Brusnitskiy says: “We decided to transition to IP for our complete infrastructure in order to be ready for the future challenges of TV production and distribution. IP technology offers the highest level of flexibility and efficiency in workflows, and it provides best possible reliability and security for our productions and our network.”

Krivtsov explains the setup: “Working closely with the customer, we conceived a turnkey end-to-end IP transition project including overall control system, SDN orchestration, IP-to/from-SDI gateways, up/down/cross conversion, multiviewer and a network monitoring system. This was only possible with Lawo’s VSM, V__matrix, SMART and A__line interfacing gear.”

Outlook

The order, received by DNK in Spring, 2021, was described as an IP upgrade for TVC’s broadcast facility, including the MCR with Studio 1 and Studio 2 as a pilot project and first phase transition to IP technology, to be finalized in August 2021. After this first phase, all TVC control rooms and studios will be integrated into a complete IP infrastructure step by step, as part of the larger multi-stage project.