South Korean cable TV broadcaster MBN (Maeil Broadcasting Network) recently completed a second large-scale project with Lawo, upgrading its new broadcast production facility in Seoul with mc²56 consoles, A_UHD Core audio engine and multiple A__line AoIP stageboxes. Delivery was handled by Lawo partner DYD (Dongyang Digital), with planning, installation and commissioning by the SI team of mobile network operator LG Uplus (LG U+). The project was completed in March 2022.
Founded in 1993, MBN produces a variety of news and entertainment programming. The new studio complex is home to two studios of 660sq-m each, where a wide range of programmes such as TV news, large-scale music and talk shows, dramas, sports competition shows, health care and children’s programs are produced.
‘Maeil Broadcasting Network regards IP as the broadcast technology of the future and our goal is to be a fully ST2110-capable broadcast network within the next few years’, explains MBN Technical Director, Byonghee Gwak. ‘This is why we wanted to integrate our broadcast production facility with our new studios and control rooms using an IP infrastructure right from the start. Another big plus is that, with our new flexible audio network, we can apply our workflows and change them at any time, easily modifying the whole set-up via software configuration.’
MBN’s first installed Lawo radio mixing consoles for DMB radio, and mc² audio production desks for MBN Money and the MBN News Center several years ago; the experience saw Lawo subsequently called in to perform a technical upgrade of MBN Control Rooms A and B in the new production centre. The upgrade includes two mc²56 MkIII audio production consoles with shared A__UHD core, external servers for MCX, and Lawo’s Home management platform for IP-based media infrastructures, as well as A__stage 80, A__Madi6 and A__digital 64 AoIP nodes, and an A__stage48 as studio stagebox. All equipment was installed by LG U+.
‘Together with MBN, we developed a plan to upgrade the new production centre to an IP facility and discussed the workflows our customer wanted to put in place,’ explains Choi Won, Project Manager at LG U+. ‘After thorough consideration of various manufacturers, Lawo, with its IP-native, ST2110-compatible audio production consoles, won by a clear margin. The powerful, super-compact A__UHD core provides DSP pooling and full redundancy so that a dynamic and flawless production process is guaranteed.’
MBN’s new technology is managed by Lawo’s innovative Home platform, which simplifies IP device management and makes adding new IP-connected audio I/O devices as easy as if they were baseband. The consoles automatically detect new devices and make them available at the touch of a button. Home even manages IP addresses, multicast ranges, and VLANs, and includes security features like access control and quarantining of unknown devices to protect your network.
Byonghee Gwak is pleased with MBN’s selection of Lawo for this upgrade: ‘We have already experienced the Lawo radio and mc² series mixing consoles over the years. We admire the innovative character, quality, reliability and stability of Lawo products and solutions, and the creative resource handling and efficiency that provides us with new and better ways of TV production.’
More: www.lawo.com
