The latest addition to the fleet of OB vans operated by Italian production company NVP, OB 4 represents one of the most technically advanced OB resources in Europe. The triple expanded truck enables the company to accommodate multiformat productions in SD, HD, UHD, SDR and HDR. Together with local Italian partner Aret, Lawo has provided OB 4 with its audio, video processing and automation.
Central to OB 4’s audio systems is a pair of Lawo mc256 production consoles, a Nova router and Dallis interfaces. The complete OB van is controlled using Lawo’s sophisticated VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) system, and Lawo’s V__pro8 eight-channel video processing units are deployed, offering all glue features needed in the broadcast production workflow in a 1U-high housing. Together, the audio consoles and VSM ensure the versatility required enabling for multiformat operation on challenging productions. Spanning Italy’s Serie A football league matches (produced in 4K), concert and musical events, and high-profile conferences, the OB van excels in a wide variety of production deployments. The most recent of these saw OB 4 in action during the G7 summit in Taormina in May 2017, when NVP acted as the host broadcasting company.
OB 4 works with Grass Valley cameras (20 4K LDX86N and 8 LDX82 WorldCam, all with HDR functionality) that can be operated simultaneously, Dolby E, 12 replay stations, and six Producer positions. With two dedicated video and audio control rooms, all sources can be handled completely separated to supply any type of production, host signal and national integration onboard.
‘One reason I chose Lawo is its great reliability,’ says NVP Technical Manager, Ivan Pintabona. ‘But above all, most decisive were Lawo’s functionality and ability to find concrete solutions to the operational issues that we have on a OB van every day.
‘The results are very obvious – if an OB van has a coherent and open infrastructure, like OB 4. The Lawo solutions provide extreme power and versatility, opening the infrastructure to any interaction by making complex operations simple and by establishing interconnections that easily support highly complex remote production capabilities. VSM works perfectly with other products of the same range. I am extremely pleased with my choice, and I am developing new solutions and functionalities using Lawo products daily.’
OB 4’s two mc256 audio consoles are connected to a Nova router and Dallis interfaces. For glue features, the production company relies on Lawo’s updated V__pro8 processors, allowing connection of different video formats as well as connecting audio and video. High-quality format conversion, colour correction, and audio embedding and de-embedding allowing the V__pro 8 a bridge different broadcast worlds and formats.
Due to its use in multiformat simulcast 4K UHD HDR, HD 1080P HDR and HD 1080i SDR productions, the company needed a powerful and enabling control system – which is where the VSM system comes into play. VSM controls all relevant equipment in OB 4, including overall Labeling and Tally. Since the system is running on an IP-backbone, it is future-proof for further developments and productions of OB 4 in the IP-realm.
The combination of audio and control solutions from Lawo bring flexibility to OB 4’s technical capabilities, allowing the greatest use of its potential.
More: www.lawo.com
