Viaplay delves into IP with Lawo solutions

Streaming service Viaplay has undertaken an ambitious modernisation project in Warsaw, Poland, which includes Lawo mc²36 and diamond mixing consoles, and compatible native IP infrastructure products such as Ravenna / AES67.

Viaplay offers broadcasts of a variety of programmes such as sports, comedy shows and movies. Having signed a new contract with production companies Ekstraklasa Live Park and ATM Group, and with its recent expansion of services beyond the Nordic region into the Baltics, the Netherlands and Poland, Viaplay has decided to undertake a major technical upgrade to ensure the reliability of the service which requires the simultaneous transmission of many sporting events.

LP Systems, the Lawo partner in Poland, was appointed to implement the audio part of the Viaplay studio upgrade. The scope of the project included two new studios with separate control rooms for audio and video, as well as twelve sports commentator booths with six separate small audio control rooms. The huge technical upgrade was carried out during June and July 2022, to be ready before the coverage of the autumn sporting events.

Lawo audio systems at Viaplay

Two Lawo mc²36 all-in-one production consoles were chosen for the main audio control rooms. The compact yet flexible mc²36 consoles, powered by the Lawo A__UHD core technology, can range in size from 16 to 48 faders and feature intuitive guided workflows, and the A__UHD cores each provide 256 DSP channels, 48kHz and 96kHz operation, and 864 channels of I/O capacity. They are IP-native solutions, compatible with all relevant standards, and feature redundant power supplies and ST2022-7 hitless merge network link redundancy required for live broadcast operations.

Similarly, Diamond consoles have been installed in each of the six audio control rooms. Lawo’s latest broadcast console offers a range from 2 to 60 physical faders and features a Virtual Extension touchscreen control and information option. Powered by three Power Core engines equipped with MAX licenses, these IP-native devices incorporate RAVENNA and MADI interfaces, plus expansion slots for analogue, digital and DANTE interface cards, and 96 DSP channels and 80 summing buses.

These systems are complemented by Lawo VisTool software, which allows the creation of customisable, context-sensitive mixing tools for multi-touch displays. All Viaplay diamond consoles are equipped with dedicated all-in-one PCs running VisTool, which power their virtual extension touchscreens, allowing operators to instantly view EQ curves, compression settings, DSP functions, routing configurations and even integrate control of third-party software and devices.

IP network management

All IP-native Lawo devices are connected and managed within the network via the Home management platform for IP-based multimedia infrastructures, using web interfaces with standard browsers. The RAVENNA / AES67 audio network is supported by Artel Quarra switches, which are configured to provide a fully redundant network environment. Integration with the video systems is provided by mirrored DirectOut Prodigy.MP processors for full system redundancy. These devices convert RAVENNA signals into MADI and vice versa, and help facilitate final DSP processing.

Bartosz Stawiarski-Lietzau, sales and support engineer at LP Systems, takes stock of the Viaplay project, as well as adding information about the monitoring processes powered by Lawo: “Working closely with ATM Group’s engineers, we achieved all of Viaplay’s goals and desired system functionalities. Along with the VisTool controls in the audio control rooms, an additional VisTool computer is installed in the Master Control Room for quick access by the engineer. All of the Power Core units and diamond surfaces can be monitored, diagnosed and controlled there, with audio streams monitored using Lawo RƎLAY AoIP Stream Monitor software.”