China’s CCTV adopts IP in field production

The Chinese state broadcaster has installed Lawo mc² consoles to support IP-based mobile EFP of sports and music programmes.

Marking its first move into mobile IP-based audio for electronic field production (EFP), Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has commissioned a setup based around Lawo mc² consoles and Ravenna real-time audio transport.

Describing the system as the first of its kind operating in China, CCTV explained that the move into mobile-based IP audio is designed to enhance its capabilities for dedicated audio production and broadcast in sports and music programming, especially for large scale sporting event. A user of Lawo mixing consoles since 2008, the new installation of Lawo mc² consoles will bring full-IP configuration to CCTV for the first time. A CCTV spokesperson explained: “Our Lawo consoles have proved to be highly reliable and easy to operate, and provide us with the most advanced technology. IP (Ravenna) is not only compatible with AES67, but also offers us more features and functionality.”

The system was designed by NDT Group, a distributor and system solutions provider, using a spine-leaf IP switch network. Two Cisco 3850 switches act as main and backup respectively, while a further six Cisco 2960 switches provide main and backup support for three remote stage-boxes on one system.

The operators’ setup comprises two 32-fader Lawo mc²56 consoles, each providing 288 DSP channels and a routing capacity of 8192×8192 mono channels, and two 16-fader mc²36 consoles with 192 internal digital signal processor (DSP) channels and 512×512 crosspoints. Integrated with SoundGrid, the systems support both MADI and IP Revanna/AES67 compatible interfaces, with dual router cards.