Thailand's Channel 5 switches production studios to Lawo.
Lawo-networked SCRs share resources and control for maximum flexibility.
Channel 5, the prominent Thai-language radio and TV channel, is re-equipping its three production studios in Bangkok, replacing all audio mixing consoles with new Lawo mc²56 digital audio models, paired with a Nova73 HD router.
Rather surprisingly, Channel 5 is owned and operated by the Royal Thai Army, which founded the broadcast station in 1958. The channel offers viewers the latest headlines on the Thai political, economic, social, cultural and entertainment scene, as well as current affairs, educational and cultural programmes, documentaries, music and sport events, game shows, and sit-com drama.
Lawo's representative in the region, Boon Siong Tan from Lawo International, has been working closely with main contractor Broadcast Communications International Pte Ltd to complete a two-phase project, upgrading the audio mixing facilities in Channel 5's three main production studios.
The first phase has seen the installation of two 48-fader mc²56 desks in Studios 2 and 3. The desks are identical, each with 96 DSP channels. Signals fed from either or both Studios via Lawo’s DALLIS I/O frames are handled by a Nova73 HD router fitted with SDI, AES and analogue cards. This allows the consoles in these control rooms to be intelligently networked together, sharing resources and control for maximum flexibility.
In Phase 2 of the plan, due to be executed in March 2010, a third 48-fader mc²56 will be delivered for Studio 1, expanding the audio network. A second MADI card will be added to all the mc²56's Dallis frames and cores in all studios to provide full MADI redundancy, and the MADI in Nova73 will also be doubled to provide full redundancy MADI Netlink between all studios. Nova73 will also be given extra redundancy by an additional redundant router control card.
Although all three Channel 5 studios are similar in size, the Lawo router provides the flexibility to switch between studios to meet on-air requirements instead of conventional patching methods. All three consoles have the ability to send PGM to any of the four PGM outputs in the Nova73 router, on a first-come, first-served basis.
“The primary goal for Channel 5 was the ability to network its audio solutions, and have the freedom to share audio resources and control,” explains Boon Siong Tan. “The Lawo mc²56 functionality allows us to achieve this across all three studios, with excellent redundancy.”
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