Op-Ed: Going Remote to Stay Close By SVG Staff
Thursday, July 2, 2020 - 11:16 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's been a busy year so far at Lawo, albeit for different reasons than originally anticipated. While all hands were on deck to ready the equipment for major sporting events in the US, Japan, Europe and other parts of the world, covid-19 brought the world to a grinding halt. Or so it seemed.
Quite a few deadlines had to be met despite the pandemic to allow broadcasters to stay on air or to go full steam as soon as sporting events resume. This has allowed the team to confirm that the solutions designed for remote production are also perfect for deployment and remote commissioning.
Lawo's belief in manufacturer-agnostic industry standards and its active contribution to leading organizations helped pave the way for AES67, Ember+, and ST2110, without which remote (remi, at home) production would be unthinkable. First applied on a massive scale in 2016, in France, this production approach is now in the process of going mainstream. And there is more to remote than meets the eye.
Factory acceptance tests, network and system configurations, improvised, yet professional remote workstations, product demonstrations and training, gear updates The Lawo team has been able to work through the lockdown and social distancing scenario, delivering an awe-inspiring series of real-life solutions in the face of adversity-thanks to the visionary adoption of IP technology over a decade ago.
Putting two and two together to come up with an effective strategy for each individual case was no doubt the main ingredient. Rather than having to find out to what extent the equipment installed on the client's premises would tolerate remote access, Lawo engineers merely had to devise ways of interacting with clients and allowing them to both control devices from afar and monitor how they responded, obviously in real-time.
VPN connections played a part, but so did remote desktop and video conferencing software. Control software for the Power Core units (VisTool), mc consoles series (mxGUI) and other devices (HTML) that provide virtual hands-on access to whatever clients are interested in have been around for a while.
An important consideration was how to allow operators in different parts of the world to see what was going on-simultaneously and interactively. This was solved for the world's first factory acceptance test for the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, which went so well that it was repeated only days later for other gear.
Although the communication software varied, each remote project brought more refined solutions to the table. For WDR in Germany, for instance, which was to be in charge of broadcasting the (now rescheduled) European soccer championship, Lawo's V__remote4 was used as eyes and ears for the specialists in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Desktop-sharing software was all it took to allow operators in Rio de Janeiro to control and configure V__matrix C100 blades in Rastatt (Germany) during a virtual training session, which started out with four Globo engineers but quickly attracted ten more.
In the light of the above, remotely configuring NEP USA's new SS4 OB truck, and configuring and factory-accepting two full-IP OB trucks in Germany from Belgium and the Netherlands, almost pale in comparison, even though they were successful remote deliveries in their own right.
Other examples include virtualizing MCRs and on-air studios in the US, Colombia, Europe, Ghana and many other countries-all from the homes of Lawo team members who managed to put the distanced engineers of the various broadcasters in firm-and safe-control of their operations.
Channel 9's new green-field project in Australia, for its part, was configured from six different countries and vastly different time zones: Norway (north of the Arctic Circle), Jordan, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Canada. That particular Lawo team not only prides itself on using its SMART telemetry solution for real-time status updates along the way, but also on the fact that over 50 tons of CO2 were saved in the process, because nobody was allowed to go on-site.
Audio engineers will probably argue that the absolute highlight is Lawo's Mix Kitchen solution for its mc ecosystem, which can be controlled from any place in the world with a decent internet connection-even using a smartphone as a 4G personal hotspot.
The ingredients for the above have been in place all along. Someone just had to put two and two together. The idea came to fruition during a remote product demonstration involving one console in Antwerp (Belgium) for real-time control of its sibling in Groningen (The Netherlands), two webcams and a Google Hangouts session. Layer and page switching, fader movements and setting tweaks in Antwerp were immediately replicated by the console in Groningen. How much more remote can you get to stay close to your customer base?
Oh and, 2020 is a very special year for Lawo. But the team decided that the 50th-anniversary celebrations in different parts of the world can wait until social mingling is deemed safe again. They will likely be even more exuberant when the Lawo team has had time to reflect on what it managed to accomplish in-as the saying goes-interesting times. For now, most of them are busy assisting Lawo users with viable solutions based on existing Lawo technology.
CLICK HERE for detailed descriptions of a series of successful remote configurations, acceptance tests, demonstrations and training sessions.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Op-Ed: Going Remote to Stay Close By SVG Staff 
