NVP uses Lawo audio, video processing and control solutions in its new UM 4K

The Italian audiovisual services company launches its mobile unit 4 equipped with two Lawo mc²56 production consoles, Grass Valley cameras, a Nova router and Dallis interfaces.

NVP has just added a mobile unit fully prepared for UHD 4K production to its fleet. The Italian audiovisual services company will offer productions in SD, HD, UHD, SDR and HDR from this mobile unit.

Together with its local partner Aret, the German manufacturer Theirs has provided its audio, video and automation processing systems.

The heart of the UM 4 audio systems are two Lawo mc²56 production consoles, a Nova router and Dallis interfaces. All mobile unit equipment is controlled by Lawo's sophisticated VSM (Virtual Studio Manager) system. In addition, it features Lawo's 8-channel V__pro8 video processing units, offering all the features necessary in the production workflow in a compact device of only 1RU. Together, the audio consoles and VSM ensure the versatility needed for multi-format operation in the most challenging productions throughout Europe.

The new NVP unit will be used to broadcast events such as Serie A matches of the Italian football league (produced in 4K), concerts and music events, and high-profile conferences. Most recently, it was used to cover the G7 summit in Taormina last May, when NVP acted as host broadcaster.

The UM 4 is equipped with cameras Grass Valley (20 4K LDX86N and 8 LDX82 WorldCam, all with HDR functionality) that can be operated simultaneously, Dolby E, 12 repeat stations and six Producer positions. With two dedicated audio and video control rooms, all sources can be managed separately to supply any type of production, host broadcast signal or national signal integration.

Ivan Pintabona, technical director of NVP, admits that "one of the reasons why we chose Lawo is its great reliability. But, above all, the most decisive was the functionality of Lawo and its ability to find concrete solutions to the operational problems that we have in a mobile unit of this category every day."

Power and versatility

Pintgabona adds that "the results are very obvious. If a mobile unit has a coherent and open infrastructure, as is the case with the UM 4, Lawo solutions provide extreme power and versatility, opening the infrastructure to any interaction by making complex operations simple and establishing interconnections that easily support complex remote production capabilities. VSM works perfectly together with other products in the same range. I am very satisfied with the choice, and I am developing new solutions and functionalities using Lawo products daily."

OB 4's two Lawo mc²56 audio consoles are connected to a Nova router and Dallis interfaces. As “glue” equipment, the production company relies on Lawo's updated V__pro8 processors, allowing the connection of different video formats, as well as the connection of audio and video. High-quality format conversion, color correction and audio embedding and de-embedding make the V__pro 8 a compact and powerful video processor, bridging different worlds and streaming formats.

Due to its use in 4K UHD HDR, HD 1080P HDR and HD 1080i SDR multi-format productions, the company needed a powerful control system so they opted for VSM as it controls all relevant unit equipment, including Labeling and Tally. Finally, note that since the system runs on an IP backbone, the new NVP unit has been future-proofed to work tomorrow in an IP environment.