Lawo at InfoComm: Elegant and Effective Solutions for Professional AV Applications

In addition to a revolutionary video-centric product, a range of new and upgraded features demonstrate Lawo’s visionary approach of manufacturing software-defined solutions that can be tailored to end-users‘ needs today and in the future.

Lawo’s HOME management platform for IP-based media infrastructures is gaining serious traction and now covers video, audio and radio products. It is furthermore open to third-party vendors whose products can become HOME-natives. Merging Technologies recently announced that several of its products will support HOME in a matter of weeks. Support for NMOS IS-04 and IS-05 is also available. Natively built into the brand-new .edge SDI/IP platform, and supporting comprehensive video-specific features, HOME additionally expands its audio feature set: redundancy failover, global system snapshots for mc²-series consoles, containerized MCX on the same HOME cluster and flexible 96kHz support.

Lawo .edge (dot edge) is a HOME-native, drop-in IP replacement for legacy SDI routers via convenient, all-in hardware and software bundles. It has the power to become a giant routing system in a petite form factor, as close to the relevant sources and destinations as users need it to be. .edge’s compact 2RU housing accommodates up to 192 HD-BNC connectors via four rear I/O plates with 48 ins and outs each. The number of active connectors is defined by the licenses users install. The perfect complement for V__matrix, .edge is designed with simplicity, flexibility, agility and economic efficiency in mind. Supporting bandwidths of 25Gbps and 100Gbps, .edge centers on a pay-as-you-go strategy, allowing users to start small, with just the required number of SDI inputs and outputs for SD or HD operation. And to venture into quad-link 3G or 12G UHD setups as their needs evolve. By design, all connectors are 12G-capable.

The V__matrix vm_dmv Distributed IP Multiviewer, vm_udx Up/Down/Cross Converter and vm_avp Gateway and Processing apps keep evolving, providing significant enhancements and support for new end-user devices.

The brand-agnostic VSM IP Control System comes with a host of new features: tighter integration with Arista switches solves the visibility, redundancy and bandwidth conundrum, while functionality developed for the world’s biggest install projects is constantly added to the general feature set. The SMART suite for System Monitoring and Realtime Telemetry of networks now supports both JPEG-XS and NDI as released features. All packages feature auto discovery of all devices on the network. Specialty options for power users comprise the addition of codecs, downloadable alarm logs, a “Big Data” reporting function that covers a 30-day period, and a smartQC monitoring-by-exception tool for selectable streams. These are available as licensable options.

The new 10.2.4 software version for the mc² family of audio production consoles and the software-defined A__UHD Core Ultra-High Density IP Audio Engine adds support for the 48-fader version of the mc²36 console. While dynamic TC automation is a chargeable add-on for the mc²36, it is free for the mc²56’s and mc²96’s feature set. Other additions include a de-esser (with De-Ess and De-Boom modes), the flexible coexistence of 48kHz and 96kHz within the audio production environment, comprehensive Merging Pyramix OASIS control, and support for 64-channel I/O cards (MADI, DANTE SRC and MADI SRC) by Lawo’s Power Core^Gateway, which joins the growing family of HOME-native devices and now supports up to 256 channel streams.

Lawo’s newly-introduced radio console, diamond, is truly a next-generation AoIP mixing surface with extremely versatile workflows, a highly flexible modular design and intuitive, optional touchscreen Virtual Extension modules that seamlessly integrate with, and amplify, the mixing surface controls. diamond’s compact dimensions and high-density modular design make it especially well-suited to many AV, radio, TV, and MCR applications such as self-op studios, remote studios, remote production, editorial workspaces, OB trucks and more. diamond’s many new features and optimizations help to improve talent workflows.

More than ever, Lawo’s portfolio of products and solutions confirms the company’s vision of IP networks becoming a single, unified infrastructure for all types of signal transport in AV media and broadcast production—whether on-site or in decentralized setups, with or without links into the public or hybrid cloud. InfoComm will be an opportunity of choice to discover the power of Lawo’s software-defined approach, and the convenience and peace of mind it brings to busy operators.