The impressive 52-foot mobile production vehicle, delivered in January, features accommodations for 31 HD cameras and a 48-fader mc²56 audio mixing console from Lawo. There’s also IP-based software control and three Lawo V__pro8 8-channel video processing units on board, which provide the video tools necessary to support a variety of different video formats, as well as to facilitate conversions and multiplexing of signals between audio and video.

The mc²56 audio mixing console allows OB-10 to handle the most demanding productions via its 96 AES in/outputs and two DALLIS modular stageboxes. The stageboxes provide 48 mic inputs and 16 line outputs each, plus Riedel Artist intercom interfaces.

Central to the audio setup is the 48-fader Lawo mc²56 console fitted with local I/Os and 384 DSP channels. Its connectivity includes 96 AES in/outputs and two DALLIS modular stageboxes, allowing to handle the most demanding productions. The stageboxes provide 48 mic inputs and 16 line outputs each, plus Riedel Artist intercom interfaces. 

High-quality format conversion, color correction, and audio embedding and de-embedding make the V__pro 8 a powerful tool for the use of different standards and formats as part of an integrated broadcast setup. Being a flexible matrix system, its 8x8 video matrix and 384x384 audio matrix allow switching of any signal to any other. The V__pro8’s Dolby E encoding/decoding option provides up to four Dolby E en/decoders for fully compatible en-/decoding of professional quality multichannel audio, complete with metadata handling. In combination with the unit’s Dolby E Auto Aligner, the V__pro8 becomes the perfect transmission path gateway for multichannel productions. A modern HTML5-based GUI allows easy handling of day-to-day operation.

Serving as an overall IP-based software control architecture system inside the Al Kass OB-10 OB van, Lawo’s VSM Broadcast Control & Monitoring system interfaces to all common hardware on the market—using proprietary protocols as well as open standards—and has access to all relevant equipment within OB-10. Using this combination, VSM controls the crosspoints within the truck’s Grass Valley NVision router and Nevion Sublime video router, with access to all crosspoints, Tally and labeling of the Grass Valley multiviewer. VSM includes Tally logic, with red/yellow/green light and UMD control.

The VSM platform also provides direct access to the crosspoints of the Lawo Nova audio router, as well as direct parameter control. Running on redundant servers with Master-Master logic, the system provides maximum reliability and fail-safety, as well as links to the video and audio routers via redundant connections.

With three OB vans already equipped with Lawo systems, six mc²56 mixing desks installed in OBs and Studios and several VSM Control Systems, Al Kass is Lawo’s largest customer in Qatar.