Allentown, Pennsylvania may be a small city, but local television broadcaster WFMZ had big ideas when incorporating cutting-edge AV into their recent studio redesign. Unlike most traditional broadcast sets, WFMZ required that theirs have the ability to stretch graphics and video content across multiple displays – without compromising on image quality – during a live broadcast. To build the unique and sophisticated videowall system they had in mind, they called on YASHI Design Group for the set design, and integration firm Advanced.
“Our job was to build an AV infrastructure that has no limitations on configuring content across a range of displays from multiple manufacturers,” Advanced Executive Vice President Mark McPherson said. “We built a videowall system that successfully allows WFMZ to work with an infinite number of display layouts while using a 4K signal. Now, WFMZ is not limited by signal bandwidth in any capacity."
YAHSI was able to achieve WFMZ’s desired flexibility by building the entire videowall system around a VuScape Videowall Controller, which allows the production team to seamlessly configure how display signals are distributed. For the display portion of the integration, Advanced built a 6ftx 3ft NEC Ultra Narrow Bezel Display videowall flanked by several smaller displays, includind LCD monitors from SHARP and LG.
“In order for the flexible content manipulation to work, all displays have to work in portrait or landscape mode,” McPherson commented. “The YASHI Design Group technical teams designed the monitors so that they will toggle between the two modes on-the-fly – an element that is very unique to WFMZ’s broadcast studio.”
It was also imperative that production staff be able to easily configure the content across multiple displays. Conveniently, VuScape’s software includes a ‘birds-eye’ layout representation of all of the monitors connected to the system. Producers can ‘drag and drop’ content around to fit the best way across multiple screens. “This feature is an enormous benefit for producers responsible for distributing content on set,” McPherson commented. “It allows them to prepare the scenes before they go into production, which is unprecedented, and it enables them to test out how the image will appear before they go ahead with that configuration.”
According to YAHSI President of Engineering Kevin Linton, the most challenging aspect of the installation process involved the integration of several of the older technological components on set with the newer AV. Particularly, WFMZ wanted to control all presets and videowall layouts from their older pre-existing production switch. For seamless control, YAHSI had to integrate it with the ROSS overdrive system, a network-based control application.
“We had to draft a module to integrate their production switch with ROSS and, in turn, control the videowall processor,” Linton commented. “Although it was a challenge, we were ultimately successful in making it work. This is the first time we were able to control the VuScape processor from a production switch.”
Ultimately, YASHI Design Group were able to deliver on WFMZ’s request and in doing so built one of the most innovative videowall display systems in the broadcast industry. “The entire infrastructure is centered around distributing the highest quality graphics throughout the studio,” McPherson concluded. “We’re proud to provide WFMZ with cutting-edge video integration that is extremely innovative but is still hassle-free for staffers.”
