LAS VEGAS—Multimedia System designer and integrator Fuse Technical Group selected Matrox Video technology to drive SMPTE ST 2110 routing, orchestration, conversion and control inside the Sphere while U2 is performing the venue’s first show, Matrox said.
The producers of the show and event are using the technology to feed and manage SMPTE ST 2110 signals for the multi-date concert, which concludes March 2, it said.
The interior of Sphere displays video on a 160,000-square-foot, 16K wraparound LED canvas with 256 million rendered pixels—one of the world’s largest and highest resolution LED screens.
For U2’s “U2: UV Achtung Baby Live” performance at Sphere, the band’s content development team called on Fuse to develop a video playback system capable of handling 16K resolution and augmenting and moving live input across 16K —all over IP, running on a complete SMPTE ST 2110 backbone, it said.
“It took five years to build the Sphere, but we had only five months from the initial contact to deliver a 100% reliable solution in time for the first show —using a standard and workflow we weren’t accustomed to. It was definitely no small feat to do something like that in such a compressed timeline,” said Ryan Middlemiss, Fuse Technical Group’s director of media servers.
Fuse relied upon the capability and performance of Matrox Video’s IP video products as well as its support and ST 2110 expertise. Matrox products enabling the ST 2110 workflow include:
- Matrox ConvertIP for SMTPE ST 2110 conversion: Fuse deployed 23 Matrox ConvertIP DSS dual-channel SFP SDI-to-IP devices to convert high-resolution SDI from the media servers into SMPTE ST 2110 and deliver content to the IP video backbone for display on the LEDs. Fuse selected ConvertIP for its 12G SDI and 4K (DCI) support, its low latency, and its 25G speeds. Fuse subsequently requested 6G support, and Matrox Video added the capability to ConvertIP.
- Matrox ConductIP for routing and orchestration: Fuse uses Matrox ConductIP to route and orchestrate SMPTE ST 2110 sources on its internal network.
- Matrox Extio 3 for remote operation and control: The production system uses 30 computers, with one programmer and two technicians in the control room handling all the video for the show. Fuse deployed Matrox Extio 3 IP KVM extenders so the operators can access multiple computers from one remote workstation with one keyboard, mouse and monitor. Users can move between Extio 3-equipped computers at once by dragging the mouse.
Matrox Video’s ST 2110 training and expertise helped Middlemiss and his team get up to speed quickly. The company’s responsiveness and engineering support helped to make the project a success, especially when last-minute changes arose, it said.
More information is available on the company’s website.
