China Central Television, better known as CCTV, is China’s main broadcaster and standing since 1958. CCTV operates 48 channels in six different languages and reaches more than one billion viewers worldwide. The headquarters in Beijing are part of a large media park, a landmark of public entertainment with numerous production studios and an outdoor filming area.
Among the different production studios, Studio 1 is the most important one and also the studio where the largest and most viewed variety shows are recorded. This includes the famous and prestigious CCTV new year’s Gala, also known as spring festival gala or Chunwan attracting more than one billion viewers each year. This large studio is 1600 m2 and has a seating capacity for an audience up to 1000 people. With productions of this size, the studio is equipped with more than 800 lighting fixtures. It remains a challenge to optimize the network with all its configurations in order to guarantee a low latency and failsafe operation. In case of system errors, it is key for technicians and operators to immediately locate, identify and diagnose the issue.
How do Luminex solutions support CCTV:
“I visited CCTV many times to explain the advantages of the Luminex solutions. At that time, Araneo was not available yet, but we could already check the connection status and transmission speed through the indicator LED’s on the switch and the LumiNet Monitor software. The CCTV engineers had already a good impression of the Luminex products, and they were eager to install Studio No.1 with a Luminex infrastructure to enjoy the usability and performances of the Luminex solutions.” says Mr. Wang, General Manager of Guangzhou Hongfung Light&Electronics Tech. Co.
“Since we replaced the existing infrastructure with a series of GigaCore switches, we at the same time installed the new Luminex Araneo application. With the help of Araneo, it is now possible to manage the entire Luminex Network (4* GigaCore 26i and 16* GigaCore 12). The simple and easy to use Araneo interface allows easy monitoring, diagnostic and analysis of potential issues. With the provided information from Araneo, we can easily execute preventive maintenance as well as provide support with minimum downtime when required.“
“It brings a whole new concept to the users and system integrators as the entire system is clear at a glance. The quintessential backup system is really a plus when it comes to security. The successful transformation of the CCTV No.1 studio has been an excellent example of the Luminex Technology integration and the way to manage and maintain it in TV studios. CCTV decided it will further deploy Luminex switches and Araneo in other studios.”
