PRODUCTION PROFILE

MediaWall and MediaPost

by Neil Reed, Custom Consoles

 

MediaWall at NEP, Hilversum

Custom Consoles has nearly 30th years of experience in designing and producing efficient and robust technical control room furniture at accountant-friendly prices. Established in 1996, we serve many leading public-service broadcasting corporations and independent networks.

We specialised from the start in producing furniture tailored to the exact requirements and dimensions required for each project. A defining moment was our introduction, in 2006, of the Module-R desk series which allows long-lasting and aesthetically attractive consoles to be created from a combination of high-quality pods, base sections, 19 inch rack housings, worktops, end-panel modules and legs. Module-R desks are today in use by many of the world’s leading media organisations.

Meeting a need

 In 2007 we applied the same thinking to the task of accommodating flat-screen display panels in control rooms and process supervision areas. The result was the MediaWall multiscreen mounting system (Figure 1). MediaWall is a free-standing and fully scalable mounting solution for today’s large-format monitors. Flat-screen video displays of practically any size can be mounted in almost any configuration. Based on height-adjustable horizontal beams and T-slot mounts, each MediaWall frame is fully adjustable to ensure optimal sight lines. Cost-effective to buy and easy to relocate from one room or building to another, if combines operational flexibility with structural rigidity.

Custom Consoles MediaWall

Custom Consoles MediaWall

MediaWall was first developed to meet a requirement for robust and easily-assembled monitor display mounts at Scottish broadcaster STV. Since then it has become one of the best-selling products in our entire range. It is today used by broadcasters and technical control centres around the world, allowing video display panels, loudspeakers and auxiliary devices such as studio clocks to be integrated into a unified structure. Applications also include presentation suites and studio backdrops. The following short article outlines some recent examples from the broadcast media sector.

Gravity Media’s WestWorks production facility

Gravity Media chose MediaWall monitor display mounts for a new production facility located in the WestWorks building adjacent to BBC Television Centre at White City, London. Occupying 50,000 square feet of the 290,000 square foot building, the facility includes live studios, production control galleries and editing suites. Designed to handle onsite and distributed remote production workflows, the new facility is based around a fully fledged ST 2110 IP media fabric with a dedicated master control room, remote production breakout MCR, eight dedicated production control rooms with dedicated audio control rooms, multiple off-tube commentary booths, two studios with lighting and vision control facilities, fast turnround and craft edit, flexidesk production spaces, media management and client desking. The project also included MediaWall monitor displays mounts for the MCR, production control rooms 3 and 4 and broadcast operations control room. Largest of these was 5.2 metres wide supporting a 2 high x 4 wide grid of 55 inch monitors plus left and right side loudspeakers. 4.2 metre wide MediaWalls supporting 2 high x 3 wide 55 inch monitors were commissioned for PCR5 and PCR 6. An EVS control room is equipped with a 2 metre wide MediaWall supporting two 55 inch monitors, one above the other, again with side-mounted loudspeakers. A 1.9 metre wide MediaWall was provided for the sound control room, supporting two 43 inch video monitors side-by-side plus a lower-mid 24 inch display and side-mounted loudspeakers. An additional control room incorporates a 2.65 metre wide MediaWall supporting two 55 inch side-by-side video monitors and wide-mounted loudspeakers.

British free-to-air TV and radio network

Module-R production control desks and MediaWall monitor display support systems have been provided in various projects for one of Britain’s longest established free-to-air television and radio broadcasters. The most recent installation was a five-operator L-shaped desk (Figure 2) based on our Module-R series. This faces a MediaWall of similar width, 6.7 metres, with sufficient space between the two to allow easy access for routine equipment maintenance or reconfiguration. The MediaWall comprises three horizontal frames supporting 55-inch video monitors, supplementary 24 inch video monitors and loudspeakers. Total height of the frame is 2.4 metres. An additional strength of both product ranges is the ease with which they can be modified or expanded to match revisions in workflow during the course of their long working life.

02 Custom Consoles Module-R and MediaWall Chosen by British Free-to-Air Broadcaster for Production Control Gallery

Scottish media production hub

MediaWall monitor displays were chosen for a newly opened 975 square metre media production hub in Scotland. The project was supervised by Hampshire-based Dega Broadcast Systems. It included a 1.5 metre wide MediaWall multiscreen monitor mount in the studio control room, a 5.2 metre wide mount in the LV control room and a 6.2 metre wide mount in the production control room..

BBC Studioworks

A 5 metres wide by 3 metres high MediaWall was produced for BBC Studioworks at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The structure (Figure 3) is installed in the production control gallery used for the supervision of programmes from the George Lucas Stage. Located in front of the production control desk, the MediaWall spans almost the full width of the gallery’s front wall and supports 44 video monitors plus their associated under-monitor displays. A studio clock display and speakers are also attached. Four storage cabinets are positioned at floor level, accommodating power and signal distribution equipment.

03 Custom Consoles MediaWall in George Lucas stage production control gallery at BBC Studioworks

Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studios

Module-R studio control desks and two MediaWall monitor display mounts were chosen by Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studios. The desks and display mounts form part of a full broadcast-quality news studio facility. The project coincided with a relocation to new city-centre premises. It comprised a large TV studio and dedicated gallery, a smaller TV studio with its associated gallery (Figure 4), plus a broadcast newsroom. These were required to train future-generation television, radio, online and printed-media journalists. Module-R desks and MediaWalls were a logical choice given the need to match the functionality and processes of a real broadcast environment. Our role in the project was to prebuild and install desks for two training areas. These comprise a four-operator control room suite for Studio 1 and a three-operator suite in similar style for the Studio 1 control room. Each MediaWall supports two 55 inch monitor displays plus smaller video monitors and loudspeakers.

04 Custom Consoles Module R desk and MediaWall in Cardiff School of Journalism control gallery

ROH, London

Working in partnership with UK-based broadcast system integrator Megahertz Ltd, we completed a production gallery desk, engineering control desk and MediaWall monitor display for the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden (Figure 5). The project formed part of an extensive UHD/HDR upgrade to the facilities used to relay performances for live viewing by cinema audiences in Europe and for distribution to other venues around the world. The ROH also live streams frequently from the main house, Linbury theatre and other studios in the building. The production control desk is 6.7 metres wide and equipped for use by a team of up to eight operators. It includes a removable section at the right-hand end for access to the MediaWall. Positioned directly in front of the production control desk and occupying its full width, the MediaWall supports a total of 20 17-inch monitors and their respective under-monitor displays as well as loudspeakers and a studio clock. Four 55 inch screens positioned at mid-centre height dominate the MediaWall, providing a cinema feel to the transmission and preview monitors. Equipment storage bays are incorporated below the monitors.

05 Custom ConsolesModule-R desk and MediaWall monitor display at Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden

MediaPost

A variant of MediaWall, MediaPost (Figure 6) is a free-standing portable mount capable of accommodating flat monitor displays of up to 65 inch diagonal screen size. Two MediaPosts can be coupled by a 3 metre wide horizontal beam supporting up to three 65 inch monitors in a single row. Applications include discrete monitors supplementing an existing monitorscape, studio floor monitors, off-camera talent prompters or part of an in-view studio background. MediaPost is built to the same high standards of ruggedness as MediaWall. Each MediaPost is constructed from anodised extruded aluminium profiles forming a 1,806 millimetre high rigid column. These are supported by a 700 mm wide x 590 mm front-to-back base fitted with rear wheels to allow easy positioning. The base and a middle-height equipment shelf are finished in a matte black powder coating. Loudspeaker mounts are available if required. The optional horizontal beam matches the finish of the anodised aluminium vertical columns. MediaPost is fully height-adjustable to ensure sight lines are optimised when using tilting screen mounts. Cables can be fully concealed behind removable covers.

06 Custom Consoles MediaPost

Ongoing development

Ongoing development is an aspect of all Custom Consoles products, integrating new features or options as well as exploring more advanced or eco-friendly manufacturing materials. All these refinements are subject to the stricture that new modular elements retain structural compatibility with our established designs. The latest version of MediaWall is more space-efficient than before, with the front-to-back depth reduced from 600 to 500 mm. Like its predecessor, the most recent model is fully self-supporting and retains the option of adding coupling brackets directly to the studio wall. We also redesigned the lateral support beams so that display panels can be mounted even more easily than before. The beam profile is now square-section rather than trapezoidal. Cable management within MediaWall has also been improved, using steel ducts rather than plastic. The new ducts are stronger and more attractively styled which customers will appreciate in open-plan control rooms. The supporting leg sides are now in black instead of silver, to match the latest Module-R desk styles.

Summary

Additional MediaWall customers over the years have included Al Sharqiya, Associated Press, BBC Scotland, BT Sport, ICS Media Production, Mediahouse, NEP, Radio-Television Slovenia, Radio Television Suisse, RT, RTL City, TBN and Telegraph Media. The NEP installation in Hilversum at the head of this article is one of the largest MediaWall installations to date. Our client base also extends into the related industry areas of network operation control, process control, security and defence and transport.