In a great example of the convergence of AV and broadcast technologies, Lawo has supplied a comprehensive SMPTE ST 2110-based video system to the University of Nebraska’s HuskerVision sports production operation, completing the second phase of a multi-year infrastructure modernisation across its campus athletic venues.
The upgrade follows an audio-first IP transition in 2023, during which HuskerVision adopted Lawo’s mc²56 production consoles, A__UHD Core processing, A__stage 64 and A__mic 8 interfaces, and HOME management for routing and orchestration. That earlier project is said to have prepared staff and students for the more complex video rollout.
Nebraska’s athletic venues span a wide geographic area – including Memorial Stadium, Hawks Championship Center, the Devaney Center, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Haymarket Park, and the Dillon tennis and Hibner soccer complexes – and the new system is designed to bring all locations together through a single IP backbone feeding three co-located control rooms inside Memorial Stadium.
At the core of the video infrastructure is Lawo’s .edge platform, used as both a high-density gateway and IP processing node. Multiple .edge frames provide 3G-SDI and 12G-SDI ingest alongside native ST 2110 connectivity and quad-25GbE interfaces. The system is designed to present SDI inputs as network proxies, which Lawo says gives HuskerVision scalability with reduced bandwidth overhead.
Garrett Hill, director of technology, said: “We can bring in signals from any venue, whether five cameras from volleyball or a full football package, and everything just shows up in the fabric. Routing video or audio essences independently is as easy as moving blocks around.”
The truck dock at Memorial Stadium has also been updated, using .edge for video and A__stage64 for audio to enable 24×24 bidirectional signal exchange with national broadcast trucks, accommodating 12G-SDI, HDR, SDR and ST 2110 feeds.
Scott Guthrie, recently retired chief engineer, added: “Trucks get whatever flavour they want. Up, down, HDR, SDR – it’s all handled right there in the IP edge.”
Control room workflows run via Lawo’s HOME Apps on COTS servers. The HOME Multiviewer and theWall layout builder are designed to enable dynamic, venue-specific monitoring setups, while the HOME UDX app provides on-demand up/down/cross conversion within the network. A FLEX credit system allows operators to activate and deactivate apps as production requirements change across different sports seasons.
All video routing, tally, device control and multiviewer functions are orchestrated through Lawo VSM. Guthrie added: “VSM lets us go from a big-screen volleyball show to a press-conference recording setup with one or two clicks. In a schedule where events overlap constantly, that’s huge.”
HuskerVision operates with seven full-time staff overseeing a large student team. Hill noted that training students on professional broadcast-grade tools is intended to support their career readiness for the wider industry.
Read Installation‘s in-depth feature on convergence here.
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