- A popular Italian weekly talk show with complex visual needs was making the jump to Warner Brothers Discovery Nove in 2023.
- FILLandKEY uses a pair of VR-400UHDs to help navigate the show's audio and visual needs.
- The power of the VR-400UHD permanently shifted the FILLandKEY workflow.
Famed Italian TV presenter Fabio Fazio’s weekly talk show Che Tempo Che Fa made the jump to Warner Brothers Discovery Nove in 2023. Lorenzo Romeo of FILLandKEY had the opportunity to work on the show. With this extraordinary opportunity came a fresh set of demands. Romeo shares the details about working on a high-profile show and how a pair of Roland VR-400UHDs help fuel production.
How’s the Weather?
Based in Rome, Italy, FILLandKEY describes itself as providing media server and broadcast solutions and a software house. The company’s founder, Lorenzo Romeo, is a media server programmer offering software solutions for broadcast, musical events, and television broadcasts.
Romeo explains some of the unique challenges of working on Che Tempo Che Fa (translation: What’s the weather like?), a popular weekly talk show hosted by an Italian television legend. “Fabio Fazio’s show moved to the Warner Bros Discovery Nove and required a lot of graphics,” he says. “We are talking about both graphics to support the study and infographics.”
All the interviews carried out in the studio are supported by numerous images. These must be treated simultaneously both for viewing on the LED wall and for viewing 'on air' for the viewer at home.
Graphic Support
He goes on to share some details about the show’s presentation format. “All the interviews carried out in the studio are supported by numerous images,” Romeo explains. “These must be treated simultaneously both for viewing on the LED wall and for viewing ‘on air’ for the viewer at home.”
To that end, the FILLandKEY utilizes proprietary technology to help productions like Che Tempo Che Fa achieve a polished look. “Our WOCube system, associated with the Dataton WATCHOUT, allows the synchronization of all existing graphic lines,” he says.
A Complex Program
The graphics are not all, however. “In addition to the graphic lines, we manage many ‘live’ lines with connections coming from all over the world,” Romeo reveals. “The large amount of information shown on the LED wall includes graphics, live input, video clips, and background.”
Indeed, it’s a complex show and one requiring robustness and reliability. Enter the Roland VR-400UHD—in this case, two of the popular 4K Streaming AV Mixer. “This led us to make a choice that would give us the peace of mind of being able to manage them as best as possible without having them all processed by the media server.”
FILLandKEY employs a setup consisting of two Roland VR-400UHDs that drive a large LED wall on both the wall and the floor. WATCHOUT and WOCube power the VR-400UHDs.
The choice of the Roland VR-400UHD was made from the first moment. When I tried the device in the demo room, I had the feeling of reliability.
Choosing the VR-400UHD
It was love at first sight and sound, while the unit’s sturdiness also made an impression on Romeo. “The choice of the Roland VR-400UHD was made from the first moment,” he says. “When I tried the device in the CS AUDIOVIDEO demo room, I had the feeling of reliability. After the demo, I had no doubts and equipped myself with two VR-400UHDs.”
Once production began for Che Tempo Che Fa, Romeo discovered some added benefits of his new gear. “Another feature that impressed me is the quality of the output signal,” he shares. “In the control room, there are two mixers. With this configuration, not only do I have the possibility of doubling the layers available—I brought them to five layers—but I created a real hot backup system.”
This new control room, which includes the Roland VR-400UHDs, has convinced us to the point that we’ve completely changed the management of the work done with the media servers.
Complete Change
Romeo praises the VR-400UHD for its audio, which is essential to creating a smooth broadcast. “The possibility of managing live inputs directly from the mixer is very convenient in terms of signal latency–which is non-existent–as well as signal fluidity with total elimination of signal dropping.”
That’s not to leave out the video element. “The VR-400UHD’s scalers do their job very well,” he adds. In fact, the VR-400UHD has changed how FILLandKEY will approach its workflow in the future.
“This new control room, which includes the Roland VR-400UHDs, has convinced us to the point that we’ve completely changed the management of the work done with the media servers,” Romeo asserts. “We will no longer direct without graphic mixers.”
