Digital Azul has announced the opening of a new Master Control Room (MCR), aiming to expand its capacity for centralised control of multi-site productions delivery. The Lisbon facility can handle up to three simultaneous productions across multiple locations, and has recently been deployed across live sports coverage in Mexico, Miami and Shanghai, as well as enabling live concert contributions and playout operations for GCTV.
Based around the Vizrt TriCaster production platform, video connectivity for the facility is provided by Intinor Direkt routers, while a Dante audio backbone extends to the company’s live studios and sound booths.
A wide range of signal formats are handled, including NDI, with contribution ingest supported through Intinor and LiveU bonded transmission systems. Multiple platforms such as Haivision are leveraged for encoding and delivery, with multi-protocol distribution across SRT, RTP and RTMP, direct contribution to broadcasters including DAZN, and satellite uplink and downlink workflows. Dual ISP pathways enable resilient connectivity, with dual redundant SRT transport aligned with SMPTE ST 2022-7 principles aiming to ensure seamless failover across network paths, said the company.
An RTS intercom platform including RTS OMNEO, NOMAD wireless and ROAMEO enable communications, providing the coordination layer connecting MCR teams and field operators across distributed environments. Digital Azul has developed and integrated portable flyaway production kits featuring bonded connectivity solutions and Starlink-enabled field unit within its MCR workflows.
Productions have direct access to Digital Azul’s facilities including live studios and professional sound booths, aiming to simplify the incorporation of remote commentary, multi-language broadcasting, local presenters and remote guests in a unified workflow.
João Tocha, founder of Digital Azul, said, “Our goal was not to build another control room. We built a system that allows productions to scale without scaling logistics. Editorial control stays centralised, while capture happens anywhere in the world.”
The new MCR now serves as Digital Azul’s operational core, connecting remote locations, studios and post-production into a single, scalable production environment.
