Behind the Scenes of Singer 2026: Kiloview RF02 Connects Live Production with NDI

Singer 2026 is a flagship live music program from Hunan TV, one of China’s leading television broadcasters and a major name in entertainment production. Broadcast on Hunan TV and available on Mango TV, the show brings professional singers to a high-profile national stage.

Behind the stage, camera feeds and program output (PGM) needed to move in real time between teams working across different floors and areas. The production team deployed a Kiloview solution combining RF02 modular media platforms, SDI and HDMI codec cards, multiview processing and NDI High Bandwidth transport over a redundant optical ring.

THE CHALLENGE：When Point-to-Point Is No Longer Enough

Traditional point-to-point optical links addressed high-quality transmission over distance. For Singer 2026, however, multiple sources had to serve multiple destinations. Extending one-to-one connections across the studio, production control and transmission vehicle would create complex cabling and require additional equipment for each function.

The teams also needed signal routing, visibility into signal status and quality, configurable multiview monitoring and automatic primary-to-backup switching. Camera feeds had to reach other production areas, PGM had to return for local monitoring, and the review room needed several sources on one screen. For a flagship live broadcast, maintaining reliable signal delivery if a fiber link failed was a fundamental requirement.

THE SOLUTION：A Modular NDI Workflow with Built In Backup

Three Kiloview RF02 Modular Media Platforms connected the studio camera area, production control and on-site transmission vehicle. Location-specific configurations combined FN-50 SDI codec cards with FN-60 HDMI codec cards or an FD-360 multiview card. Together, these modular 2U platforms brought signal conversion, distribution and monitoring into a shared NDI High Bandwidth workflow.

• Protecting Live Signals with an Optical Ring

The three RF02 units were interconnected in a physical optical ring using dual 10G SFP+ fiber connections. This created alternative transmission paths between production areas. If a fiber link is damaged or interrupted, the ring supports automatic failover to the remaining path, allowing signal transport to continue.

This redundancy addresses a critical broadcast requirement: a single fiber-link failure should not cut off essential feeds between production teams. It adds backup connectivity to the same network that carries camera sources, control signals and PGM returns.

• Bringing Studio Feeds and Program Returns Together

In the studio, FN-50 SDI codec cards converted multiple camera feeds into NDI High Bandwidth streams for distribution across the network. FN-60 HDMI codec cards decoded incoming PGM streams to HDMI for local monitoring. The studio could send camera sources and receive the program feed through the same infrastructure.

• Sharing Signals at Production Control

At production control, FN-50 cards encoded the switched SDI signals into NDI High Bandwidth streams. FN-60 cards decoded incoming PGM streams to HDMI for monitoring, combining outgoing signal distribution and program return in one RF02 platform.

• Supporting the Transmission Vehicle and Review Room

In the on-site transmission vehicle, FN-50 cards encoded SDI PGM feeds into NDI High Bandwidth streams and decoded incoming studio and control-area signals for local monitoring.

An FD-360 multiview card installed in the vehicle’s RF02 combined multiple IP sources into a single multiview output for the review room. Source selection and layouts could be adjusted as monitoring requirements changed.

• Centralized Signal Access and Management

The RF02 offers a unified management interface for previewing live feeds, monitoring signal status, and selecting sources on the fly. With all signals available as IP streams, teams across the production chain can pull the feeds they need and visually verify quality — all from a single platform that handles transport, conversion, and monitoring in one place.

THE RESULTS：Streamlined Connectivity and Dependable Live Signal Delivery

With the RF02 deployed, the three physically separate production areas were able to exchange signals over a unified optical network. This significantly simplified cross-floor cabling, and by consolidating encoding, decoding, and monitoring into a single platform, it largely eliminated the need for a patchwork of standalone devices.

The system delivered stable, high-quality signal exchange throughout the live production. Optical ring redundancy and automatic failover ensured that a single fiber-link interruption would not disrupt critical feeds, seamlessly integrating backup connectivity into the everyday signal workflow.

Diverse monitoring needs were also met within the same workflow. Studio and control teams received PGM feeds for local monitoring, while the review room benefited from a consolidated multiview with adjustable sources and layouts. The on-site technical team responded enthusiastically to this flexibility, particularly the ability to tailor individual views and multiview content to their specific requirements.