Installations across the region reflect the growing number and size of broadcast installations in the region's Arab territories, as well as their increasingly demanding workflow requirements. Lawo's involvement is also an indication of the continued success of the German company's developments in TV and radio broadcast production. It also demonstrates that broadcasters in this expanding and technically demanding market are ready to adopt new approaches and future-facing technologies, and have found a strong partner in Lawo.
"We are becoming more and more recognized in the Middle East, not only for our products and projects in audio, but also as manufacturer of video solutions," says Klaus-Jörg Jasper, international sales and project manager at Lawo. "There is growing respect for our efforts in becoming a key technology partner, e.g. for major international motorsport events, and at the recent soccer world tournament in Brazil."
BeIn Sports in Doha (Qatar) has furnished its facility in Doha with a playout system supporting 32 parallel playout streams. The extensive installation comprises five new-generation 32-fader mc²56 consoles with a Nova73 router core, and several of Lawo's V_pro8 compact, fully digital, 8-channel video processors - providing all of the 'glue' features commonly needed in broadcast production workflows.
Two new 32-fader mc²56 consoles have been installed in Oman TV's OB vans in Muscat and Salalah, and a third, 16-fader mc²56 - providing 192 DSP channels and 64 AES in/outputs - is at the heart of a flyway kit in Muscat. The mc²56 consoles support 96kHz, 24-bit digital audio with redundant signal paths and offer up to 8,192 non-blocking audio crosspoints in their matrix.
Al Jazeera Children's Channel in Doha has equipped its new OB van with an mc²66 audio mixing desk, which has 32 faders and supports 384 DSP channels.
With three OB vans equipped with Lawo systems and six mc²56 mixing desks installed in all, Al Kass is Lawo's most loyal customer in Qatar. The latest OB truck to be commissioned is now underway, with a 48-fader mc²56 fitted with local I/Os and 384 DSP channels onboard.
At Qatar Radio's Doha facility a Lawo Nova17 RAVENNA-enabled routing system is handling audio streaming to workstation PCs, which are currently being used as an Intermediate/Distribution Router in the broadcaster's master control room.
Two further Nova17 routers are also providing service as intermediate/transmission routers for JRTV, at its facility in Amman.
(Jim Evans)
Geoffrey Joyce, Iain Mackintosh, Richard Pilbrow, Francis Reid, Peter Roberts, John Simpson and Mark White.
