Three Barco iPresent walls have been installed in the studio that was inaugurated in June this year.

Dubai, which is at the crossroads of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, is rapidly emerging as a global media hub. Dubai TV's newsroom is centered around an impressive multi-stage, multi-floor set design and includes studio facilities and state-of-the-art audio-visual and IT technology as well as dynamic news production equipment.

The studio includes six different sets for main international news bulletins, international news briefs, sports news, political programmes, talk shows and debates, current affairs, local news briefs, dynamic stand-up locations, weather and guest programmes.

Barco installed two backdrop walls of 4x2 modules and one of 3x2 modules, each consisting of 50" projection modules with XGA resolution and the latest DLPTM technology. The iPresent backdrop solution consists of specifically adapted rear-projection modules allowing Dubai TV to use the wall as a high-quality alternative for a traditional on-stage video wall.

"One of the main issues that we have always had with video walls in the past is that the minute a lamp goes out, it's very difficult to calibrate the monitor so you can't retain the same color temperature and video levels as the others," explains Broadcast Design International's Mark Karlen.

"But the Barco solution installed at the newsroom is a new, sophisticated solution that uses a dual lamp system. The minute one lamp goes out, another instantly lights up in its place and within two to three seconds, the internal software automatically calibrates the brightness level to match the rest of the cubes on the wall."

"All the equipment you see in the newsroom has been purchased specifically for this project. There is no old material, upgraded or retrofitted equipment here," says Karl Hijazi. He adds that the solution at the newsroom is flexible and can be adapted and grown so that in the future, they will be able to expand, and that the system enables Dubai TV with a 24-hour news channel, which is their ultimate goal.

The Dubai TV Newsroom was planned, designed and created in just four months. "This was a real challenge, because, normally operational efficiency drops during installation. But we worked very closely with Intertech Vision Middle East, our business partner in Dubai, and Mr Hassan Chahine from Dubai TV. We've put a lot of effort into the project management side of things and the planning to ensure that we counteracted those risks," explains Barco director market development Johan Quartier.

"Our goal is to be the number one Pan-Arab station in the next two years," says Dubai Media Inc. CEO Hussein Lootah. More than 20 new programmes that have been produced locally have been included into the schedule. Presenters and hosts include prominent political scientists like Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla and Dr. Mohammed bin Huwaidin, stars like Dina Al Sharaf and Khalid Al Marri and Arab TV personalities like Lina Sawan, Marianne Klat, just to name a few.