IBC 2010: Al Jazeera Builds the Most Progressive Training Centre in the Middle East

Qvest Media takes responsibility for complete technical realisation of the new training centre (AJTC)

AMSTERDAM and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, September 12, 2010 - For the setup of the training centre for media and TV technologies (AJTC
- Al Jazeera Training Centre) the Arabic broadcasting network Al Jazeera has
engaged the services of Qvest Media FZ LLC based in Dubai. With a convincing
concept, the company succeeded in a worldwide tendering process against
international competition. With awarding of the contract, Qvest Media will
have responsibility for the complete realisation of a cross-functional,
media-technical infrastructure, which will enable the broadcaster to conduct
future-oriented training courses for its employees. As a result, at the
headquarters of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, one of the most modern training
centres worldwide will be established, which orientates itself on the highest
technical standards.

In the role of a general contractor, Qvest Media will be responsible for
all phases of the project, such as preparation of the technical concept,
planning, technical integration and the start of operations, as well as
training of the teaching staff.

As a result of the rapidly progressing convergence of the media, the
individual vocational fields in the media business are today increasingly
growing together. For example, in areas like broadcasting cross-functional
networking is taking place combining Internet and communication. For media
producers this development presents completely new challenges and tasks. Al
Jazeera is now purposefully facing up to this process of change with the
construction of its training centre for tri-medial training and further
training. Qvest Media will establish a complete multi-media technical
infrastructure in a building newly-created especially for this purpose. This
will enable a perfect interplay for training in creative, technical and
administrative vocations.

In order to demonstrate the many facets of different TV formats, such as
shows, news and talk, Qvest Media will equip a total of four studios and the
associated control rooms with state-of-the-art technology. The studios will
be supplemented by auditoriums, with a capacity for up to 200 persons. Here,
the latest presentation and communication technology will be used for
interactive live training courses. The complete training complex, as well as
its areas of recording, production and further processing will thereby be
equipped entirely with HD-capable technology. In the interconnected control
room facilities, special importance will be attached to the handling of the
most varied broadcast formats. Therefore, the infrastructure will allow the
training of the specialist personnel in all file-based audio and video
formats and also for the HD/SD formats currently present on the market.

The trend in the area of IT infrastructure today is quite clearly
shifting from AV to IT-based processes. For this reason, the concept of
file-based workflows is being followed consistently. Thus, Qvest Media is
implementing a fully redundant, central Media Server System, which is based
on Avid Unity ISIS storage servers. Control of ingest and playout processes
will be handled by Avid Interplay platforms. Decentralised areas of the Media
Server System, such as on-air graphics, LowRes browsing and craft editing
will be linked via IP to the Avid storage system. Additionally, Qvest Media
will install a fully functional newsroom for editorial training purposes. On
the base of Avid iNews this will be connected with all large feed and agency
networks. The video and graphics processing will be realised using Final Cut
Pro and 3D graphic workstations networked with the system environment.

In accordance with the requirements of a modern broadcasting
installation, all central components will be brought together at one
location. Thus, the systems for routing, multi-viewing, signal conversion or
synchronisation will be accommodated in a central equipment room.

Peter Nothen, Managing Director of Qvest Media speaking about the new
training centre said: "We are delighted that Al Jazeera is placing its
confidence in us for this trend-setting project. Based on our experience we
can say that with its innovative approach to uniting all multi-media training
areas under one roof, the broadcaster has its finger on the pulse of the
time. Creating a training infrastructure which unites all processes and tasks
of the increasingly convergent media, is certainly an important investment
for the future."

Bjoern Korb, plus4media GmbH, +49 (0) 221 97 77 67 - 11, bjoern.korb at plus4media.de