Case Study: ARRI delivers IP-based lighting system for Alaraby

By Contributed

Alaraby Television is the first major network in the Middle East to be equipped with IP-based lighting technology across the entirety of its new headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

Following a move from London, the news channel’s complex at Lusail City comprises three state-of-the-art production environments, a 430 square meter newsroom, a 290 square meter morning studio and a 235 square meter black box studio. To design and engineer an advanced, IP-based lighting network for perfect production conditions within the three studios, Alaraby relied on the experience of Ideal Systems Group and ARRI Solutions Group.

ARRI Solutions, a dedicated team within ARRI focused on designing and delivering innovative production infrastructures, supported by Alaraby project team members Sriram Ramamoorthy and Sabri Mansouri, handled consultation, planning and installation of the studio lighting network. The core aim was to deliver a robust and reliable workflow that could be fully integrated into the overall broadcast infrastructure.

“By working in close collaboration with the project team of Ideal Systems, we were able to identify a number of opportunities throughout the workflow for efficiency and reliability via IP connectivity,” explains Jörg Pohl, Director ARRI Solutions. “This approach enabled us to design a cost-effective solution that fully serves the broadcaster’s needs, whilst retaining the highest quality lighting expected by Alaraby for all of its programming output.”

The lighting design for the studio complex specified ARRI SkyPanels throughout the three environments, complemented by industry-leading profiler, moving head and effect lighting fixtures. This ensures optimal light distribution and quality to support broadcasting requirements into Ultra High Definition (UHD) and beyond. The lighting network is based on TCP-IP protocols from the control board to the luminaires.

Alaraby will also be equipped with ARRI LightNet, a unique software platform that offers centralized monitoring, management and fault detection for broadcast studio lighting networks. Data from all devices on the network, from fixtures through to network switches is displayed in real-time on a single interface, maximizing efficiency for broadcast engineers working in busy studio environments.

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“Alaraby Television has a long-standing relationship with ARRI Solutions, having worked closely on our London studios, so we were assured from the start that the team had the experience and insight to help us reach a new level of reliability and control,” concludes Ali Husseini, Director of Broadcast Operations & Visuals Alaraby.

“With a lighting control infrastructure based solely on IP, we’re able to achieve system-wide increases in flexibility and reliability across our new facilities, essential elements for a busy news broadcasting environment such as ours.”