Al Watan TV opts for GV HD cameras

Al Watan TV, the newly-launched broadcast arm of Al Watan, a major newspaper publisher in Kuwait, has invested in seven Grass Valley LDK 4000 high definition cameras from Thomson. These will be installed at Al Watan's TV studio in Kuwait, which, when finished in mid-2007, will be the Middle East's largest TV studio. The project is being managed as a turnkey system by UK-based integrator, Television Systems Limited (TSL).

Al Watan is building a completely new HD facility on two sites in Kuwait. One site will house the main studio while a second site will house smaller production facilities including editing and two channels of HD playout. Al Watan is and this project supports its first moves into television broadcasting.

"The LDK 4000 was chosen by Al Watan TV, because of the Grass Valley image quality and also as the project itself did not need multi-format complexity," says David Phillips, CEO of TSL.

The LDK 4000 uses the same optical and digital electronic path as the more recent LDK 6000 camera. However, it is fixed in a single format - in the case of Al Watan, this is 1080/50i. "This makes it ideal for installations like this, where the studio will always work in high definition. The multi-format capabilities of the LDK 6000 are therefore redundant, while the LDK 4000 remains a more affordable choice for the client," adds Phillips.

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