In Broadcast - February 2020 - 32

32

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 10 - Issue 2 | February 2020

InStudio

Sharjah Grand Mosque Sings Praises with
Broadcast Solutions ME and Ross Video
M

ore than five years in the
making, Sharjah Grand
Mosque opened its doors in 2019,
becoming United Arab Emirates'
second-largest mosque.
To
make
the
prayers
available to all faithful, even
if they can't visit the sermons,
Sharjah Government Planning
Department appointed the Sharjah
Broadcasting Authority (SBA) as a
consultant to implement a modern and
innovative Broadcast System to cover
the events within the mosque. The SBA
again approached Broadcast Solutions
ME to deliver a broadcast system to
support the mosque's busy calendar
of Islamic events that includes several
cameras, an impressive control
room and consultancy. The customer
demanded a broadcast system capable
of airing these prayers and events
to the masses with minimal human
resources.
To fulfil the customer's demands,
Broadcast Solutions approached Ross

The Mosque's Broadcast Control Room

Video which in return offered a white
version of its PIVOTCam compact
camera (12 of which are used around
the mosque) and added the full
broadcast equipment to the mosque's
impressive list of hard- and software
tools. To not spoil the delicate and
artistic impression of the mosque's
interior, Broadcast Solutions built a
camera mount to ensure the cameras
could be fixed discreetly around the
prayer hall and building without
standing out. The control room,
located in the building's first floor, is
used to manage the cameras and to
edit, store and air the content created.

Sharjah Grand Mosque, UAE

Broadcast Solutions ME implemented
a 36-input Ross Carbonite production
switcher.
Further
Ross
Video
equipment in the signal chain is a pair
of large Carbonite multiviewers, while
SHC-9642 SDI to HDMI converters
from Ross feed into Blackmagic
Design SmartView4Ks used for
audio monitoring. At the core of the
system, a Ross ULTRIX-FR1 32x32
router handles signal management.
Broadcast Solutions ME also deployed
four Grass Valley camera control
units in the control room desk to
be connected to cameras using the
connection panels in the hall. If an

Olympusat Upgrades to
PlayBox Neo Version 19
O

lympusat
CEO
Tom
Mohler applauds PlayBox
Neo's completion of a largescale playout system upgrade
for Olympusat, a leading
provider of broadcast media
services.
The project includes the
enhancement of 26 servers to
the latest-generation Version
19 Channel-in-a-Box Neo,
Olympusat
TitleBoxNeo and SafeBox Neo.
presentation
"We invested in PlayBox
control suite
Neo Channel-in-a-Box two
years ago with an installation at our commands and N+M redundancy."
engineering centre in Culver City,
Olympusat
CEO
Tom
Mohler
California, and we are very pleased congratulated both the Olympusat
with it," said Olympusat Operations and Playbox teams for the seamless
Manager Michael Kohl. "Van Duke and upgrade process: "I want to thank
his colleagues at PlayBox Neo worked both sides for their teamwork and
closely with us during the original professionalism as we continue to
install to integrate our existing ad deliver high quality content to our
sales management tools. Upgrading to network audiences."
Neo-19 software makes our workflow
Olympusat's Kohl said PlayBox
even more efficient. The PlayBox Neo Neo's functionality offers increased
team has added extra engineering flexibility and customisation: "We
features including support for SCTE control the entire system from our

facility in Florida, processing 30 full
high-definition channels in the way we
have found most effective rather than
the way some solutions would have
imposed on us. PlayBox Neo gives us
the freedom to schedule programmes,
commercials and promos for fully
automated playout. It also allows us
to insert additional files or switch to
fully live broadcasting on any selected
channel at any time."
PlayBox Neo's US Director of
Operations Van Duke noted that

external broadcaster wanted to
bring their cameras, they could
easily connect to that wall box,
and those cameras can still be
controlled from the control
room.
To assist communication
between teams, Broadcast
Solutions installed an RTS
Odin16-port intercom system. Further
audio equipment taking care of
all audio signals in the system is a
Yamaha DM1000VCM 48-channel
digital mixer fitted with an MY16-MD64
Madi I/O card to provide the audio mix
for the broadcast feeds.
Broadcast Solutions ME's Project
Manager Salah Ayoub comments:
"But one of the major challenges we
had was the time-frame. SBA would
broadcast the opening ceremony from
inside the prayer hall just two weeks
after we began working on the project.
Everything had to be completed during
that time: shipping, installation and
configuration."

flexibility is just one of the system's
key features: "PlayBox Neo servers
can be configured from modules
such as graphics, up-conversion,
down-conversion and IP streaming to
match practically any workflow. The
Olympusat installation back
in 2017 confirmed AirBox
Neo's ability to scale up to any
number of channels simply
by integrating additional
servers. Each server has the
CPU power to support two
full HD channels in a single
chassis. Going beyond that,
each server even supports
four SD channels or a mixed
combination of one HD plus
two SD channels. The Neo-19
software also offers futureproofing in a world where UHD could
eventually co-exist with or even
replace HD and SD."
Based in West Palm Beach, FL,
Olympusat, Inc. (www.olympusat.
com) has established itself as a leader
in the Hispanic television and media
space through its 60+ HD Spanish and
English-language television networks.
Among Olympusat's line-up is toprated Spanish-language movie channel
Cine Mexicano, and the popular Ultra
HD Plex.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.broadcast-solutions.de http://www.broadcast-solutions.de http://www.broadcast-solutions.de http://www.broadcast-solutions.de http://www.playboxneo.com https://www.olympusat.com/ https://www.olympusat.com/
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