Qvest Media, the systems architect and ICT integrator, has been commissioned by Austrian public broadcaster ORF to equip the station with new studio automation systems. Qvest Media will be integrating automation solutions tailored to the broadcaster’s work processes for the control of five studios at the ORF centre in Vienna.

As the general contractor, Qvest Media will be taking care of all tasks relating to the planning, delivery and implementation of new hardware and software components for the introduction of studio automation at ORF. In addition to the technical integration into the existing studio infrastructure and connection to the Redsys editing system that ORF uses from APA-IT, particular attention will be paid to ensuring the intuitive operability of the automation processes involved and their use in future editorial workflows.

To safeguard this fundamental point, Qvest Media’s subsidiary HMS media solutions is adapting its stand-alone, platform-neutral HMS DiSA Brick Controller to suit ORF’s requirements and embedding it as a technology layer between the editing system and the automation systems from Vizrt (Mosart and Opus). As a result, editors can focus entirely on creating articles and planning broadcasts in the editing system. In the background, the Brick Controller will help ORF staff to ensure that every story within the broadcasting process is implemented correctly from a technical perspective without editors having to have any detailed specialist knowledge.

“The new studio automation system will enable our editing teams to adapt the process of a live broadcast in a straightforward way and insert breaking news items, for example, into an ongoing news bulletin with virtually no need for forward planning. One of the core goals is for the integration by Qvest Media to accelerate and complement our editorial workflow so that ORF will in future be able to step up the flexibility and quality of its studio productions,” says Wolfgang Gärtner, Senior Project Engineer at ORF.

“In terms of the innovative Brick Controller concept, the ORF project demonstrates how important expertise in software development is in modern systems integration. Through the acquisition of the software developer HMS, we created strong foundations on which we will be able to build customised, future-ready and manufacturer-neutral solutions for our clients,” says Thomas Thal, Head of Key Account Management at Qvest Media.

Following successful commissioning and acceptance, Qvest Media is also responsible for training ORF staff and for the ongoing monitoring and update of the systems.

About Qvest Media

Qvest Media is one of the world’s leading systems architects and ICT integrators in the field of broadcasting and media technology, specialising in the television, media and telecommunications industries. Qvest Media is headquartered in Cologne with further locations in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. With a powerful spectrum of services consisting of consulting & development, systems integration and service & support, Qvest Media offers 360° expertise in the design, development, implementation and operational support of media technology infrastructures. With its Managed Technology business unit, Qvest Media supports media organisations through their entire digital transformation, covering all technological infrastructures, services and production workflows in a, future-focused payment model. With a commercial portfolio of around 250,000 products as well as partnerships with nearly all major media and IT brands, the company ranks among Europe’s largest trade and distribution houses for technology in the fields of Professional AV, IT and Broadcast. Qvest Media has established itself as one of the leading suppliers of dry-hire equipment and systems solutions for live broadcasting for events, sports and entertainment. Today, Qvest’s customer base includes such eminent broadcasters and media networks as ARD and ZDF, Sky, RTL, Al Mamlaka TV, SRG, Al Jazeera, tpc switzerland ag, MediaCorp, Dubai Media Incorporated, SES ASTRA, Etisalat and Turner Broadcasting. www.qvestmedia.com