A new-look set, together wth new lighting and graphics, will be unveiled tomorrow to coincide with the station's adaptation of the widescreen format. The broadcaster has said that the move will not negatively affect viewers who do not possess a widescreen television. According to a spokeswoman for RTE, other programmes, including Prime Time, were switched to widescreen last year without any problems.

The switch to widescreen will be accompanied by a redesigned set and state-of-the-art LED lighting. It will be the first time in three years that the graphics and set of RTE Newswill have been altered. According to RTE, the set, designed by Fiona Cunningham, is "a composition in walnut glass and aluminium.

"Created in a small studio of just eight metres square, with all the restraints that necessitates, the result is strong, contemporary and confident, " said the RTE statement. "The feel is of a room, with real materials and textures, rather than a studio set, creating a mood of warmth, strength and authority."

The new studio will be used for the Six One and Nine O'Clock News programmes, as well as the five daily bulletins on RTE One. The weekday news programme for children, News2day, will also use the set, as will the political programmes, Oireachtas Report, Leaders' Questions and the weekly review programme The Week In Politics.

The new LED lighting system will alter lighting for each programme, "reflecting both the time and each programme's individual style."