Square Enix, a Japanese video game company best known for developing role-playing video games such as Final Fantasy was one of the major exhibitors. For the audiovisual design of the booth, Square Enix contracted NEXXT France, a young French company that provides audiovisual services through innovative solutions. In the middle of the 550m² booth, NEXXT France put a 30m² LED wall and two LCD side screens above the main stage which was intended for host conferences and signing sessions.
Marc Gloria, CEO of NEXXT France, explains the concept of the booth, "The LED screen was the main element of the booth. No one could miss it. Our client wanted visitors to test games and watch live demos on a large display."
To feed the screens, Marc Gloria chose the Eikos², a seamless switcher based on the Analog Way MidraTM platform. He needed a reliable mixer offering powerful video processing capabilities, and the Eikos² made the difference through its very low processing latency. The mixer produced a display of instantly live images that were routed from the consoles in order to offer visitors an optimal gaming experience.
Some functionalities of the Eikos² were decisive in choosing the product. First, the "Custom Output Formats" functionality enabled Gloria to define the unusual 2016 x 1152p output resolution. According to him, "Unlike other mixers, the Eikos² supports a resolution higher than 1920 x 1080p, precisely what we needed."
Secondly, the mixer had to be compatible with the HDCP protocol to ensure that the content would be displayed correctly. NEXXT France used four inputs of the Eikos²: live images were authored in the two Sony PlayStation 4 consoles, and two computers contained videos for the lateral screens.
The Eikos² was used in matrix mode with its two outputs: content from the consoles was routed to the LED screen, and videos were routed to the side screens through a splitter.
To operate the Eikos², Marc Gloria opted for the RCS², on-board software offering an intuitive control of all seamless switchers based on Analog Way's MidraTM series. He comments on his choice, "All the manipulations and switching operations were handled through the interface. When necessary, it allowed us to be reactive and change the layout very quickly during live games."
(Jim Evans)
