Cui-Lin, director of international marketing and sales, stated that the company had sold 100 of their XL 1500 projectors to Belarus distributor, FE Belimlight, whose Maxim Yugov confirmed that these will be used on a major project in Moscow. This versatile, feature-packed fixture utilises a powerful 1500W short arc discharge lamp, optimised by the use of a high quality and efficient optical system - making it one of the brightest projectors in the market, say the company.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent stand, PR Lighting's UK distributors MilTec, were also busy fielding inquiries. Sales director David Faulkes supplied Audiotek in Ireland with PR Lighting's brand new V-Led Spell pixelated wall tile display straight off the show stand. This comprised 12 of the new 1200mm x 600mm panels, with 37.5mms pixel pitch, giving Audiotek a potential for a 3.6m x 2.4m display.
"We are delighted to be the first company in Europe to have this display," said Audiotek MD, Frank Murray. "Video has become a big growth area and this product is light-weight, IP-rated and reasonably priced."
Although its final destination will be a new venue in the south of Ireland - Murray is first planning a short-term install in Maurice Doolan and Vincent McDonald's popular nightclub, Bondi Beach in Dublin, enabling potential customers to get a first view of it.
"But in any case we already have customers queuing for this new product," says Murray. Once it has travelled to the south, the V-Led Spell will be used for showing promotional videos and messaging on the outside of the new venue, eventually relocating for indoor use. The display will be triggered from an ArKaos media server.
Another major customer of MilTec was Bournemouth-based Complete Production Solutions (CPS Group) who added 16 PR Lighting XL1200s - eight spots and eight washes - to their hire fleet, following a thorough evaluation at the PLASA show. They will join the existing Pilot 250's from the same manufacturer.
CPS director, Richard Colegate said: "We had reached a point where we needed to move above the 575 area into something brighter because the market is now demanding that.
"We talked in advance but [co-director] Chris Caton really needed to be satisfied with the product and wanted not only to see it in action on the stand but also to inspect the build quality and optics by looking inside the chassis.
"The fact that we were able to do this with PR Lighting's chief R&D engineer Steve Tulk, and see how easy it was to change the lamp, was the clincher."
Two elements stood out, reports Colegate: the lamp could be replaced swiftly with access via quarter-turn lock screws, while an internal battery allows prepping in the warehouse without the need to plug in. "This means you can set parameters - such as the DMX address - really quickly without having to find mains power."
Some XL1200s were pressed straight into service for a major conference at York Racecourse, and Richard Colegate is now expecting high demand.
Summing up, Cui-Lin said: "PLASA offered us the opportunity to not only sit down with most of our international distributors but also make a lot of new contacts. Interest was high - particularly in the new products, such as the XL 1500, XL 250, XS 300 - and of course the LED effects.
"We are also delighted to have made significant inroads in the rental market."
(Claire Beeson)
