ROE Visual plays leading role in Eurovision 2021 production
- Details
Early 2020, just before COVID-19, gave the world and our industry a different outlook. The team from Faber Audiovisuals, including Jeroen Jongenelen, international sales director, gathered at the ROE Visual booth at ISE to discuss possibilities and products that would be suitable for the ESC 2020. One thing was clear from the start, Faber Audiovisuals would bid for the ESC event with the ROE Visual products specified.
Later, the final bids were discussed; products were screened and evaluated in the technical ESC team, consisting of Hans Cromheecke, ESC's head of video department, and Erwin Rintjema, ESC's head of production. The ROE Visual products made it through the final selection. Having been used on many ESC editions before, both the ROE Visual products and the technical support they offer have an excellent track record.
ESC 2021 host broadcasters NPO, NOS, AVROTROS, producing the event on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union EBU, continued to involve all parties initially engaged in the 2020 edition. With Faber Audiovisuals appointed as ESC's official technical supplier for video, This also meant the green light for ROE Visual.
Faber Audiovisuals is one of ROE Visual's largest customers on the European continent. The companies enjoy excellent cooperation, in which product feedback and technical knowledge are extensively shared. For the event, Faber Audiovisuals selected both new and existing products from ROE Visual. The complete video set comprises 600sqm Black Quartz LED panels, 415 Black Marble LED floor panels, and 110 sqm Vanish V8 transparent LED.
The feedback on the performance of the Black Quartz has been positive. Steve Ackein, responsible for video on behalf of Faber Audiovisuals, comments: "We're impressed with the fact that we could build this 4mm LED screen in true rock & roll style, very fast and very accurate. The LED modules very precise mechanically, resulting in a beautiful, even, and flawless LED canvas.
“Virtually no lines or gaps were visible between the panels or the modules. The few positions that needed a touch-up, there where the screen split into two huge moving doors, were quickly remedied with the edge-correction feature.
"Another great feature about the ROE Visual LED panels is that there are no colour differences between the LED modules; the colour consistency is perfect."
Hans Cromheecke continues, "This was a show that was different in many ways. The crew had to deal with social distancing and testing, and finally seeing the audience again was strange but great.
"Throughout the build, rehearsals, and show, we had a very positive experience working with the HELIOS LED processing and the Black Quartz LED panels. The large colour gamut and the unmatched black level of the Black Quartz make it very versatile to work with. The ability to dim the LED panels to very low brightness without losing quality in the visuals was stunning. We could lower the brightness to a mere 5 % without any problem, really a top LED screen to work with.”
The whole video system ran on four 4K Helios processors and three eV4 processors. An Omnis monitoring system kept the entire system in check, including the backup processors and 23 C24 smart PSUs. Technical director for ROE Visual Victor Kortekaas and Steve Ackein and Ben Augenbroe, both responsible for video on behalf of Faber Audiovisuals, kept close contact to guarantee the systems ran smoothly.
“Working with the Helios LED processor was a first for me, but this state-of-the-art LED processing platform gave a very reliable and stable performance throughout the show. It's effortless and initiative to operate, and we had the security of guaranteed redundancy without losing any capacity. We could not have wished for more,” adds Cromheecke.
