Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - 9-14 May 2025

Video and AV

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Germany - LED manufacturer Absen reports that they they have won the Red Dot Product Design award for their latest rental staging LED solution, the Venus (VN) series.
The Red Dot Design Award has become established internationally as a seal of quality for good design. Established in 1955, the Product Design award is presented to the best products created each year, as decided by a jury of 40 international experts on product innovation.
Winners of the award are judged on a range of elements, such as innovation, functionality, quality, and ecological compatibility. Commenting on the winning VN Series, the Red Dot Award’s jury praised “a particularly high flexibility and durability which makes the Venus series universally applicable in various usage scenarios.”
“We’re delighted to have been presented a Red Dot award for Product Design,” said Amy Tang, VP

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UK/The Netherlands - Kinly, a specialist in video collaboration services, headquartered in Amsterdam, has announced the acquisition of AVMI – an AV-integrator and managed services provider, headquartered in London.
Says a statement, “Together, Kinly and AVMI will offer a compelling proposition in the virtual collaboration space to customers globally. Kinly and AVMI operate in over 20 locations throughout Europe, USA and APAC, serving clients in over 125 countries with over 1,200 talented and passionate employees.”
Robbert Bakker, CEO of Kinly comments: “We are very excited to announce that AVMI, a leading UK based global AV integrator, will join and strengthen the Kinly team. The combination of our businesses will support our strategy to expand our international presence. Together, we offer our clients a truly global service and holistic portfolio of high qua
Doughty - Banner - 9-14 May 2025

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UK - Stage Electrics has announced that it has won a contract for the design, supply, and installation of specialist production lighting, sound & video projection systems to the new Nottingham College, City Hub facility at a value of over £200,000.
This new building will offer students a modern facility including a large performance hall and drama studio, both of which will feature new lighting fixtures including the Chauvet Professional Ovation E-910FC and CYC 1 FC units.
Stage Electrics worked closely with both the main contractor Wates Construction and Nottingham College to develop a specification that was within budget and met all the technical requirements whilst utilising the colleges existing sound equipment. Work commenced on site in May and is anticipated to be completed in early August.

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Switzerland - Following on the success of its virtual NAB booth, audio over IP specialist Barix will present its latest products for the professional AV market and host individual meetings with end-users and systems integrators during its virtual InfoComm event on 22-24 June.
“While we will miss not being able to meet with AV professionals, integrators, and partners face-to-face in Las Vegas this year, we look forward to engaging with them virtually,” comments Manuel Merki, head of marketing at Barix. “Our virtual NAB booth for broadcasters was well received, and with more virtual event experience under our belts, our Virtual InfoComm may prove to be even better. With businesses starting to emerge from lockdowns and projects ramping back up around the world, this is a perfect time for end-users and integrators to learn what’s new from Barix and discuss their specifi

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South Africa - When South Africa went under strict lockdown on 26 March, the entertainment industry had been out of work for a couple of weeks already, with all shows on the events calendar either cancelled or postponed indefinitely. It was a grim picture, and Jannie de Jager of DWR Distribution believed that the very least he could do was use this opportunity to set up training sessions for the industry during this time.
While there was no shortage of training videos and webinars provided by international suppliers, which are still being shared on the DWR Distribution Facebook Group page, Jannie and colleague Dylan Jones, wanted to create a platform where training and personal contact with the industry could continue, allowing all parties to be motivated and to share knowledge. The only obstacle was navigating the best way to do this.
“We definitely had to get used

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Australia - Assistive living specialist Contacta has appointed Exertis ProAV Australia, part of Stampede and Exertis ProAV, to serve as its value distribution partner to drive sales of its hearing loop and speech transfer systems in Australia and New Zealand.
In announcing the appointment, Exertis ProAV Australia president & CEO Kevin Kelly credits the hard work of Exertis ProAV Australia general manager Nick Cocks in forging the new distribution agreement. “Nick’s 17 years of industry experience played a major role in reaching this agreement with Contacta, a market leader in providing assistive living solutions, and this was a top priority of the company.”
Amplifying Kelly’s point, Nick Cocks notes: “As a new player in the market with a strong global presence we want to create long term supplier partnerships as a base for our business. We select the com

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USA - XR Studios leveraged the latest technology from disguise to bring the future of broadcast to primetime American television when Katy Perry performed her new single Daisies on the season finale of American Idol. The project relied on the collaboration between the creative and technical teams led by XR Studios, with content by Silent Partners Studio using Notch VFX, direction by Silent House Productions and PRG North America as the production vendor.
“Started on the #AmericalIdol stage, ended up in a whole new world,” as Katy Perry wrote on her Instagram, the performance has since been watched by over 9m viewers around the globe with over 2m Youtube hits on top of the 7.3m strong viewers on the night.
“Having disguise for delivery of this content was crucial. There's simply no other solution out there that I would trust with this,” says JT Ro

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Italy - Powersoft has released new plug-ins supporting Mezzo Series and its non-DSP install dedicated amplifier platforms ranges for the Q-SYS and Crestron control ecosystems.
These free-to-download plug-ins allow for user friendly network-based control of amplifier functionality via third-party systems. They feature ‘a refined, modern-looking interface, extended functionality, and a high level of user customisability, compared to legacy plug-ins for the format’.
In addition, a new Q-SYS plug-in supporting DSP+D versions of Duecanali, Quattrocanali, Ottocanali, X and T series is slated for release this summer with brand new functionality.
“Powersoft enables wide-ranging control and configuration of our amplifiers through our own ArmoníaPlus software, but we are also committed to ensuring interoperability with other popular control ecosystems,” says Micha

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Malta - Powerhouse, a Malta-based integrator specialising in lighting, sound, projection and custom-built staging, began working with AV Stumpfl in 2009. For the past year, Powerhouse has been using Vario64 projector screens throughout its projects and recommending them to clients. Currently, Powerhouse has seven different Vario64 screens in total, including: an 8.3m x 3.7m model, a 12m x 4m model, and a 5.2m x 2.8m model.
“What is unique about the Vario series is its robust and durable frame and surface, without compromising on ease of set up or mobility,” says Justin Portelli, Powerhouse’s operations manager. “It’s a design that has considered not only the visual aspects of projection screens, but also the practical build aspect. It takes half the time and workforce to set up compared to what we used previously.”
When AV Stumpfl entered the rental and sta

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UK - The Salute the NHS campaign (www.salutethenhs.org) was launched by businessmen Ron Dennis and food and catering expert Nigel Harris, owner of Absolute Taste and former owner of Fresh Direct. It is a not-for-profit initiative that aims to deliver a million free meals to NHS frontline workers over three months.
Delivering the initiative has brought together an army of experts and partners from leading food, logistics, packaging and other specialists. These include Dennis’s DreamChasing charity, and three FTSE 100 companies - Tesco, Unilever and DS Smith. As well as Absolute Taste, Yodel, Team Rubicon, Hunter Design and Domestic & General, amongst others.
The operation is housed in a former WW2 RAF hanger at the Bicester Heritage site in Oxfordshire. However, it became apparent that the vast space felt daunting for the volunteers from the Bicester community, w

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USA - Katy Perry and XR Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company dedicated to producing XR content in live entertainment, engaged Production Resource Group (PRG) to support the virtual 3D interactive environment for Katy Perry’s Daisies performance during Sunday’s American Idol finale on ABC.
The performance made comprehensive use of Extended Reality (XR) for television. XR Studios in partnership with Silent Partners Studios of Los Angeles and Montreal, created an environment with comic-book style graphic elements that changed throughout the performance, including a house, chair and, of course, daisies that enveloped Katy and to which she interacted and reacted.
XR is an umbrella term for all immersive technologies that enable the layering of 3D on top of the real world. The technologies available today - augmented reality (AR), virtual realit

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UK/USA - The organisers of the 2020 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards have announced the cancellation of both the UK and the USA events due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry.
The difficult decision has been reached following extensive discussions between the committees of both the UK and US versions of the KOI Awards: The Fifth Estate and KOI co-founders Durham and Jennie Marenghi, along with the ALD and STLD in the UK and Live Design/LDI in the USA.
All parties explored various possible options to secure the events, including virtual, live streamed/webcast ceremonies and postponed or scaled-back ceremonies. However, these ideas were ultimately deemed not to be viable for 2020.
KOI-UK and KOI-USA executive committee member Sarah Rushton-Read of The Fifth Estate comments: "This has been a challenging decision, given the unpredi

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The Netherlands - Rental company MHB developed a digital audience platform for MediaLane, based on a curved LED display consisting of ROE Visual Diamond LED panels, to enable a TV show continue under COVID-19 restrictions.
With the help of the facilities provided by, MHB, broadcast station BNNVARA was able to continue the popular television programme Even Tot Hier in a corona-proof adaptation.
MHB set out to develop a digital audience platform, enabling live interaction between the studio and an audience of 100 people.
Using lots of conference connections, the audience is able to participate and intervene live during the show, just like a normal live audience in the studio would be able to. The curved display, measuring 17mx3m, makes the interaction “up close and very natural”.
Supported from a custom-made truss construction, neatly following th

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UK - Manchester-based Sterling Event Group has opened the doors to the newly-created Sterling Studio.
As the events and AV industries face increasing uncertainty as to when ‘business as usual’ will resume and live events can take place again, Sterling Event Group has announced the launch of the Sterling Studio Space. This comes at an instrumental time for the industry as Sterling works to reassure their clients that there are a multitude of alternatives to the traditional live event, says the company.
“At this current time whilst live events are on hold, we wanted to offer our clients a solution to continue communicating, engaging, educating and entertaining. The studio allows clients to present their virtual events at the same high standard and production values they would expect from a live event.” comments Richard Bowden, founder and MD.
As a company

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USA - Obsidian Control Systems continues to expand its line of professional solutions with the launch of the NX Sync, a plug’n’play USB SMPTE timecode device.
The NX Sync captures timecode in various SMPTE formats from its three-pin XLR connection and converts it to a MIDI Timecode (MTC) stream, where it can be read into Onyx or any other MIDI Timecode compatible software. Additionally, it also has the power to take MTC and send it back out as SMPTE. The NX Sync contains a powerful hardware architecture for instant processing and minimal frame delays.
The NX Sync does not require custom drivers, and in addition to working with Onyx, it can be used as an SMPTE to MTC/ MTC to SMPTE device for both Windows 10 and MAC OS software applications.
The device is available for immediate shipping from Obsidian Control Systems’ global distribution network.

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Saudi Arabia - Commissioned by the Qiddiya Investment Company (Q.I.C.) and with phase one planned to open in 2023, the ambitious Qiddiya project is destined to be the upcoming capital for arts, entertainment and sports in Saudi Arabia. The 334sq.km site will be built from a focus on the tourism and recreation industries, as highlighted in the Saudi Vision 2030 expansion plan.
The destination includes plans for expansive water and theme parks as well as a community of 5,000 residents, all within a 40-minute journey of the Riyadh capital. The destination, currently an expansive, vast land with hundreds of miles of potential, will be surrounded by 200m cliffs. Phase one of the project will feature Six Flags Qiddiya as a family attraction, providing visitors with entertainment and attractions to explore which take into consideration the cultural and natural aspects of th

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Germany - The Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus theatre has extended its long relationship with Optocore, in order to keep pace with evolving technology. In the case of such a formidable, multi-space complex as this, an agile digital infrastructure, with multiple routing options and interconnectivity, is essential. To maintain this, the theatre has upgraded the original Optocore analogue network, installed in 2011, to an advanced and future-proof system.
The latest integration, undertaken by Amptown System Company (ASC), was overseen by the theatre’s tonmeister (and deputy head of sound) Torben Kärst, who designed the audio system, working alongside head of department Peer Seuken, and video specialist Tim Deckers.
This has seen the installation of Optocore M-series MADI boxes in both the 800-seat main theatre and 350-seat studio theatre, with an Optocore AutoRouter instal

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UK - The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is one of the world’s leading opera houses. The recent Open Up refurbishment created a series of new spaces within the building offering a more welcoming visitor experience.
Built in 1858, the Royal Opera House is home to The Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera, as well the Linbury Theatre and various restaurants and a gift shop. The Open Up project was a £62m major refurbishment to create a welcoming visitor-friendly experience, improve crowd flow, welcome daytime activity of events for all ages relating to the art of dance and music and refurbish the Linbury Theatre into a world-class venue for intimate performances for ballet and opera.
Martin Adams, technical manager, Open Up Project, Royal Opera House, and Tom Thompson, technical manager, Linbury Theatre, were tasked with creating an audio network to meet the theatre's c

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The Netherlands - ROE Visual Europe has recently completed a refurbishment of its showroom in Leek, showcasing its LED products in an intimate setting.
With its flexible set-up, the showroom is created with the intention of allowing clients and designers to use it for demos, try-outs or testing and to accommodate different set-ups and events. The facility will be open from 1 June.
A broad range of the company’s latest LED panels will be on show, with the highlight being the Ruby RB 2.3 screen shown as a full HD wall measuring 5.5 x 3m and with a resolution of 2376x1296.
The showreel displayed is based on the 4K content shown at the ISE exhibition.
Flanking the Ruby screens are panels of Black Quartz, Carbon, Diamond and Vanish. The showroom will also feature the Black Marble, showcased both as wall mounted screen and interactive LED floor. The selection o

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Singapore - Singapore’s Bicentennial Experience was conceived to illustrate milestones in the island’s history. It employed a rich mix of immersive audio-visual solutions, from the large-scale to the intimate. Originally aiming for 300,000 visitors, by the time of its close at the end of 2019, its creative storytelling had attracted 760,000.
Behind that success was show design specialist Ctrl Fre@k, whose Wee Cheng Low used the power and versatility of Hippotizer to realise the multitude of solutions. A founding partner of Ctrl Fre@k along with Jeffrey Yue, Wee is one of Singapore’s leading experts in video and lighting control solutions, a long-time Hippotizer user and a member of Green Hippos’s Key User Support Programme (KUSP).
Wee’s career path had its beginnings in 2002, when he worked for a time as a theatre technician for a local theatre company. “I

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Denmark - The annual music competition to find Denmark’s Eurovision entry reached its finale in March at Copenhagen’s 16,000-capacity Royal Arena. Known as the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, hopefuls battled it out against a striking stage design made up of 450sq.m of LED screen, shaped into ever-expanding triangular shapes. These were fed visuals by a chorus of Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst+ Media Servers.
Hippotizer aficionado 4K Projects, which is based in Copenhagen, was commissioned by Danish national broadcaster Danmarks Radio to project manage the video and lighting aspects of the show. The company’s Mikkel Samuelsen and Balder Thorrud have been involved with Dansk Melodi Grand Prix for a decade, and are well-versed in creating memorable visual feasts.
The 2020 heats were held without an audience, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, TV viewers at home wer

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USA -The Production Equipment Rental Group (PERG) has released a draft of its return-to-work guidance for the safe resumption of camera and lighting rental services.
The PERG Safe Return to Work Guidelines provides recommendations for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 and was created by a task group who took into account recommendations from the CDC, OSHA and public health officials and applied them to rental operations, equipment and facilities.
The draft will undergo a public review process from 19 May through 9 June, providing an opportunity for materially-affected parties to participate in the development of these industry guidelines, ensuring that they reflect an industry consensus.
Feedback is welcome from all stakeholders, and instructions for providing feedback are included with the download. Comments will be reviewed by the task group for r

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Spain/Italy - Prolights has announced the appointment of Seesound as its new distributor in Spain with immediate effect.
Nacho Alberdi, CEO of SeeSound, comments: “To me, working in this kind of industry means to carry on my family legacy, as in 1880 my grandfather started manufacturing pipes for church organs. That’s why we aim to continue doing what we do with passion and in the most professional way, taking care of the quality of the work done by our team. This should allow us to offer the best solutions to our customers and partners.
“When I first approached Prolights, I was fascinated by the ambition and dedication I could see throughout the headquarters, from the R&D department, production, logistics right to the sales and managements departments. Prolights boasts a broad portfolio and a one-of-a-kind product design, which will grant us to provide innov

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UK - Knight of Illumination Award winning live video director Ben Farrey (previously Miles) sadly passed away last week. Sharing the news, Coldplay – just one of many high-profile bands and artists Ben worked with throughout his career – paid tribute to a ‘beloved’ member of their crew in an emotional post shared across their social media platforms on Thursday 14th May.
The message, signed by all members of the band, reads: “We're sad to report that we lost one of our most beloved and talented crew members last night. Ben Farrey was our live visuals director. He was in charge of everything that you saw on the screens at our live shows. If you ever made it to a show, you’ll know that he was ridiculously good at his job. He was also one of the kindest and most generous-spirited people you could ever meet. We love you, Ben.”
The message was accompanied by
  1. Xilica names Venuetech distributor for GCC
  2. Medialon launches Mini control for museums
  3. Stampede addresses challenged pro AV industry
  4. Geoffrey Platt joins 7thSense Design
  5. Broaman adds 12G-SDI support for MUX22
  6. Phoenix BBQ and Beer Festival goes online
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