Video and AV

New development from FogScreen Inc

Details: 14 March 2016

Finland - FogScreen Inc has launched its new interactive fog screen. The world's first 'airborne interactive touch screen' is next-generation technology developed from FogScreen's pioneering airborne projection screen. When you write or draw upon the interactive fog screen, say the company, the writing or designs miraculously and continuously float in the air.

Interactive, airborne projection screens will find many uses within the entertainment industry and in out-of-home advertising (interactive, walk-through advertisements in airports, malls etc). Because fog screens are unbreakable, they are especially useful in applications intended for the public, such as information screens. The company also points to the need for sterile touch-screen communication devices in hospitals and factory clean rooms, which could potentially be satisfied by the interactive fog screens.

FogScreen

CT uses Watchout with Rod

Details: 14 March 2016

International - Rod Stewart hit the road this spring to commence a world tour in support of his double platinum release, The Great American Songbook: Volume II. The tour, which began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will continue through US and Canadian arenas through the end of August before moving overseas.

The show is presented in two parts, opening to a basic rock and roll set, with Rod and band performing high-energy songs from years past, then transforming for the second half to represent a vintage music hall, complete with heavy gold drapes and back-up orchestra. Here the audience is treated to several highlights off The Great American Songbook: Vol. II.

To enhance the spectacular performance, international staging solutions provider Creative Technology is supplying large screen, high-resolution projection technology, including Watchout, Dataton's multi-display production

Paul Brooks takes over at Synelec UK

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Paul Brooks has taken over as general manager at Synelec UK - replacing the departing Steve Murphy. A subsidiary of French company Synelec Telecom Multimedia SA, leaders in the large-scale display/integrated solutions industry, Synelec UK say they will benefit both from Brooks' experience of the marketplace, and his knowledge of the company's systems.

As sales manager of his previous company, CCC Network Solutions, Brooks was responsible for selling and delivering most of the company's command and control room solutions - and high among their third party supply was Synelec's videowall displays. Prior to that, Brooks worked for Barco, helping them to set up their UK control room displays division and becoming one of their lead salesman in Europe. "After CCC I had been looking to get back into the control room environment when I heard that Steve Murphy was leaving Synele

Neo One Impulse wins Messaging Award

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Of interest to organizers of club nights and party events, Essex Sound & Light (ESL) has announced that its Neo One Impulse text-to-screen system has won Best in Class award for Customer Relations Management at the Global Messaging Congress, held at London Olympia. ESL is the UK distributor for the system.

Neo One enables clubbers to instantly interact with each other, or the DJ. The system enables a text or picture message to be sent from the clubber's phone to large plasma or projection screens around the venue, which everyone can read. A dedicated control centre monitors every text, to ensure they comply with the club's moderation policy. Once cleared by the system, the message appears on screen within 15 seconds.

Neo One can also be used for internal promotions, such as forthcoming club nights or special drink prices. In addition to this, say ESL, the system can be us

Steljes introduces Polyspan View Stations

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Steljes Hire, trade distributor of audio-visual and electronic presentation equipment, has added two video conferencing products to its portfolio - the Polyspan View Station 512K and the The Polyspan View Station 512K MP.

The Polyspan View Station 512K system has an automated camera, power microphone, and can be connected to any size screen through a projector, TV or plasma screen. Although more suitable for one-to-one usage, it's a compact unit capable of supporting larger events. The ability to feed any number of external cameras through the vision mixer enables the far end to receive the best picture display. The data transfer capability also supports the sharing of data files between conference parties.

The Polyspan View Station 512K MP system is designed for larger conferences. The video-conference displayed image can be projected on to virtually any size screen, and

Dynamax set to broadcast new PointOfView

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Dynamax Technologies announced today the exclusive UK launch of what it claims is "the digital sign industry's most intelligent scheduling and broadcast software yet" - PointOfView-NG. The system, which will be officially unveiled at the In-Store Marketing Exhibition at Earls Court (15 - 17 June 2004), is a new method of delivering dynamic advertising content to display screens at remote locations, say the company.

New features of the software include full audit capabilities and management functions enabling operators to control where and when messages are displayed, at the touch of a button. The software is designed to alert network operators if the displays are not being utilized to their full capacity, maximizing the ROI with digital screen networks. Dynamax's development director, Howard Smith, comments: "To make best use of digital screen technology you

d&b solution for Danske Bank

Details: 14 March 2016

Denmark - Capped by a vaulting glass mosaic dome, the new conference room at Danske Bank's headquarters in Copenhagen is one of Europe's more graceful presentation venues. Designed for a maximum 150 capacity, it is a classicist's vision of light and space. But roll down the projection screen, dim the lights, cue the show, and technology begins to impose its presence in a subtle fashion that belies its potency. "The bank approached us with a good brief, very specific in terms of application, but quite open when it came to equipment," explained Jesper Rosgaard of Informationsteknik, the company charged with defining and providing a complete AV system for the conference room.

"Danske Bank had several clearly-defined needs: they wanted a facility that could accommodate events of widely varying scale and complexion, so a dominant demand was for flexibility of equipment

DHA gobos for <I>Beautiful And Damned</i>

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - DHA Lighting has been called upon to offer its gobo services to the new musical, Beautiful and Damned. The show, now running at the Lyric Theatre in London, is set in the glittering 1920s and tells the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayne. To create the sparkle the show required, lighting designer Nick Richings has included moving spotlights from Martin Professional, including MAC 500s and MAC 2000s, in his rig. Into these lights he has fitted a huge array of gobos from DHA. "We created both custom black-and-white and colour gobos," Richings explains, "to match the back projection used in the show. Designer Christopher Woods supplied us with the original artwork, which we adapted to make work in gobo form."

DHA Lighting can meet practically any gobo needs, whether a production requires a single metal gobo from its library of over 1,100 de

Maria de Buenos Aires

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - XL Video is supplying projection for an acclaimed production of Maria De Buenos Aires, a co-production between Buxton, Bath and Norwich Opera festivals, directed by John Abulafia. The rare Astor Paizzolla work with libretto by Uruguayan poet Horacia Ferrer, is a story of love and betrayal, good and evil and the tragedy of 'The Disappeared' during Argentina's oppressive military regime of 1976-1983.

XL Video's Malcolm Mellows was contacted by audio-visual specialist and programmer Graham English, with whom he has worked on previous projects. English was asked onboard by Abulafia to design and produce artwork and images for the show, working alongside designer Isla Shaw. XL's other recent work in theatre and the performing arts contributed to their recommendation as equipment supplier.

The projection surface is a simple, upstage 'stonework' set piece, providing abstr

Hippotizer down under at Rise

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - Hippotizer, the versatile digital media server from Scene Change, has found a home in Australia, having been selected by the Rise nightclub in Perth as the centrepiece of a new visuals system, installed to help the venue set the standard for clubbing in Perth with "a massive dancefloor, a world-class sound system and a lighting rig that redefines the phrase full-on."

Simon Barwood, managing director and resident DJ for Rise, explains: "We were ready to launch Rise into the 21st century with the installation of a club visuals system. I first came across Hippotizer in a review in DJ Mag's VJ Scan section. After extensive research of software and hardware products I could find no other comparable system offered as an 'out of the box' solution, which included pre-loaded content and an intuitive interface. The claims in the technical literature were substan

Barco LED displays dominate E3

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Barco Events has reported that all the LED displays used at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show, were from Barco. Approximately 3,510 tiles of Barco's popular indoor LED display products and 19,000 tiles of its innovative MiPix LED blocks were used at the show, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, from 12-14 May 2004. Over 400 exhibitors and audience of 65,000 industry professionals attendedE3.

Barco's indoor LED display systems represented at the E3 show were supplied via some of the company's worldwide rental partners, including Creative Technology USA, XL Video USA, IMAG USA, AV Dimensions, Background Images, VER, E-Videowall, Impact, GL Image and AVHQ. In addition to its new award-winning MiPix displays and its indoor ILite 6 mm and 10 mm products, Barco's DLP projection products and its new flat-panel LCD displays also impressed show at

David Carr to leave Charter

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - David Carr has today announced that he has fulfilled his plans in the role of managing director at broadcast television equipment rental company Charter and is ready to pass the reins on to a successor. He will remain with the company as caretaker managing director until July this year.

David joined Charter as managing director in 2001 with thirty five years experience of the film and television industry, and over the last three years he has worked to develop Charter's presence both in the UK and abroad. David Carr said: "I feel that I have now reached a point where I can hand the company over to someone new who will be able to drive it forward over the coming years. I hope to enjoy a continuing relationship with Charter and its sister company Blitz."

Michael Breen, CEO of Blitz Charter Group commented: "I would like to thank David for his dedication to the

Live Across the Networks with Stage Electrics

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Stage Electrics recently managed the technical requirements of the Conservative Party's campaign launches for the European Parliament and the local council elections. The two launches held in two very different venues were given a unified look, coordinated by Stage Electrics' Stuart Miller, who handled the account for CCO Conferences.

For the European election launch Stage Electrics provided a full set in Studio 12 at Granada TV Studios. Placed in front of 100m of white cyclorama, the opaque polycarbonate set was applied to a white steel frame grid of squares. Two large projection screens were incorporated into the set with projection also provided by the company. The huge stage consisted of four varying height linked circular platforms which ranged from two meters to six meters in diameter. The set was constructed in short order by the Stage Electrics scenic workshop and m

Prague opts for Lighthouse screen from CityChannel

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany / Czech Republic - Munich-based advertising specialist, CityChannel, has been involved in a number of LED screen installations around Europe, the latest of which is a 100sq.m advertising billboard sited on the main road into the centre of Prague. The 32-panel Lighthouse Technologies LVP3165 LED screen shows a combination of advertising and city information and was used by the European Parliament on 1 May to celebrate the Czech Republic joining the European Union.

The LVP3165 30mm pixel pitch screen gives a maximum 6,500 nits of brightness, so it can easily cope with high ambient light levels from direct sunshine, as well as dull weather conditions and night-time viewing. The screen gives a TV quality image from a distance of 30m and a viewing angle of 140/40°, making it easily visible from street level when mounted on the side of a building. All this, combined with 13-b

PRG establishes Asian subsidiary

Details: 14 March 2016

Japan - Jere Harris, Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG), has announced the establishment of an Asian subsidiary - PRG Asia Inc - to be headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and dedicated to supporting PRG's many clients in the Asian marketplace.

"We've been serving clients throughout Asia for many years from our offices in North America and the UK," Harris explained. "The establishment of an Asian subsidiary is an important step in the expansion of our client support services in Asia."

PRG has more than a decade of experience serving clients in Asia in projects including theatre installations, theme park attractions, concert tours and corporate and special events. PRG Asia Inc will be engaged in business development and client support for all types of PRG products and services.

Makoto Yamazaki will serve as president of Asian Operations for t

Merlin upgrades Goonhilly With Christie Lx33

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Christie Vivid projection is at the heart of an AV upgrade in the high-profile Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall. Winning a competitive tender for the refurbishment, Christie's Bristol-based partner, Merlin Presentation Solutions, replaced the existing three-gun overhead projector with a Vivid LX33 (3300 ANSI lumens) multimedia projector in the 50-capacity BT conference room, rear projecting onto a 3mm polycarbonate 6ft x 4ft rear projection screen.

As the largest satellite earth station in the world Goonhilly has the ability to transmit to every corner of the globe via space, and through undersea fibre optic cables. The station simultaneously handles millions of international phone calls, emails, and TV broadcasts.

From Goonhilly, BT provides global communications and manages networks, and the AV Room is central to their operation. Merlin MD, Merlin Wigley, s

Stage Electrics and Projected Image go PixelMad!

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Stage Electrics and Projected Image Digital will be demonstrating the new Pixelmad software at Stage Electrics HQ in Bristol on Wednesday 2 June and Thursday 3 June from 10am - 7pm. The software is designed to control lighting using video and still images, and has recently been used on the Radiohead tour.

PixelMad software is similar to Catalyst however it outputs DMX rather than a video signal. The software uses an Artistic Licence Ether-Lynx Interface, which links the DMX lighting controller to an Apple Mac computer on which the video clips and images are stored. With up to four layers; two outputs; video signal input i.e. cameras and DV playback; 200 DMX fixtures; and eight universes, the control system produces some amazing lighting sequences.

The demo will feature a rig comprising of 20 Thomas Pixel Line 1044 LED battens; 16 Ayrton Eyecolor LED moving-heads; and some

James Thomas at ABTT 2004

Details: 14 March 2016

Uk - At this year's ABTT show (16-17 June, London) James Thomas will show its comprehensive ranges of theatrical lanterns. Its asymmetric Cyc lights feature a high quality electrostatic paint finish and robust yoke, complete with T-bar for positive lock-off. Cyc lights can be used flown or floor-mounted - the body of the unit having an inbuilt 30 degree angle floor-mount facility - optional floor mounting plates are also offered. The units have adjustable lamp-holders and feature ventilation slots to prolong bulb and gel life.

Spot banks are available in various configurations of Par 36 lamps. Lamp changing is simple due to quick-release knobs on lamp's front retaining ring. Units can be supplied with stand-off colour frames if requires, and with two or four-way barn doors. Adapters are also made for all the major brands of colour changers. Spot Bank units can also be supplied w

Rosco: new products at ABTT

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Rosco will show two new products at the ABTT Theatre Show at London's Horticultural Halls (16-17 June). The X-Effects Projector, say Rosco, provides large-scale 3D effects previously unavailable to lighting designers: it utilizes a 200W Enhanced Metal Arc source, whose short arc allows for an output of 5,000 lumens, and a 2,000-hour lamp life. The colour temperature is comparable to a Xenon source at 6000°K but with nearly two times the luminous efficacy of a halogen source.

The effect itself is created by rotating two B-size glass gobos off centre of the optical path. This results in a projection that does not appear to have a visible direction or pattern. Onboard potentiometers control the speed and direction of both gobos, and the colour slot will accept dichroic colour filters. Lens trains are available in 30, 50 and 70° configurations. Due to the efficiency of the la

Coemar De Sisti adds new products

Details: 14 March 2016

Australia - Coemar DeSisti Australia (CDA) has announced the addition of new products to its portfolio. Imagine 300 is an elegant new display projector, say the company, which allows the projection of a range of gobos for striking visual effects. Utilizing a high-output HTI arc lamp, the fixture is suited to a range of applications, including point of sale promotions and marketing events. Features include high-output, long-life arc lamp, twin condenser lenses, thermal protection, die-cast aluminium construction and a range of optional attachments including rotating gobo and adjustable pivoting mirror.

CDA has also announced the addition of the Europoint range of powerful motorized hoists and droppers, ruggedly constructed and suitable for lifting extremely heavy luminaires and other equipment. Features include SWL capacities ranging from 100kg to 200kg, maximum heights up to 5m,

CT Screenco debuts new mobiles at Grand Prix

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany / Bahrain - CT Screenco maintained its long association on the F1 Grand Prix circuit this month, providing screens for the inaugural event in Bahrain, before launching their newly-commissioned mobile displays, with rotating masts, at the Nurburgring for the European Grand Prix. At the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, they supplied two 50sq.m 25mm screens. One was positioned at the exit to the pit lane (facing the grandstand) and the other out on the track.

But it was the race in Germany on May 30 that marked the debut of the two new identical 44sq.m, 15mm LED mobile displays - one owned by Creative Technology in the UK and the other by sister company JVR, warehoused in Holland. Avesco business development director, Dave Crump, comments: "These are identical 13m trailers, the only difference being that one is left-handed and the other right-handed. If you put

PSCo hit the mark with Strongbow

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Plasmascreen Co provided its state of the art 84" plasma screen to 2Ci Sound to Light for the Homelands 'Strongbow Rooms', allowing dynamic visuals and branding to accompany the varied types of music.

The 2004 Homelands festival attracted tens of thousands of dance fans to enjoy a mix of live DJs and bands. This year they introduced the 'Strongbow Rooms' as the eighth performance arena, which hosted a diverse range of DJs including Jon Carter and MTV's comical and entertaining Cuban Brothers.

Strongbow maximized its branding on site, where enormous tents are the norm, by creating a club atmosphere and venue. Rather than large dark tents and grass for the floor, Strongbow created a higher quality experience for its visitors. Their marquee included its own DJ listing, outdoor terrace, bar and seated area, with wooden floors throughout, and it proved very popular with t

Orritt and L.E.D. Ltd give a lift to Loaf

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - An imaginative use of LED lighting from the portfolio of Lighting Effects Distribution, has created a striking bar back display in the upgraded Loaf at Manchester's Deansgate Lock.

The former halogen colour-changers had fallen into disuse after problems with overheating, and the venue's owners, Mitchells & Butler asked Liverpool-based installers, Orritt Electronics, to provide a new look for the venue. LED technology provided the obvious solution, with its long lamp life, minimal maintenance, low heat emission and low power consumption. Orritt's redesign includes 18 Mood Light panels (split into two groups of 3 x 3 behind the bar, and running off the slowest setting). These are complemented by six Thomas PixelPar 87's and 12 Octopod 90 heads (divided into four groups). All were supplied by L.E.D. Ltd to create focal points and drama.

The Mood Light panels were deemed part

<I>Body Talk</I> Video

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - TV Director Mike Christie - who's previous hits include the popular Jump London - approached XL Video to supply projection and screens for Channel Four's recent, highly acclaimed, Body Talk documentary.

The initial two-part series was written and presented by psychologist Peter Collett, revealing the subconscious power of 'tells' - the secret language and actions that reveal what people are really thinking! (the term 'tells' was originally appropriated by the gambling community).

Body Talk required a way of putting Collett and the archive footage being analysed - including politicians like Bush, Clinton, Blair, Brown and famous couples like Princess Diana and Charles, et al - together in the same shots. He didn't want to go the traditional 'talking heads' route, and instead came up with the idea of using a series of giant projection screens with Colle

Page 161 of 321

Video and AV

Latest Issue. . .