UK - Steljes Hire has supported ITV1's new prime time Saturday night dating show, Love on a Saturday Night, with the supply and management of the audio-visual products. The show, in which Davina McCall helping people find their perfect date switches between the studio set and outside broadcasts. To display the outside broadcast in the studio, the production company and set designers needed a large, clear display monitor integrated into the set behind Davina McCall, although the depth of the set was limited. Having worked successfully with AV hire company Steljes Hire before, James Zafar of Granada Media approached Steljes' operations manager Lloyd Hanlon for his audio-visual experience.

Zafar explains: "I was very aware that in today's competitive market I could get a plasma screen from anywhere at a very competitive price; however, it was the high level of technica

UK - The Philips big screen on the 'Hill' adjacent to the new No 1 Court at Wimbledon, which keeps the crowds entertained during the fortnight of the tournament, was installed and managed by CT Screenco this year. Philips selected CT Screenco due to its previous experience in handling this project on their behalf. In addition to installing and managing the screen the service company supplied all the studio custom built PPU system involved. "The system gives Wimbledon the ability to select feeds from the seven televised courts, which are delivered by the BBC as host broadcasters, and also to access the closed circuit graphics and results system, including live ticker-tape results across the bottom of the picture," explained Dave Crump, business development director of CT's parent company, Avesco plc.

The resulting show provided to the people on the Hill grows in popular

UK - Beacon has introduced its Digigobos series 5-9. Featuring looped clips the Digitalgobo files may be incorporated into a derivative work such as a live performance, film, video, broadcast, multimedia, advertisement, internet, presentation, or print project. Hire operations can rent them to their end users as part of a RADlite or Catalyst system.

Series 5 and up are also stand-alone DVD's with all clips looped, plus a looped clip that contains all files on the disc, which can be run from a normal domestic DVD player.

For HighEnd Catalyst, RADlite systems or Martin Maxedia as well for mediabackgrounds or videoeffects there is a DVD Rom with clips in PAL format 720x576 PhotoJPEG codec as basic files.

Four different formats are available on the discs: PhotoJPEG (mov) -MotionJPEG A (mov) -Cinepak (avi) & MPG1 352x288 and feature 20 royalty free looped clips. Resellers in UK a

USA - Lighting/projection programmer Rodd McLaughlin, Emmy-nominated lighting/projection designer Patrick Dierson, and programmer Kim Grethen have launched Idyll Hands Imagery, which will offer digital content design and creation, media server programming, and pre-visualization services to the concert, corporate, theatre, film, and television industries. Among the services offered by the company is the optimization of digital content for media server playback.

"Our combined understanding of lighting and control, projection and media products, and the needs of designers makes this a unique partnership," says McLaughlin. "Patrick, Kim, and I have worked on projects together for many years, and given our combined technical knowledge and involvement in the industry, it was a natural evolution to come together in this effort. We offer a host of experience, not only in

UK - CT Screenco again worked with show producers, Endemol UK on the latest series of the Big Brother reality show at Elstree Film Studios. This is the fourth time the video specialists have provided big screen reinforcement for the series. Having supplied a 16mm LED display to Endemol UK for last year's 10-week run they adopted a different format for this year's innovative production, supplying a 14sq.m Barco DLite 10 LED display at the back of the Orbit stage to augment presenter, Davina McCall's Friday night eviction slot.

As the announcement is made by Davina, from her interview den, to the crowds assembled outside the purpose-built house on the Elstree lot, the action is relayed to guests backstage on four 42" plasma screens; these, too, were supplied by CT Screenco. Series director, Tony Gregory, said that he had deliberately set out to develop an arena feel, w

UK - Electrosonic was responsible for the overall system design, project engineering, installation, programming and commissioning of the AV systems at the Science Museums's new Dana Centre in London. The stylish, purpose-built venue provides a forum where the international research community and the general public can take part in exciting debates about contemporary science, technology and culture.

The Science Museum has a full time staff engaged in the realisation of interactive exhibits, and has enormous experience of the realities of using AV techniques in the public domain. With the Dana Centre, it was quite clear about its objectives, but it did not have the in-house resources to complete the detailed design. Electrosonic was chosen from among the proposed solutions, not only because its proposal appeared cost-effective, but also because it was clear that it had relevant e

UK - E//T//C UK brought its large format projection magic to the ancient ruins of Caldicot Castle in Monmouthshire recently, for a three-weekend son et lumière production, called Footprints On The Sands of Time, part of the 2004 Chepstow Festival. Projection, lighting, sound, pyrotechnics and over 100 actors combined in a highly memorable show directed by Nick Bamford, and produced by Ned Heywood and Anne Rainsbury.

Three PIGI 6kW projectors with double rotating scrollers were used, located on a specially-built platform at the rear of the seating stands - a throw distance of over 100m. Two PIGIs shone onto a special arched screen to the left, and the other beamed onto the castle keep on the right. The show maximized the dynamic effects of the projectors, which scrolled and rotated constantly in all directions throughout the 90-minute show. E/T/C's Ross Ashton comments: &

UK - Barco has announced that its outdoor LED display solutions have been chosen by Arena Leisure to improve the race day experience for customers at its racecourse locations throughout the UK. The chosen Barco display solutions combine a 40sq.m SLite 10 mobile outdoor LED screen together with a secondary 22sq.m SLite 10 outdoor LED display. Arena Leisure Plc is the UK's largest independent racecourse owner in terms of fixtures, hosting over 2,000 races and approximately 23% of all British horseracing fixtures.

Says Ted Taylor, chief operating officer of Arena Leisure's Racecourse Division: "The screens will mean that Folkestone, Lingfield Park and Royal Windsor racecourses will have at least one big screen at every meeting throughout the year. These are state-of-the-art products and mark the dawn of a new era in entertainment and information distribution at our racecourse

UK - London's Hammersmith Odeon played host to the first gig of The Corrs' European tour in June, showcasing the songs from the band's new album, Borrowed Heaven. Absent from the touring scene since 2001, the band has spent 18 months recording the new album in Dublin and Los Angeles, and will tour British arenas in November, taking in Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester and London's Wembley Arena, following a month visiting European destinations.

The band has used live sound specialist Canegreen since its first set of UK dates in 1998, as tour manager Henry McGroggan explained: "The Corrs have grown with Canegreen; tonight we have 80 channels of audio running from the stage and the Canegreen boys can manage it. The technology has moved on significantly over the years and Canegreen keep right up to date in terms of offering us new equipment that will make the ban

UK - Following our coverage last month of the Thunderbirds themed Ford stand at the 2004 Motor Show, more details have emerged of the involvement of Creative Technology with the 7,400sq.m exhibit.

Designed by Imagination, with visual presentation by Creative Technology, the feature relied heavily on illusion and Creative Technology used theatrical trickery, positioning 16 x 9 minicams to simulate images, looking inside and outside the 'cockpit'. In addition to the minicams, CT provided all screens, cameras and PPU. The main display comprised 91 panels of Barco iLite 10 (measuring 5.8m x 3.1m), supported by two iLite 8 repeater screens (each measuring 3.1m x 1.8m).

The main screen took playback from a Doremi VI-D recorder (used for play-ins and segments), as well as two CCTV cameras. The two repeaters carried pictures from the two-camera PPU, with signals mixed on a Sony DFS-700 dig

UK - CT Screenco fielded a large array of screens for the 7th 95.8 Capital FM Party In The Park for the Prince's Trust. With over 100,000 people attending, CT Screenco had a huge responsibility to relay live pictures of the artists to all areas of Hyde Park. On stage, the centrepiece 50sq.m Barco DLite 7 LED display was divided into three sections, flanked by 16 4.8m high x 800mm columns of 25mm LED display, which tracked up and downstage (as well as moving vertically). On either side of the stage a pair of 60sq.m Lighthouse 1950 (19mm pixel pitch) LED displays provided large scale Imag, plus a continuous crawling text and information service, providing both public safety information and an interactive audience participation medium .

For those positioned behind the mix riser, 30sq.m of Barco DLite 7 engaged the crowds with the stage, while the company's two new 44sq.m Masted Mob

UK - Projected Image Digital is a 'one-stop' solutions-based company providing digital media server hardware and software, digital content, training and programming services. At PLASA 2004, the company is showcasing several new products from the increasingly convergent worlds of show lighting and video.

From IRAD, developers of the RADlite digital media server, PID will show myRAD software, an entry-level introduction to the RADlite family and a low-cost alternative for creating visual effects via DMX controllers. myRAD is ideal for use in clubs, theatres, smaller venues, studio and arts spaces and site-specific environments wanting to incorporate video-based graphics and imagery into their design projects.

PixelMAD is an Apple MAC-based system enabling video playback to be input to DMX devices (e.g. lighting fixtures), dramatically reducing programming time for producing high

UK - Sound Leisure, a name traditionally associated with jukeboxes, will show an array of futuristic digital AV products at this year's PLASA Show. As well as offering audio and flat screen video technology, Sound Leisure has harnessed the technological possibilities of touchscreens and transducers to create interactive displays utilizing existing materials such as glass windows, walls, or wooden panels.

The Versatile Video System (VVS) can be used simply to play music, but by attaching a number of screens, the system allows you to simultaneously play different music and video sources in different areas.

Bubbles are eye-catching acrylic spheres, available in a number of acid colours and in various screen sizes (6.8" to 30" diameter). They can house either speakers (Boutique Bubbles) or TFT display screens. Bubbles are cost-effective, easy-to-fit and look great hangi

USA - Club V20 is getting incredible reactions from crowds with their recent installation of four High End Systems DL1 digital light fixtures (equipped with Digital Eye Technology) and a Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media Server. Digital Eye Technology is an optional feature for DL1. Having a Digital Eye inside DL1's moving yoke allows the user to capture action from different and unusual angles where conventional cameras plus the cameraman cannot operate, or where a camera setup would normally be obtrusive to the view.

Tony Mirador is the LD of the light show and senior designer of the sound and video system for the night spot, located at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, CA. He's also president of Akroz Professional, AKA The DJ Store Inc., the company responsible for the install. Says Mirador, "The DL1s are situated over the dance floor on the outer perimeter. The DL1s are also mounted

UK - Projecta, a leading manufacturer of professional projection screens and presentation equipment, is introducing a new range of stands designed to accommodate plasma screens. The new stands position the plasma screens at perfect viewing height, and also help to protect the screens. The range consists of three models: SolidStand, ClassicStand and Plasma Wallbracket, all designed for this typical purpose.

Projecta SolidStand is an elegantly designed stand equipped with a universal mounting plate, allowing quick and easy placement or removal of plasma screens. It is built around a stable wheeled frame and can accommodate screens measuring up to 42" (107cm) diagonally. The centre of the plasma screen is located at 150cm height and the screen can be tilted some 10°. It features a hidden cable through the stand and a socket that is accessible from the back of the frame which

Italy - Studio Due has announced that its new Photowall projection system is now in full production, offering high quality film-based scenographic projection. Using an 1200W HMI lamp, it reproduces photographs (minimum 10, maximum 90, 6x7 size), exposed on a special film.

There are two available options for film scrolling: by index (feed from image to image with no intermediate position) or in free mode - by moving the corresponding DMX channel. Scrolling is bi-directional and the speed is fully adjustable. The design of the spools, combined with the highly efficient ventilating system, protect the film from heat damage, even during prolonged use, say the company, while shutter and mechanical dimmer are also included. Furthermore, Photowall is designed to automatically adjust the power of the light beam in case of dark images, in order to protect the film from damage.

Furtherm

UK - AVC, the audio-visual equipment hire company with its HQ based in Dublin, Ireland, has become the latest European rental operator to invest in the NEXO GEO S Series tangent array system.

Having taken the decision to buy a line array, John Magann and his team at AVC have opted for the NEXO GEO S series "because of the technology and because of the compactness of the system." Already a NEXO PS Series user, AVC has now made the strategic decision to concentrate its hire stock entirely around the NEXO designs. "It's a perfect fit," says Magann. The GEO S elements are ideal for the concert and cabaret work that we do as well as being perfectly suited to our corporate clients and the events market. The NEXO PS Series can be used as a monitor system with GEO S, or in its own right for the smaller jobs."

AVC made its decision after discussion with local d

USA - Utah's Salt Lake City Olympic Legacy Theatre uses a pair of Jem Glaciator heavy foggers to create a special cloud effect during the opening and closing scenes of a feature movie that is presented several times each day.

Supplied by Las Vegas-based atmospheric and effects specialists Water FX, the Glaciators are used to create a three-dimensional cloud at the beginning of the film, a curved 37ft (11.3m) fog barrier that covers the projection screen. The fog creates a curtain onto which three projectors cast images of blue clouds. The fog curtain is controlled via fans and manifolds, and at one point a hole is blown through the cloud to create for the audience the effect of flying through the clouds.

At the end of the movie, viewers journey back through the clouds. Some 150ft (45.7m) of ducting, plus 120ft (36.6m) of manifold and 100ft (30.5m) of tubing with a large diver

UK - The Product Excellence Awards at the PLASA Show has been a popular feature of the event for many years, highlighting the significance of the show as a focus for new developments for the industry. To reinforce this role, the PLASA Awards have undergone an important change for the 2004 event (12-15 September), in order to focus on genuine innovation.

For the re-branded PLASA Awards for Innovation, the judges will be looking for products which advance the industry, demonstrate a new style of thinking, represent a key step forward in safety terms, or improve technical practices. There will be eight Awards for Innovation at the judges' disposal and currently over 60 nominations have been received, with just three weeks before the deadline of Friday 3 September. Exhibitors who still wish to nominate a product are urged to submit their applications as soon as possible. Nominees w

Greece - The 2004 Olympics are being broadcast to thousands of fans and spectators at the event at numerous locations in and around the historic city of Athens, using state-of-the-art Barco equipment, the company reports. Other regions, such as ancient Olympia, Thessalonica, Volos, Heraklion and Patras, as well as municipalities around Greece, are also involved in the franchised Olympic Celebration sites program. With expected ticketed visitor numbers reaching well over 5.3 million, the Barco LED display and projection solutions used in the various sporting venues and entertainment locations around the country have their work cut out.

Over the last months of the preparation for the games, Telmaco, the main system designer and integrator, in cooperation with Barco, has installed two SLite 22 LED displays at the Karaiskaki Stadium in Faliro Piraeus and the Kaftatzoglio Stadium in

Hong Kong - To meet growing demand in the rental market for high-quality and durable video screens, Lighthouse Technologies has introduced the LVP1950F 19mm LED pixel pitch video display panels. The first screens are already in use at the Amsterdam Arena, home of Ajax FC, and debuted at the Singapore National Day festivities on 9 August.

Ideal for large-size outdoor applications, the LVP1950F provides excellent color reproduction, 14-bit technology and M4 uniformity control. The screen is packaged in sleek, lightweight panels that make it easy for quick installation and break down. Other features of the LVP1950F include 5,000 nits brightness; 140° horizontal viewing angle; 51° vertical viewing angle; 2,757 per square meter pixel density; 4.4 trillion colour capability; 14-bit processing depth; 60-frame-per-second frame rate; Data input for NTSC, PAL, XGA, RGB HV, RGB S, YUV,

UK - DHA Lighting Services, the leading manufacturer of gobos and optical effects, will again be exhibiting at the PLASA Show this year. DHA will have a 'conversational' stand, focusing on their customers not their products, and ensuring visitors are as up-to-date as possible with the extensive range of products and services that the company offers, including its full-colour glass gobo service which, through improved production processes, will soon be available on a reduced turnaround and at a lower price. Examples of these gobos will be on show on the stand.

The improvement to the full-colour glass gobo service follows on the heels of the price reduction to spot colour glass gobos announced earlier in the year as a result of new production processes, systems and suppliers. Diane Grant, managing director of DHA commented: "Although we are the biggest and most experienced go

UK CT Screenco's association with the V Festivals extends back to the event's inception in 1996. This year, the big screen specialist began a new three-year contract with the promoters and were again in action at both Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park in Staffordshire, where they fielded identical 32sq.m 25mm daylight displays at left and right of the main stage.

With Stuart Young project managing the event for CT Screenco, feeds were taken from the respective content providers and at Hylands Park this included some creative messaging from Blink TV. In addition, Barco DLite 7 high resolution displays were provided independently to Basement Jaxx, whom CT Screenco have been supporting on tour and to Red Bull's Kingsize II skateboard ramp in Weston Park, which is also midway through a national tour, with CT Screenco again providing visual reinforcement.

Artists appearing

UK - Rock Solid Ethernet is a new book by Artistic Licence managing director, Wayne Howell. Ethernet technology is becoming commonplace in entertainment technology. This means that end users, specifiers, designers and engineers need to know the rules: What can you do? What can't you do? So what can you get away with?Rock Solid Ethernet is split into three sections, discussing the technology from the perspective of end users and specifiers, system installers and manufacturers and designers. Subjects covered range from making an RJ45 cable through network topology to the use of radio links. This book is laid out in a style that allows the reader to quickly find the answers to their questions.

Howell commented: "Over the past few years I have looked for a concise reference on the subject of Ethernet. Somewhat to my surprise I was unable to find what I wanted! There are many go

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