Video and AV

Devon Adsites

Details: 14 March 2016

Visitors to PLASA 2005 who arrived by taxi may well have experienced the Cabvision system. Once inside the show they might also have seen another innovation by Devon Adsites' MD Jon Marquis - Adscreens. These are portable audio and video systems, worn like a rucksack, which can be used to promote a brand anywhere that a person can walk. "It's like a space-age sandwich board," smiled Marquis. Slightly less hi-tech is the AdJacket, following the same principle but featuring an illuminated panel which can carry a fixed advertisement poster.

Green Hippo

Details: 14 March 2016

Green Hippo, newly merged with Scenechange, launched its new versions of Hippotizer at PLASA. Features included new Dual Output with Pan mode option, PDoom MPG2 engine with ultra smooth slo-mo, and improved playback quality. In addition, new effects include edge blending, crop and trim, shifter and many more. Over the last year Hippotizer units have been out on tour with Basement Jaxx, Destiny's Child and the Foo Fighters amongst others.

L-R: Adam Kingshott, commercial manager for AV Magazine, Stuart Holmes, director of PSCo and and news presenter Kay Alexander.

PSCo wins Rental Company of the Year

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - PSCo were awarded the AV Award for Rental Company of the Year at the ceremony in London last week. The judges commented: "PSCo's commitment to technical training and industry certification, allied to its use of customer surveys and performance measurement, helped it win this category - as did its introduction of new products to the trade rental sector."

Stuart Holmes, Director of PSCo added: "The 2004/2005 period for PSCo has seen a complete change in our business strategy which has set us apart as an innovative and service led company. The CASVP Gold Award recognised the work the whole team has put in to improve their technical knowledge and this award is a brilliant accolade for all their work this year."

PSCo will be showcasing its whole portfolio at Tech Event 2005 held at Reading Football Stadium Conference Centre on October 27.

(Jim Evan

Coolux GmbH

Details: 14 March 2016

An exhibitor at PLASA for a couple of years now, Coolux has started to make significant strides with its Pandora's Box media server. Although the media sever market is almost as saturated with products as is the LED fixture market, Pandora's Box has a significant feature that separates it from the crowd - dual outputs for edge-blended video. By using internal aligning controls, two projectors - even coming from different angles - can combine to show a moving image as if it were coming from a single source. This is a major leg-up for the small German company over the competition, and it will be interesting to see whether its product gets the recognition it deserves. Also on show was the v-Base - a new moving yoke for large-format projectors (Barco SLM R12+ and Sanyo PLC-XF45) designed by Brother, Brother & Sons, the guys behind ADB's Warp luminaire.

E/T/C UK

Details: 14 March 2016

Spectacular photographs and video footage of the company's giant projection projects greeted visitors to the E/T/C UK stand. Although the company's Paul Highfield reported visitor traffic to be steady, he pointed out that making only one or two really good contacts would make the company's PLASA Show worthwhile.

Audace

Details: 14 March 2016

Audace managing director Bryan Waters was discussing his satisfaction at how the company's Intelliplate programmable AV control system is finding a home in the residential market as well as in retail and entertainment environments. The company has also recently done a major cruise liner installation. "Business is currently very good," says Waters.

Medialon

Details: 14 March 2016

Medialon's Multimedia Interactive Player, or MIP for short, is an intriguing new product. Able to play any type of media, Jpeg, Mpeg, video HD, Flash, PPT, Html pages or URL links, MIP is designed as a stand alone mode unit with automatic playback and display screen remote. What is most intriguing about this product is how close it gets to being the kind of media server that home automation companies are currently installing in the houses of the rich and shameless.

XL Video

Details: 14 March 2016

Taking its first outing onto the floor of PLASA, well-known live entertainment industry video screen specialists XL Video was looking to meet clients and reinforce its presence. As it transpired, (we visited them at the top and tail of the four-day show) imparting knowledge such as, 'XL is the biggest stockists of Barco LED screens and Catalyst media servers in the UK', as well as possessing large numbers of more exotic items such as the High End DL1, attracted a great deal more attention than the company imagined.

Hardware for Xenon

Details: 14 March 2016

A new show opens at the Palais de Sport in Paris this month: Le Roi du Soleil (the Sun King) is a spectacular new musical that will feature scenic projection from Hardware for Xenon, utilizing its latest plug-in, giving control of its powerful projectors to Medialon Light Manager system.

Stark

Details: 14 March 2016

Stark is an Italian manufacturer of large video and film projectors and currently has three models available - the Starklive, the Stark New Theatre and the Stark Revolution. The latter has a moving head and works with up to 6 x 7 film format. It's a 1200W light source which outputs 70,000 ANSI Lumens and is arguably the brightest film projector on the market. Stark supplies kit to a huge variety of events worldwide.

Kevin Murphy of Electrosonic and Kay Alexander.

AV accolades for Electrosonic

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Electrosonic was awarded four top accolades at the 2005 UK AV Awards held recently in London. For the third year running Electrosonic was judged to be the winner of Systems Company of the Year and Service Company of the Year. The company also collected the awards for Business Installation of the Year and Consumer Installation of the Year.

Electrosonic's submission for Systems Company of the Year was based on the work achieved by its UK Solutions Business, which is a silver level CAVSP qualified company. Electrosonic Solutions divides its activities into a series of inter-connected teams covering sales consultancy, project engineering and management, systems assembly and test, installation, programming and development.

As Service Company of the Year, the turnover of the Electrosonic UK Service Business showed a 43% year-on-year tur

HSL buys SoftLED for X-Factor

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Lighting rental house HSL Productions has invested in 150sq.m of Main Light Industry's Soft-LED LED drape. This is going straight out on Fremantle Media's new X-Factor series, being recorded at Fountain Studios and broadcast on ITV, say the company.

"There's no other product like it out there right now," enthuses HSL's Mike Oates. "It's a drape that doubles as a video wall and can be rigged by lampies - surely that's every production and lighting company's dream!"

SoftLED is a flexible high-resolution surface that is billed as being suitable for full colour graphics, text and high resolution video effects of all types. The modules can be used in all types of venues and situations from hotel rooms to concert venues and arenas.

In addition to the 6 Soft-LED cloths, HSL has also purchased 180+ I-Colour tiles made by Color Kinetics. These tiles ar

Blitz with Gordon Ramsay

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Blitz provided technical staging expertise for The Gordon Ramsay Scholarship Award held recently. Blitz supplied equipment for both the Final at the Restaurant Show in Olympia and for the awards ceremony at the Claridge's Ballroom. The Scholarship was created in 2001 by Gordon Ramsay to encourage and recognise the talents of young cooks across Britain.

Blitz's equipment included 61" and 42" plasma screens, DV cameras, a PA system and lapel mics. At the Restaurant Show the DV camcorders were placed to catch all the action taking place within the Cookery Theatre. The close ups were relayed to the plasma screens and the footage was edited onsite using an Avid for the evening's Awards Ceremony at Claridges.

Paul Hutton, managing director of Blitz, explains "As there were large crowds gathered around the stand, using trailing cables for the cameras to transmit t

TCI to distribute Coolux

Details: 14 March 2016

USA / South America - Theatrical Concepts Inc (TCI) has been appointed the exclusive US and South American distributor for German manufacturer Coolux GmbH, whose range of products includes the Pandora's Box digital media engine and a diverse collection of digital content.

Based in Agoura, California, just outside of Los Angeles, TCI has significant experience in both video production and lighting rental markets. "It's really exciting to be part of making Pandora happen in the US," says TCI's president, Steve Gilbard. "The Pandora's Box Media Server is an amazing range of products in itself, along with some really quite spectacular content, and Coolux has a number of other interesting new products, which we are looking forward to helping them market to the industry."

Coolux's Pandora's Box Digital Media Engine V2.0 was first launched at PLASA in 2004 and sin

Smart-e on Broadway

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Smart-e's SmartNet-X video and audio switching and distribution equipment is being used in the Broadway production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Woman In White when it opens in New York this month.

The SmartNet-X system, which is a true matrix switcher designed to connect multiple inputs to a myriad of remote displays, distributes high quality video and audio signals up to 300m over Cat 5 UTP cabling, say the company. The Smart-e equipment is being supplied by video production company XL Video, to project backdrop scenery and images with which the actors interact throughout this stage production adapted from Wilkie Collins' well-known Victorian thriller.

XL Video and video consultants Mesmer chose to use the Smart-e equipment for the New York production because it is an efficient and cost-effective solution to the problem of distributing high quality video an

PSL boosts screen inventory

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - PSL has boosted its inventory of screens and monitors with the purchase of a substantial number of Samsung plasma screens. The order includes a number of Samsung's PPM63H3s, which, at 63", are one of the world's largest plasma displays. Ideal for floor, wall or multi-screen mounting, this giant monitor features an internationally acclaimed design, built-in sound amplifier and DNIe enhanced pictures, say PSL.

In addition, PSL has ordered a substantial number of Samsung 42" plasma screens, of which 14 are PPM42M5HSXs, the newest high-resolution panel from Samsung, which allows high-definition images to be shown in true native resolution. Appropriately enough, as the broadcast world trundles towards unilateral high-def standards, PSL debuted its new screens at the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, where the reaction from PSL's customers at the sh

XL Video on the road with Garbage

Details: 14 March 2016

USA/Europe - Garbage toured the US and Europe in support of their Bleed Like Me tour, with XL Touring providing their video needs. As video contractor for the tour, XL Touring Video supplied the band with the new Flying Pig Systems HogiPC, Catalyst G-5 Media Sever and a Mainlight SoftLED Curtain.

John Wiseman, president of XL Touring says "Production/Lighting Designer Butch Allen came to us with a need for a versatile and flexible video package that would fit the band's changing needs as a result of touring such drastically different sized venues. We came up with a soft led curtain and plasmas. Butch got together with High End Systems' Brad Schiller and was able to come up with a design that would allow for consistency from show to show."

(Jim Evans)

Peugeot picks poolSystem to reveal 407

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - To launch the new 407 Coupé to key fleet customers in the UK, Peugeot Motor Company appointed Arcstream AV to produce an evening's entertainment to launch the new car at the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire.

Arcstream deployed many of their special visual effects to set the scene for the car's unveiling, including lasers, and moving and generic lighting. They built a curved wall emblazoned with the Peugeot logo, which gradually rotated to reveal the new model. On the floor was Arcstream AV's poolSystem - a special effect using interactive floor projection. The images in the Peugeot poolSystem, which focused on the dancefloor, changed throughout the evening, featuring the manufacturer's famous lion logo.

Chris Cheetham, Peugeot's fleet marketing manager said: "We wanted a truly innovative reveal of the new 407 Coupé. Arcstream AV helped achieve this with the

Barco provides LED first for Sky News

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Sky News is now broadcasting from its new, state-of-the-art Sky News Centre studio complex in West London. Central to the operation is the main combined studio-newsroom, complete with the first LED backdrop solution in a 24/7 UK broadcast facility. Barco supplied all of the LED backdrop walls equipped with unique diffusers especially developed for the broadcast market, and projectors used in news studios and monitoring rooms in the purpose built facility.

Paul Vickerage, head of studio production for Sky News states, "One reason for the purchase from Barco was that Barco is a total solution provider and could provide us with all the LED and projectors needed for this new and technologically advanced studio."

At 7,500sq.ft Sky News' new newsroom is over twice the size of its previous facility, which was around 3,000 square foot. Measuring 14m x 3m, and 34 tiles l

Infinite adds style to Salon International

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - The new Infinite bezel-less plasma wall proved a popular choice at the hairdressing and design exhibition Salon International, held at Excel this October, incorporated into both the Wella and Toni & Guy exhibition stands.

Salon International brought together hairdressers and hair brands for the three day event, with live shows and hair design taking place across the day with celebrity hairdressers and leading professionals in the industry demonstrating their work.

Wella designed and built its own 'village' at the show, and used the Infinite bezel-less plasma as the focal point for the Wella show stage. AV production company Mindset built a plasma wall using 16 Infinite plasmas which allowed images from the show to be displayed to the seated audience in the arena.

A second stand featured the world's first hanging Infinite screen, hung from trussing above an exhibition st

Happy Mondays For HSL

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Blackburn-based HSL supplied full lighting production and all lighting and video rigging for the recent Happy Mondays tour. This culminated in a massive sold-out late night show in Manchester Evening News Arena, taking the Madchester dance gurus back to their clubbing roots.

Lighting designer was Andy Liddle, who last designed for the Mondays back in the mid-eighties when they were supporting New Order. He was asked onboard to do these shows by tour manager Neil Mather. The tour was project managed for HSL by Mike Oates.

Liddle designed an adaptable rig based on four upstage/downstage 'fingers' of truss which were assembled in 10ft modules. This was for easy break down and installation into the smaller venues, whist still retaining the look and aesthetics of the stage. The fingers were raked with the upstage ends lower and the downstage ends higher points. At Manchester t

'Spirit of Nelson' lights up Trafalgar Square

Details: 14 March 2016

UK- Trafalgar Square 200 'The Spirit of Nelson' show was authored and created by production company Innovision and staged in London's most famous Square in front of 10,000 people. The hour-long live show celebrated the Royal Navy's role at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and at other crucial points in the history of Britain.

Innovision called in the services of leading production industry companies, including large format projection specialist E/T/C UK and rigging specialist Summit Steel. Durham Marenghi came on board as lighting designer.Projection was beamed onto a special retractable 'sail' made from Sunbaba's Austronet 204FR fabric, and rigged onto the centre of three masts depicting a symbolic version of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.

The PIGI 6kW projector (complete with 'hot' backup) was located in a specially built hide, with a 17m throw distance, and fitted with a Ba

Denon scores on reliability in school installation by Clarity

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - HRH Princess Alexandra officially opened the a new £1.75m Sports Hall and Performing Arts Centre at Coombe Girls School in New Malden last month, featuring separate dedicated spaces for sports, music technology, drama and recital.

Stuart Graham's fast-expanding company, Clarity in Sound, Light & Vision, has done much in the past year to bring high production values into the educational sector; their £70,000 sound, lighting and projection design and fit for Coombe Girls School was based on industry standard devices.

With a roll of 1,500 students (including 500 attending Sixth Form College) Coombe is one of the largest facilities of this kind in the country, with an excellent reputation for drama and music. Graham realized that the facilities would be heavily used, so durability and reliability were major considerations. Wherever possible, he turned to Denon's s

PSL provides guerilla platform for high profile launches

Details: 14 March 2016

UK- 'Guerilla projection' specialist PSL Music was behind two recent high profile events on the streets of London.

For Sony Music's launch of Jamiroquai's new video, (Don't) Give Hate a Chance, they chose three separate projection sites in central London. This was designed to give maximum profile to the launch - and extra column inches in the UK's tabloid papers (secured when parking wardens tried to ticket singer Jay Kay as he watched the show).

The PSL and Sony Music teams completed three separate projections in one evening, at the NCP Car Park in Brewer Street (Soho), at Chelsea Barracks and at the National Gallery. Projecting typically over a 75m throw, PSL used a pair of Barco R12 high-power projectors, generating the programme material drawn from the new video from Doremi hard drives, supported by a d&b sound system.

The following week, the team hit well-known L

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