The Netherlands - In the early 1990s, the city of Almelo in The Netherlands anticipated the volume of traffic on its roads would significantly increase. The solution they decided to implement to allay the problem is a demonstration of both forward thinking and innovation.

At the behest of traffic management specialist Vialis, part of the VolkerWessels group, Dutch system integration specialist Hecla Professional Audio & Video Systems were called in to develop a full colour city DRIP - Dynamic Route Information Panels - on Almelo's main arterial roads. Lighthouse LED video screen was chosen as the display solution.

On 13 of October 2006 a 4 x 2 panel 25mm Lighthouse screen, measuring 4.88 metres wide by 1.82 metres high, was set up on the Henrietta Roland Holstlaan. This LED screen was the latest addition to this system that is designed to manage both existing traffic and futur

UK / Italy - AIM listed Screen Technology has announced a major commercial order with Sambers Italia SPA - Hantarex, a leading manufacturer and supplier of flat screen displays.

Under the terms of the initial €1.7 million deal, Sambers Italia SPA - Hantarex, which is based in Milan, Italy will purchase Screen Technology's proprietary ITrans tile components which it will use to create high resolution modular displays and supply them into its own customer base. Sambers Italia SPA - Hantarex is anticipating a significant increase on this initial order during 2007.

The ITrans modular system offers customers displays that can be configured to any size or aspect ratio without any compromise on image quality simply by seamlessly bolting together modules. Incorporating the features of Screen Technology's standard large format displays - high resolution, high brightness and image qua

UK - Advanced Audio & Vision Ltd (AAV) has completed the latest phase of an audio visual project for BBT Thermotechnology UK in Worcester.

Part of the Bosch Group, BBT (better known for its Worcester, Bosch Group brand) is the largest supplier of heating products in Europe, with an estimated turnover of approximately €2.5 billion. Around 1,800 personnel work for the UK division, many at the headquarters, based in Worcester.

Last year, as part of a £3.5m expansion project, the company commenced work on building an 'Energy Atrium' to showcase high efficiency and renewable energy products, as well as develop meeting room and conference facilities. By the time AAV Ltd were invited to take over the project at the start of the year, the AV fit out had become something of a fast track proposition. Tasked by BBT's IT and Network Project administrator, Gary Whenman with equippin

Eastern Europe - Over 400 visitors attended four ISE Roadshow events in Eastern Europe which concluded at the Istanbul Hilton last week. The organisers reported that attendee levels exceeded all expectations and the events attracted positive and enthusiastic comments from both visitors and sponsors alike.

Mike Blackman, ISE managing director was delighted with the results, which justified the decision to take this event beyond the existing European frontier. "Attendance was excellent and initial feedback has been extremely positive. We had visitors who came ready to talk and were prepared to do business. They brought with them an optimistic approach to the exciting opportunities in the AV and electronic systems industry. These events have demonstrated to us how influential and exciting the Eastern European and Turkish markets are for our industry. In every location attendee

UK - Stardraw Control, the multi-award winning control application from design and control software systems developer, Stardraw.com has been named as a finalist for the Technology InAVation 2007 award in the category of Most Innovative Control Product for Commercial Use. The nomination coincides with the landmark 5,000 user tally, an astonishing achievement in just over twelve months when the product was still only in beta form.

Stardraw's marketing director, Rob Robinson, is delighted that Stardraw Control has qualified as a finalist for the inaugural Technology InAVation Awards which will be held at the forthcoming ISE show in Amsterdam next February. "Stardraw Control has already been recognised at several prestigious industry awards, and the Technology InAVation nomination serves as further testament to the truly innovative nature of the product," noted Robinson. &

UK / USA - Clear-Com a Vitec Group brand, has announced the appointment of Graham Ramsey as vice president of worldwide sales and support. Ramsey will establish and direct the sales and support efforts in Cambridge, UK and in Emeryville, California.

Ramsey spent 18 years at Vinten Broadcast, Ltd., where he held the position of general manager, responsible for the commercial operation of Vinten Broadcast, Ltd. in its global markets. His experience managing sales and customer support programmes successfully in the broadcast business will help drive Clear-Com's sales and support efforts.

"We are extremely thrilled to have Graham join the Clear-Com team,"said Matt Danilowicz, managing director of Vitec Group Communications."Graham's successful track record in managing sales and service organisations, deep market knowledge in Broadcasting, and extensive experience ru

UK - Sunday 11 November saw HMS Illustrious moored off Greenwich, part of London well-known for its naval associations, to take part in the Capital's Remembrance Day celebrations. As part of the commemorations, the familiar poppy image was projected onto the ship via a specially designed gobo produced by manufacturer Rosco at its new UK-based custom gobo facility.

"We visited the City of London from 10-15 November in order to strengthen our ties with the City, with which we have a formal affiliation," explains Commander Ian Annett of HMS Illustrious. "We are also affiliated to two Livery Companies, one of which is the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers, who have kindly donated two gobo projectors to us and we have been steadily increasing our library of images over the last year."

The poppy image is being funded by one of the Lightmongers and was presented

UK - XL Video Ltd. supplied LED screens, VersaTubes, projection and Catalyst Playback for the 2006 UK Music Hall of Fame event, staged at London's Alexandra Palace on Tuesday 14 November.

It is the second year running that XL has supplied the prestigious Endemol-produced show, which this year featured a line up of performances from Brian Wilson, Bon Jovi, James Brown and Prince among others. Highlights also included the induction of 'fifth Beatle' Sir George Martin (by chancellor Gordon Brown), who received this year's Honorary Membership in recognition of his exceptional contribution to British music.

XL's team was project managed by Paul Wood, once again working closely with production manager Paul-Ant Violet and set designer Bill Laslett.

The main 'Awards Package' screen was a traditional 6 x 4 metre BP screen, positioned stage right and fed by one of XL's new Christie Ro

UK - XL Touring Video recently completed their project as video contractor for Mariah Carey's The Adventures of Mimi Tour 2006, which kicked off this summer in Miami following two mini-concerts in Tunisia and finished up in Japan end of October.

XL worked with production manager Harold Jones, production designer Justin Collie of Art Fag LLC, Stewart White of Control Freak and video director Chris Keating to provide four Barco I-10 LED walls, which consisted of two 7x7 led walls stage left and right, a 13x7 led wall upstage centre and a 6x6 led wall downstage. A large "M" made of MiPix framed the stage with a MiPix circular surround in the centre. VersaTubes were installed in the stairs, band risers and DJ booth. The camera system consisted of four Sony D35 cameras and projection was two SLM R12's, shooting rear projection onto two 15x20 screens.

Touring on beh

UK - PLASA, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, in conjunction with The Eden Project and Lighting&Sound International magazine, is looking at the possibility of supporting a conference on environmental awareness in show and event production.

The proposed conference will broadly examine the current practices of the production industry and look at how companies and organisations can take steps to minimise the carbon footprint of staging shows, supplying and touring equipment, catering for audiences, etc. The event will draw on the expertise of the team at The Eden Project, the popular tourist attraction in the South West of England, whose environmental policies underpin a series of 'green' gigs at the venue.

At this stage, PLASA is gauging the level of interest in such an event, so we want to hear from everyone in the industry who would like to be involved. If you w

UK - In the blaze of publicity unique to the phenomenon of the 007 franchise, the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie took place in London's Leicester Square. Attended by Her Majesty The Queen, the occasion presented several new twists for the team from event services company PSL, on hand to provide the giant display screen in the Square.

Working to a brief from production company Banana Split Productions, PSL crew erected a special structure to support the 4m x 2.5m Lighthouse LED screen, which carried live interviews with all the film's creators and stars. Marking a change from the usual red carpet approach, a bridge was constructed to carry the celebrities from the Square's central garden over the cast-iron fence railings to the terrace in front of the Odeon Cinema. PSL's screen was positioned at the highest point of the bridge, allowing a clear view for all the tho

UK - Technical staging specialist Blitz has been commissioned to work alongside director Paul Kerryson, and the production team of The Wizard of Oz. The show, featuring Helena Blackman, finalist from BBC's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? will be staged at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester. The production runs throughout the festive period, from 1 December 2006 to 20 January 2007.

Blitz is providing a full range of services for the show, supplying AV equipment including video control systems and two Panasonic projectors, as well as complete sound solution and extensive technical staging direction. Working alongside well-known director Paul Kerryson, Blitz's project manager Mark Lewis will be offering innovative technical advice from the outset of the project to help create maximum impact from the stage production. This is a proposition which Blitz is continu

UK - As the centrepiece of the recent MPH06 exhibition at the NEC and Earls Court, the specially-constructed MPH Theatre hosted one of the most spectacular motoring shows ever created. In total, around 100,000 'petrol-heads' crammed in to see the procession of supercars in the purpose-created arenas at the two venues, with respective capacities of 3,900 and 4,500.

Compered by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson and James May, along with Fifth Gear TV presenter Tiff Needell, each of the 23 x 75-minute shows was reinforced by a high level of production - from the pyrotechnics that accompanied the stunts, to the highest powered state-of-the-art DLP projection available to service company XL Video.

Project manager Lee Spencer commandeered the latest additions to XL Video's hire-fleet, the supercharged Christie S+20K SXGA+ Roadsters, fitted with polarising lens to deliver a st

Norway - The cineo3+ 1080 projector from projectiondesign is a true 1080p HDTV resolution projector that uses 1920 x 1080 DLPTM technology.

"Offering the best possible reliability and accurate picture detail, the cineo3+ 1080 projector meets the stringent demands of High Definition applications," says Anders L°kke, Marcoms manager at projectiondesign. "This single-chip projector is used in a vast range of applications around the globe including digital dailies, post production work and HD screenings, high quality graphics generation, 3D graphics and mapping, command, control and surveillance, broadcast control room and presentation areas, medical imaging, automotive design, and even digital signage."

Key operational features include a failsafe DuArch architecture whereby lamps are replaced whilst the projector is operating with no down time. The compact

UAE - IIR Exhibitions, organiser of the annual PALME Middle East exhibition in Dubai, reports that the success of the 2006 event has led to another surge in expansion for the PALME 2007 event. Initially planning to increase the 2007 event from three to four halls of the DIEC, IIR has now announced its decision to increase the size of the show to five halls.

The main objective of PALME is to allow for manufacturers, suppliers and installers to meet with Middle Eastern buyers and specifiers from a wide range of industries who have a need or requirement for professional sound, light, music, audio-visual and systems integration equipment and solutions. The latest major companies to sign up for PALME 2007 include EVI Audio, Indu Electric, Martin Professional, RCF Spa, Prolyte, Projectiondesign, Audioprof and BG Franck Bichon to name but a few, say IIR.

The 2007 PALME Middle East sh

Italy - The steering committee of the SILB (Italian Dancehall Owners Syndicate) has formally authorized chairman Renato Giachetto to officially sign an agreement with Rimini Fiera SpA for the SIB biennial international exhibition for event and entertainment technology, which will see the SIB exhibition remain in Rimini for the next 14 years.

Contrary to what was previously reported, following the 2006 event, the next edition of SIB is scheduled to be held at Rimini expo centre from 6-9 April 2008. Rimini Fiera chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni commented: "Yesterday we announced the important agreement with TEN, a network of 50 large companies in this sector (lighting, audio and video, décor and theatre stage equipment and sets, musical instruments, industrial design firms, design studios, training, research) which has officially chosen SIB for developing its members' business

Germany - The District Court of Düsseldorf / Germany has ruled in favour of OCOerlikon Balzers AG (Oerlikon) in a patent infringement case against Prodisc Inc. Prodisc Inc had filed for a declaratory judgment of non-infringement of the German patent DE 197 089 49 C2 at the District Court of Düsseldorf.

The patent in question covers such species of segmented colour wheels and used for projection apparatus. Prodisc has furnished this color wheel arguing that it is not within the scope of Oerlikon's patent claims. Oerlikon in return has filed a counter claim at the same court in order to convict Prodisc of patent infringement.

In its judgment the District Court of Düsseldorf has recently dismissed Prodisc's action and decided that the German Patent is indeed infringed by Prodisc's colour wheels. This judgment is appealable.

"These efforts emphasize Oerlikon's firm deter

The Netherlands - The show organisers of Integrated Systems Europe 2007 today announced that 95% of available space at the show in Amsterdam from 30 January - 1 February 2007 had been sold, leaving only a handful of booths available.

Integrated Systems Europe have confirmed that ISE is on pace to set a record-breaking event. With the fourth show just three months away, ISE 2007 has grown larger, with the newly booked Hall Four nearly full. During the last six months, the show organisers have reacted quickly to meet the insatiable demand from companies anxious to be part of Europe's largest show for professional AV and Electronic System Integrators. Over 11,000sq.m of space has now been sold, making it the largest ISE show ever held.

Mike Blackman, ISE 2006 managing director urged any business intending on booking existing space to contact ISE immediately, as Hall 4 is nearly b

UK - Projectiondesign, a provider of high performance projectors, has supplied eleven F2 SX+ DLP projectors for an upgrade to a 3-year old Search and Rescue (SAR) Simulator. This full-mission competence-based training simulator is owned and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and is based at The Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset in the United Kingdom. RGB Communications supplied the projectors to Antycip SAS (Simulation division UK), who were responsible for the design and integration of the upgrade.

The RNLI simulator complex consists of a main lifeboat bridge with a 245-degree cylindrical visualization screen that measures five metres radius, a full lifeboat mock-up and a secondary bridge. With the upgrade, Antycip provided the eleven F2 SX+ projectors, and integrated them with a 3D Perception Compact UTM system to perform edge blending and image warping

USA - Since opening in the summer of 2006, Hotel 1000 has fulfilled its focus in becoming Seattle's finest luxury boutique hotel. Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, Hotel 1000 boasts 120 luxury hotel rooms on ten floors, 47 condominium residences on fourteen floors. It also includes a selection of restaurants and bars, a full service spa and fitness centre, a wine cellar for the residents, a dog-walking park on the roof, and over 6,000 square-feet of high-tech meeting and banquet space for business guests.

Design/build firm Pro-Comm and its division, The Music Room installed AV systems and automatic shades in all 120 hotel rooms. Hotel 1000's nine boardrooms and conference rooms also feature an AV distribution system installed by The Music Room using SymNet audio networking equipment.

"We were referred to the product specifically by our A/V designer, Stan Holt. We

USA - Symetrix Inc. has appointed Ray Tantzen to the newly-created position of product and training specialist/field engineer. Tantzen will spend most of his time travelling to help existing and potential customers understand the applications for Symetrix technology and to listen to their needs and identify solutions. While he will work with all of the Symetrix brands, his focus will be on the growing SymNet line.

Tantzen spent four years as a product specialist at Loud Technologies, where he successfully grew the TAPCO brand. His wide-ranging freelance audio engineering activities include studio recording, editing, and mixing; location recording and mixing; audio for video; and live sound and broadcast mixing. In addition, he developed and taught classes at Seattle's 911 Media Arts.

Commented Tantzen, "I'm happy to put my skills to use at Symetrix because it has such a g

UK - The period from October 30 to November 6, 2006 saw the first Integrated Systems Europe Roadshow travelling around four countries in Eastern and Southern Europe. Among the attending companies was LED screen manufacturer Lighthouse Technologies Limited, which added its support to the event in the form of Gold Sponsorship.

Western and Central Europe sales director Michiel Hettinga and Western & Central Europe sales manager Jens Schelde presented introductory sessions of Lighthouse Technologies and its technologies at the Polish, Czech Republic and Hungarian shows, whilst Southern European sales support manager presented at the Turkish event.

Lighthouse Technologies also took the opportunity to demonstrate its ultra-high resolution R4 4mm and best-selling R6 6mm indoor LED screens, both of which were greeted very favourably by Roadshow attendees.

"The Istanbul show was

UK - The World Music Awards 2006 took place at London's Earls Court Arena on Wednesday 15 November, and featured a lavish set complete with Lighthouse LED screen forming a central archway.

The event was hosted by Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan and it featured performances from Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, Enya, Andrea Bocelli and Katie Melua. R&B star Chris Brown, backed by dozens of dancers, opened for Michael Jackson who was making his first UK appearance since 1997.

A total of 130 panels of Lighthouse R16 16mm LED screen formed the arch - measuring 15m in height, with each leg being 3m wide. Processing was via Lighthouse LIP-KX processors with Supervisor LH Universal Display optimisers for scaling.

Three projection screens provided for IMAG requirements: one central rear projected and two front projected screens, stage left and right. Additionally, 60 plasma TVs were arr

Belgium - Creative LED specialist Barco is delighted to announce that 3000 of its MiStrip LED modules are used for George Michael's 25 Live Tour. The modules, playing video and graphics effects, form a curved display of LED behind and underneath the former Wham singer.

For the current George Michael tour, celebrating his 25-year career, a massive nine metre wide and 25 metre long screen was designed, incorporating 3000 of Barco's MiStrip LED modules. This giant backdrop flows onto the stage and beyond via both concave and convex curves to create a stunning visual element, strong enough to be both stood and danced on. Barco specialists were involved in the set design from the very beginning and worked closely with XL Video to design the spectacular stage.

Phil Mercer, project manager of XL Video, says: "The project was very ambitious, demanding for extremely high re

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