Sweden - It may not be the Aurora Borealis, but the giant Christie MicroTiles video wall engineered by Electrosonic at the LKAB Visitor Centre in Koskullskulle, Sweden, is lighting up the north.

LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag) is the world's technical leader in supplying iron ore pellets, acquired from underground mining, to the global steel industry. Its rich magnetite mines are located in the north of Sweden above the Arctic Circle. A new research centre in Koskullskulle includes a visitor centre that welcomes guests to the nearby Malmberget mine. LKAB's iron ore mining operations are among the most productive in the world and feature automated processes that result in the "greenest" production of iron.

Electrosonic's Stockholm office was tasked by LKAB consultant WSP with designing and engineering the audio-visual facilities at the visitor centre, inclu

UK - When British rock band Whitesnake took to the stage this May for an eight date UK arena tour, the gigs featured their first ever live backdrop, brought to life by video services production specialist Bluman Associates. This featured a cohesive mix of logos and album inspired artwork spanning the band's 35 year legacy alongside live streamed close up shots capturing all the action.

Bluman Associates provided the technical production for the video for the whole tour and designed all the content in-house, following the creation of the company's design department earlier in 2013.

A 40ft by 20ft backdrop was the canvas for the projection. This also cleverly hid the video wall set up that co-headliner and fellow rock legends Journey were using for their set, making the quick turn-around between acts possible through a simple reveal.

Bluman Associates utilised three Barco 40K

World - Audiotech Services Ltd is supplying One Direction's 120 date Take Me Home tour with an AV control system built around Blackmagic Design infrastructure, including the Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher with ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, Broadcast Videohub router and SmartView Duo monitor.

The concert tour consists of 120 shows in Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America, which broke records by selling more than 300,000 tickets in a single day, and includes a huge amount of video at each show. All of this is managed through a rack mounted AV control system supplied by Audiotech, providing full HD monitoring and recording, eight live camera inputs, stills playback and live HD web streaming.

Situated at the heart of the AV control system is Blackmagic's ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher, operated using the ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, and a Blackmagic Des

UK - Surrey-based AV designer and manufacturer, Smart-e Limited, has standardised on Stardraw.com's award-winning design and documentation software, Stardraw Design 7, in order to provide a free design service to all their customers.

Smart-e specialises in the design and manufacture of high quality switching and distribution equipment for a wide range of applications including corporate communication, interactive learning, digital signage, marine, entertainment and security/monitoring. Their solution-based approach means that Smart-e is constantly looking for ways to add value for their customers and make it easier to integrate Smart-e products into their designs. Standardizing on Stardraw's SD7 to provide free block schematic installation and maintenance diagrams complete with full wiring configurations and input/output connections is a key part of this process.

Smart-e produ

UK - Audiences at conferences and film screenings in the British Library will now enjoy powerful digital images, delivered by a new Panasonic projector installed in the Library's 255-seat Conference Centre auditorium.

Supplied and installed by AV integrator Saville Audio Visual, the three-chip DLP PT-DZ21K projector has significantly upgraded the venue's projection facilities, with 20,000 lumens of brightness and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Partnered with a 24ft wide adjustable, multi-format projection screen, the solution provides a state-of-the-art presentation facility in central London.

One of the recent major events in the auditorium has been an exclusive London screening of the digitally restored DVD of Billy Liar introduced by Sir Michael Parkinson, a close friend of the writer, the late Keith Waterhouse. Presented by the British Library and Studiocanal, the scree

World - Global AV supplier Creative Technology (CT) has selected digiLED MC7 for all video screens on the 2013 world tour by pop's punk princess P!nk, with dates in the UK, Europe and Australia.

CT has invested in over 350 500mm x 500mm modules of the MC's new 7mm range manufactured by screen specialist displayLED, to provide high impact displays on the impressive production of P!nk's Truth About Love tour, designed by Baz Halpin and Chris Nyfield.

The set consists of 10 separate configurations of MC7 modules, built around the centrepiece of a 'dressed' heart-shaped 6m tall MC7 screen, flanked by four moving video 'picture frames' which fly spectacularly around the set throughout the show. In addition, four columns of MC7 rise from the stage behind the band while, further back, another screen forms a backdrop for P!nk's dramatic departure on a descending lift.

"T

USA - At InfoComm this week, Christie is launching the next generation of Christie JumpStart, the Christie FHD551-XG with Corning Gorilla Glass, and the company's first turnkey multi-touch video wall solution. An industry first with the smallest image-to-image gap of any bonded LCD panel, the Christie Multi-touch Video Wall Solution comprises a 4-unit wide by one-unit high row of portrait-mounted 55-inch LCD panels with bonded Corning Gorilla Glass, Christie Interactivity Kit, Christie JumpStart, and the mounting hardware for a wall-mounted or freestanding display.

Christie JumpStart now provides additional flexibility with six outputs (compared with four previously) and a 50 percent increase in resolution capability - now 15 megapixels. The content management system allows you to display multiple, high-bandwidth video files, graphics, Microsoft Windows applications, Blu-ray and

UK - XL Video is supplying LED screens, LED animation cloth and Catalyst media server control to the current David Ian Productions and Ambassador Theatre Group UK and Ireland touring version of the hit Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical.

The colourful, award winning, glittering, fast paced, witty show which features a stream of disco numbers is the latest high profile West End musical to hit the road, and is being project managed for XL by Ed Cooper, who has worked on previous shows for the producers.

For this one, XL engaged in some heavy customization of the main scenic piece - the bus - which is built onto a large stage truck and forms the hub of Brian Thomson's touring set design.

The bus has four 'windows', which are made from 96 panels of XL's Pixled Flex-10 high-resolution flexible LED screen product.

The Flex-10 is used to make up straight panels on t

Belgium - Barco has expanded its successful HDX family of three-chip DLP projectors with a new member. The HDX-W20 FLEX shares the on-board image processing, compact design, easy servicing, and preview mode features with its W12, W14 and W18 cousins, but offers a light output of 20,000 lumens.

Additionally, the HDX-W20 FLEX will be standard equipped with the light-on-demand option, which gives rental companies the flexibility to tune their projector's light output to the specific needs of their customer's event. Barco will unveil the new HDX-W20 FLEX projector at InfoComm, from 12 to 14 June. The HDX-W20 FLEX will be commercially available as of mid-July.

"By adding this fourth member to our high-performance HDX series of large venue projectors, we satisfy customer requirements for more brightness out of a compact projector model," says Alexis Skatchkoff, product man

France - Manchester- based lighting, visual and rigging specialists dbn Lighting delivered the lighting design and equipment for clients Medex-Media at EuroPCR, a medical exhibition and symposium held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.

An inventive approach was needed due to the overall height restrictions imposed on exhibitors and the limited rigging permissible (5Kg per point!) for lighting and other flown elements. This was provided by dbn's unflappable Nigel Walker.

An environment was created offering two seminar rooms to accommodate up to 20 delegates and three meeting rooms for groups of up to six people. These spaces radiated off a central 'social' area where delegates could mingle and enjoy refreshments in a calm, chilled atmosphere.

Walker used 25mm conduit as the hung lighting bars, and specified Chroma-Q ColorForce 12s LED units fitted with Lee 216 diffusion as

South Africa - Keystone Productions were awarded the role of production company, and MGG Productions as technical supplier, for the Nestle Conference and Gala Awards, held in two different venues at Champagne Sports Resort which is surrounded by majestic mountains in central Drakensberg. With over thirty presentations, each with a unique theme, lighting could not take a back seat and included Clay Paky at a function where video predominantly featured.

This was the first time Nestle, which produces various prominent consumable products, hosted a single event for the entire company. It was aptly attended by a thousand employees who lodged at Champagne Sports Resort and nearby surrounds for the three day conference.

"It was a massively long project," said Christopher Bolton from Keystone Productions, who was appointed the position by client Dithatha Productions. Keyston

Spain - When the Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel planned their opening party for the 2013 season, they brought in French production company High Scream, to make the 12-hour party as memorable as possible.

High Scream's Romain Pissenem already had a strong relationship with XL Video, and from there, both Romain and XL's Ian Woodall began to develop an idea for a projection mapped onto the hotel's 30m x 20m swimming pool, which would become the largest ever projection screen to date in Ibiza.

To achieve a bright and visible projection, the team needed to make the pool opaque without adding a solid cover over the top. Half a million white ping pong balls were put to use - floating on the surface of the water - and creating a suitable canvas for the projections.

XL Video's team, under Ian Woodall, supplied four of their new Barco HDF-W26 projectors to create the vibrant images on the

UK - Nick Gray of London-based creative visual design practice Renegade worked his lighting magic on the latest Eddie Izzard Force Majeure arena tour which has just finished an intensive three-month tour around the UK and Europe.

It's the first time that Gray - well known for his work in the fashion world and as LD for rockers Kasabian - has designed lighting for the 'surrealist' funny-man, a task on which he collaborated closely with Izzard's artistic director, Sarah Townsend.

The stylistic theme for the tour included flourishes of classic 1960s Avengers and Austin Powers, and another important aesthetic starting point was the large portrait format LED screen onstage.

This all needed careful and thoughtful lighting.

Gray wanted to introduce depth and architecture into the performance space and also make large arena spaces with one person onstage look and feel inter

Hungary - Christie projection is at the centre of what is believed to be the first permanent outdoor pixel mapping project ever staged in Europe.

The initiative of saving the small early 19th century Breda Castle, situated close to the eastern border of Hungary, by developing it into a new tourist attraction is the result of a collaboration between owners, the Megyeri family, and the initiator, Informax Ltd. Working with Bordos.ArtWorks and Invited Artists (run by Budapest-based 3D artist László Zsolt Bordos) and András Schmid (of Christie technical partner DNN|360) they have mapped the façade in a series of animated tableaux.

From 15 June onwards, an artistic video mapping show will be projected every day (and every hour) after dark, using the 3kW xenon light engine of a Christie Roadster HD18K (18000 ANSI lumens) projector, equipped with 1.8-2.6:1 HD zoom lens. And it is

UAE - Barco LiveDots, a Barco company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Dubai-based audiovisual expert Venuetech.

Venuetech will be the exclusive distributor of LiveDots' full LED portfolio in Saudi Arabia and a non-exclusive reseller for the GCC (Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates). LiveDots is confident that Venuetech will help to expand its business in the Middle East market.

Venuetech provides both system integrators and local channels with a wide range of products and services - from consultation, design, supply, training through to after-sales services. Its team of qualified system designers and in-house engineers is committed to ensuring total customer satisfaction through expert advice and support.

"Distribution partners can help us increase the number of customer touch points and improve our customer s

Europe - "Basically what we've got here is a massive TV screen," says Andy Tonks, video crew chief from Chaos Visual Productions on the current Muse production doing the rounds of European stadiums this summer. Made up of WinVision 12mm, there is a total of 1092 active tiles, each one measuring 56cm x 56cm. That makes a total screen surface of 450sq.m..

Flown off 25 x two-ton motors, the panoramic screen surface is split into five units and rigged across the rear of the stage, upstage of the drum riser which is itself clad in active tiles. As Tonks says a lot of thought has gone into making the logistics of rigging a screen of this size manageable in a touring environment: "Where we can the points are pre-rigged or in some cases we load in the whole screen system the night before the rest of the production.

"When broken down, the interlocking panels fit int

Japan - Christie has introduced the Mirage 4K25 and Christie Mirage 4K35 projectors for 3D applications for advanced visualisation in automotive, location-based entertainment, government, military, oil and gas and more. These new 3-chip DLP projectors, anchored by the new Christie TruLife electronics platform with proprietary 1.2 Gigapixel per second, floating point architecture, offer full 4096 by 2160 resolution at 120Hz for 3D. The world premiere of these new solutions takes place at the 21st 3D & Virtual Reality Expo (IVR), at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan's largest exhibition for 3D technology and high definition image technology, taking place from 19-21 June.

"Christie, as the global leader in the visualisation market, is the first and only projector manufacturer in the world to provide full 4K DLP resolution at 120Hz. This industry-leading image processing performance is co

UK - XL Video has renewed its long standing working relationship with Depeche Mode supplying cameras, control, LED screens and crew to the band who have just kicked off the first UK and European leg of their Delta Machine world tour.

Depeche Mode's 33 year career has seen them sell over 100m records worldwide . Also acclaimed for being constantly at the cutting edge of live performance visuals, video has played a defining role in their stage shows over the years through the influence of their inspirational artistic director, Anton Corbijn.

The look of the Delta Machine show - incorporating the video elements - was designed by Corbijn in close collaboration with lighting designer Paul Normandale.

In addition to the IMAG, Corbijn has produced eight mini-movies which are interspersed throughout the show.

XL's project manager Phil Mercer comments, "We are de

Belgium - Visualisation specialist Barco has signed a deal with FVC for the distribution of ClickShare. FVC will be distributing Barco's wireless presentation and collaboration system across the Middle East, North Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

FVC has offices in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria and a growing network of channel partners in 45 countries. This broad geographical reach and market leadership have played a major role in Barco's decision to join forces with FVC.

Another important factor in Barco's choice for FVC is the fact that ClickShare fits in with the latter's existing offering. With the addition of Barco's presentation solution, FVC can now present its clients with an all-in-one package for a state-of-the-art meeting room, including video conferencing, networking, information security and, now, wireless and smooth running presentation equ

USA - Elation Professional has introduced the EZ6, a high-resolution 6mm indoor LED video display panel whose affordable price, light weight and modular quick assembly make it suitable for visual displays at nightclubs, concert venues, live stages, exhibit halls and public spaces who want the excitement of a video screen without overstepping their budgets or getting bogged down by complicated installations, says the company.

Powered by high-quality Tri-Color 3528 SMD LEDs, the EZ6 will impress viewers with its uniform colour, high contrast and sharp, clear picture, making it a video superstar. It features 6mm pixel pitch, 1,800-nit brightness and 960 Hz refresh rate, producing high-definition graphics, text, logos or images -- limited only by your imagination! Wherever it's used, the EZ6 offers reliable performance and easy setup. The 22.7" x 22.7" (576mm x 576mm) squa

UK - Green Hippo has designed a Hippotizer overlay for the Mackie MCU controller, giving ease of use when working with Hippotizer media servers. The hardware provides motorised faders making navigation between layers and observing changes during Timeline playback easy.

Mackie also features high accuracy level fades (greater than standard MIDI control change values) with three additional MIDI ports on the device for connecting additional controllers or other MIDI gear (which can be used with the MIDI2 component).

The Mackie controller software provides a hardware interface for programming timelines and the quick programming of cue-based timelines. Timed parameter fades can automatically be inserted when recording cues and can easily be customised to provide quick access to commonly used parameters for any eventuality.

Large networks of Hippotizer can be controlled using a sin

Germany - XL Video has streamlined and optimised its corporate structure in Germany. Previously the enterprise was represented in Germany by two separate companies: XL Video of Hamburg and XL Solutions of Düsseldorf. It also had offices in Munich, Berlin and Nürtingen. On 1 July, XL Solutions and XL Video merged. The main office, with 25 employees, is now on the Hamburg site, whilst Düsseldorf, with 18 employees, is home to the branch office. From now on, Denis Papin, formerly managing director (CEO) of XL Video of Hamburg, and Thorsten Lipp, who held the equivalent post with XL Solutions, will share responsibility for the merged company, which will trade under the name "XL Video".

XL Video of Hamburg was founded in 1998 by René de Keyser and Denis Papin, with the latter at that time assuming the role of Managing Director. Under his leadership, XL Video grew

UK - For the European launch of the Huawei Ascend P6 in London, XL Events supplied a multi-screen blended projection, HD camera system, media servers and control.

Chinese electronics giant, Huawei, recently introduced their flagship Ascend P6 smartphone to gathered media in London. Huawei's creative event agency, Uniplan of Hong Kong, designed an immersive 180 degree projection onto gauze followed by a reveal at the end of the presentation to give attendees access to the experiential area behind.

To realise this creative Uniplan engaged production company Imagine Believe to produce the launch event at the Roundhouse, in London's Camden.

To provide the video element of the launch, Imagine Believe's production director, Tom Attenborough, contacted Mark Rooney, project manager at technical supplier, XL Events to design and specify the video for the show.

For the main multi-sc

UK - XL Video continues its long association with singer Robbie Williams, supplying over 46,000 Barco FLX-24 pixels, HD camera system, D3 control, IMAG screens and crew to the Take The Crown stadium tour.

XL's project manager Phil Mercer is working closely with the tour's production manager Wob Roberts

The camera mix is being crafted by Stefaan 'Smasher' Desmedt and the stage set which includes a back wall video screen and a huge video mapped scenic piece of Williams' head, is designed by the late stage architect Mark Fisher. Artistic director and lighting designer is Willie Williams and the show's producer is Lee Lodge.

The impressive 12.6m high by 7.5m wide 3D head was modelled from a scan of Williams' face and is fully pixel mapped. It is central to the elegant theatrical visuality of the stage, and is fitted with the 46,000 Barco FLX 24 video pixels - the same one

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