Japan - For two nights in October 2014 one of the largest projection mapping events in the history of Japan was realised, using the famous Kanazawa Castle in Ishikawa Prefecture as the event's historic backdrop. "The content of the projection mapping was conceived to be an enchanting digital art fantasy, combining sound and light," say organisers.

The event was part of the celebrations surrounding the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train service, which goes all the way to Kanazawa, as of March of this year.

The creative agency responsible for bringing it all together was Drawing and Manual. Creative director Seiichi Hishikawa and Art Director Yutaka Obara were able to draw on the talent of a large crew of inspired artists and craftsmen from a great number of different companies, including CENDO Inc., Invisible Designs Lab, Diorama and Radix Corporation a

Germany - ArKaos PROwill exhibit at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt in Hall 11.0 Stand A49 and will introduce and demonstrate the latest version of its successful professional MediaMaster software.

MediaMaster 4.2 now adds an integrated cue player and 4K support to the many tools already offered by this ever-popular software.

The new Cue Player is an important addition for users who require reliable, accurate playback of visual sequences, for example, on shows or installations requiring repeated automated playback. The Cue Player is built on top of MediaMaster's Theater Mode interface and can also be driven by Time Code as required. MediaMaster 4.2 is available as a free upgrade to MediaMaster 3.x or 4.x

ArKaos PRO's complete range of media servers will be exhibited. Comprising the Stage, Studio and Stadium servers, this range offers up to two-, four- and six-outputs respectively

UK - This month, the Teenage Cancer Trust marked the 15th anniversary of their annual concert series at London's Royal Albert Hall, where leading names in music and comedy come together to raise money to help young people facing cancer. Closing out this year's event, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls headlined at the venue, with LD Shaun Moore trusting the Avolites Sapphire Touch for the occasion.

Moore, of North-East based rental company Nitelites, has been working with Turner for five years. He designed a lively and dynamic show reminiscent of the band's recent UK tour. He used the full house rig, plus additional PRG provided floor cans for drums and keys, which provided some stunning low level key light, matching the front line.

Having operated their consoles since he started lighting, Moore has used Avolites for his entire career to date. "I followed in my family's

USA - Radio City Music Hall, the legendary 5,933-capacity theatrical venue of Manhattan, New York, celebrates the premiere year of New York Spring Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes and upgraded Delta Media Server video systems from 7thSense Design in the UK. This is the second Radio City theatrical production to utilise the now refurbished system, following three seasons of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show on the original installation of 2011.

In 2014, Radio City's display technology systems were overhauled and updated to support the new seasonal production.

Display features include 11-projector 3D theatre mapping - delivering content to the main proscenium arch and additional arches either side of the stage. An 80ft digital scenery LED wall fed by Delta now runs content at 4:4:4 / 60 frames-per-second (fps), giving audiences a beautifully im

UK - Luminex Network Intelligence, the Belgium-based developer of Pro AV and lighting control data distribution equipment, will introduce its latest developments at Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt this week.

First up is the new Ethernet-DMX8 Truss MkII. This 8-port truss-mounted converter brings all the well-known features of a Luminex converter in a rugged and versatile form factor. Fitted with eight fully isolated DMX ports, and two Ethernet ports, the unit is designed as a solution for converting a high number of DMX channels, using the benefits of the powerful Luminex Ethernet-DMX engine.

Also on show will be a demo of the beta version of the upcoming 4.2.0 firmware for the Ethernet-DMX range. This beta includes the following new functionalities: Support for BlackTrax (Cast) protocol; Fade between sources for triggered control; Synced outputs.

In Hall 8, E0 Stand K37, t

UK - XL Video supported Teenage Cancer Trust's annual run of live shows at London's Royal Albert Hall for the third consecutive year. For this 15th anniversary, XL Video supplied LED screens, live cameras and HD recordings for the seven shows in late March 2015.

The week-long run included a comedy night hosted by Kevin Bridges, plus live music shows headlined by Stereophonics, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Paul Weller, The Who, Van Morrison, and Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls.

All the shows featured a central flown screen, 36.6sq.m in total, formed from XL Video's Barco NX6 6mm LED. This screen displayed a mixture of the artists' own playback content and logos, live IMAG footage and pre-recorded films about the Trust's work. Playback content was served from one of XL's Catalyst media servers.

In addition, a wide LED banner screen formed from XL's ROE Visual MC-18T

Germany - PSCo is celebrating a successful 12 months of partnership with Absen at Pro Light + Sound. The show will mark the sale of over 2,500 Absen LED panels in their first year of exclusive UK partnership with the LED display manufacturer.

PSCo is now embarking on a second year, having successfully brought the Absen brand to the forefront of the LED display market in the UK, and has ordered another 1,200 Absen LED panels for stock to meet the increasing demand from trade partners. Due in early June, PSCo has already sold 60% and is anticipating much interest from Pro Light + Sound.

Stuart Holmes CEO of PSCo explains, "We are delighted to be celebrating such good news following our year of exclusivity with Absen. In fact, Absen is the perfect partner for PSCo and our customers, providing the latest high resolution LED products for both rental and fixed installation at a

Europe - Hitachi Digital Media Group has announced two new models that feature HDBaseT connectivity. The CP-WU8451 and CP-WU8461 are able to receive high definition signals from a distance of up to 100m using standard LAN cabling (min. Cat 5e/6). Both models also feature enhancements including a 60% increase in contrast performance

"Hitachi can now offer customers a convenient and cost effective approach to lossless high definition projection at distances of up to 100m. With a higher contrast ratio of 5000:1 these two new models deliver the high-quality widescreen images that customers expect of the 8000 Series but with the added benefit of support for HDBaseT," said Axel Kutschke, senior manager, presentation products for Hitachi Digital Media Group. "By supporting this emerging standard Hitachi ensures that customers with a need for remote or long distance high

UK - Fisher Hires has invested in new lighting and AV stock following a major investment programme to the tune of £500,000. Fisher Hires is sister company to the prestigious event productions agency Fisher Productions, which this year celebrates its 30th birthday.

Fisher Hires supplies lighting, AV and technical expertise for all Fisher Productions events, and was launched as a separate company last year with the aim to widen the business and offer a full dry hire service.

Responding to client demand, Fisher has purchased a number of products from Clay Paky, MA Lighting, Avolites, Prolights and ETC and have significantly increased its stock of wireless uplights to include the Core Colourpoint.

Graham Beswick CEO of the Fisher Productions Group said, "Our upgrade of lighting and AV equipment comprises of over 110 product lines and thousands of pieces of kit, allowi

UK - XL Video's UK operation has expanded the warehousing and distribution for its LED department, with the opening of a new 20,000sq.ft warehouse near to the company's existing Hemel Hempstead location.

The 50% increase in total warehouse space enables XL Video to create a dedicated space for preparation and dispatch of the company's wide and varied range of indoor and outdoor rental LED screens, and other creative LED products.

This expansion into the new LED facility also creates additional much-needed space in the main XL Video warehouse to allow for the growth in inventory of XL's projection and media server/control departments, both of which announced major technology investments earlier this year with the likes of d3, Barco, and Lightware.

XL Video's UK director of operations, John Hooker commented, "We are pleased to be able to expand our operations into this ne

Belgium - The most recent tour by Belgian girlband K3 featured a lighting and video design by Painting With Light's Luc Peumans which was based on the bold, bright, poppy and positive vibe that has characterised the band's remarkable 16 year career.

K3's impressive longevity - achieved without airplay on MTV and other standard music channels - was led by proactive direct marketing through youth and children's TV channels.

Luc has been involved with K3's live performance visuals for 12 years. His team from Painting With Light on this tour included programmer and lighting operator on the road Paco Mispelters and media server programmer and operator Katleen Selleslagh, and the design's starting point came from the band's hit TV show K3 Can Do It which is based on helping children achieve their dreams. The idea was to align the live show with the whole current K3 brand conc

UK - PSCo has officially partnered with VuWall Technology as its exclusive UK distributor. VuWall Technology develops collaborative visualisation software for video wall controllers. In line with the increasing availability of video wall hardware now available on the market, VuWall Technology develops software products that make it easy for system integrators to deploy video wall projects within mission critical environments such as control rooms.

"This collaboration with VuWall demonstrates the vast range of applications we can service with solutions as well as expert technical advice," comments Stuart Holmes, CEO of PSCo. "We are pleased to be able to offer our customers this software as part of the PSCo portfolio, creating a tailored solution for their requirements."

The collaborative visualisation software from VuWall Technology complements existing PSC

UK - Working with the Society of London Theatre, XL Video supported the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard with the supply of video screens, media servers and control systems in two London locations, and once again sponsored the award for Best Set Design.

This is the fifth consecutive year XL Video has been involved in the video production for the awards.

The red carpet event took place on Sunday 12 April at the Royal Opera House and was followed by a televised highlights show on ITV later the same night. The full highlights package is available on ITV Player - www.itv.com/itvplayer/

XL Video's head of UK theatre, Ed Cooper, worked with the Awards team of executive producer Julian Bird, associate producer Julian Stoneman, head of production Lee Batty and general manager Katie Harper to specify the video requirements for both the Royal Opera House and the outdoor stage in Co

UK - XL Video once again contributed video production to The X Factor Live 2015 tour - six weeks around UK arenas showcasing the considerable talents of the 2014 X Factor TV series finalists - including popular runner up Fleur East and winner Ben Haenow.

XL supplied ROE MC-7T and MC-18T Hybrid LED screens in XL's custom touring frames, cameras / PPU, Catalyst media server playback, a large Barco Mi-Strip scenic feature, projection and crew for the colourful, animated megamash of 30 major musical numbers, which was performed by eight artists and 11 dancers to sell out audiences. The live tour show was produced by Beth Honan for Syco Entertainment under the technical direction of Production North.

The Hybrid MC-18T screen - seen on many recent XL tours including Ellie Goulding and the Kings of Leon - was used on tour and features a standard medium 18 mm pitch compr

UK - Working with their client, Reality Ltd, XL Video supplied LED screens, a multi-channel camera system and relay screens for the NME Awards 2015 with Austin, Texas.

The ceremony was held at London's O2 Brixton Academy, and featured live performances by The Vaccines, Run the Jewels, award-winners Royal Blood and Charli XCX, and the recipients of the 'Godlike Genius' award, Suede.

XL Video project manager Paul Wood worked with Reality's Paul Corrick and vision director Matt Askem to specify the multi-camera, multi screen set-up. This is the eighth consecutive year XL Video has supplied the awards.

Upstage centre, a 35sq.m 16:9 screen formed from XL's ROE MC-7T LED Screen was flown, and 25m2 of XL's ROE MC-18 Hybrid LED Screen was used for an additional square LED surface flown to the left of the stage and 6 portrait banner screens arranged around the main screen.

The LED

USA - PixelFLEX, the leading provider of flexible and lightweight LED video screens, will be returning to PLASA Focus at the Kansas City 2015 trade show with its new FLEXCurtain HD LED video wall, a physically lighter video product designed for a new variety of needs.

Displays for the FLEXTile, FLEX Lite and FLEXCurve will also be featured for the two-day convention that takes place 20-21 May at the Kansas City Convention Centre. This will be PixelFLEX's fourth time attending a PLASA Focus event, following the successful PLASA Focus in Orlando in February of this year.

"PixelFLEX has made a definitive mark in the LED world both in Nashville and through the rest of the country and world," said David Venus, PixelFLEX director of marketing. "Attending PLASA Focus as a vendor is a more intimate way for us to get the word out about how unique our products are, especi

UK - XL Video are supplying a creative video package, including segmented LED screens and multi-channel camera system, for Ben Howard as he steps up to UK and European arenas on his I Forget Where We Were tour.

The show, designed by Owen Tozer alongside Andy Rowe features a cinematic video look thanks to content commissioned and created by Alan 'Willy' Williams.

For this tour, which includes three nights at London's Alexandra Palace, the screen design includes a central LED screen 10.8m wide x 6m high, flanked by three columns of LED either side, each measuring 1.2m wide x 6.6 m high.

To create this arrangement, XL Video have supplied their ROE Visual MC-18T LED, packaged in a combination of their custom touring frames in both full 4-tile and half 2-tile versions. The new half-touring frames allow show designers even greater flexibility when creating their screen set-ups.

Belgium - Global visualization leader Barco is proud to launch Barco Capital, its new portfolio of equipment financing options. Barco Capital opens up new ways for customers to finance their investment in cutting-edge Barco technology to boost their business while balancing the payment spike.

The Barco Capital portfolio is initially available for the Digital Cinema, Venues and Hospitality, and Retail and Advertising product portfolios, starting with customers based in Europe and the Americas.

"For both current and potential Barco customers, it's essential to keep abreast of the latest innovation to generate business growth," says Sjoerd De Clerck, global director Barco Capital. "With Barco Capital, we help customers upgrade their equipment or invest in our state-of-the-art technology when the traditional capex-driven sales cannot be achieved or aren't appropriat

UK - The Midwich Group has increased its professional audio resource with the appointment of Simon Druce, who joins the Group as Audio External Sales Specialist.

Simon brings with him 15 years' worth of experience, having worked previously for audio brands Sennheiser and Audio-Technica, and distributors C:UK and Polar.

Simon joins a strong team of specialists headed up by Sales Manager Scott Pollard, and will be responsible for the audio portfolio at Midwich. The field-based role means that Simon will be able to assist dealers with all elements of a project, no matter where they are based, from helping make the right decision in terms of audio to demonstrating the products.

Simon stated that: "It's great to be joining a successful company that is continually developing its strategy and approach to business. Audio is a significant part of any project, and I'm really plea

UK - Hitachi Digital Media Group has extended the collection of interchangeable lens for the 9000 Series Installation projectors with the addition of the Ultra Short Throw FL-900. As the eighth member of the family, the new lens reduces the throw distance of the range by 60%, opening up a wide variety of new application options that require performance and bright colours in a demanding installation environment.

"The dramatic reduction in throw distance with the new FL-900 lens transforms the installability of the 9000 Series and opens up a wide range of new application scenarios for this class of projector including digital signage and on-stage use," said Axel Kutschke, senior manager, presentation products for Hitachi Digital Media Group. "By bringing this capability to the Installation projector category Hitachi is combining the bright, vivid colours, and 24x7 u

UK - Since Ambersphere Solutions welcomed Ayrton into its family of quality distributed brands, the proliferation of Ayrton fixtures has been one of the company's many success stories.

A dozen of Ayrton's Magicpanels can currently be seen on the lighting rig for Olly Murs' latest outing. Famously just the runner-up in the X-Factor of 2009, his current UK tour includes four nights at The O2 in London before heading to Europe and then on to Australia. At the recent Manchester Arena show, the set list was put on hold to accommodate filming Olly and his audience by the X-Factor team in preparation for his debut on the show as a judge. Not a bad result for a performer many thought would be consigned to the Butlins summer season after losing out to Joe McElderry.

Production designer Paul Normandale has combined a set, video and lighting rig that places the audience focus firm

UK - Midwich Limited has announced it has acquired 100% of PSCo Group Limited, the Reading-based trade-only rental and technical distributor specialising in the latest display solutions.

Under the leadership of Stuart Holmes, PSCo has established itself as a leading provider of the latest display solutions and complementary services through their PSCo Rental, PSCo Technical Distribution and Nearly New AV offerings.

Continuing on as managing director of PSCo, Stuart Holmes commented: "This exciting move allows PSCo to focus on the areas where we believe we truly add value to our trade partners. We have seen 12 months of exceptional growth and launched our LED offering along with a number of new and exciting partnerships, all of which we plan to capitalise on and grow further with the support of Midwich. We are looking forward to working in synergy with Midwich to expand bo

USA - With spectacular staging, big-screen displays, theatrical lighting, all-encompassing sound and close to 20,000 spectators at every event, this year's Passion Conference - Passion 2015 - looked more like a major rock concert than a religious event. But the Passion 2015 event is actually three full days of music, inspirational speeches, video, lights and stagecraft designed to bring 18 to 25 year olds closer to Jesus Christ.

An annual event since 1997, the Passion Tour has grown exponentially, with this year's conference presenting three separate events this winter to sold-out crowds at Philips Arena in Atlanta over the course of two weekends, and the Toyota Centre in Houston. The Houston event was also streamed over the Internet, allowing roughly 40,000 more viewers to virtually attend this high profile, influential Christian event.

Passion 2015 leveraged world-class stag

UK - Peerless-AV has announced the expansion of its customer support team with new sales administration and business development hires to enhance trade and logistics processes, and ultimately customer experience.

Reuben Dayan has been appointed sales administrator for UK and Europe's German speaking countries (DACH region). David Pelletier has been appointed business development representative for France and Spain. Both are based in Peerless-AV's European Headquarters, supporting the local sales team in their respective regions.

Gordon Dutch, managing director, Peerless-AV, commented, "We welcome Reuben and David to our expanding team. Their appointments emphasise our ongoing commitment to always-there customer service with team members that are experienced, multi-lingual professionals, dedicated to identifying and resolving diverse and often complex client needs."

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