This required a unique use of technology: under normal circumstances graphic output would be sent to the screen as a video signal and then be converted to data. But the use of scan conversion on a standard 640 x 480 VGA resolution display would have failed to align the pixels correctly. "When the signal gets converted to video and back to data the processor simply doesn't recognize how to line this up," explained CT Screenco's Mike Walker.
The answer lay in the SACO processor. "At the time, this was the only processor that would allow pure data input to the screen," says Walker. "It enabled us to do this by pixel mapping - literally creating a pixel map. The 15mm LED screen provided exactly the right medium for the way in which Chris Bird wanted to present the graphics." The signal was delivered to a large portion of a giant 7.68m (w) x 4.32m (h) display, which weighed three-and-a-half tons.
Aside from statistical information and press headlines, e-mails to the website were brought in on computer. "Because of the clever nature of the graphics, they were able to be updated at each show by UVA's bespoke graphics processor," continues Walker, who also commended the sensitive way in which Vince Foster's lighting design was integrated into the production. The reality was that one of the most impressive video backdrops for a major concert tour was achieved - without a composite video signal being sent to the screen.
(Ruth Rossington)
