XL Video is the UK and Europe's largest and busiest touring video rental company, supplying expert technicians and equipment to rock 'n' roll, concert touring and festival productions. XL Video works across all sectors of the business, leisure and entertainment industry as well as the above, including special events, theatre productions, public arts projects, product launches, corporate presentations and parties. With operations in England, Belgium, Germany, plus the East and West coasts of America, XL Video is an international group, investing in the best practitioners in the business and the most advanced digital technology available.
XL is using PLASA to showcase a selection of key products - including the latest exotic LED screen technology from Barco and Lighthouse Technologies, and Soft-LED drapery from Mainlight Industries. It will also offer an insight into the vast scope of XL's creative and technical expertise across the full spectrum of video visuals. XL says it will illustrate how video equipment and techniques from the world of rock 'n' roll and concert touring will cross over into theatre, conferences and other live events.
Highlighted Products include the new Lighthouse R16i/o (indoor/outdoor) screen - a 16mm pixel pitch LED screen, ideal for high quality small-to-large sized outdoor applications. In addition to all the usual attributes expected from a modular LED screen - good resolution, excellent colour uniformity, reproduction and contrast, easy rigging - the R16i/o is lighter weight than any comparative LED, say XL. Weighing in at less than 65kg/sq.m, it allows a larger screen within any given load-limit, and will make LED a viable prospect in previously inaccessible venues and locations.
Also on show, the hugely versatile MiPIX from Barco is a modular intelligent 4-LED pixel block, measuring just 40.3mm (H) x 40.3mm (W) x 22mm (D). MiPix are plugged into a bespoke frame at your chosen resolution or pattern. Its small size and shape allow it to be moulded into just about any shape, and it's invaluable as a building block to create intelligent lighting effects on large-scale backdrops and stage sets of any shape, or size. It also offers the possibility of running video content through 3D logos or other free-form shapes.
The MiPIX blocks further aid the construction of large-scale sets and backdrops because they can be spaced apart at various distances, and so are a highly cost-effective medium. Each MiPIX pixel block weighs only 34g and has a resolution of 20mm. It consists of four SMD LEDs delivering a brightness of 1,300 Nits. The SMD LED technology means a flat-panel MiPIX display can accommodate viewing angles of up to 145°.
Also from Barco is the MiSphere - developed for U2's ground-breaking Vertigo world tour. MiSphere is a tiny, plastic-encased spherical LED module taking the use of LED technology in the concert and staging market to a new level. With 360-degree viewing angles, opaque, light-diffusing casing and the ability to play both full video and data, the MiSphere traverses the gap between existing video and lighting products, and is ideal for both applications. Individual MiSpheres can be daisy-chained into a string, and strings turned into a 3D visualization curtain - as seen on U2. Each MiSphere is effectively a pixel within the curtain, so it can display images and simulate lighting effects across the entire surface, whilst retaining a 'Look-Through' effect and 'Multiple Angle" viewing for an audience on all sides.
XL Video was the first UK company to invest in Mainlight Industries' revolutionary Soft-LED product, which has been used on the Kylie Minogue
