UK - Production:av, an audio-visual services provider based in Gloucestershire, has been recognised as an InfoComm International Sapphire Audio Visual Solutions Provider. Reaching AVSP status has been a target for the company for some time.

Managing director Peter McCrea comments: "We have been working to achieve this recognition to ensure our business is viewed as a qualified organisation, which provides audio visual installations and equipment rental services to the highest standards." Production:av currently has technical staff working towards CTS status (Certified Techno

UK - AV distribution company, PSCo has commissioned the development of a new vehicle to reduce the delivery cost of its 103" plasma and 108" LCD screens for temporary and permanent installations.

Specialists in large format display products, PSCo's portfolio includes the world's largest plasma screen the Panasonic 103" and the world's largest LCD the Sharp 108".

The specially designed vehicle has a pneumatic air suspension system that lowers the tail to less than 30cm and a winch that ensures the screens are safe and secure when loading and unloading. Together th

Hong Kong - Continuing to expand its line-up of LED display products, Lighthouse Technologies has announced the launch of HELIOS (High Efficiency LED Informative Operations System), a powerful DOOH (Digital Out-Of-Home) system that delivers and manages advertising messages "more easily and efficiently, in virtually any kind of indoor and outdoor setting".

SF6-SVP, the first HELIOS model to be launched, is a dual-sided display unit with a high resolution digital face on one side and a back-lit poster on the other. The 6mm pixel pitch, 3000 nit LED panel is capable of displayi

USA - Hippotizer media servers delivered a variety of visual effects for the 81st Academy Awards Show, broadcast in February. The Hippotizer content delivery system was specified by designer Bob Dickinson and media programmer Jason Rudolph. VER supported the application, with Matt Waters as lead engineer.

Three active Hippotizer HD units were used within a networked system. One Hippotizer HD was used for pixel-mapping 1,036 Color Kinetics iColor Cove LED strips embedded in the stage floor. Alternating sunburst and other patterns created stunning effects for overhead shots. Two additio

UK - One of the UK's leading AV solutions and service providers for houses of worship in the UK has completed an elegant installation for a North London church, centering around the Edirol V-440HD multiformat vision mixer. PROmotivations Visual Technology admits to a strong preference for the Edirol range of video editing and mixing products, and is now installing them in most of its larger projects.

Edirol's popular V-440HD multi-format video mixer, and the alternative V-44SW which packages those facilities into a compact, installation-friendly, 2U rack-mount format, can mix all avai

Germany - G-LEC, the Ötigheim, Germany-based manufacturer of transparent LED video screen products for the events and architectural markets, has gone into administration, Lighting&Sound International has learned.

Company founder and managing director Lars Wolf explained to L&SI that a mis-allocation of assets by an external agency had given a false impression of the company's position at the end of 2008; when the error came to light, a rescue package was agreed with the company's bank. However, two consecutive months of poor trading in January and February put an end to Wolf's hopes

UK - Digital media, lighting and solutions specialist Projected Image Digital hosts two informal open days next week - on 22 and 23 April - at its west London training and demonstration space.

Individuals and companies working in all areas of digital media and lighting are welcome to attend - and the event is particularity relevant to those interested in media servers, lighting consoles, projection systems, LED screens and digital lighting fixtures. The Open Days are a great opportunity for professionals industry-wide to get up to speed with the latest developments in this fast-moving

UK - AV integration and engineering company, Ashdown AV chose two AQUiVO outdoor weatherproof screens to scare and excite riders on Thorpe Park's new rollercoaster, SAW - The Ride.

As theme parks continuously create new white knuckle rides to keep visitors returning for more, the world's first ever horror movie-themed rollercoaster, SAW - The Ride, opened at Thorpe Park this March using the latest technology to transform the idea into a reality.

The novel idea to base a ride on the most popular horror film franchise in history, SAW, and give visitors a spine chi

UK - Manchester-based rental staging company, A to V, has dipped into its new fleet of Christie Roadster HD10K-M 3-chip DLP projectors to help stage a major product launch for production company Livenet's client, Bosch Home Appliances.

Held at the International Centre, Telford, the event was designed to showcase the company's new 2009 built-in cooking range, with over 300 major appliances on display, along with many smaller items.

The event's producer and MD of Livenet, Peter Lindsey-Jones, was reportedly delighted with the brightness and clarity of the projected images. "The a

The Netherlands - In early 2007, JVH gaming contacted Dutch systems integrator, Hecla Professional Audio & Video Systems BV, to talk about promotional screens for an outlet of its Jack's Casino brand at the new Dukenburg shopping centre in the Dutch town of Nijmegen. This was to be completed in early 2009 and had to adhere to many stringent requirements.

"The architect designed the building with a number of areas on the exterior walls that the retail outlets in Dukenburg can rent for advertising purposes," explains Hecla's new business manager, Jos den Hartog. "JVH beli

Norway - projectiondesign has supplied three of its DLP projectors to Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda for use in the major retrospective of his work.

Best-known as Japan's leading composer of electronic music, Ikeda uses both sound and visual imagery to produce intensely physical experiences for his audience. His new retrospective is being hosted by Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, which opened on 2 April and will continue to 21 June 2009, is titled '+/- [the infinite between 0 and 1]', and includes new commissions, sound works and large-scale audio visual projections.

Three F32

UK - Paul Weller rocked the O2 Arena in London last week with a set encompassing tracks from his new album, 22 Dreams as well as classics from his extensive back catalogue.

The show's video design was the work of creative director Justine Catterall, who also produced custom content for 12 songs of the set. All the hardware - including MiTrix LED screen, Catalyst control, 2 camera systems, projection and PPU - plus crew were supplied by XL Video, project managed by Des Fallon. Matt Askem directed the live IMAG mix and Stuart Heaney crew chiefed. The playback content was programm

UK - Christie has introduced the world's first LED-based SXGA+ and WUXGA resolution projection display system, purpose built for control room and videowall applications.

The new Christie Entero LED is a LED-illuminated, 1-chip DLP product line that features a "zero maintenance" design. The LEDs are rated at more than 50,000 hours- over five years of dependable operation. With no consumable components such as lamps, filters or colour wheels to replace, the Christie Entero LED delivers the ultimate in uninterrupted, 24/7 performance for exceptional reliability and low cost of

UK - Swansea's National Waterfront Museum has invested in a rolling programme to replace its current projector system with new Panasonic Projectors, used for the public display areas throughout the Museum.

The contemporary and stylish development built on Swansea's Waterfront attracts visitors from across the country to learn more about Wales' story of industry and innovation via interactive AV systems and digital displays.

The Museum is housed in an original and listed waterfront warehouse linked to a new, ultra-modern slate and glass building. The Museum uses cutting edge AV equip

The Netherlands - Rotterdam's centuries of history as a major international port make it a fascinating place to visit, and nowhere sums up the city's appeal better than the Rotterdam Port Experience, a new visitor attraction that opened its doors late 2008.

Located on the waterfront under Rotterdam's spectacular Erasmus Bridge, Rotterdam Port Experience (RPEX for short) uses various projectiondesign 1080p HD projectors in four areas: the entrance lobby, elevator and two cinemas to wow tourists, local schoolchildren, retired former port workers and business people alike with a series o

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa continues a busy start to 2009 supplying lighting, sound, video, staging and power for the 2009 Coca Cola Zero festival, staged on two sites in two cities - Riversands Farm in Johannesburg and Lourensford Wine Estate, Cape Town.

This provided an opportunity for Gearhouse Media and Lighting divisions to utilise the latest version of the Green Hippo Hippotizer HD digital media server for the first time. This was specified for the event by Gearhouse director Tim Dunn and made available by UK-based Green Hippo.

The event was headlined by Oasis and S

Australia - Located on the sandstone shores of the historic 'Rocks' Sydney, Australia's colonial birthplace, Italian Village is a three-level, three-room restaurant and function centre catering for up to 100 seated and 250 cocktail. With 180 degree views of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, Italian Village is the very latest addition to the Dockside Group that has been transformed into a stylish, sought after leading venue appealing to the the corporate sector.

Impact AV were employed to design and install a premium quality sound system with a well distributed sp

USA - The Vietnamese Martyr's Catholic Church (VMCC), built in Sacramento, California to serve a growing population of Catholic Vietnamese-Americans, has installed a Renkus-Heinz ICONYX digitally steerable audio system to bring a new clarity to its 900 seat sanctuary, with CFX121 system covering the Great Hall that's used as an overflow area for larger meetings and performances.

VMCC turned to full-spectrum AV systems integrator Quality Sound of Stockton, California for the audio systems. Iconyx was my go-to choice from the first look at the project plans," says Gary Roda, Qualit

UK - Proteus Displays is running two open days to demonstrate its new Mezzanine Imaging system. Mezzanine combines a tracking system to calculate the beam and footprint positions of moving lights alongside a media player with unique image controls. The system provides a facility for integrating lighting with video enabling conventional moving lights to project digital imagery on to the reflective display surface.

Paul Silsby CTO comments, "After all the interest we received at PLASA 08 we have been keen to develop this system further. The Mezzanine effect provides lighting design

UAE - When the Commercial Bank of Qatar recently completed the construction of its new headquarters, it wanted to give visitors a memorable and eye-catching welcome to the new facility and Lighthouse Technologies' LED screens provided the answer.

Installed by well-established audio-visual integrator Technomight, based in Dubai and Doha, UAE, the installation of an 8 x 6 panel (5.12m(w) x 2.88 m (h)) Lighthouse P6-FA screen in the building's lobby, provides an instant impression of the bank's high quality standards.

"We first met Lighthouse in 2007 to discuss some potential proj

Switzerland - The Kantonsschule Wetzikon, a state college for higher education, has recently seen an extensive AV refurbishment in its Auditorium, and the installation of a high-specification audio system comprised of Nexo and Yamaha components.

The Auditorium is a multi-purpose venue, hosting meetings and presentations, theatrical productions and orchestral concerts, so the demands placed on the new sound reinforcement system were heavy. In addition, the theatre is protected under historic building regulations, so the installation of equipment had to be visually appealing.

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USA - Philips Lumileds has released Luxeon Rebel ES, a high-efficacy power LED specified to deliver a minimum of 100 lumens per Watt. As the global demand for efficient lighting solutions increases, Philips Lumileds is focusing on the performance characteristics that are most important to the lighting industry.

"Luxeon Rebel ES meets two complementary objectives: extending the energy-saving ability of LED technology and simplifying LED product selection to make it easier for lighting designers to take advantage of those capabilities," said Steve Barlow, executive VP of sales

Norway - A Medialon Manager Show & Media Control system has been integrated in the Petter Dass Museum, located in Sandnessj°en in Northern Norway.

The museum has been designed by noted architect Sn°hetta and tells the story of the 17th century Norwegian clergyman and poet named Petter Dass.

One Medialon Manager PRO license, integrated by Multitekst Ltd and YIT Systemteknikk, controls the entire auditorium and the exhibition sections of the museum.

A Rugboard (touch panel) is the main user interface for the entire installation, and runs Medialon Panel software. It allows th

Belgium/USA - Barco has announced that new software is now available for the High End Systems Digital Lighting family, including the DL.3 Digital Light and the Axon media server.

The v1.5 software release expands feature functionality and provides a host of improvements and updates. Major features include frame blending for smooth, slow motion playback, and the expansion of Collage Generator capability, which allows users to create a setup that is 16 fixtures wide by eight fixtures high. A new Segmented Collage feature enables advanced users to pre-slice their content in order to crea

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