The 74th Academy Awards: a range of visual display systems was provided by Creative Technology Los Angeles.
Creative Technology North America provided display technology, screens and technical expertise for the recent 74th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, better known as the Oscars. ABC aired the live event nationwide to an international audience of approximately one billion viewers.

Creative Technology was responsible for an impressive quantity of display devices including large scale projection equipment, screens, LED panels and plasma displays. Using a total of 14 Digital Projection and 11 Christie Digital projectors, CT displayed the evening’s images onto a variety of screen sizes and shapes. For the extremely bright ‘Best Picture’ screen, CT utilised Digital Projection technology, including two 15 SX and one 25 SX projected onto a 16ft x 29ft Stewart screen. The ‘Cinerama’ screen consisted of a massive 18ft x 72ft Stewart Aeroview 100 screen that was masked down to 18ft x 50ft to better fit the stage.

"One of our biggest challenges was making a 50ft seamless image," said Kerry Perkins, head of projection at CT Los Angeles. "We brought in nine Digital Projection 15 SX projectors for display but had to perform the edge blending mechanically to accommodate television scan rates. While technically challenging, manual edge blending allowed CT to maintain the standard NTSC television scan rate signal throughout the broadcast as the content that was shown on the ‘Cinerama’ screen was simultaneously aired."

The ‘Gallery’ screens utilized 11 Christie Digital S12 projectors, displaying images onto five individual screens, placed into a single frame that was flown in and out of view. Audience viewing was enhanced by two Digital Projection 15 SX projectors, placed in the balcony areas house left and right, projecting onto two 9 x 12 screens. And to ensure that the fans outside the complex were a part of the gala, they were able to view the festivities on a giant 36ft x 26ft LED screen mounted at the corner of Hollywood and Highland, also provided by CT.

(Lee Baldock)


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