UK - Swindon town centre is set to play host to the first BBC Big Screen in the South West of England as a giant Lighthouse LED screen, installed by TMC screen specialists, is officially switched on.

'Big Screen Swindon' is the first giant, permanent BBC Screen in the South West of England. It forms part of the Wharf Green development - the first area in Swindon to be redeveloped since The New Swindon Company unveiled plans to regenerate the town centre.

Following the approval of designs for the Wharf Green by LDA Design, the large screen specialists TMC was appointed to install the giant 7 x 5 panel (7.14m x 3.8m) P16i/o Lighthouse LED screen, which has been placed along the North Façade of the Brunel West car park. It is housed in a freestanding structure, which camouflages the car park, and is controlled by a Lighthouse LIP-DX, an X-Drive Pro and an auto brightness control

UK - In the first two months since its March launch, over 1,000 panels of Lighthouse's R7-Enhanced Resolution (ER) LED panels have been sold, reports the company. Using the same advanced digital processing technology as R12-ER and R10-ER panels, R7-ER's enhanced resolution doubles the effective resolution on the same-sized panel as its 16mm counterpart.

Creative Technology (CT) placed an early order for 163 panels. "We decided to invest in a new generation of outdoor screen and wanted a product which would raise the bar on the current generation of products, providing improvements in performance, weight and functionality," says Dave Crump, business development director for Avesco Group, parent company of CT.

The R7-ER panels were put to immediate use, after acceptance testing by CT staff being shipped straight from the Lighthouse factory to Bahrain for use at that co

UK - PSL creativity and technology helped generate the appropriate pizzazz for the after-show party for Speed Racer, the new movie directed by the Wachowski Brothers, famous for The Matrix trilogy.

Speed Racer was described by one critic as "hyper-stylised, primary-coloured and taking on the aspect of a glamorous cartoon", and PSL worked with production designer Amanda Davies from AD Events to create a suitably sensational environment for Sir Ian McKellen, Christina Ricci, Emile Hirsch and others who had attended the film's premiere.

The party's unusual location was an edgy new space in central London called P3, once a 14,000 sq.ft concrete testing facility belonging to the University of Westminster, and only recently opened as an exhibition area and venue.

With its 30' high ceiling and mezzanine gallery floor, P3 offers interesting possibiliti

UK - XL Video is supplying equipment and crew for the successful Boyzone reunion tour, which sees the Irish boyband take to the stage again for the first time in eight years.

The stage concept is that of a giant video box, with the floor, ceiling and walls all utilised to create a fast-moving, dynamic and constantly changing performance environment.

This features over 1000 MiTrix tiles which are lining the 12-stepped stage set making up the floor of the performance area, and bordering six staggered overhead trusses on three sides, creating a mirror-image effect to the stage below. The truss mounted MiTrix was made up as custom lengths for the tour.

Upstage centre is the back wall, comprising a 22.5sq.m Barco ILite 10 LED screen. The side walls feature a total of 128 Element Labs VersaTUBES, mounted on special frames, and arranged in horizontal lines.

All these video elemen

UK - Seafood specialists, CT Holmes has become the first trader in the new Docklands-based Billingsgate Fish Market to embrace digital signage. The new 60i" dnp UCS rear projection display installed by Digital Vision AV has given the company (which trades as Holmes Seafood) a competitive edge during the brisk early morning trading at the world-famous 900-year-old market.

Paul Mayhew, who set up Digital Vision AV two years ago, says: "They had considered hanging a plasma or LCD display but these would have been too bulky given the confined area within the shop; they would also have suffered from reflection and would have had to battle with the elements and humidity in the market."

Instead he proposed an alternative solution. The 60" Ultra Contrast Screen (supplied by UK distributors Paradigm AV) provides enhanced brightness from a lightweight chassis - and t

UK - Projected Image Digital (PID) will once again be exhibiting at ABTT - and will be displaying Catalyst Digital Media software Version 4 this year, which is being used extensively for theatrical productions including the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Opera House, Royal and Derngate Northampton, UK Tour of Oh What a Night, West Yorkshire Playhouse and The National Theatre of Scotland.

It is also in action on a myriad of tours and live events, including James Blunt's 2008 world tour (LD Paul Normandale), Boyzone (LD Peter Barnes), the recent Kaiser Chief's homecoming gig at Leeds Elland Road stadium (Video director Jon Shrimpton/LD Richard Larkum) and will be used on the upcoming Coldplay world tour (LD Paul Normandale).

Catalyst is flexible, configurable and adaptable to suit productions of any size or budget, says the company. The latest PRO version, when coupled

France - Large format projection specialists E/T/C Paris will supply video expertise to create 200m wide seamless video images on the 18th century Place de la Bourse as the highlight of the 10th Bordeaux Wine Festival.

E/T/C will utilise its multimedia production and display control platform, OnlyView, with four Christie Roadie 25K and three Christie Roadster S+20 projectors to achieve spectacular results.

Covering an area of approximately 4000sq.m, the high definition video will be in excess of 12 million pixels, a resolution six times greater than that of professional HD digital video.

The show, entitled Hommages, is a collaboration between E/T/C, video designers and producers Cosmo AV and audio experts Les Ateliers Lumière. The imagery for Hommages will be produced by Jacques Nougaret, Pierre-Yves Toulot and José Christiani from Cosmo AV.

(Jim Evan

UK - Servicing a client located on the other side of the Atlantic can be a challenge for an event services company, but London-based PSL has forged a successful working partnership with American production company A Caspian Production.

Under the direction of A Caspian, PSL delivered the full staging solution for this year's 2008 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, an annual forum and Awards ceremony to mark the distribution of more than $30 million of grants by the Skoll Foundation, the largest foundation for social entrepreneurship in the world.

For a two-night programme culminating in the Awards, A Caspian Production booked one of Oxford's architectural gems, the famous Sheldonian Theatre. More than 700 people attended the ceremony, which boasted former US President Jimmy Carter as one of its speakers, as well as Jeff Skoll, first president of Ebay and founder of t

Germany - Sommer Cable's SC-RG Classic Broadcast Series offers S/P-DIF suitable video and SAT-cables and fulfills all of the requirements placed on high quality HD-SDI/HDTV-cables today. The low damping values for this cable series are based on a solid wire made of oxygen-free copper (OFC), gas-foamed insulation as well as double shielding made of tin-plated copper braiding and an AL/PT-foil.

These video and SAT-cables are available in four different versions, depending on application and transmission length and with different diameters and insulation strengths (0.6/2.8; 0.8/3.7; 1.0/4.8; 1.6/7.0).

Each cable version in the SC-RG Classic Broadcast Series is available in either a PVC- or a flame retardant FRNC-version. The flexible PVC-version is especially suitable for mobile applications, while the FRNC-jacket (in compliance with top quality norm IEC 332-3) makes the cable pe

UK / Belgium - UK-based media server specialists Green Hippo have teamed up with Barco to offer an integrated media server for the recently released Barco DML 1200 digital moving light. The DML 1200 is a very bright digital moving light, with a wide zoom-range and integrated CMY colour-changer that also has powerful projector capabilities. Barco says the new unit "tears down boundaries between projection and lighting."

This amalgamation of video and lighting capabilities combines Barco's projection technology with Green Hippo's widely recognised and user friendly Hippotizer V3 software technology.

According to Barco: "With its brightness, unlimited image selection and instant switching between light beam and video projection, cue by cue, the DML-1200 provides lighting designers with pure creativity at their fingertips. With its on-board media player, lighting de

Ireland - Performed at the Glór Theatre, Ennis in February, before going on tour later this year, Out of Time explores Dunne's private world as a dancer rooted in the Irish step dance tradition, looking to the past for simple beginnings as he examines his relationship with a tradition that has shaped his life.

Dunne wanted find a way to present traditional Irish dance within a contemporary piece and an introduction to Sean Westgate of media server specialist Green Hippo by director Sinead Rushe, was the beginning of an evolutionary creative process which was to do just that.

"It is nearly a year ago since we all first met in London," recalls Dunne, "me not really knowing anything about film technology at this end - and Sean not knowing anything about bloody Irish dance at his end! We were not sure what the Hippotizer was really about and were a bit intim

UK - A.C. Lighting reports that its stand at the ABTT show will highlight a selection of the exclusive products and services available from the supplier's dedicated Lighting, Rigging, Audio and Video sales divisions, and sister Special Projects company.

As the exclusive UK distributor for the Chroma-Q, Jands and Spotlight brands, A.C.'s lighting area will feature recent additions to each range. The Chroma-Q LED range includes the new Color Punch compact IP65 fixture, providing super bright results for both indoor and temporary outdoor applications, and the Color Split fixture with dual side by side RGBA LED cells. The Jands range includes the revolutionary Vista lighting console with graphic based user interface and the FPX/WMX portable/wall mounted, professional touring quality 12x2.4kW channel dimmers. The Spotlight range includes the Cyclorama Domino RGBA LED floodlight with

UK - XL Video UK supplied equipment and crew to the Kaiser Chiefs homecoming gig at Elland Road Stadium, Leeds last weekend.

Video director Jon Shrimpton added his magic into the 15 screen live mix at the concert staged in front of 35,000 excited fans - the largest own-headlining show the band has played to date.

Once again, Shrimpton collaborated closely with lighting designer Richard Larkum on the look and feel of the show, cutting the IMAG from FOH instead of the more conventional side-stage position.This was something they started on the arena tour at the end of 2007, finding it enhanced communication and a creative rapport..

The Elland Road stage was similar in set up to that of the arena tour, with five portrait format screens 'crowning' the action above the front of the stage. At this show, these were constructed from Barco MiTrix - 18 tiles high and five wide - chose

Austria - The MEET/BTT trade conference takes place every two years and is hosted by OETHG and DTHG, the professional theatre and TV associations for Germany and Austria. This year the event was in Bregenz, Austria and featured an extensive schedule of conferences and seminars.

Together with RTC, Zero 88's distributor for Austria, Zero 88 showed the Frog 2, Leap Frog 48/96 and Jester series as well as the new Master Touch Screen for the Chilli dimmers. Zero 88's powerful 3D visualisation software Light Converse, which played a big role within the lighting design contest, had a lot of very positive feedback during the show, says the company.

A highlight of the event was the lighting design contest. This was the first time a lighting design competition had been arranged at the show and was accomplished in co-operation with the OETHG, DTHG and RTC.

Applications for the competit

UK - Specialist design and printing company Sunbaba launched their new 'Block Out' material at this year's ABTT theatre show, 10th - 11th June.

Sourcing creative and innovative solutions for the theatres and production teams, Sunbaba's portfolio of materials are used for drapes, scenery and set designs across professional and amateur dramatics.

The new Block Out material allows its users to create two different images, one a printed image and the other a backlit silhouette. The material is first printed with the images that are to be rear blocked, then tested on a light box to ensure the image backlights perfectly, creating silhouette images when night falls.

Sunbaba's technical director, Trevor booth explains: "Block Out is a revolutionary solution that will be ideal to create theatre backdrops. We can use this technique and material to create 'night and day' effect wi

UK - Event services specialist PSL enjoyed such a positive response to its recent open days for customers that it has decided to repeat them, staging four Open Days at its Potters Bar HQ at the beginning of July.

A PSL Open Day provides an opportunity to discuss event production at every level in a calm and unhurried environment, says the company. There's a chance to evaluate the latest technology in the AV presentation industry, such as powerful new tools for visual display in widescreen format and HD projection.

PSL specialist John Montague will be showing visitors how to maximize the impact of their presentation material on a full 20' wide screening area, providing accessible explanations of what cutting-edge content generation devices like the Hippotizer media server can bring to the party.

PSL has been investing heavily in new display equipment, many items of which will

USA Medialon has introduced several new products to its show and media control range.

Medialon Manager V5 can control any audiovisual equipment using any protocol and network. Being software based it integrates perfectly with IT, opening a wide range of new applications, says the company.

Medialon Manager is hardware independent and connects to controlled devices via industrial hardware as well as conventional AV control hardware such as AMX. Medialon Manager can run in hidden mode where only custom designed interface are visible or in user mode allowing live edition. It comes with free Panel software for custom touch screen design.

Medialon Scheduler is a Windows based application to schedule any type of events programmed with Medialon Manager Show & Media Control software.

Show Control Machine PRO has been designed with critical application in mind and every detail has b

UK - Live event specialist tdc transformed Sheffield City Hall's ballroom for the final of a Dragon's Den-style student business challenge. The Sheffield-based company provided AV support for the BiG Challenge, a competition designed to encourage and generate enterprise in education.

The event, which forms part of BiG - Make It Your Business, provided 180 teams from 18 schools and two colleges in Sheffield with the chance to pitch for a share of £100,000 to support enterprise in their school, as well as a five day trip to the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA.

Each team of budding entrepreneurs received £25 to start and run their business over a six month period and generate as much profit as possible with the most successful teams making the City Hall final.

More than 20 awards were presented at the event with Myers Grove School taking the ove

Good News - The Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that the 30th anniversary ABTT Theatre Show staged in London's Royal Horticultural Halls last week was considered another triumph. Year on year the Show has expanded from both exhibitor and visitor perspectives. With over 100 participating companies, the organisers say that, despite the current uncertain economic climate, the visitor numbers were maintained and were slightly up on 2007.

Company News - In the entertainment technology industry's latest high-profile acquisition, Barco has announced that it has bought High End Systems Inc, the well-known manufacturer of automated luminaires, digital lighting and lighting controls, for a total value of USD 55 million. "With the merging of two strong industry players, this acquisition reinforces Barco's leadership position in the fast converging video and lighting segmen

UK - SPS recently completed the Institute of Directors Annual Convention. This one-day event was held in the Royal Albert Hall for nearly 3,000 business leaders, with speakers including Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Kevin Spacey and Bob Geldof.

SPS has worked on the IoD flagship event for five consecutive years and utilised its extensive experience to provide the bulk of the staging and production elements including the impressive stage set, screen content and opening video. The SPS creative team also worked with many of the speakers to develop screen content to support their presentations.

A 14m x 6m custom-built screen provided the main focus of the set, with imagery provided by two projectors to achieve a 45,000 lumen image with full 2K HD resolution. This screen was utilised in many ways throughout the day. "For the opening video we wanted to highlight the calibre of t

USA - Two of the world's larger audio and video system integrators, Impact, Europe's largest, and The Whitlock Group, a $135 million dollar US based company, have announced "the creation of the industry's first global alliance for the audio-visual (AV) integration market". Called the Global Presence Alliance (GPA), the group will initially focus on customers based in the US and Europe, with plans to build the international footprint and size going forward.

Fredd Causevic, CEO of Impact, said: "With the market for videoconferencing, in particular, growing at a rate of more than 25 per cent, it is exactly the right time to look to extend our geographic reach.

"Our clients here in the UK and Europe are increasingly asking for the same level of service and support for their offices throughout the world. The Global Presence Alliance is all about promoting best p

Belgium - Barco is unveiling a broad array of new products at this year's InfoComm 2008 (18-20 June, Las Vegas).

Headlining at this year's show is the introduction of the FLM HD20 (1,980 x 1,080 resolution, 20,000 centre lumens) and FLM R22+ (1,400 x 1,050 resolution, 22,000 centre lumens), two new high brightness additions to the FLM projector family. Together with the existing features of the FLM series, these additions incorporate new technology which ensures minimal maintenance costs, increased light efficiency and reduction of overall power consumption, says the company.

During development of the new projectors, Barco also designed a new universal lamp housing for the whole family of FLM projectors. This new lamp housing offers advantages over the previous housings such as increased brightness with less power consumption, enhanced image quality and reduction of the overal

UK - With special half-price pre-registration now live on the PLASA08 website, organiser PLASA Events has revealed that the host of its first ever PLASA Masterclass will be Funktion One co-founder Tony Andrews - the winner of last year's inaugural Gottelier Award.

A highly regarded designer and manufacturer of high quality point source speaker systems, with numerous patents to his name, Andrews' landmark developments include the hugely successful Flashlight and Floodlight systems, and more recently the distinctive Funktion One Resolution Series.

Andrews headlines a growing programme of educational presentations at the show, which include a number of exciting new initiatives and partnerships. There will be a strong focus on industry technologies, with several sessions addressing existing and emerging audio, AV and lighting technologies and how to maximise their application in t

UK - Cotswold Leisure Cirencester has provided an invaluable public sports facility in Cirencester for many years. But when faced with increased private competition and deteriorating conditions, Cotswold District Council took the decision to demolish its existing leisure centre and replace it with a new centre to meet the needs of its population for the next few decades. PEL Services Ltd was awarded the contract to supply, install and commission all the fire, security, safety and audio-visual systems for the new venue.

With a raft of new legislation in place to help protect the public and ensure all are treated equally, most notable of which is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), special consideration has to be given to safety in a leisure centre. PEL Services installed a number of key assistance systems in Cotswold Leisure Cirencester including Personal Assistance buttons

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