UK - CIE-Group, one of the audio visual industry's longest established providers of equipment for the professional audio visual integration and PA sectors, has announced a new distribution partnership with leading European telecommunications solution provider 2N. This partnership means 2N becomes the latest addition to the CIE-Group product portfolio, providing an innovative range of IP-addressable audio, intercom and door entry systems for professional the AV, telecoms and security sectors.

The new 2N audio-over-IP range consists of their NetSpeaker and SIP Speaker products which allow for distributed PA, music, audio marketing and messaging via a standard LAN, WAN or internet network. This allows for fast, simple multi-zone or multi-site installed sound systems using standard Cat-X cable infrastructure.

The 2N Door Access and Intercom range is also IP-addressable allowing fo

The Netherlands - displayLED, home of the digiLED screen brand, will demonstrate some of the creative opportunities offered by its latest generation of LED display technology at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), Amsterdam, from 4-6 February.

digiFLEX 6mm & bendy truss: The award winning magnetic digiFLEX screen surface will be coupled with a new innovative bendy truss that enables cost-effective installations of video tickers and creative curves. This brand new concept is a must see for both interior space and set designers.

HRi 3.5mm: It's not about the highest resolution, rather the highest usable resolution. The HRi system is digiLED's latest high resolution offering aimed at AV rental businesses and the integration market. Based on the concept that usability is key to a product's success, the new HRi will be available in 3.5mm, 3.1mm and 2.7mm variants. Manufactured to exce

UK - Screeching tyres, burning rubber and hi-adrenaline action was enjoyed by up to 5000 petrol-heads, speed freaks and performance car enthusiasts per show, courtesy of XL Video's spectacular 90m wide projection in the Live Action Arena at the 2014 Autosport International exhibition.

Staged at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham UK, XL has been involved with the popular Haymarket Exhibitions' show for several years. Following the massive success of the widescreen projection last year - the first time in this format - it was back again right at the heart of the production design for the show under the Creative Direction of Malcolm Forbes.

XL was again working for the Live Action Arena's technical production co-ordinators, Network Productions. XL's project manager was Toby Evans.

The giant moving backgrounds were made up from a six-way blend of six stacks of two Barc

The Netherlands - Christie will feature three upgraded Christie G Series projectors to its powerful, industry-leading 1-chip DLP line-up at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show in Amsterdam. Providing 6,000 lumens and WXGA/HD/WUXGA resolution, the three new Christie G Series models raise the benchmark of single-lamp, high brightness 1-chip DLP performance at a low ownership cost, says the c ompany.

Also debuting at ISE is the Christie Q Series. The 1-chip DLP projector powerhouse with a sophisticated design delivers best-in-class performance with brightness options ranging from 8,500 to 10,000 lumens and XGA, WXGA, and WUXGA resolutions.

Boasting 6,000 lumens and a single-lamp design, the upgraded Christie G Series is the brightest in its category and provides the exceptional image quality, brightness and dependability that is essential for presentations in board and confe

Canada The Cirque du Soleil's Varekai, which has been touring the world since 2002, returned to Montreal, Quebec in December 2013 for its re-launch as Arena Shows. The production team proposed to lighting designer, Nol van Genuchten the deployment of the BlackTrax realtime tracking solution from CAST BlackTrax Ltd for moving light tracking of performers.

"As lighting designer for the very first edition of Varekai, it's great to be working on it again as it evolves. With the new arena tour, Varekai is hosted at a different location each week and presents its own lighting challenges allowing me to adapt the lighting to 'the arena' of each new environment," said van Genuchten.

"We introduced BlackTrax as an operational efficiency and cost saving tool as well as a way of calibrating lighting highlights to track performers on the stage area. Blac

The Netherlands - MultiTouch has announced details of its stand (Hall 11, Stand N50) at ISE 2014.

The company will be demonstrating its latest innovations, including the new, turnkey, MultiTaction iWall, comprising 12 x 55" ultra-thin bezel MultiTaction displays. In addition, delegates will see prototypes of the new 84" and 55" 4K MultiTaction cells, MultiTaction Site Manager, the latest release of the Cornerstone software development kit, Codice Markers, and infrared pen support software.

Running a custom-made MultiTaction Experience application, the MultiTaction iWall demonstration will highlight the features of MultiTaction technology, including simultaneous touch, IR pen and object recognition, 200+fps tracking and Enriched Reality. It will also highlight MultiTouch's Full HD, ultra-thin bezel displays, which result in a pixel-to-pixel gap of less than 6mm b

The Netherlands - Medialon is to release LonCloud (LonCloud.com), a new web service to monitor critical data of audiovisual installations equipped with a Medialon Controller.

Critical data, such as lamp hour usage of video projectors or video server operations, are permanently monitored by Medialon Controllers. Now it is possible to regularly send snapshots of those values to the LonCloud service where users can monitor the data in real time and set up thresholds to send alarms to technicians so they can act before equipment fails.

LonCloud is designed for integrators and offers several levels of access rights, allowing professionals to set up LonCloud monitoring for their customers and resell the monitoring services.

LonCloud, as a web service with an easy to use graphical interface, also offers a diagnosis tool to compare data values across time, such as room temperature a

UK - Building on the success of previous years, Paradigm AV report an outstanding response to their high-brightness screen technology, geared specifically for the educational segment, at this year's BETT Show 2014.

According to sales manager, Dave Stephen, a more minimalist approach this time out paid dividends, resulting in a more direct communication with the customer and clear, unambiguous messaging.

Attention was mainly focused on the dnp 92in STS Ultra Short Throw, in 16:10 aspect ratio, used in conjunction with a super widescreen Epson EB485W projector (0.27:1 throw ratio), and 100in Supernova Core 2 display.

Here, the permanently packed stand gave visitors the opportunity to see a split screen, comparing standard screen resolution in daylight conditions, with the high visual acuity of the award-winning Supernova technology.

"As a result, we received a very good

The Netherlands - From rental and staging, to retail, higher education, and corporate, Panasonic has presented its visual vision of the future at ISE, in Amsterdam.

Panasonic's ability to supply an end-to-end, fully integrated visual solutions system, is demonstrated across an impressive 400sqm booth, which also presents new technology that will shape the future of professional display.

Showcasing the next generation of solid state illumination projectors, utilising a laser light source, and announcing projectors and professional displays with 4K resolution, Panasonic is at the forefront of visual development and leading the market with cutting edge solutions for various applications.

Panasonic's position as a full range supplier of professional displays is strengthened with the 98" and 84" 4K LED displays, the latest in its line of large format displays.

The 4K

The Netherlands - Hitachi Digital Media Group has announced the launch of an entire new range of Ultra-Short and Interactive Ultra-Short LCD projectors. All of the new projectors offer exceptional usability and easy access to powerful features while the Interactive models feature multi-pen and PCless drawing as well as the option of finger operation.

"Through continual innovation and by listening to the voice of customers, Hitachi has delivered a whole range of Ultra-Short Throw projectors that dispense with the need to compromise performance for convenience," said Axel Kutschke, senior manager, presentation products for Hitachi Digital Media Group. "Despite the adoption of a fixed mirror, which is just one of the features that ensure exceptional image quality, these bright, high performance models are still the smallest and lightest Ultra-Short Throw projectors o

UK - Ilfracombe, Devon based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialist S+H has taken delivery of its first batch of 100sq.m of Glux's new 3.9 IDsnC high definition LED screen modules, which will join its existing extensive inventory of LED technologies and special effects available for rental and all types of special project installations.

The physical dimensions of each panel of Glux 3.9 are a handy 500 x 500 mm at 45mm deep, offering an impressively light weight of just 3Kg each or 12Kgs per square metre, making it one of the lightest HD LED screens currently on the market.

It is also around 70% lighter than most 'lightweight' competitor products.

S+H's MD Terry Murtha confirms that the company will be making further investments in LED screen later this year to keep up with the demand from all types of productions especially television, theatre and special event

The Netherlands - As ISE 2014 prepared to open its doors, over 950 exhibitors were putting the finishing touches to their stands, helping to ensure that the 11th Integrated Systems Europe will be not just the largest tradeshow for professional AV and systems integration ever held in Europe, but also the brightest and the busiest, say the organisers.

The 2014 total of 952 exhibiting companies represents an increase of more than 6% on last year's figure, and over 200 of those companies are completely new to ISE, giving visitors a wealth of new business opportunities in every technology sector served by the event. The show will occupy more than 36,000 net square metres for the first time, while pre-registration also reached record levels.

Yet Mike Blackman, the event's managing director, believes the real story of ISE 2014 lies behind these impressive numbers. "This week we'

The Netherlands - MultiTouch has announced the launch of MultiTaction Site Manager, a tool that provides remote access to interactive display installations and allowing central and secure control of multiple installations. Available for demo at ISE 2014, hall 11, stand N50, MultiTaction Site Manager is the first application offered by MultiTouch for system management. It addresses the most critical requirements effectively and lays the foundation on which to meet the constantly evolving requirements for control and system management.

"We're delighted to say that interactive display installations using MultiTaction® Cells are becoming bigger, incorporating multiple units across many physical locations, and becoming increasingly more business critical," explains Hannu Anttila, vice president of business development at MultiTouch. "We needed to find a cost-effect

The Netherlands - Christie is debuting its new 65-inch flat panel digital display solutions at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show this week. The affordably priced, LED edge-lit Christie FHD651-T and Christie FHD651-P have a thin profile - just 2.7-inches deep for the touch (T) and 2.1-inches deep for the non-touch (P) version - making for easy installation and complementing any setting with their elegant design.

Both commercial-grade LCD flat panels have the reliability and image quality needed for meeting rooms, classrooms and digital signage in corporate spaces, museums, education facilities, houses of worship, theatres, and hospitality and retail environments where conveying the message with bright, brilliant images for long time periods without interruption is essential.

Featuring up to four simultaneous touches, the Christie FHD651-T has high-accuracy infrared touch

The Netherlands - MultiTouch has announced the introduction of the largest interactive display wall for research purposes in Europe at Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden). At approximately 5m wide and 2.5m high, the turnkey 12x 55" MultiTaction iWall recognises finger touches, complete hands, infrared pens and objects. TU Dresden's goal is to conduct ambitious research in human-computer interaction.

"We expect large interactive displays to be omnipresent in the future," explains Professor Raimund Dachselt, head of the Interactive Media Lab at TU Dresden. "The MultiTaction iWall provides us a 25 megapixel display supporting the widest range of input methods and unlimited touch points. The MultiTaction technology is the only one worldwide to support this variety of interaction modalities at this size. That's why we want to be the first lab with this eq

The Netherlands - Barco reports that one of its customers, the Dutch Railway Museum, will soon receive a prestigious Thea Award. Presented by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), this 'Oscar for the entertainment industry', as the award is sometimes called, recognizes compelling educational, historical and entertainment projects. TEA honoured the Dutch Railway Museum for the Fire Test, an exciting new audiovisual storytelling experience. 18 Barco projectors help create the immersive visuals that are bound to wow young and old.

The Fire Test is more than a visitor attraction. It is a truly immersive, audiovisual experience that takes young and old on a unique, storytelling trip. Visitors embark on an interactive adventure through two centuries of railway history, narrated by Dutch-born actor Rutger Hauer and interlaced with razor-sharp visuals.

Nine single-chip DLP F22 W

Russia - Panasonic has supplied the largest quantity of security cameras in the history of the Olympic Games and the largest amount of LED large screen displays by area ever for the Olympic Winter Games.

Panasonic Corporation, the worldwide TOP1 sponsor in the audio visual (AV) equipment category, has delivered its AV equipment, such as its Full HD visual equipment, to the 22nd Olympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia from February 7 to 23, 2014.

Panasonic will cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Sochi Olympic Organizing Committee and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), to provide strong support to the operation of the Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

Panasonic has supplied a large amount of equipment to the competition venues and the Olympic related facilities in a variety of AV product areas, including LED large screen displays, audio systems, bro

Germany - Design, programming, and lighting/video direction experts Einstein & Sons has chosen to boost its arsenal of innovative visuals engines by investing in Avolites Media's industry-leading Ai Media Servers.

Einstein & Sons, which was founded in 2013 by lighting designers Roland Greil and Michael Kuehbandner, offers design and consulting, programming, lighting and video direction, media server programming and hire alongside pre-production services, to a wide range of clients.

Recent projects include supplying media server services to the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, design work for Sony and Samsung Booths 2009-2013, design work at the FIS Ski World Cup Munich 2010-2012, as well as associate design work for internationally successful designers like Patrick Woodroffe.

"By investing in Avolites Media's Ai Servers, we feel like we've invested in the future of server

UK - The owner of specialist screen consultancy Display Knowledge, Jon Perkins, has joined international video solutions provider displayLED as group technical sales manager.

Perkins, whose 25 year career in the video industry includes 12 years with Sony, latterly as its European commercial manager, has worked with the world's largest corporations and sporting events in all areas of screen sales and service. He specialises in screen purchase consultancy, installation, project management, product modification, technical investigation, maintenance and repair

Since his Sony days, through Display Knowledge, Perkins sold in excess of US$15m of screen equipment, largely into the rental market on behalf of Toshiba, and was instrumental in setting up their US LED sales operation, also running their European installation and repair function.

At displayLED he will initially focus on b

UK - Canned Video provides a complete video recording and streaming solution for video conferences and meetings taking place anywhere around the world. Video recording is a growing trend within enterprise as businesses are increasingly communicating via video conferences, meetings and point-to-point video calls. In just the click of an email, any important video meeting within Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa or the Middle East can be recorded or streamed with just 24 hours notice1.

Recording in MPEG 4 or WMV format for playback on Windows, Apple or other non-Windows systems, the service is bookable via the website www.cannedvideo.com where interested clients simply have to fill in the booking form with their requirements. No additional equipment or technical expertise is needed as Canned Video will handle everything, dialling into a video conference, meeting or presentation,

USA - Over 80,000 fans became animated pixels at the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show featuring Bruno Mars. Five outputs from four Hippo HD Genlock machines controlled the wireless audience LED 'display', plus 220 LED Ayrton MagicPanel 602s on the stage. PixMob technology made the audience participation possible, alternatively managed by the lighting desk and Hippotizer control.

"The biggest challenge of the show was handling 80 universes of DMX," says programmer Jason Rudolph. "But everything went according to plan. We chose the Hippotizer HDs with Genlock because of their pixel-mapping capabilities, as well as their live inputs and broadcast compatibility. TMB and Green Hippo are always a big help with their 24/7 tech support." Bob Barnhart of Los Angeles based Full Flood was the show's LD.

(Jim Evans)

UK - London based lighting specialist White Light is showcasing new products on Stand D36 at the Broadcast Video Expo later this month. Hosted at ExCel London on 25-27 February, BVE brings together creative and technical professionals along with manufacturers and distributors from across the video production industry.

At this year's expo, White Light will display products from leading manufacturers including ADB Lighting, Altman Lighting, Chromlech, CORE Lighting, Doughty Engineering, Galaxia Electronics, Lee Filters, Look Solutions, Rosco, and Wireless Solution.

For the first time at BVE, White Light will also be showcasing products from Photon Beard, which specialises in manufacturing lighting for film and television. On display will be the company's popular fluorescent soft light - the Square One, as well as more traditional tungsten fixtures: the Minibeam 300w Fresnel, Pho

South Africa - For two weeks in January/February 2014 Simon Harris, user experience manager for media server manufacturer Green Hippo, travelled to South Africa to run seven days' worth of Hippo School training sessions in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town in association with South African distributor, Electrosonic.

The Hippo School course is designed to teach everything required to programme Hippotizer media servers for a show. Covering topics such as MediaManager, DMX control, PixelMapping, VideoMapping and Timeline Programming amongst many others, the attendees were given the chance to get 'hands on' with the majority of servers manufactured by Green Hippo. The Hippo School programme was highly successful in meeting everyone's needs.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Eric Prydz is taking the US by storm with his brand new EPIC 2.0 tour featuring 'freeform' lighting design, 3D holograms and giant, brighter LED-mapping surfaces powered by a mix of Avolites Sapphire consoles and Avolites Media Ai servers.

Lighting designer Jaz Bhullar used two Avolites Sapphire Touch consoles to create striking and original lighting for the shows - one live and one for backup.

"It was such a massive video show that we wanted to keep the lighting quite moody and subdued, only using it when necessary," says Bhullar. "The main reason we wanted to use the Sapphires is because rather than being a time coded show where everything snaps completely to the music, we wanted it to be freeform with an organic feel. Avolites desks are perfect for this, and the latest Titan v7 software allowed us to use all the new functions to do some really cool thin

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