Hong Kong - Following the 64PXL panel series, Traxon Technologies has released modular elements in compact 25 x 25cm size with 16 individually controllable pixels with which architects, lighting designers and consultants can create their own lighting scenarios and installations. The lighting effect created by the 16PXL Board and Module with their wide beam angle of 120 degrees provides intricate colour changing patterns, graphical displays, scroll texts and logos, says the company.
Installed behind semi-frosted surfaces, the Board unfolds its full potential, while the Module is designed for direct view applications and features a protective housing that allows for a variety design inlays. The 16 pixel Board and Module can be easily installed on almost any surface including walls, ceilings and ground surfaces.
The Quick Clip Mounting System ensures fast mounting and demounting, suitable for temporary installation setups. The 16PXL items enhance Traxon's existing Modules range of 1PXL Board, Module, Strip and Cove Light fixtures. All are available as full-colour RGB versions as well as part of Traxon's newly launched White Line.
(Jim Evans)
UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT), is sponsoring Performing Theatres, part of The Theatres' Trust Conference 07. Performing Theatres follows on from the successful 2006 ABTT Theatre, Architecture and Engineering Conference and develops the need for there to be a stronger profile for users in setting out requirements for building and refurbishing theatres.
Raising issues about how best to maximise theatre design in the 21st Century, the Performing Theatres Conference is chaired by Ian Brown, artistic director, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Genista McIntosh and Venu Dhupa, director of creative innovation, Southbank Centre. The one day event promises to offer a lively and wide-ranging debate on how the design of theatres will meet our needs in the 21st Century.
Complementing ABTT's annual Theatre Show, which highlights technological innovation and presents a comprehensive range of products and services for professionals and non - technical users involved with equipping, refurbishing or upgrading their drama studio, theatre, auditorium or multipurpose performance space, there is a natural synergy between the events.
(Jim Evans)
USA - Intelix LLC has announced the release of the AVO-A2-WP-F wallplate balun, which distributes a high-fidelity stereo audio signal up to 2,500ft over standard twisted pair cable, such as Cat 5 or Cat 6.
The front panel of the AVO-A2-WP-F features two gold-plated female RCA connectors on a white decora face-plate. The rear panel features an RJ45 connector and optional grounding screw. The installed unit fits in a standard depth wall-box.
Used in pairs or with a rack-mountable Intelix AVO-A2 modular balun, the AVO-A2-WP-F transmits 20 Hz to 20 kHz analogue audio in either direction up to 2,500 feet.
(Jim Evans)The AVO-A2-WP.
World - In early 2007 Rod Stewart embarked on his Rockin' in the Round Tour an ambitious theatre-in-the-round production that kicked off a 56-city North American tour in January, to be followed by a swing through European stadiums in June and July.
The production is impressive in both scope and scale. Stewart's tour makes the most of the set, starting with four huge, high-definition video screens that face each direction. Before the show, a video called The Rodfather touting Stewart's history as a pop innovator is screened, while during the show, images of Stewart, his band, and shots of the city in which the performance is taking place are displayed on the screens. Two catwalks coming off opposite sides of the stage allow Stewart to venture out of the main performing area and into the crowd. The intricate lighting rig includes multicolour LED lights built into the stage.
Having carried a sizeable Meyer Sound system based on the Meyer Sound Milo high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker on Stewart's lengthy From Maggie May to the Great American Songbook world tour, Stewart's longtime production manager and front-of-house engineer Lars Brogaard decided to stick with the proven sound quality, consistency, and ease of setup of the Milo rig, making it yet larger to provide the 360-degree coverage required for this tour from four stations that essentially defined 'corners' of the stage.
Brogaard's sound company, Major Tom, is supplying 100 Milo cabinets, as well as 10 M'elodie ultracompact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers for front-fill,
UK - After some 34 years in the lighting controls industry, David H Kerr will be retiring from Polaron Controls at the end of May. Kerr began his career with Electrosonic and over a tenure of some 20 years led the company into being a world leader in lighting controls and architectural dimming systems. During that time he was credited with instigating the global standard of 'Scene Setting', which is now in use in most lighting controls applications in Architectural and Residential buildings around the world.
Kerr is also credited with founding Dynalite Ltd in the UK in 1993, which went onto be the brand leader in the UK with projects such as Bluewater, Windsor Castle and Millennium Dome. In 2001, Kerr was the driving force behind the launch of the iLight Group, which embraced the Zero 88 Lighting and iLight brands.
Due to health and family considerations, Kerr sold the iLight Group to Polaron Plc in August 2004, and was retained as a consultant to the group. He now intends to write a book about his experiences in the world of lighting controls and to focus his energy into his passion for sailing, with a three-year circumnavigation commencing from Dartmouth in June 2007.
(Lee Baldock)
Spain / Portugal - Quercus Equity has invested 60 million euros in the acquisition of the Spanish group Stonex and the Portuguese audio-visual group Alfasom - owner of the Spanish companies Aysav and Congress Rental Ibérica - creating the largest audio-visual group in the Iberian Peninsular.
The Stonex group, founded in Madrid in 1980, specializes in engineering and turnkey stage equipment projects for theatres, auditoriums, congress centres, casinos and theme parks, encompassing stage engineering, show lighting, architectural lighting and audio-visual installations. The company has offices in Madrid and La Coruña, and boasts more than 300 reference projects in the Iberian market, such as WB Madrid theme park, Pamplona Auditorium and congress centre (Baluarte), Colon Theatre in La Coruña, Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, Expo 98's Lisboa Camoens Theatre and Gran Casino de Aranjuez, among many others.
The Portuguese group Alfasom, founded in Lisbon in 1985, specializes in the production and development of audio-visual events, from the conceptual and artistic level to technical and operative. Alfasom organizes around 6,000 events each year, and is the leading company in Spain and Portugal. Its key reference projects include the Moncloa's palace in Madrid, the Madrid Congress Centre, the EU president's conference and FIFA World cup 2006 events in Portugal.
The alliance of these companies forms the most important audio-visual group in the Iberian Peninsular, with more than 300 employees. The group will be headed by Domingo Latorre from Stonex, along Cándido R
UK / USA - UK manufacturer GDS has formally announced the appointment of TMB as the exclusive distributor for its award-winning 'Blues System' in America, Asia and the Middle East.
The system was extremely well received at its North American debut at USITT in Phoenix, says Chris Curran, TMB's architectural sales director: "The Blues System is truly one of those 'why didn't I think of that?' new products. It solves many backstage lighting problems as well as offering options that were previously impractical. We were almost overwhelmed by the positive response at USITT and also by the various possible new applications that arose during conversation with the many visitors to our booth."
Specifically designed for backstage lighting applications in the working theatre, the Blues System won a PLASA Innovation Award at its European launch at the PLASA Show last year, and a highly successful relationship with UK distributors Leisuretec Distribution has seen the products already installed at numerous high profile venues in Europe with great success.
"We are delighted to appoint TMB as a further distributor of 'The Blues' - and are excited about the potential for this unique system in the American marketplace," enthused GDS director Matt Lloyd. "This partnership follows and supports the great work of our Distributors in the UK, where the Blues system is fast revolutionising theatre working lights."
(Lee Baldock)
USA - The Chauvet Q-Spot 575 won the 2007 Club World award in the Best Lighting Category. Every March, the Club World Awards honour the club industry's best, from LJs, DJs and club designers to lighting, sound systems and the clubs themselves. Editorial staffers of Club Systems International magazine and parent company Testa Communication select nominees from a submission pool. A panel of industry experts determines the winners who were announced at a ceremony held in Miami, FL.
Development Manager Victor Menendez accepted the Best Lighting Product award for the Q-Spot 575 on behalf of the entire team Chauvet. Also in attendance was CEO Albert Chauvet. " This means a lot to us," he said, "because we not only feel that it does justice to the Q-Spot 575's outstanding performance but it also validates our team's hard work and determination to make a difference in terms of value."
The Q-Spot 575 lends itself to an array of touring, production and club applications. It is part of the Q-Series launched in 2006. The 16-channel unit is fitted with an intense 575-watt HMI lamp with a life expectancy of up to 1,000 hours. The head moves smoothly within a range of 540 degrees of pan and 270 degrees of tilt. The colour wheel offers eight solid dichroic colours, one split colour and one quad colour plus white and effectuates rainbow spins bi-directionally. " It's just an unbeatable product," Albert Chauvet says. " We thank the judges and Testa Communications for recognising that."
(Jim Evans)
UK - XL Video supplied Production North with plasma and LED screens and a Version 4 Catalyst digital media server, all of which were used as an 'ambient' video system for the Lemar theatre tour.
Production North's Steve Levitt and Sarah Hollis (also the tour's production manager) came up with a set design which also incorporated the video screens. They wanted something a bit different, a slightly discreet and understated visual effect that would work appropriately in the venues that Lemar was playing.
The seven screens consisted of six plasmas ranging from 42 to 61" dotted asymmetrically around the set for a quirky slightly random feel, and a 6ft by 4ft panel of Barco i-Lite 6 LED screen to stage left. The plasmas were attached to various bits of set and trussing with scaffolding clamps and adaptors. All surfaces were driven by content stored on the Catalyst, which was triggered from LD Jonathan Armstrong's WholeHog II lighting console.
Lemar took an interest in the material going onto the screens, and special footage was created for the tour by Helene Spencer from The Field, including specially commissioned new material, re-cut promos and some 'wallpaper' type effects. Lighting was supplied by Bandit Lites UK and sound by Wigwam. FOH engineer was Simon Thomas and the monitors were mixed by Dan Ungaretti.
(Jim Evans)
USA - Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG) and High End Systems, (HES) have announced a joint licensing agreement regarding their patent portfolios of lighting and control technology. The agreement goes into effect immediately.
Both PRG and HES have been innovators in developing digital and analogue lighting fixtures, systems and controls for the entertainment industry. Both companies hold extensive catalogues of patents in the United States and abroad. Under the agreement, PRG will be able to offer licensees a single license that covers both the PRG and the HES patents.
"This means that manufacturers who develop products can conveniently access both PRG and HES patents with a single license from PRG," says Jere Harris, chairman and founder of PRG. "We expect that this agreement will make it easier for manufacturers to utilise the innovations developed by PRG and HES to extend the range of lighting products available to our industry."
"Innovation is the lifeblood of our industry, and this agreement opens the door for creative people to build on what has come before," agrees Richard Belliveau, founder and chief technology officer of High End Systems. "It makes sense that our companies have come together to make that happen."
(Jim Evans)
UK - The annual St Patrick's Day celebration took place in London on 17 March 2007. A major part of the action took place in the Capital's iconic landmark Trafalgar Square, where the fountains turned green, large amounts of Guinness were drunk and the action was relayed by Lighthouse LED screens.
The free event, organised by Mean Fiddler for the Mayor of London, featured the best of contemporary and traditional Irish music on the main stage in Trafalgar Square, with video specialist The Picture Works supplying all the visual elements for the show.
Two 5 x 5 panels of Lighthouse R16 16mm LED screens, each measuring 5.08m (w) x 3.85m (h), were positioned stage left and right, with a further 4 x 3 panels of Lighthouse R16 measuring 4.05m (w) by 2.8m (h) placed centre stage.
"We've done this particular job for six consecutive years," says The Picture Works owner Robin Wealleans. "It's technically challenging because there's so little space available. The stage has to be right next to Nelson's Column and there needs to be as much space available for the public in the Square as possible."
The Picture Works came up with an ingenious solution to the problem. "We had to custom-make the support structures for the screens to reduce their overall footprint," continues Wealleans. "So we came up with a way of taking off the front legs that would normally counterbalance the screens and put big water ballast tanks behind them instead. This meant there was absolutely no footprint at the front and the structure was entirely self-standing.&quo
South Africa - The Durban International Conference Centre in KwaZulu-Natal has celebrated its 10th anniversary with the launch of the new ICC Durban Arena - a sub-divisible 32,000sq.m space that will be used for show space and exhibitions. Midas consoles and Klark Teknik signal processing equipment were used extensively for the new venue's launch, supplied by South African distributor Prosound Pty, which was contracted to provide the audio and production management for the event including overseeing the design and set-up of the audio system.
The opening of the arena coincided with George Benson and Al Jarreau's South African leg of their Giving It Up tour, so it was decided to host the Durban show at the new venue as part of the opening ceremony. The launch also featured a speciality show, The Power of Durban, devised and produced by Durban ICC's technical production manager John Bevan. This featured a host of local artist including Malaika and the Afro Tenors.
Separate FOH and monitor set-ups were used for each show. For the George Benson and Al Jarreau show, 56 channel Midas Heritage 3000s were used for both front of house and stage monitoring. For FOH processing Klark Teknik DN514 Plus multi gates, DN504 Plus quad compressors and Square ONE Dynamics were used, with all stage EQ provided by Klark Teknik DN360 and DN370 graphic EQs. Extensive use was also made of Klark Teknik DN100 DI boxes on stage.
For The Power of Durban a 56 channel Midas Legend 3000 console was at front of house with a Midas Venice 32 channel as sub-mixer, and a Midas
Italy - Traxon Technologies is set to showcase three LED developments at Euroluce 2007 which takes place from 18-23 Aprilat the New Milan Fairgrounds.
Traxon's booth will feature a complete overview of its colour changing and white LED lighting systems - Panels, Luminaires, XB Luminaires and Modules - along with their latest product line enhancements in all categories: 16PXL Board and Module, high brightness Luminaires with 1W, 3W and K2 Luxeon LEDs and a preview of its Tile 64PXL Outdoor panel.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Over the past few years, use of Rosco's range of dance floors has steadily and quietly increased across Europe and the UK, thanks almost entirely to the diversity, quality and reliability of the products. Traditionally there has been little in the way of marketing to support the range, but for the first time last year Rosco attended a number of trade shows specifically to promote dance floors and the interest was extraordinary.
So much so in fact, that Rosco has now brought a dance floor specialist onto the sales team with the specific remit to provide product information and advice to customers and to take the range into markets and venues previously untapped.
Lee Payne joins Rosco straight from performing on the Riverdance tour. He is looking forward to hanging up his tap shoes and taking on the challenge of growing Rosco's floor business.
Says Payne: "It's a pleasure to be part of a wonderful company that provides performers with an exceptional range of dance floor and sub floor. Improving the longevity of a dancer is so important. Fewer injuries are what is needed to do this and I believe with Rosco's products the world of dance is about to get better, grow and performers' careers last longer."
(Jim Evans)
USA - Clear-Com has released a number of upgrades to its FreeSpeak Digital Wireless Intercom System, including a software upgrade, improved electronics with internal silent vibrator alert and a new multi-way battery charger.
With the release of version 1.5.6 of FreeSpeak software, users will benefit from improvements in the software that makes it easy to restore factory default settings, says the company.
Version 1.5.6 will be delivered installed on new FreeSpeak belt-pack purchases, and is available for installation on existing FreeSpeak units as a purchasable upgrade. The software is installed from a PC via a serial connection to the belt-pack.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Harman Pro UK has announced the judges for the final of the AKG Unsigned Heroes battle of the bands competition, which is taking place at Camden's Koko on 26 April. The Summer festivals at which the winning group will play later in the year have also been confirmed. The lucky band will take the stage at both the prestigious Isle Of Wight festival at the start of June (headlining on the Platform 1 stage), and also on the Brit Bus stage at the Kent Festival, with headliners the Feeling, the Ordinary Boys and the Ghosts, from 29 June to 1 July.
With this and other prizes (such as an AKG sponsorship deal and PA equipment worth £10,000) riding on how the bands perform at Koko on the night of the final, it's important that the competition judges have plenty of music-business experience.
Harman Pro UK's five choices fit the bill nicely: Jez Coad is a renowned film composer and record producer, with credits including movie smash Austin Powers and production duties on Simple Minds' last album; Independent A&R woman Kelly Maxwell runs her own events, band management and PR company; DJ Kris, enigmatically also known as The Werewolf, is a DJ best known for his savage nights of indie, rock and metal at London club nights for Rockscene, Lockdown and The Animosity Unit; Koko's own Daveid Phillips is a former booker for live acts at the Reading and Tribal Gathering festivals, and is now Koko's Head Of Music. And finally, AKG's Toni Scherrenberg has played in bands all over Europe and is now the microphone manufacturer's Director of European Sales.
(Jim Evans)
USA - Two public institutions in the USA have recently been the recipient of new Merging digital audio workstations. The Washington-based Library of Congress has recently acquired several Pyramix DAWs, each built around a Merging Mykerinos MB5 card with an AES-EBU digital output daughterboard.
The DAWs are being installed in the Library's new facilities at the National Audio Visual Conservation Centre in Culpeper, Virginia, where staff will be using them primarily to digitise the Library's audio collections, creating high-quality preservation files. The Pyramix systems were assembled by Merging Technologies' US distributor Independent Audio and supplied to the Library of Congress by Massachusetts dealer Parsons Audio.
In a separate sale, Washington's National Gallery of Art has also installed a Pyramix for use by the Gallery's audio-visual staff.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Located in Plaistow, east London, Glory House is a family-based, multi-racial and multi-cultural church where audio and visual technologies have been embraced to broadcast the church's message in the most effective way possible.Music is an integral part of Glory House: up to a 100-strong Gospel choir and musical director being complemented by an in-house technical sound team.
The venue now has a new sound system supplied and installed by South London-based Subfrantic Production Services. The Turbosound system comprises four TA-500 Aspect Wide mid-highs, four TSB-118 subs and six TXD-15M wedge monitors, all controlled by two LMS-D24s. Subfrantic also supplied amplifiers, mixing consoles, outboard equipment, microphones, a custom-designed multicore and an ASL communications system.
"The main factor dictating the specification was to get the best sound we could on a realistic budget for the church," says Subfrantic's Steve Davies. "The auditorium is around 30-40m long and 10-12m wide, with a ceiling height of around 5m. It is a lot of area to cover."
He continues, "The other main challenge was to meet the church's ever-evolving needs, which meant putting a system design together that could be as flexible as possible from the outset. The majority of the music is gospel, but the hall is also used for other concerts, which had to be factored into the system design.
"The Aspect Wide enclosures are well suited to the church as they sound great but are very cost-effective. Due to their dispersion we can also use fewer of them which m
UK - Summit Steel supplied four SmarTmasts to Britannia Row which were utilised to emulate a concert style set up for sound tests in the new Wembley Stadium. Two SmarTmast 4s were used to suspend speaker arrays that mimicked the height and positioning of PA wing hangs on a typical concert stage set up in the end-on position. The masts were picked for their 15m height, quick buildability and neat footprint.
The main object of the exercise was to integrate a show PA system with Wembley's house PA to provide full audio coverage throughout the stadium. They also took the opportunity to ensure that Emergency announcements could be heard in all locations around the venue.
Summit's Jon Bray was contacted by Brit Row's Bryan Grant to supply the necessary support structures for the tests. Bray and a team of three riggers erected a total of five masts, which stayed up for a two-day period while the tests were completed.
The two SmarTmast 4s carried the stage wing elements of a would-be show PA system, made up in this case from EV X-line elements, each weighing just under two Tonnes. Further down the field of play, three SmarTmast 1s were used for recreating the delay positions, which, audio-wise, were made up from Outline Butterfly speakers.
The sound system was actually reproduced using only half of the stadium and required PA, the results of which were digitally mirrored to produce accurate calculations. The tests were engineered by Sherif el Bashari.
The biggest challenge says Summit's Jay Call was, "Taking care of the grass ... We had to be exceedingly caref
UK - With so many broadcasters now considering IP as a viable and cost effective means of transporting audio, compression specialist APT has joined the debate by publishing a booklet entitled A Practical Guide To IP Audio Networking.
This guide draws on APT's extensive experience in the field of audio over IP networking and gives useful information on IP networks and their implications for real-time audio transfer. It also makes valuable recommendations for those specifying both networks and equipment for audio over IP broadcasting.
Jon McClintock, APT's commercial director, says: "In recent years we have supported many customers through the transition from synchronous to IP and have worked hard in standards bodies within the industry to ensure interoperability of audio codecs over IP networks. This booklet allows us to share our knowledge and experience with those broadcasters who are considering audio over IP as their way forward for the future. We hope that it will help them make the right choices and prevent them from making potentially costly mistakes."
(Jim Evans)
USA - Digidesign has announced a new family of bi-amplified, professional-grade studio reference monitors - the Reference Monitor Series (RMS). Developed jointly with PMC (the Professional Monitor Company, based in the UK), the new RMS monitors unite Digidesign's deep expertise in digital audio with PMC's legacy for fine, cutting-edge loudspeaker designs and meticulous manufacturing, says the company.
"For many years Digidesign's commitment to developing state-of-the-art professional recording technologies has helped artists, engineers, and producers alike create award-winning recordings with unrivalled audio purity," explains Gannon Kashiwa, market manager for Digidesign's professional products. "The new RMS monitors are a natural complement to our existing product line and a logical extension of our commitment to achieving consistent and pure sound from input to output."
Kashiwa continues, "PMC and Digidesign share similar philosophies, which made them the logical partner for us. Their technology portfolio is impressive, and PMC reference monitors continually receive accolades from those who credit the designs with helping them achieve better mixes. We are pleased to have worked with PMC on the development of our RMS monitors and we feel strongly that the results speak for themselves."
(Jim Evans)
USA - Los Angeles night club, the Temple Bar in Santa Monica, has installed Allen & Heath's iLive Digital Console, now providing mixing duties for the club's nightly live music schedule.
Based in LA's fashionable Santa Monica area, the Temple Bar is a unique music venue hosting local, national and international artists performing a spectrum of music covering the genres of jazz, electronica, indie, hip hop, soul, latin, reggae, and world music. There is also a house DJ performing between acts, and the venue regularly organises film screenings and poetry nights.
The Temple Bar's music director and chief mixing engineer, Swan, commented, "The sound of the console is magnificent, I've been mixing at the Temple Bar for five years, I have never hear the room sound like this before. It brought our sound system alive! Its compact footprint fit perfectly in our sound booth, and our mixing engineers have been overjoyed. The mic-pres are detailed and warm, and the iLive's mixes have excellent stereo imaging. People are really taking notice. I've done a lot of mixing on the other digital consoles and the sound of the iLive blows it away."
Comprising the iDR-10 stage rack and iLive-144 control surface, the Temple Bar is using 40 channels of audio. Four aux mixes are used for stage monitors. In addition, the there are three matrix feeds: mono sum for separate bar room feed and a stereo feed for recording. Swan is using onboard compression, reverbs, and delay effects, "The compressors sound fantastic; they are very musical on vocals.
(Jim Evans)
Singapore - Singapore's growing infrastructure - requiring the need for ever more professional staging services - is already having a positive effect on this year's Event 360º show, which makes its debut under the wing of the umbrella PALME Asia expo in July.
Some 1,000sq.m, a quarter of the overall capacity at Singapore Expo, will be set aside for Event 360º Asia. Heartened by the initial response, Davin Er, who is responsible for developing this sector, believes that interest has not only been stimulated by the support from the Singapore Tourism Board, but the building of the S$3.85bn Marina Bay Sands complex, housing casino, hotel and convention centre.
Event 360º Asia will also be working closely alongside Singapore-based UnUsUal Productions, who are among an increasing number of local companies that have the capability of offering world-renowned event staging technology in the form of smoke, pyrotechnics, sound and lighting.
"In addition," says Mr Er, "we also have the support of The Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS); this means that Event 360º Asia will be able to offer a one-stop shop for event promoters and exhibition organisers looking for this expertise."
(Jim Evans)
USA - Element Labs has announced its entry into the film and video market with the debut of two new intelligent LED lighting products, the Kelvin series white light fixtures and the Versa BANK video-mapped lighting system.
Well-known in the live entertainment and architectural markets, Element Labs is now applying its technology to develop solutions for film and video. Both new products will debut on Element Labs' camera set at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas.
The Kelvin series LED-based white light fixtures provide unlimited variable colour temperature settings, creating a new level of flexibility in lighting. Plus, Kelvin fixtures maintain a colour rendering index (CRI) of 95 between 3200 K and 6500 K, resulting in extremely high-quality light. And, unlike traditional lighting products, colour temperature remains consistent throughout the full range of intensity variation, says the company.
"We're creating a paradigm shift in the world of professional lighting," says Rich Pierceall, director of sales and marketing for Element Labs. "Our Kelvin series will do for film and video lighting what nonlinear editing did for post-production. It will provide an innovative platform for the development of new tools and more accurate control of the lighting environment."
Element Labs has announced the release of STEALTH 2.5 with several improvements over its predecessor, most notably: enhanced rigging options and a flatter viewing surface. After a dramatic debut on Madonna's Confessions Tour in 2006, the