XL Video at PLASA 2005

BARCO MiSphere.

Photo: courtesy of XL Video.

AV Product Stories Published: 18 August 2005
XL Video exhibits at PLASA for the first time to introduce the company to the business and live event communications sector of the AV industry, demonstrating the potential for crossover of equipment from concert touring, with which XL is most commonly associated.

XL Video is the UK and Europe’s largest and busiest touring video rental company supplying expert technicians and equipment to rock ‘n’ roll, concert touring and festival productions.

XL Video works across all sectors of the business, leisure and entertainment industry as well as the above, including special events, theatre productions, public arts projects, product launches, corporate presentations and parties.

With operations in England, Belgium, Germany, plus the East and West coasts of America, XL Video is an international group, investing in the best practitioners in the business and the most advanced digital technology available.

XL is using PLASA to showcase a selection of key products – including the latest exotic LED screen technology from Barco and Lighthouse Technologies, and Soft-LED drapery from Mainlight Industries.
It will also offer an insight into the vast scope of XL’s creative and technical expertise across the full spectrum of video visuals.

XL will illustrate how video equipment and techniques from the world of rock ‘n’ roll and concert touring will cross over into theatre, conferences and other live events, all of which are expressing a growing interest in XL’s “Right First Time” reputation.

With PLASA’s reputation for attracting a suitable audience from across the AV world, XL thinks the exhibition is an ideal platform to meet existing customers & find new ones.

Highlighted Products

NEW: Lighthouse R16i/o
R16i/o (indoor/outdoor) is a 16mm pixel pitch LED screen. It’s an ideal LED product for high quality small-to-large sized outdoor applications. In addition to all the usual attributes expected from a modular LED screen - good resolution, excellent colour uniformity, reproduction & contrast, easy rigging - the Lighthouse R16i/o is lighter weight than any comparative LED. Weighing in at less than 65kg per sq metre, it allows a larger screen within any given load-limit, and will make LED a viable prospect in previously inaccessible venues and locations.

BARCO MiPix
The hugely versatile MiPIX is a modular intelligent 4-LED pixel block, measuring just 40.3mm H × 40.3mm W × 22mm D. MiPix are plugged into a bespoke frame at your chosen resolution or pattern. Its small size and shape allow it to be moulded into just about any shape, and is invaluable as a building block to create intelligent lighting effects on large-scale backdrops and stage sets of any shape, or size. It also offers the possibility of running video content through 3D logos or other free-form shapes.

The MiPIX blocks further aid the construction of large-scale sets and backdrops because they can be spaced apart at various distances, and so are a highly cost-effective medium.

Each MiPIX pixel block weighs only 34g and has a resolution of 20mm .It consists of four SMD LEDs delivering a brightness of 1,300 Nit. The SMD LED technology means a flat-panel MiPIX display can accommodate viewing angles of up to 145 degrees.

BARCO MiSphere
Developed for U2’s groundbreaking “Vertigo” world tour, the MiSPHERE is a tiny, plastic-encased LED spherical module taking the use of LED technology in the concert & staging market to a new level. With 360-degree viewing angles, opaque, light-diffusing casing and the ability to play both full video & data, the MiSPHERE traverses the gap between existing video and lighting products, and is ideal for both applications.

Individual MiSPHERES can be daisy-chained into a string, and strings turned into a 3-D visualization curtain – as seen on U2. Each MiSPHERE is effectively a pixel within the curtain, so it can display images and simulate lighting effects across the entire surface, whilst retaining a “Look-Through” effect and ‘Multiple Angle” viewing for an audience on all sides.

SoftLED – ‘starcloth with attitude’
XL Video was the first UK company to invest in Mainlight Industries’ revolutionary Soft-LED product which has been used on the Kylie “Showgirl” tour, Basement Jaxx and numerous live business events.

The Soft-LED drapes display designs and graphics on plush, high-quality black drapery. The technology uses a combination of custom-designed LED grids, cutting edge fibre optics, and specialised processing technology.
Manufactured in three resolution levels with frosted or clear lenses, Soft-LED enables the creation of dynamic artworks that bring stages and presentation environments alive with colour and movement.

Shows are built using the Light System Composer (LSC) software running on a PC. LSC can import a .png sequence or an image created by another application, e.g. Macromedia Flash, or can be chosen from LSC's extensive inbuilt visual effects library, featuring rainbow spirals, colour fade and numerous others. This is uploaded to the Light System Engine. The Light System Engine (LSE) is an Ethernet-based hardware controller that stores and plays back the show. In addition to storage and playback, LSE lets the user assign different ways to trigger playback – including DMX devices, keypad inputs, time lapse, etc.

Source:

XL Video

 

Links

XL Video