Barco increases broadcast studio presence with new LED solutions
Virtual scenery trend ramps up internationally, with new Barco ILite LED tile installations for creative in-studio broadcast applications.
Sacramento, CA — December 22, 2005 —Barco announces that two key US and UK installations of ILite 6mm and 10mm LED tiles continue to push the envelope for virtual scenery in the broadcast studio arena. In the US, Chicago-based Harpo Productions, Inc. has created a new set with five movable LED video walls, comprised of modular Barco ILite 6mm and 10mm LED tiles. At the new Sky News Centre facility in the UK, the newsroom’s main wall and central presenter's desk is now equipped with an LED wall comprised of over 200 Barco ILite 6mm tiles — making it the UK’s first LED backdrop operating in a 24/7 news environment.
Virtual scenery enables producers and set designers to augment traditional physical sets with highly realistic full-motion backdrops — without the need for chroma key technology. Virtual scenery can consist of either computer generated or “actuality” video footage, and can be interchanged instantly by switching video feeds.
From a video production standpoint, the keyword is “configurable.” Designed for maximum flexibility, Barco LED tiles are being used in single-wall studio installations such as the Sky News set, and multi-wall installations such as on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s set.
Marc Van Eekeren, Senior Director of Sales for Barco’s Media market, commented on the trend towards LED in the international broadcast marketplace. “More and more, ILite panels are showing up in sets for many types of broadcast programming — for news, sports and interview formats such as The Oprah Winfrey Show,” noted Van Eekeren. “They’re ideal for studio applications, and the best for minimizing moiré on camera in any kind of studio situation. In particular, this was an important issue that we solved for Sky News.”
ILite 6mm tiles use Surface Mount Technology (SMT) LEDs to provide unequalled brightness and picture quality. Each tile includes 5,124 LEDs in a 72 x 72 array, and can display over four trillion colors. Similar LED technology is used in the 3mm, 8mm, 10mm and 12mm ILite tiles.
“As we’re continuing to see, LED walls can provide set designers with a number of highly flexible backdrops with limitless creative potential,” said Van Eekeren. “One moment, a wall is used for SDI video playback. The next, it’s a virtual winter scene behind a guest, with seamless clarity. And with movable overhead frames such as those on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s set, individual LED walls can be locked together and treated as a single widescreen display.”
Barco indoor LED walls are already in use for sports scoreboards, restaurants, retail showrooms and corporate lobbies — and now, a new broadcast niche is emerging internationally. “We’re delighted that broadcasters are designing sets around the ILite,” said Van Eekeren. “They provide an excellent alternative to plasma and projection, and in terms of content, it’s not simply to tell part of the story in video, but also to create stunning backgrounds. With millions watching news broadcasts and major market talk shows each day, for example, LEDs can give a real visual punch, far greater than projection could provide given the high degree of ambient light in the studio.”
Barco’s specialized visualization solutions targeted at the needs of the Media & Entertainment industries are used at high-profile venues and events. Barco counts names such as U2, Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Madonna and Daimler Chrysler, Clearchannel Spectacolor, as well as installations for Merrill Lynch, Kinepolis, China Film Group, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Reliant Park Stadium (USA) and Miami Heat NBA amongst some of its key references.
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, provides visualization and display solutions for professional markets. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco is active worldwide and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco is quoted on Euronext Brussels and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB).
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