Pixels aids London's Olympic countdown

28 January 2010

UK - Riding high above the London skyline on one of its most iconic landmarks, a giant LED screen is counting down the hours until the UK capital hosts the 2012 Olympic Games. And keeping this ultra-high profile display shining out are media players supplied by Pixels.

Launched in a blaze of publicity and spectacular fireworks in October last year, the 59m wide by 4.8m high 360º Martin Professional LED screen that encircles the top of the BT Tower is controlled by Adtec signEdje HD media players.

In a concept devised between BT and communications agency Imagination, the screen is the highest in Europe and its content includes information, advertising and messages, together with the countdown to the 2012 London Olympics.

The screen has a display resolution of 120 x 1475 pixels, with a signEdje player driving the LED display processor via a DVI switching matrix at a resolution of 1024 x 768. Digital media is striped into sections of 120 x 750 and 120 x 725 and then pixel-mapped in the display processor to directly address the screen.

Remotely controlled and updated through the signEdje player's secure internet interface, the effect is of a continuous band of video content around the top of the tower, which can be seen by millions from right across the capital.

"We chose the Adtec signEdje HD media player for its ease of use, compact size and ability to be remotely updated and controlled with full security - a vital factor for us and British Telecom," says Peter Brooks of Imagination.

With the signEdje media players in use 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the start of the London Olympics - and no doubt way beyond - the reliability of the units was paramount although, just in case, a second unit is on 'hot' standby.

"We are very pleased to be associated with such a prestigious project," says Norman Garland of Pixels. "The signEdje media player is an extremely versatile and reliable solution for all standard and high definition playback applications, with automatic scaling of content to match the output target for outstanding HD playback.

"That the quality of Adtec's technology is on show, night and day, and being seen by millions of people right across London is a source of considerable pride to us."

(Jim Evans)