USA - At LDI this week, Christie is launching the YK50 dual-arm moving yoke and projector system, and Christie AutoStack 2.0, a camera-based, software-driven solution used to automatically align and blend images in multi-projector arrays.

Designed to stimulate the senses and simulate a concert stage, the Christie booth also features the rest of the Christie Nitro Solutions family (Christie YK100 and Christie YK200), the North American debut of Christie J Series - the next generation of Christie's Xenon 3-chip DLP projector platform, and the multiple award-winning Christie MicroTiles. Two Christie Spyder X20 video processors are driving all content displayed on the stand.

The Christie YK50 is a small, dual-arm projector yoke. Designed for use with the Christie LX700 or Christie LHD700 projector, the Christie YK50 is suitable for moving projection applications in houses of worsh

UK - IT and AV rental company DB Systems has invested in both new people and equipment this month. "As a rental company, DB is continually updating its inventory to ensure clients have access to the very best technology, which is why the company has increased its stock of the new Samsung 55" and 46" LED LCD screens to over 100 units, as well as purchasing 40 thin bezel 40" LED screens," says the company.

In addition, DB can now offer customers the 22"AG Neovo L-W22 LED display after buying 500 of the screens, which boast Full HD resolution, ultrahigh 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio and digital HDMI input for any diverse environments. With built-in speakers and dual PC and HDMI inputs, the screens are ideal for multimedia applications.

Meanwhile, several new members of staff have joined the company. Katy Stannad and Jessica Walters have joined operatio

USA - PLASA has announced the winners of the 2011 Members' Choice Awards presented on Saturday, October 27th at the LDI and PLASA awards ceremony. The awards recognised newly released, outstanding entertainment technology products. Voting on these awards was open to all employees of PLASA member companies who attended the LDI show. The 2011 winners are:

Gadget Category

Apollo Design Technology's Wrenchmate 2:

An adjustable wrench with a closed-end wrench built into the handle with three different sizes to provide easy access to the common sizes found on lighting fixture clamps.

Equipment Category

LightConverse 3D Show Platform Version 52:

Integrates and visualizes multiple show-related disciplines including lighting, video, laser, pyrotechnics, and moving objects. New features include 3D Object Tracking capabilities and the ability to realistically visual

USA - A new International Green Theatre Alliance (IGTA) has been launched at this year's LDI show in Orlando, Florida. The IGTA formalises the growing partnership between Julie's Bicycle (UK), which works on environmental sustainability across the creative industries in the UK, and the Broadway Green Alliance (USA), which works with the US theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally preferable practices.

The Alliance's first project is a new website www.igtalliance.com which will go live in December 2011 and provide an entry point for international practitioners seeking information and resources on environmentally sustainable best practice in the arts. The website will introduce the extensive sustainability programmes of alliance members and direct users to international resources and support networks.

Alliance members will be working together on a range of proj

UK - As the technology for visual displays improves, so do opportunities increase for contemporary audio visual artists to show ever-more complex and intriguing works. BrightSign media players are currently helping three such artists to engage with the public at three London art installations, which challenge viewers to see the world in a different way.

The exhibitions are taking place at the Hayward Gallery, Victoria Miro gallery and Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, respectively featuring artists Pippiloti Rist, Doug Aitken and Yang Fudong. All three use BrightSign HD210 high definition media players - distributed in the UK by Dunstable-based Pixels - to draw the audience into the dramatic and thought-provoking world of the artists.

The systems for each installation were supplied by Olive Audio Visual and installed by Simeon Coreless and Alistair Ashe of KS Objec

UK - London-based design studio United Visual Artists (UVA) have created the stage design for the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers 'I'm With You' tour. Using d3, their real-time production toolkit, UVA were able to pre-visualise moving and expanding screens, as well as to pre-sequence the show months before the tour started. d3 was then successfully integrated with the GrandMA lighting console for maximum versatility in live show control and expanded to receive tracking data from the TAIT Navigator system. d3 will continue to be used throughout the RHCP world tour.

Functioning as a 3D pre-visualiser, real-time sequencer and output tool, d3 has for the first time been successfully integrated with the GrandMA lighting console for the most flexible live show operation. During show time the GrandMA sends Art-Net commands to d3, which triggers the chosen track and specific cue, as well a

UK - Steady growth in all its core sectors during 2011 has resulted in Paradigm Audio Visual ending the year with a short move from its Bedford base to vastly expanded facilities on a modern industrial estate.

"With over 10,000sq.ft at our disposal this gives us between two and three times the capacity we had at Swan Works," states founder and CEO Greg Jeffreys. "We are replacing the quaintness and quirkiness of a former laundry with an open plan scenario, which will enable us to build infrastructure to support the growth."

The move has largely been brought about by the increase in simulation business - which now operates as a separate division. "We needed an expanded demo and proof-of concept areas, which we now have," continues Jeffreys. "At the same time the move coincides with a substantial investment in infrastructure, such as advanced s

UK - London-based AV and technical production services company Presentation Rentals (PR) supplied external building projection and sound and lighting equipment for two party areas within the Freemason's Hall in London's Covent Garden for the press launch of the latest Batman game sensation - Arkham City.

PR was working for production company Limited Edition, for whom they are a frequent supplier of technical production design and services.

Outside, across the street from the entrance of Freemason's Hall, the PR crew built a scaffolding tower, and onto this was positioned two Panasonic 10K projectors, double stacked and fitted with .8 lenses.

The venue is an imposing Art Deco building dating back to 1933, now Grade II listed inside and out, and one of the finest examples of this architecture in the UK. The throw distance was 10m and the projection area about 45ft wide,

Denmark / UK - British based distributor Paradigm Audio Visual has been presented with dnp denmark's 'Partner of the Year' award, in recognition of outstanding sales of both their front- and rear-projection systems over the past year.

dnp denmark's global sales & marketing manager, S°ren Kræmmergaard, presented the award to Paradigm founder and CEO, Greg Jeffreys, and Supernova specialist, Dave Stephen, at company headquarters in Karslunde during a partner recertification programme.

Mr. Kræmmergaard paid tribute to Paradigm's early adoption of the Supernova platform, and having enrolled early into the Partner Programme, backed up their already considerable rear-projection sales by recruiting a dedicated Supernova specialist in Dave Stephen, to supervise their front projection platform.

This had paid almost instant dividends, with an order last month for well over 200 d

UK - Continuing a nine-year tradition, Stage Electrics recently staged a pair of successful regional exhibits showcasing its key distribution brands, at Newcastle Upon Tyne and Cardiff.

The one-day events were held at the Peter Sarah Theatre in the Performance Academy of Newcastle College, Newcastle Upon Tyne and the newly opened Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in the grounds of Cardiff Castle, where Stage Electrics also recently completed a major sound, production lighting and communications installation in the concert hall and theatre.

Brands on show were Arri, Avolites, Chauvet, Clay Paky, DiGiCo, ETC, Highlite, MA Lighting, L-Acoustics, Lee Filters Le Maitre, Martin Professional, Panasonic, Philips Strand, Selecon and Vari-Lite, Pulsar, RCF, Rosco, Roland, Sennheiser, Shure, Yamaha and Zero 88.

Some 230 people attended on the day, with students from each venue for

USA - PLASA Focus: Austin welcomes a raft of new exhibitors as the two-day event expands its floor plan yet again. The new style of regional event, to be held 22-23 February 22-23, 2012 at the Renaissance Austin, Texas, has doubled its footprint in the past week, with over 25 companies committed to taking part and as many applications being processed.

Joining confirmed exhibitors ETC, Barbizon, Philips Color Kinetics, Doug Fleenor Design, Strong Entertainment Lighting, Chauvet, A.C.T Lighting, Global Design Solutions, CommuniLux Productions, GLP German Light Products, Daktronics Rigging, Total Structures, Arri, Rosco, Rose Brand, Robe, High End Systems, Secoa and Clay Paky, amongst others, are new exhibitors; Elation, White Light, LSC, James Thomas Engineering, Creative Stage Lighting, Inlight Gobos, Mainstage Theatrical Supply, Martin Professional and TMB.

PLASA Focus' much t

USA - Barco teamed up with Clair Brothers Audio Systems to provide Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas with an upgraded, turnkey video system built around its latest FSN presentation system and FLM HD20 DLP projectors.

When Watermark Community Church decided to relocate to a new, larger facility to accommodate its growing congregation, it seized upon an opportunity to upgrade and expand its audio visual platform with the latest technologies. The church desired a more robust, flexible system featuring today's advanced capabilities in video, audio and lighting.

Clair Brothers' understanding of modern technical worship environments was a critical factor in developing a plan that would fulfill the church's desire to inspire its members with thoughtful media support for its sermons. Barco was the clear choice for executing their vision, meeting their needs with two of its f

UK - Sysco AV has been awarded the contract for the detailed design and development of the entire audio visual system requirements for the new Mary Rose Museum, currently under construction in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

At a total project cost of £35 million, the new attraction is due to open in late 2012, 30 years after the nation watched as the hull of the 450-year old Tudor warship was lifted from the Solent. Visitors will be enticed with the promise of being able to look into the glass hotbox where the final stages of the 30-year conservation process of the ship are taking place. Alongside this, there will be the opportunity to view a huge array of previously unseen personal, domestic and military artefacts. In 2016, the final phase of conservation will be complete and with the glass removed, visitors will be able to pass through the viewing galleries containing the

UK - Digital network operator Ram Vision has extended its Iconic network, signing a five year contract as the exclusive media sales partner for the new 21sq.m LED screen at Glow, Bluewater, installed by ADI which went live on 10 November 2011.

The LED screen will join Ram Vision's large-format screen network and is located on the wall of the cinema in the r new Plaza space. The 3000m² leisure area acts as a hub between the mall, cinema, restaurants and Glow.

The screen has been installed by LED specialist ADI and is a 6mm SMD indoor product from the company's proprietary Virtuality range of screens. ADI worked closely with Bluewater in order to specify the screen - which has a high resolution and close minimum viewing distance - to give a stunning picture whether viewed from across the new Plaza or from a couple of metres away, ensuring that the messages of brands are accurat

China - A new command room at the Emergency Centre for Environmental Protection in Guangxi Province, China, has been equipped with a large front-projection display wall from dnp Denmark, enabling the agency to better monitor and present the degree of pollution.

Eight 72" Supernova Infinity Screens were supplied by dnp distributors, Wincomn Technology, and installed by Wincomnpartner, JinYanjing Technology Co., Ltd, who had successfully bid for the contract.

The facility is used for emergency management and the solution was based around a display matrix of Supernova Infinity Screens in a 2 x 4 configuration. These were recommended for their high output in a brightly lit environment, in a 20m x 8m room offering minimum space.

The display, which fills most of the back wall, was optimised using low gain 08-85 screen material, for extreme viewing angles.

Wincomn met the ch

USA - This year's LDI Show proved a massive success for coolux and its multifaceted Pandoras Box product family. The positive feedback that coolux received for their new Pandoras Box Version 5 release was crowned with additional honours in the form of two prestigious awards.

The coolux Widget Designer PRO 3.0 was awarded the Parnelli Indispensable Technology of the Year Award and the PLASA Rock Our World Award.

The Rock Our World Awards were created to honour innovative achievement by PLASA members and to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of the technology and the designer or integrator who applies it in a real world environment.

The Parnelli Award "recognizes pioneering, influential professionals and their contributions, honouring both individuals and companies."

The ongoing award success highlights the flexibility and reliability offered by the coolux

USA - Monterey Jazz Festival organisers decided that 2011 was the year they would bring performances from the venerable festival to a global audience through the power of streaming media. The decision paid off as the festival and two media partners reported impressive online viewing statistics for performers including the Robert Glasper Experiment, Carmen Souza and the Benny Green Trio.

Streaming media and content delivery provider StreamGuys provided the Internet broadcast services for the 54th Monterey Jazz Festival. Evening performances from the Night Club/Bill Berry Stage were hosted live over the websites of the Monterey Jazz Festival and Santa Cruz-based NPR member station KUSP-FM. Popular NPR jazz music blog 'A Blog Supreme' also hosted the performances.

StreamGuys delivered H.264 video and AAC+ audio at varying bit rates to support an array of user speeds and media pla

UK - Southampton's new Sea City visitor attraction has selected Sysco AV for the contract to design, supply and install the entire audio visual system requirements for the new attraction.

Opening in 2012 at a total cost of £15m, the new visitor attraction will celebrate Southampton's 2,000-year history as a global maritime port. It will be housed in the city's Grade II Old Magistrates Court and completed in April 2012, in time to commemorate the centenary of the Titanic leaving Southampton. It is anticipated that over 120,000 visitors each year will visit the attraction and immerse themselves in the story of the city and its most famous ship.

Sea City will be home to three galleries, two permanent and one temporary, with Sysco responsible for the design, engineering and installation of all the audio visual and interactive elements. The first permanent gallery, Gateway

UK - Michael Forever - The Tribute Concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium featured Michael Jackson's greatest hits performed live by Beyoncé, Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera, as well as a number of Michael Jackson's siblings.

On behalf of the Bristol-based TV production company Iambic, Dutch facilities company UNITED was charged with recording the concert. The challenges for Bolke Burnaby Lautier, manager operations sports and events, and his approximately 55-strong team were many, and included a very tight set-up schedule and the need to record the show in 3D format, so enormous importance was attached to ensuring flawless communication between all members of the production team.

The appropriate communications infrastructure was provided by equipment from RTS/Telex, the nerve centre being an RTS Advanced Digital Audio Matrix (ADAM) with a 144 x 144 port configura

UK / USA - MediaMatrix by Peavey has announced the new nTouch Series control interfaces, consisting of touch-screen interactive controllers designed for remotely controlling audio systems designed in MediaMatrix NWare software for the NION platform.

The nTouch 180 and nTouch 60 feature full-colour, resistive touch-screen panels that measure approximately 7" (180 mm) and 2.4" (60 mm) diagonally, respectively. The nTouch panels display and control projects hosted on a MediaMatrix NION or nControl processor.

Based on an Intel Atom N270 CPU, the nTouch 180 controller runs an embedded version of NWare Kiosk software for NION, the control arm of NWare system design software. System designers can programme the nTouch in NWare and then control an audio project designed in NWare from a remote location. Once the nTouch is programmed, it runs independently of external computers

Belgium - Creative Technology (CT) has announced a major new purchase agreement with Belgium based Barco.

CT has committed to a spend of over US$ 11m across their European and US operations which will result in a phased delivery of a number of products based on the existing C Series platform but with significant technical enhancements developed by Barco in consultation with CT.

The first product, the C5, which will be available to CT at the end of2011, is a new black face, indoor display offering a 10% resolution premium over the most established 6mm products on the market. A flown weight of less than 40kgper m², integral concave and convex curving, no fans (resulting in silent operation) and Barco's NNI interface allowing full integration with the DX700 processing unit provide a sample of some of the technical features of the new products.

"The past couple of years, w

China - Medialon has been selected by ECA2 to be the main show control system on the Mangrove Groove aquatic show, a 38-minute multimedia show in Octbay, Shenzhen, China.

ECA2 - a French-based company specialising in creating and producing major events and shows around the world - designed and produced Mangrove Groove show, with probably the world's largest aquatic stage which covers an area of 5,600sqm.

Every evening, up to 5,000 spectators can celebrate the return of the birds "in an amazing decor dedicated to the mangrove". The artistic and technological challenges represent the forces of nature, staging the four elements merged with the magic of captivating images, with water, fire, lighting, video and air effects, all entirely controlled and synchronized by a Medialon Manager PRO Show Control system.

Thanks to Medialon Manager Panel, free user in

UK - PLASA is hosting an informal get together on Thursday 8 December for all manufacturing members. The aim is to have an open discussion on the key areas of exporting and product copying/IP and to create an opportunity for manufacturers to share ideas and experiences.

James Gordon of DiGiCo will chair the meeting and introduce a number of members who will outline their own experiences, before things move to an open discussion to see how members can share information and how PLASA can provide practical support.

The meeting, which is free to attend, will take place in the Roberts Building at University College London from 4pm-7pm, followed, by Christmas drinks at a nearby pub.

If you'd like to attend or want further information, please e-mail feedback@plasa.org

(Claire Beeson)

USA - On 9 and 10 November Green Hippo Hippotizers and staff were in attendance at this year's Worship Facilities Expo at the Dallas Convention Centre in Texas.

Located in downtown Dallas, the Convention Centre plays host to a variety of events and installs ranging from exhibitions and museums to cultural centres and concerts. This month saw Halls D-F taken over by technology companies and churches of different denominations and sizes. Presented by Church Production magazine and Worship Facilities magazine the exhibition provided an opportunity for key people from both sectors to meet and greet.

For Green Hippo's Samantha Bailey and Tom Etra this was a new experience. "Our move into this sector is still at the early stages but we are very committed. TMB, our distributor for the Americas, has already made good progress into this market; a couple of churches i

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