INTEGRATED SYSTEMS EUROPE – AV TRENDS IN LIVE EVENTS
From fine pitch LED to projection tracking, AV technology in events is evolving fast. The biggest challenge is making sure you take a measured approach to using the best of what’ s on offer. Ahead of Integration Systems Europe 2018, Europe’ s premier show for integrated audio-visual systems sector, we explore the latest technology likely to impact upon the live events industry.
Live event clients have always sought something different, exciting or cool to impress their audience and with today’ s dynamic mix of technology, producers are empowered not only to satisfy but exceed expectations.
“ The biggest challenge is creating new and unique experiences that have an instant wow factor and audience impact,” says Mike Ross, Attractions Development Manager, Holovis.“ With the rise in experiential events and the encouragement from brands for people to share the content online, people have seen it all and are becoming harder to impress.”
Available technologies range from the almost like-for-like replacement of projection systems with LED, to live streaming from drones and emerging tools like Augmented Reality( AR) with barely explored potential.
Form and function
LED screens, in general, have become so affordable that‘ live scenery’ is a viable option for many events and shows but it is fine pitch displays where advances are strident.
With worldwide demand set to increase by 2021 by an average of 46 % year on year( Source: LEDinside), producers are wise to fine pitch LED advantages over projection. The category is“ pushing out large projectors,” according to Tim Brooksbank, CEO at image processing developer Calibre.
“ The resolution of LED has gone from rubbish to revolutionary and is now as good as, if not better than, projection,” adds Colin Parnell, producer at Fonix screen hire.“ You can throw as much light as you want onto the screen without impacting the picture, and there’ s no throw distance so your presenting talent can actually touch it. The only reason to use projection now is to maximise an existing investment.”
Using HD resolutions isn’ t the expectation in live events filming, it’ s a necessity. The same is true with content for both projection and LED screen content production as well.
“ Showing video beyond 10m wide – a frequent occurrence at live concerts and conferences – requires a 4K image, otherwise you’ re just wasting pixels,” says Nick Dew, managing director of Really Creative Media.
Nonetheless 4K / UHD content is not yet universal and is being driven by the consumer.
“ 4K filming can make a dramatic difference for a live stage show, but when you’ re commissioned to film a conference, is 4K really necessary?” poses Dew.“ Yes, it’ s a great picture, but there’ s no point in doing flash for the sake of it.”
“ Designers and specifiers think they need 4K / UHD because we all hear about it from TV manufacturers ' advertising,” agrees Brooksbank.“ The reality at live events with long viewing distances is that 4K / UHD isn ' t about higher visible resolutions but about covering a larger display surface area without the image appearing unduly pixelated.”
Where high resolution has even greater value is in special attractions, such as theme parks. Austrian developer AV Stumpfl’ s Wings Engine Raw 8K media server is capable of processing four simultaneous streams of 4K or handling extreme frame rates up to 120fps for dark rides, large-scale theatres, immersive dome theatres and projects requiring stereoscopic 3D imaging.
Holovis created the 360-degree panoramic projection for live streaming action from the Euro 2016 soccer tournament inside a 20 x 40 metre immersive experience Hyundai FanDome.
“ Atmosphere screens featured real time content mixed live in 8K resolution that changed in line with the mood of the fans, surrounding their peripheral vision and making them an inescapable part of the drama,” Ross explains.
AR for live
As Virtual Reality has galvanised the film and TV community into all manner of content experimentation, the format shows great potential for live events. ISE 2018 also sees the launch of the XR Summit, a one-day conference focused on exploring the B2B applications of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality products and solutions. This will cover vertical market sectors such as healthcare and education alongside the applications applicable for sales and marketing purposes.
AR is an especially intriguing prospect. People can share their experience not only with each other but also with live capture to spread on social media sites.
For example, Holovis developed the Battle For Cedar Point, a bespoke app for an Ohio-based theme park which integrates AR into the wider guest experience.
“ This can be triggered from the moment downloaded to‘ gamify’ the visit to the park with hidden AR treasure to discover,” says Ross.“ This has increased social media reach with people wanting to share the secret content that they are accessing. We’ re taking this concept through to live experiential events so they also see these uplifts.”
Microsoft’ s hologram viewer Hololens and mixed reality retinal display Magic Leap are two breakthrough technologies to watch for. But let’ s not close the door on VR just yet. Development is underway to enable viewers to share the experience of someone wearing a VR vizor.
The Score Magazine
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