B
arco, an international company
based in Kortrijk, Belgium, pro-
vides visualisation and display
solutions for professional markets. They
recently held two ‘‘Technology Showcase
2004’’ events in the UK, one at the Three
Mills Studios in London and the other at
Magna in Rotherham. Here, potential and
existing clients were offered a rare oppor-
tunity to get up close and personal with
Barco’s diverse products, from video
screens and fascia boards, to air traffic
management and cockpit displays. The
numerous products were all displayed in
various booths, with experts available at
each station to talk people through their
specifications and to discuss the available
applications and solutions.
With a grand total of 358 visitors, each
visiting for an average of 1.5 hours and
some travelling from as far away as
Greece and Sweden, the turn out far
exceeded the showcase expectations.
Barco’s Media & Entertainment arm, is
involved mainly in fixed installations,
with one of the most stunning and recent
examples of their work being at the Hala
Sazka Arena in Prague — a project that is
to be featured in the May’05 edition of
PanStadia. In brief, this section develops
giant LED display walls for use in high
ambient light environments, both for
indoor (ILite) and outdoor (Dlite) use.
From large-screen displays to out-of-home
communications, such as digital advertis-
ing billboards, which can normally only be
seen by visiting them in-situ at sports
venues across the globe.
Brief Overview
of the Products
The highly acclaimed and innovative
MiPIX was a dramatic and striking back-
drop to the band, Jazzbomb, and a striking
end wall display at the Rotherham show-
case. The MiPIX is a modular intelligent
LED pixel block, which measures only
4cm by 4cm and is a revolution in the LED
market. Its small size and shape allow for
it to be used to create intelligent lighting
effects on large-scale backdrops of any
form, shape or size, and also offers the
possibility of full video content on 3D
logos or other free-form shapes.
Shown for the very first time in the UK
and attracting a lot of interest was the
Encore from Folsom. The Encore Presenta-
tion System is the most advanced video
processing and presentation control sys-
tem on the market today. The system pro-
vides source selection, advanced
windowing features, seamless switching,
video effects and integrated control for
professional video presentations.
PanStadia understands that discus-
sions have already started about plans for
a Technology Showcase 2005. You can find
out about these as they unfold at
www.showcase.barco.com
Light Street is Launched
Following on from these showcase events
was the grand launch of Barco’s "Light
Street" at their Belgium headquarters. This
PanStadia’s Katie McIntyre
reports back from Barco’s
"Technology Showcase 2004",
which took place at the Three
Mills Studios in London,
followed by the launch of
the new "Light Street"
installation at their
headquarters in Belgium.
62
P
AN
S
TADIA
FEBRUARY 2005
S C R E E N S , S I G N A G E & B A N N E R S
VISUAL
VISUAL
