Barco provides projectors and processing for YOG opening ceremony
Published: ASIA
CHINA: Lighting designer Sha Xiaolan put to use a variety of Barco projectors and video processing for the opening ceremony of the second Summer Youth Olympic Games held recently in Nanjing. Using 112 Barco HDF-series high-brightness projectors and 56 Axon HD Pro media servers from High End Systems, Mr Sha succeeded in creating the world’s largest stage projection.
The opening ceremony explored three variations on the theme of “the Chinese Dream”: Chasing the Dream, Catching the Dream, and Realizing the Dream. Video projection technology provided by Barco transformed the entire floor of the stadium into a giant canvas. According to Mr Sha, the ceremony was the largest projection project of its kind in the world to date.
To achieve this, 112 26,000 lumen Barco HDF-series projectors were deployed at the top of the bleachers on both sides. The projection area covered more than 10,140 sq-m at a projection distance greater than 120m.
In order to meet the director’s design requirements, the team had to take many factors into consideration, such as large-scale geometric correction, stitching and blending, multi-layer superposition, and multi-point correction. The projection area was divided into 14 sections with 2x7 stitching and blending, and in each section, the same picture was projected by eight projectors. Fibre-optic cable linked the 112 projectors to 56 sets of media servers.
The opening ceremony involved highly complicated image processing. The eight-layer image superposition at a distance greater than 100m posed stringent requirements for image processing capacity and precise control. The Barco Athena processors built into the HDF-series projectors accomplished a set of multi-point geometry corrections, ensuring high image quality and facilitating an efficient process.
‘Barco’s projectors enable the powerful image processing necessary for this kind of large-scale stage performance,’ said Mr Sha. ‘That gave us the confidence to avoid using large numbers of LED screens, which helped us realise greater cost efficiency.’
‘Stage shows are increasingly making use of diversified cutting-edge technologies,’ added Tang Feng, Barco’s global vice president and managing director for China. ‘The success of the YOG opening ceremony in Nanjing indicates that China’s stage design is in the vanguard, driving this technology. As a global leader in professional imaging, Barco has always maintained close partnerships with first-class stagecraft teams, at home and abroad, to keep us up to date on creative concepts and help us continually improve our professional imaging technology. We are very proud to have helped Mr Sha’s team provide this striking visual experience and to reinforce our leadership in world-class stage imaging technology.’