Displays: Barco and Daktronics install LED screens

Sky News presenters Barco supplied all of the LED backdrop walls equipped with unique diffusers especially developed for the broadcast market, as well as the projectors used in news studios and monitoring rooms.

The 7,500 square foot Sky News newsroom features LEDs on the main wall and the central presenter's desk. the main wall measures 14m x 3m and is composed of 34 tiles long x 6 tiles high, with a total resolution of 2448 x 432 pixels. This is the first LED backdrop application in a 24/7 news environment in the UK.

The key feature of the decision to use LED over cube projection was the high brightness, allowing the large wall to operate in a very bright environment. During operation the wall operates at about 50% of capacity, giving plenty of scope to the Sky technical team, should they need to alter light conditions or levels within the studio.

Installing LED in a broadcast situation is very different to any other application. The biggest issue to resolve is the Moiré pattern that can be seen through the camera. Barco and Sky co-developed a cutting-edge visualization solution utilizing specialist diffusers on the LED tiles to eliminate Moiré pattern and loss of saturation during camera panning.

At the heart of the newsroom-studio is a state-of-the-art motorized presentation desk that rotates. The desk has been installed with a purpose-built LED screen, another television first, that can mirror the images on the news wall, giving depth to the picture used.

Alternatively the LED screen on the desk – built using Barco ILITE 3 tiles - can be operated independently, giving Sky flexibility in methods to portray the story under presentation.

Stephan Paridaen, President of Barco's Media and Entertainment division adds: “The fantastic installation at Sky demonstrates Barco’s ability to truly provide a total visual solution for our customers. With the LED diffusers we have another example of Barco working in partnership with our customers to provide bespoke solutions and specially developed products to ensure that the final result is a perfect fit with the customer brief.”

Victoria Racing Club installs Daktronics scoreboard

The display, approximately 6.6 meters tall by 23.5 meters wide (22 feet by 77 feet), is one of the largest outdoor LED displays in the Southern Hemisphere. It shows live images, graphics, and real-time information in 4.4 trillion different colors of red, green and blue.

The 23-mm pixel pitch display was strategically positioned at the track infield, directly in front of the grand stand, to optimize spectators' view of racing action.

"Victoria Racing Club's decision to install a ProStar® LED display at Flemington Racecourse has truly raised the bar for premier event facilities in Australia," said Jon Minor, Daktronics pari-mutuel sales. "The ProStar® display presents Victoria Racing Club with the opportunity to generate revenue by increasing the value provided to sponsors, attracting new sponsors and possibly drawing new events."