Barcelona City on Display

Barco company magazine • Volume 2 • issue 2 magazine magazinezine mag Barcelona City on display Digital cinema: the sequel Pay-off of a consistent pioneering spirit 3G Lightning-fast video transfer in events and media Projection mapping Breathing spectacular life into modern urban façades 1 red.efine_issue2.indd 1 29/01/10 09:15 1 0 Barco goes to Barcelona 4 16 24 Projection mapping Frankfurt Motor Show Digital cinema: the sequel Spectacular, artistic and seizing the at- Many brands turned to Barco to add a A look back at Barco’s pioneering history tention of weary audiences: is projection touch of brilliance to their branding. in digital cinema, and a look forward mapping the next hot thing in urban vi- Cars, lights and beautiful people from into what’s coming up next. sualization? one of the world’s major car shows. 2 redefi n e | Table of contents red.efine_issue2.indd 2 29/01/10 09:15 Welcome Dear reader Welcome to this fi rst 2010 issue of rede fi n. e As we look ahead into the coming decade we can identify several technologies that are likely to shape our future. Al- low me to share some views with you on a few of them. First of all there is without any doubt a rapidly growing concern about our environment. We at Barco want to Clearly, these days, contribute to this eco-awareness both in terms of offer- airports cannot afford ing energy effi cient as well as environmentally friendly solutions. To that extent we are proud to announce our safety to be just an new three-chip DLP projector that consumes 33% less afterthought. power than its direct competitors and furthermore, is about 10 times less noisy. Second, there continues to be an ever growing demand for sharper and better image quality which in turn drives demand for increased bandwidth. Real time HD imaging has become the norm in markets such as security and entertainment. With the recent release of the movie ‘Avatar’ we have decisively entered the era of 3D imaging, and in the medical markets demand for ” very high resolution monitors is unprecedented. Third, there is an undeniable move towards LED solutions which are more energy effi cient and more du- rable sources of light. LED, as you know, is at the heart of our technical thrusts in control rooms. As always, Barco is taking on a pioneering role in many technologies. This was the main driver for us to acquire Italian-based medical display company FIMI. The two companies do indeed complement each other which 28 in turn will allow us to continue to offer superior solutions to our medical segment customers on a global 3G - it’s not about cellphones basis. You can read more about all this in this issue of your magazine. The new 3 Gigabit per second data transfer is set to revolutionize media Enjoy! and broadcast worlds - the parallels with Eric Van Zele, President and CEO HD are obvious. Table of contents | redefi n e 3 red.efine_issue2.indd 3 29/01/10 09:15 A map to spectacle Imagine you’re walking home Anything can be a screen Art for the sake of art? after a night out. As you walk While most projectors in various types A façade’s relief creates interest- through familiar streets and of settings use a screen to optimize ing opportunities for video artists to the image quality, projection in itself showcase their talents, but it can also past the buildings you know so doesn’t need a screen. A canvas is offer opportunities for story-telling. For well, you suddenly notice some- enough. Old slide projectors often pro- example, a building’s ledges can be jected on walls because families saw used by digital characters to walk, thing strange – that tall build- no point in investing in a screen they dance and perform acrobatics. Fantasy ing over there seems to have would only use a few times a year. characters can be projected onto the Anything you can throw light onto, can windows, or the building can slowly changed colors. What’s more, its be a screen. Projection mapping turns be covered in flowers and vines. The colors keep changing, and on this challenge into a new art form. façade can even be transformed in a way that the building looks like a com- closer inspection, vivid figures pletely different structure. are crawling across the façade. And you know that the building doesn’t have an electronic billboard – not the last time you looked. If you see something like this, chances are you’re looking at a new trend in urban events: projection mapping. 4 redefine | Technology red.efine_issue2.indd 4 29/01/10 09:15 From left to right: A paint job without permanent consequences - Bringing Medieval statues to life in France (2x) - What would a building dream about? - The hidden dynamism behind a solid canvas There are also commercial applica- Advantages Projection mapping also offers greater tions for this technology. Corporations freedom for designers to have the can promote new products through a A huge advantage of projection map- imagery interact with their canvas. They spectacular light and video show, or opt ping is that it doesn’t require permanent don’t need to create a stage from to have a static image with a powerful modification of buildings as opposed to scratch because everything is already message overlaid completely on their installing billboards or giant displays. there. “It definitely looks more artistic building’s front at night. “Provided you This is especially important in cases than digital signage,” adds Mr. Justis, have a solid surface to project on, you where the general public is averse to “which is an important factor if you can basically do projection mapping see historical buildings modified with want people to notice you.” everywhere. Because it isn’t located visibly 21st century technology. “In addi- where people expect commercial mes- tion,” says Mr. Justis, “costs associated sages, they don’t tune it out as easily with installation and engineering will Getting it right and will be more compelled to look,” be considerably lower, and because of says Scott Justis, Director of Marketing projection mapping’s temporary nature, However, there are also challenges. In and Advertising for sound, light and service costs will be minimal.” terms of graphics, projection mapping is video company LD Systems. no easy task. The animation’s mapping needs to be proportioned in exactly the same way as the building’s front. On the other hand, the greater creative space offered – both in a figurative and literal sense – could offset the mathematical challenges. The type of façade may also come with challenges - such as curved and non-linear walls. However, there is a lot of hardware on the market that allows projectors to map their projection onto these surfaces, including projectors that have these capabilities built in. This technology is called geometry correc- tion or warping, and has been used by applications such as planetariums, simulation domes or immersive 3D setups for many years. Buildings offer a unique type of canvas that even render relatively simple images very conspicuous Shown here: Lyon’s 2008 Festival of Light TechnologyTechnology || redredefineefine 5 red.efine_issue2.indd 5 29/01/10 09:15 Projection mapping with Barco technology at Lyon’s 2008 Festival of Light Bright in the night Projecting into the future Projection mapping is nigh impossible “Because LD Systems is the first com- in daylight conditions. But even in night pany doing things like this in the US, we circumstances, sufficient brightness is a get a lot of inquiries from potential cus- must to avoid washed-out or faint col- tomers that look at projection mapping ors compared to the ubiquitous street as a very interesting, alternative tool to lights and lights from cars. “Typically, realize their vision. It’s a little too early for this type of setup, 20,000 lumens to make predictions about where this is the basic starting point. This means market is heading, but our experiences heavy-duty, three-chip DLP projectors, will definitely help streamline mapping sometimes stacked to increase bright- processes and make it possible to do ness. In that class, Barco is our default these setups with ever greater preci- choice. In fact, it wasn’t even a ques- sion,” concludes Mr. Justis. tion that we wouldn’t be using Barco,” adds AJ Freysteinson, LD Systems staff Lighting Designer. www.barco.com/projectionmapping See to believe Words can only tell so much. As projection mapping is a spectacle that needs to be seen to convey its full power, it’s worthwhile to hit up a few video websites and check out some examples. The dreaming house: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h3D6dCLAeo “Fensterlichter”-project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPPkjQw80B0 New Year’s Eve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpPDS-7AAJQ Do you have more examples? Let us know on http://www.barco.com/redefine or on our Facebook page. 6 redefine | Technology red.efine_issue2.indd 6 29/01/10 09:15 As the film world is gripped by two parallel revolutions – a massive transition to digital projection on the one hand, and the increasing popularity of 3D on the other hand, cinemas have several options to choose from. Cinema West, owner of the Palladio 16 Cinemas in Folsom, California, chose Barco. Nate Alchesky, General Manager for the Palladio 16 Cinemas, commented on the selection of Barco projectors: “It was the quality and the ease of use. Once we saw the pictures on screen, we real- ized that this was the best way to go.

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