Christie Terra and SDVoE Help Light Up the Night at Barcelona Beach Festival

Barcelona Beach Festival (BBF) takes place on the sands of the world-famous coastal city, transforming the Platja del Fòrum into one of Europe’s wildest party spots for over 12 hours. The festival is famous for not only bringing together the world’s biggest names in dance music, but also for its incredible sound, wealth of visual effects and imposing stage rising high above the beach, with expansive ocean views providing an incredible backdrop.

Challenge

How do you fill a gigantic canvas, made up of an array of LED screens with differing pixel pitches divided around the stage in distinct setups, with content to impress an international audience?

Stonevent provided the screens for the festival and MappScreen, specialists in audiovisual services for events, managed the content. Each screen had support and flying systems that fit with the festival’s overall design.

Over 25 million pixels were powered through three 4K main outputs and another three 4K backup outputs. The project suited MappScreen down to the ground because the slogan of these specialists in giant screen management is “Screens, the bigger, the better!”

“We have been working on this festival alongside Stonevent for years,” said Xavier Cruz Rubio, CEO, MappScreen. “Basically we do all the calculations and pixel mapping for the event’s mega-screen, which was 50 meters wide by 9 meters tall this year (164 x 30 feet), as well as managing content.”

Solution

Christie Terra SDVoE technology in combination with the Christie Spyder X80 multi-screen windowing processor brought the screens to life.

For this year’s festival, MappScreen used Christie equipment for the first time with each performing video jockey (VJ) connected to the Spyder X80, sending a 4K signal by both HDMI and DisplayPort. The Spyder managed the VJs’ signals; scaling the 4K to three 4K outputs and relaying the signal to the screen’s six NovaStar processors.

Cruz Rubio said, “Thanks to the Spyder’s number of 4K inputs, we were able to connect all the artists with a specific cable for each one. That way we avoided having to share inputs and cables between the different artists or having to hot-swap live. As always, it worked to perfection, proving that it is the only equipment on the market today capable of powering such high resolutions on giant screens.”

In addition, MappScreen used the Christie Terra AV-over-IP solution to extend audio, video, as well as embedded time code, (thanks to the built-in synchronization and metadata support) using fibre cable between FOH and the VJ’s desk on stage. “We are more than happy with Terra. If Terra didn’t exist, we would have had to use conventional fibre transmitters and receivers, with an equal amount of RJ45 cable to extend the VJs time code,” Cruz Rubio concluded.

Benefits of SDVoE Technology

SDVoE reaches beyond existing standards to provide benefits no other technology can claim:

  • A complete ecosystem – SDVoE Alliance members are manufacturers with expertise in signal distribution, display manufacture, IT infrastructure, chip design and AV software. The integrator has dozens of partners to align with and products to choose from.
  • A flexible yet simple software platform – the SDVoE API allows rapid development of highly specialized software, custom-tailored to the needs of a vast array of end users.
  • A full OSI stack solution – only SDVoE offers the simplicity of a complete top to bottom solution, fully encompassing infrastructure, transport, processing, and a simple control layer.

About Christie

Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual and audio technologies company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio Inc., Japan (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world’s most advanced projectors, complete system displays, and cinema audio solutions; Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images, accompanied by awe-inspiring sound.

For more information about Christie’s Terra line of
SDVoE solutions, visit www.christiedigital.com.

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SDVoE case study - Barcelona Beach Festival

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