Intense heat radiating from the streets and sidewalks outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center in June was no match for the cool gear at InfoComm 2008. True to form, LEDs, media servers and projection dominated the show, but not all exhibitors followed the formula. Some of them showed products to rig, power and network with LEDs, media servers and projection. Another dominant technology at the show was wireless DMX, with several dimming and control manufacturers offering it as an option as well as one or two automated lighting manufacturers.
According to official reports, almost 35,000 people from 83 countries ignored the fuel surcharges and extra baggage fees to crowd the aisles at the trade show. Nine hundred and ninety-eight exhibitors displayed their wares, roughly 25 percent of which were directly related to projection, lighting and staging.
The unofficial award for synchronicity goes to Main Light Industries and High End Systems, both of whom brought out a very large moving yoke LED fixture that can serve as an RGB color mixing wash fixture as well as a low-res graphics display device. And, of course, it wouldn’t be InfoComm if there weren’t giant strides in projection of all kinds — the smallest in the world, the highest resolution, the brightest and the newest, including the 4LCD technology from Sanyo.
But much of the talk on the show floor had less to do with technology than it did with politics and how the Barco acquisition of High End Systems would play out. Meanwhile, all of the High End Systems employees adjusted to wearing Barco shirts and some of the ex-High End employees who went to work for Barco are getting reacquainted with their former and now current colleagues. All we need now is for Philips to acquire Barco (or the other way around?) and it will be a complete reunion of all former employees in the industry. Well, almost. But I don’t want to start any rumors.
An array of five Impression moving yoke LED fixtures takes center stage on the Elation stand, driven by the new Show Designer 3 lighting console. The 3 universe console retails for $3,999. Also new on the stand was the Elation DLED 108IP fixture rated IP 65 for outdoor use.
Michael Poirier shows the Dartss Delivery and Return Tracking and Scanning System on the Applied Electronics stand. The software system uses handheld barcode scanners for inventory tracking and management and retails for $7,500. Also on the stand was the LSC Maxim line of lighting consoles with new USB backup support, MIDI interface, trackball support and optional Cap-ture visualization software. The LP 36/72 retails for $6,562.
Hans Lau of Wireless Solution holds the new R512 Micro Receiver, which receives one universe of wireless DMX and retails for $298.
TMB unveiled the C&C Smart-i, an LCD display matrixing system that allows you to configure up to 255 displays via DVI. Green Hippo’s Hippotizer V3.12 shared the TMB stand as well.
Jamie Brock, the newest addition to Inner Circle Distribution, shows off the Hazebase battery-operated haze machine. ICD is also the distributor for Coemar, Compulite and Soft-LED in the USA.
MegaLite’s new N-E Color Cannon LED fixtures warmed the truss on their stand while the Enigma Matrix LED display provided the backdrop.
Daktronics’ new PST-10 10mm SMD modular LED display panels are shown next to the new PST-12HD 12mm modules. The 12HD panels weigh 110 pounds per square meter with 7,500 nits. The PST-10 has an IP rating of 65 in the front and 54 in the rear.
Kevin Nelson of Lightronics holding the XC-42 4×1200-watt portable dimmer with optional built-in wireless DMX. The wireless option is also available as an upgrade on consoles for an additional $600 or on dimmers for an additional $560.
Franco Natale of SGM basks in the projection from the new Giotto 1500 Digital while demonstrating the modularity of the Giotto 1500 Wash fixture. The Giotto 1500 Spot can ac-cept a DLP drop-in module to become a digital luminaire with animated digital gobos. The 1500 Digital will begin shipping in August.
Joe Bokelman of ETC with the new Unison Paradigm architectural lighting and building integration system. The Unison Paradigm family of products is designed to be scalable and includes software, touchscreens and wall stations, modular dimming and control enclosures and accessories.
Randy Mullican of Main Light Industries shows off the MF3, which turned heads on the show floor, literally and figuratively. The moving yoke LED fixture is a combination color wash and low-res video display.
Coolux introduced several new features in the Pandora’s Box Media Server including PB Warp, an image-warping tool with 3D capability. Other new features include MIDI, MIDI Show Control, MA net integration and CITP communication. The new SDI input to DVI outputs include field-based de-interlacing and re-synchronization, and a feature called Sonic Emotion sound completes the upgrade.
The always-crowded Barco stand was buzzing about the recent acquisition of High End Systems. Among their new products on the stand was the 4mm NX-4 LED display with Black LED, 2,000 Nits and a contrast ratio of 4,000:1.
James Thomas Engineering towered over the show floor with their new MiniTAT audio towers.
Lex Products’ new PowerHouse Pagoda power distro has an adjustable main breaker that ranges from 100 amps to 250 amps.
The new Pixel Art from Pixel Range lights up the stand. The modular LED video battens have six rows of 72 tri-colored LED pixels and each pixel is individually controllable. The Video Mapper streams video to the fixtures.
Sanyo’s new PLC-XP200L features a 4LCD optical engine with 7,000 lumens, and a built-in Active Maintenance Filter (AMF) system that automatically scrolls to avoid clogging. The new projector will be available in
September.
The new Chroma-Q Color Punch on the AC Lighting stand is an RGB color mixing LED fixture with an IP rating of 65. Also on the stand was the Jands Vista range of lighting consoles.
The V-Base moving yoke for video projectors, MA Lighting GrandMA range of consoles, and Zero 88 Frog range of lighting consoles dominated the A.C.T Lighting stand.
Blue Pony’s digital content kept customers enraptured.
Ed Cheeseman of Leprecon shows Charlie Malings of Middleman Productions the new wireless DMX option on Leprecon dimmers.
Among the many new video products on the Edirol stand was the V8 Eight Channel Video Mixer. It features two selectable RGB inputs, monitor outputs, video effects and BPM sync with music.
The new Piccolo line of two scene consoles from Leviton are available in 12/48, 24/96, 36/144, and 48/192 versions.
The Pro Star ¼-ton hoist from Columbus McKinnon attracted lots of attention on their stand.
Barco MiStrip sculptures attracted notice on the Video Equipment Rentals (VER) stand.
The new SeaChanger Studio Dichroics color engine for Source Fours featuring CYMxG kept the Ocean Optics stand bright and colorful.
High End Systems on the Barco stand got several double takes. The Barco DML 1200 and High End Systems DL3 were on display side by side. Also on the stand were quite a few of the new ShowPix moving yoke LED fixtures.
