I recently programmed the lighting for Gospel Superfest, a nationally syndicated television show aired on gospel cable channels. For the past couple of years, the executive producer has been increasing the use of video in the show by adding video walls and plasma screens to the stage. This year, however, he asked Set Designer and Show Technical Director Rene Lagler to incorporate video projection into the design, and the result was impressive. My quest to find out how it was accomplished and what equipment was being used led me on a little backstage investigation of my own.
To Begin With
The I-Mag, corporate graphics and sponsor commercials were rear projected onto the screen during the performances and facilitated by the new Barco FLM HD18k projector. It was positioned on scaffolding approximately 12 feet away, upstage of the 15-foot by 27-foot RP screen. This ex-tremely quiet and bright projector greatly enhanced the look of the show, but its relatively compact size in proportion to its brightness is what caught my eye.
After some research on previous Barco models, I found that just a few years ago, an 18k projector was almost 2 feet longer and 100 pounds heavier than those in use now — today’s 18k projector is only slightly larger than the 6k model from 2002. To show the trend in projection and how it has changed over the last few years, here is some information about the light output, resolution, weight and dimensions for three Barco projectors I’ve encountered on shows within the last five years.
In 2007, the Barco FLM HD18 features 18K lumens of light output and native HD resolution with a package weighing in at 220 pounds and with dimensions of 28 inches by 40 inches by 22 inches.
In 2004, the Barco ELM R18 Director featured 18K lumens of light output and native SXGA resolution with a weight of around 298 pounds and dimensions of 25 inches by 60 inches by 22 inches.
In 2002, the Barco SLM R6 Performer, the projector frequently paired with High End’s Catalyst Orbital Moving Head, featured 5K lumens of light output and native SXGA resolution. It weighed approximately 124 pounds with dimensions of 35 inches by 23 inches by 17 inches.
Advances in Projection
The advances in projection technology that Barco and other manufacturers have made are clearly evident. Improvements in the lamps, optical sys-tems, power supplies and cooling systems mean that as each new generation of projectors evolves, the images get sharper and brighter, while the overall size of the projector doesn’t increase or actually gets smaller both in terms of weight and overall dimensions.
How is the HD18 different from the R18? The HD18 makes use of a newly designed, patent-pending, liquid-cooled optical system, a 3.5 kW xe-non lamp and a single power supply. A new three-chip DLP HD display is another upgraded feature. Its size, when compared to the R18, is about 80 pounds less and almost two feet shorter! Compare the R18 to the size of the R6, and you will see that the R18 was about two-and-a-half feet longer and almost 180 pounds heavier! Those figures represent some real progress. These specs from the HD18 make it a compact and powerful solution to incorporating video into a production. It’s no wonder more and more productions are using video these days.
Overall Impact
How do these advancements in image projection impact what’s going on in your next event? Consider this. Years ago, in 2002, I worked on several shows programming the Catalyst media server with the Barco R6. With a 5k ANSI lumen output, the throw distance for reasonably bright images limited the rigging position of the R6 pretty much to a truss over the stage. After working on quite a few events with the R6, you can imagine my reaction when I eventually got to work with an R18.
Aside from the increase in brightness, the throw distance allowed us to position the projector farther away, resulting in larger images and more overall video impact. And we only needed one projector to accomplish what was roughly the equivalent in output of three R6 projectors, so the rental costs were reduced a bit, as was the manpower and setup time required for the job.
However, the R18 was no easy projector to manage! Weighing in at just under 300 pounds, it required multiple bodies to maneuver. Rigging one was not an easy task, so many people preferred to simply stack the unit on cases or scaffolding when working on one-offs instead of rigging it. This limited the flexibility of the R18 for uses other than straight on rear or front projection.
Overall, the FLM HD18 is a clear example of what happens when a manufacturer responds to its end users. With the introduction of digital lighting fixtures like LSD’s Medusa, High End Systems’ DL1, and very soon, Barco’s DML-1200 digital luminaire, plus the trend toward convergence of lighting and video, both lighting and video directors have been asking for projectors that are brighter, smaller and less expensive. Continual ad-vancements in all areas of video and lighting products are pushing our industry closer to the realization of that dream.
In fact, seeing the increased brightness and image quality of the HD18 leads me to ask the question, “What will they design next?”
Vickie Claiborne is a freelance control systems and digital media server training developer, lighting director and programmer, and an industrial training specialist. Her Web site is www.vickieclaiborne.com.
