Contact:
JP Tanghe
President Corporate Communication and Investor Relations
Tel: +32 56 262 322
E-mail: jp.tanghe@barco.com
U2 Vertigo Tour a feast for the eyes with revolutionary Barco technology
Kuurne, Belgium – 29 March, 2005 – U2’s much anticipated “Vertigo” tour
kicked off in San Diego, USA yesterday, wowing its thousands of fans with
spectacular never-before-seen stage, video and lighting designs.
With their origins in Belgium, Barco, Innovative Designs and XL Video -
three key providers to the professional entertainment industry - banded
together to help bring to life the spectacular design (show design by Willie
Williams) of the latest U2 tour. All visualization aspects of the show, from
the various projection set-ups (using Barco RLM G5s & ELM G10s) to the
video-driven LED projection units, the image processing (Barco Folsom
Encore) or the new revolutionary MiSPHERE curtains above the center stage,
were designed, integrated & produced by Barco or Innovative Designs and
delivered by Barco Rental Partner, XL Video.
The most awe-inspiring visual element of the show can be found in a tiny, plastic-encased
LED spherical module called “MiSPHERE”. Designed and developed by Barco
at its R&D headquarters in Belgium especially for the Vertigo tour, the MiSPHERE
takes the use of LED technology in the concert & staging market to a new level.
With 360-degree viewing angles, opaque, light-diffusing casing and ability to play
both full video & data, the MiSPHERE bridges the gap between existing video and
lighting products, enabling it to be used for both application purposes. Individual
MiSPHERES are daisy-chained into a string, with several strings in turn forming a 3-D
visualization curtain. Each MiSPHERE acts as a pixel within the curtain, making it
possible to display images and simulate lighting effects across the entire curtain,
while also achieving a “Look-Trough” effect and “Multiple Angle” viewing-effect for
the audience all around the scene.
High above the center stage hang the MiSPHERE strings, each containing 64 spheres
and totalling 9 meters long. A total of 189 strings (containing over 12000 spheres)
together form seven 3-D curtains which allows fans on all sides of the stage to have
a perfect view of the images & content displayed on the curtain above the band. The
digital curtain will be retracted and lowered throughout the show as needed.
At the heart of the show lies Barco’s Folsom Encore; a show control system which
allows advanced video processing and presentation control at the touch of a button.
Bringing together the various aspects of the show, the Barco Folsom Encore provides
source selection, advanced windowing features, seamless switching, video effects
and integrated control. The Encore’s modular, scaleable architecture allows the
system to support a wide variety of show configurations. The system can efficiently
support from 1 to 32 screens with any combination of independent display or
seamless wide-screen display elements.
To realise its elaborate stage, video and lighting design, the U2 Vertigo tour brings
together some of the AV industry’s foremost players. The flawless integration of all
the elements of the show is the product of months of preparation and collaboration
by all parties involved.
“We are enormously proud to be a part of this ground-breaking project”, says
Stephan Paridaen, President of Barco’s Media & Entertainment division. “Designing,
producing and delivering a revolutionary product such as the MiSPHERE in less than 6
months confirms Barco’s commitment to driving technological advances within the
rental & staging industries. Together with our rental partner XL Video and creative
partner Innovative Designs, we helped realize the creative aspects of a show that will
wow millions of fans at concerts across the world over the coming year.”
Adds Rene De Keyzer, Managing Director of XL Video: “XL Video has always been an
early adopter of ground-breaking technologies, simply because we believe that by
doing so, we provide an extra service to our clients, who demand nothing but the
best. Our close collaboration with Barco and Innovative Designs has lead to a strong
alliance, which enabled us to help realize the Vertigo tour.”
Frederic Opsomer of Innovative Designs, which specializes in the design and
production of custom-made video displays for special projects, captures the essence
of this project: “You need a band like U2 to push creativity and technology forward.”
Key show info:
- Show designer: Willie Williams
- Lighting Design Director: Bruce Rahmus
- Video Designer: Stefaan Desmet
- Barco Rental Partner: XL Video (www.xlvideo.tv)
- Equipment designed & produced by Barco (www.events.barco.com) and
Innovative Designs (www.id-be.com)
Equipment list:
189 MiSPHERE strings
4 x Barco G10 projectors
5 x Barco G5 projectors
5 x Folsom Encore image processors
Barco Media & Entertainment, a division of Barco, provides specialized visualization
solutions targeted at the needs of the Media & Entertainment industries. It counts
names such as U2, Louis Vuitton, Madonna and Daimler Chrysler as well as
installations for Merrill Lynch, Kinepolis, China Film Group, Bank of America,
Deutsche Bank, Reliant Park Stadium (USA) and the Hala Sazka Arena in Prague
amongst some of its key references.
For more information on our latest products, please visit www.events.barco.com
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, provides visualization
and display solutions for professional markets. Barco designs and develops solutions for large
screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual
inspection. Barco is active worldwide and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing,
Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco
is quoted on Euronext Brussels and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company (Euronext: BAR;
Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB).
