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USA - Gefen has discounted its HDTV Extreme cables, now available in 33, 50, 66, 75, 100, 135, 210 and 330 foot lengths. HDTV Extreme cables are designed for HDTV projection and computer video extension.

"By making fibre DVI cables cost similar to the price of DVI copper cables, we can offer unparalleled video quality to 1080p," said Hagai Gefen, president. "You can go as far as 300 feet from the source using one convenient DVI-equipped cable. Most flat panel displays manufactured today, including Apple's new Cinema Displays, are equipped with DVI to connect the display to the source."(Jim Evans)

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UK - Design practice KBA has been commissioned to create a luxury hotel on the site of a former Standard Life office in the centre of Edinburgh. The hotel is the brainchild of Montpeliers (Edinburgh), the award-winning style bar, hotel and restaurant operator.

The development, yet to be named, is located within an imposing five storey Georgian townhouse at the west end of Edinburgh's stylish shopping district. The building will offer 33 bedrooms, including deluxe suites, a restaurant, bars and private members lounge.

Kerr Blyth, managing director of KBA comments, "Montpeliers has long been a supporter of our integrated design approach. I am delighted that we have been commissioned to bring this landmark project to fruition, all the way through from developing the brief to the final product.

KBA celebrates its third birthday this year. Its portfolio of completed projects

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USA - High-end wireless technology manufacturer Lectrosonics is introducing what it claims to be the world's smallest professional audio wireless transmitter.

Scheduled to be unveiled at NAB 2005 in Las Vegas, SM (Super Mini), this transmitter is said to delivering 107dB signal-to-noise ratio and flat frequency response to 20kHz. Lectrosonics' Digital Hybrid Wireless technology uses both 24-bit digital audio and analogue FM signal transmission methods to encode a digital signal into a robust analogue format for transmission over a UHF FM carrier.

The SM's receiver captures the signal and DSP circuitry recreates the original digital audio. Says Lectrosonics, "This unique system represents the best of both wireless worlds: exceptional digital audio qualitycombined with the spectrum efficiency and long range of highly-optimised FM wireless systems."

Larry Fisher, Lect

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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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UK - Taking less than four hours per line to install, the DGS steelband counterweight drive from Hall Stage promises "powered flying at highly affordable prices".

The first operational units - a DGS 250 & a DGS 500 - are working in the Milton Keynes Theatre and will be touring the UK and Europe over the next few months, supporting Hall Stages 2005 Exhibition schedule.

"Once installed, the venue saves the time and effort involved in loading and unloading counterweight cradles," says Hall Stage director Phil Wells.

DGS installations are designed to "massively reduce" the time taken on fit-ups and show rigging. A bar is available immediately as required and can be loaded and flown in minutes, without the need for re-weighting. "Although not currently illegal as such, various aspects of the tasks involved are definitely inhumane and the practic

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UK - Forty years ago LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, recognized that its Stage Management course needed updating as the job of stage management and the technology available backstage evolved. The college's principle, Michael MacOwan, turned to Richard Pilbrow, the leading technical theatre practitioner of the day, for advice. With help from Pilbrow, his company Theatre Projects and his stage management mentor Robert Stanton, LAMDA's new Stage Management and Technical Theatre Course was born.

Forty years later, Pilbrow returned to LAMDA to help celebrate the course's anniversary, with an afternoon's conversation with the college's current students, a selection of alumni and a variety of other industry practitioners. Entitled 'Two Conversations', the afternoon firstly saw Richard describe the conversation with Michael MacOwan that led to the formation of the c

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UK - Architectural lighting specialist Lighting Technology Projects has specified and supplied a tasteful fibre optic feature lighting installation at the Transco Gas Substation building in Swiss Cottage. The steel clad building - designed by Gustafson Porter - is an integral part of Camden Council's current urban regeneration project in the area, and lighting it required some lateral and unconventional application of the art and science of illumination.

LTP's Terry Reeves was contacted by the project's lighting designer Martin Richmon to help specify the scheme - the two having worked together on a myriad of previous projects. The substation is comprised of two structural elements. The rear portion which deals with distributing the actual gas, and the front 'market stall' area, which is prominent, highly visible and directly on the pavement and main vehicle and pedestrian route

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Sweden / UK - Sweden-based Lab.gruppen has introduces the C Series, a new power amplification solution for permanent installations. The C Series includes three 4-channel amplifiers of varying power levels which feature Lab.gruppen's proprietary NomadLink network interface, and NomadLinkBridge-60E, a 1U remote unit for centralized control of power on/off and monitoring amplifier performance. Lab.gruppen says it has designed the new networkable solution to meet the consultant's expectation for great sounding amplifiers, the contractor's need for flexible and easy installation and the customer's budget constraints, with the least compromise all-around.

The three C Series amplifiers - C 16:4, C 28:4 and C 48:4 - are each four-channel amps with 400W, 700W and 1200W per channel respectively. The C Series amplifier technology is based on the well-established, patented Class TD (Trackin

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UAE - The new Emirates Palace Hotel is Abu Dhabi's only 7-star hotel. UK-based LSI Projects provided the lighting and stage engineering systems for this truly unique complex. The company first became involved in 2001, and in 2003 won the international tender for Package 13b, the production lighting and stage engineering systems. These are located in the magnificent art deco auditorium centrally housed in the entertainment complex, strategically placed between the two lavishly equipped hotels. The whole project has been rumoured to have cost £2 billion and officially opened on 7 March 2005.

The technical specification was prepared by Jerry Godden and his team at Theatre Projects Consultants. The brief was to provide conference and theatre facilities that would enable large corporate clients to stage international conferences, product launches as well as providing local facilitie

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Italy / Germany - At last week's ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, Italian manufacturer Manfrotto introduced a completely redesigned range of coupler clamps which, the company says, feature improved performance and safety, reduced weight, and unique design. The new, high-performance Eye Coupler range, which has been developed with the needs of professional users in the entertainment and film industries, all feature full TÜV certification.

Manfrotto has lightened the coupler's structure, optimizing resistance in major stress areas andhollowing excess material in low stress points, resulting in a lighter, yet more robust jawcomposition. The new washer seat on each of the couplers makes the Eye Coupler ultra-safe by eliminating slipping and aiding locking, and the unique design features optimized ergonomics, developed in order to smooth off the jaw's structure, eliminating s

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UK - Summit Steel provided production rigging for the opening ceremony event which launched HCA2005 - the ongoing bicentennial celebration of the birth of legendary Danish storyteller and poet, Hans Christian Andersen.

The two hour Once Upon A Time event was staged in in front of a live audience of 35,000 at Copenhagen's massive Parken Stadium, and starred a cast of over 300 international artists and celebrities including Jean Michele Jarre, who staged a special live performance interpretation of the fairytale The Shadow.

The show was commissioned by the Danish Broadcasting Company (DR) in conjunction with British production company Initial, and was broadcast live on DR1 and to the rest of Europe via the European Broadcasting Union. The production brief was to transform the stadium into an enchanting fairytale universe. Equipment was supplied by several UK compan

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UK - Just a year ago, the Seville-based touring and events company Apogee SA opened a branch in London, and the venture has got off to a great start. "We are absolutely fully booked," says managing director, Oscar Fragio. "We have met all our targets. Things could hardly be better."

As grounds for the expansion of an Andalusian firm into the colder reaches of Northern Europe, he cited "a desire for closer contact with our customers and for the company to grow. We had noticed that many of our customers frequently worked in London, so London was the logical location for our first foreign branch." It is unlikely to be the last Apogee branch outside Spain. "We want to expand," says Fragio, "and extend our services to all Europe . . .", the ultimate goal being "at least one branch in every European country."

To meet its am

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UK - DHA Lighting Services recently announced that in direct response to calls from designers and distributors alike, it has now added over 100 new designs to its extensive standard metal gobo range.

Aiming to fill the gaps in the existing catalogue, DHA's creative team has put together a collection of new images from pantomime phrases to exotic breakups. Each design has been carefully tailored to meet designers' expectations then projected, evaluated, tweaked and remade. The end result is a range of gobos that DHA is understandably proud of. As Diane Grant, MD for DHA commented, "DHA is known throughout the world as the place to come for gobos. It is our responsibility to keep applying a fresh approach to the catalogue and to reinvest in its development. Even as a non-lighting designer, I know that some of these designs are beautiful and I can't wait for people to start us

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UK - Sennheiser UK has launched two new "entry-high-end" headphone designs - the HD201 and HD215. Both are closed, dynamic headphones featuring extended, accurate response, impressive dynamic potential and remarkable comfort, say the company.

"The HD201 and HD215 bring the real Sennheiser personal listening experience to impressively affordable levels," says Sennheiser UK's product marketing manager, Nolan Hough, "so we expect them to reveal to a whole new generation just how close to the music they can get."

Sennheiser say that both the HD201 and HD215 are "over-the-ear," closed-back designs that deliver outstanding attenuation of ambient noise, encouraging the wearer to become fully immersed in sound without undue distractions and as good as the HD201's ambient-noise attenuation is, the HD215's is even better. It also features a rotata

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Singapore - Stephen Tan returns to High End Systems (HES) Singapore as the regional sales manager for Southeast and Northeast Asia. Tan was previously business development manager at HES Singapore during 1995-1998. He left to start his own company -- focusing on lighting design, installation and servicing - which he has been running until his return to HES.

"It's time to move lighting into the digital age in the Asian market," says Tan. "It's a good time for me to follow the technology. Digital lighting has become a main attraction for me, and I'm excited to be 'home' at High End again."

Tan will soon be scheduling Open House and demo events at the HES facility, and will represent HES at upcoming trade shows such as CALME in May and PALA in July.

Bill Morris, VP of Sales, said "We're excited to have Stephen return. We have experienced a tremendous am

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians will launch its annual Summer School 2005 at the A.C. Lighting North Trade Show being held at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds on 26 and 27 April.

ABTT Summer School 2005 will be held at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. Four Awards are being offered this summer. In addition to its Bronze for Stage Technicians, this year sees the launch of a Silver Award for Stage Technicians, a Silver Award for Sound Technicians and a Silver Award for Stage Electricians. For the first time, these Awards will have full accreditation from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, making the ABTT Awards the first accredited courses for technical and production practitioners in theatre.

The Bronze Award is five intensive days taking the following subjects: Electrical Fundamentals, Portable Appliance Testing, Knots & Spl

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USA - A wireless four-channel Lectrosonics Venue Receiver System, including 16 MM400B miniature belt-pack transmitters, has been installed at SeaWorld San Diego for the water park's new sea lion and otter show. Clyde and Seamore in Deep, Deep Trouble is a marine-themed adventure that features California sea lions, river otters, animal trainers and theatrical performers in search of a mythical sea creature and treasure.

Key to SeaWorld's decision to purchase the Lectrosonics system was the introduction of the latest version of the company's waterproof miniature belt-pack transmitter, the MM400B. Previous versions of the MM400 did not feature a power switch and could only be turned off by removing the battery. The new MM400B features a waterproof power switch and allows that switch to be programmed as an audio mute.

This new feature of the Digital Hybrid Wireless transmit

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UK - The ABTT Theatre Show 2005 (15-16 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London) will present a variety of advanced products designed to enable safe working at heights, say the organizers. The new Work at Height Regulations apply the same restrictions to working at heights below two metres as have long been required at greater heights. Over two thirds of all injuries from falls are from heights below two metres, and to ignore the risks of falling, no matter the distance, potentially puts theatre technicians in serious breach of health and safety regulations.

The ABTT (the Association of British Theatre Technicians) has embraced the issue and will launch its draft for consultation of its Code of Safe Practice when Working at Height at the ABTT Theatre Show in June. Chairman of the ABTT's Safety Committee, David Adams explains: "Whilst designers can achieve much to reduce the

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UK - Stage Technologies has been working with prominent French company ECA2 and the world-renowned Canadian based company Cirque Éloize to realize an aerial performance for the Toyota Group's central show at the Aichi 2005 World Fair in Japan, which started on 25 March. The fair is oriented towards the future, and will be based on major issues including nature, the environment, durable growth and new technologies. For this event, founder of ECA2, Yves Pépin and his team have designed and produced a huge multimedia show, which will take place 14 times a day, everyday for a six month period, both a human and technological challenge.

The automation equipment was initially set up at the Cirque Éoize venue in Canada to enable the shows' creative team to experiment with its ideas and allow the performers to become accustomed to the equipment. Working closely with performance riggin

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Venezuela - Audio Valencia of Valencia, Venezuela is one of the latest sound providers to become an Adamson Y-Axis Partner, purchasing a complete system comprised of 16 Adamson Y-Axis Y18s and four Y10s. The sale was arranged through Abba Trading Corporation of Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Adamson's distributor for Latin America.

Since taking delivery, Audio Valencia has used its new Adamson Y-Axis system for all of its A-list events, which has included recent Venezuelan concert dates by the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and Spanish superstar Miguel Bosé.

Sound engineer Daniel Fernandez provided technical training on the new system for the Audio Valencia staff; and assisted Luciano Pavarotti's FOH engineer John Pellowe for the 2 March concert date at Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela.

"For the Pavarotti concert, we used an array of eight Y18s and two Y10s p

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UAE - PALME - the Middle East's premier professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration exhibition, which runs from 24-26 April 2005 in Dubai, will feature a series of master classes and industry seminars specifically designed to help those involved in AV installation and event management keep up to speed with the latest products, services and solutions available, say the organizers, IIR. Held over the three days of the event, the sessions will be hosted by leading experts including leading architectural lighting designers Jonathan Speirs and Paul Gregory, renowned for international lighting design projects that include the Burj Al Arab and Golden Gate Bridge.

Jonathan Speirs' masterclasses at PALME 2005 will focus on three RIBA Stirling Prize (the UK Building of the Year award) projects, profiling the Swiss Re Tower by Foster and Partners, London, The Gat

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UK - Allen & Heath showed the latest designs from its award-winning Xone range of DJ products at the Pro Light & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt last week. The Xone:S6 - a sister product to the audiophile valve rotary Xone:V6 mixer - made its debut. Offering an almost identical feature set, fitted with the same top quality components and offering equal sonic performance, the S6 is an accessible alternative to the top of the range V6, say Allen & Heath. Adopted by the leading clubs Fabric and Ministry of Sound, and the top DJ/producers Louie Vega, Sasha, Eric Morillo and Sander Kleinenberg, the Xone:V6 has set a new standard in DJ mixing since its launch in 2002, say the company.

Built to the same standard as the V6, the S6 retains key features including the six dual stereo channels with high pass filters and insert points on every channel, accurate signal level metering, "int

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