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UK - Lumidrives, the UK based LED technology provider has seen turnover for 2005 rise 25% to £3.5m, following the launch of successful new products and strong export sales growth.

Founded in 2001, Lumidrives was one of the first companies to realise the potential of high powered LED technology in illumination applications. It specialises in the development of components to enable applications in solid state lighting, including power drivers, LED arrays and optics. The company also offers design services for LED based illumination systems.

Lumidrives' 2005 growth follows on the back of a doubling of turnover in 2004. Exports now account for 40% of sales with new customers located in Japan, Canada, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic.

The company's tech

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The Netherlands - Lumileds Lighting and Future Electronics re-set industry expectations for the price and value of high-power LEDs, releasing new manufacturer suggested retail pricing (MSRP) for Luxeon III and Luxeon I LEDs in advance of the release of its new Luxeon K2 LEDs.

Lumileds' new pricing positions the industry's most widely used high-power LEDs as the clear value leaders and demonstrates Lumileds commitment to rapidly growing the market for solid-state lighting technology, says the company. The new pricing is in effect immediately, worldwide, and is available on the companies' web sites as well as for online orders.

"As the market's only high volume producer of power LEDs, Lumileds is delivering the technology that will help to grow the market for solid-state lighting," said Mark Swoboda, executive vp of sales and marketing for Lumileds. "With Luxeon I

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UK - XL Video UK supplied lighting and visual designer Andy Hurst with video equipment for A-Ha's recent UK arena tour, in an interesting design merging both mediums.

Hurst worked with video specialist Richard Shipman and XL's project managers Paul Wood and Des Fallon to get the video elements exactly as he wanted. From the outset, he intended using video as a lightsource blended together with the lighting cues. LED tech for the tour was Andy Tonks.

The tour's starting point was a massive show in Oslo, Norway (the band's home country) to celebrate the City's Centenary. With 120,000 attending, it was the largest show in Norway to date, and featured a 10 camera DVD shoot with lots of video onstage. Hurst wanted to continue the video theme on a scaled down version for the arena tour. He also wanted to separate the show into three distinct acts that could be "unfolded" t

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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 - Midwich, a leading trade-only distributor of AV and Home Entertainment products, has formed an alliance with True Colours Distribution, one of the UK's most respected technical solution providers, to organise a new AV event called Hi-Technology.

Hi-Technology consists of three consecutive roadshows on 4, 5 and 6 April 2006. The show will make its debut at the City of Manchester Stadium before moving on to Villa Park, Birmingham and RAF Hendon.

Stuart Mizon, divisional manager at Midwich said: "It looks like 2006 will be something of a landmark year for AV, so attendees can expect to see the latest in displays, digital signage, rental staging, system integration and 'HD Ready' home cinema technology from the world's leading brands."

Iain Campbell, sales and marketing director at True Colours, said: "The idea of distributors joining forces to promote AV pro

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Spain - Barcelona was the destination in November, for the team from scenic contractor Stage One, when production company, Crown Business Communications, brought them on board to build the set for Renault's Annual Dealer Conference 05.

Stage One's work included; building the core set for the main presentation area, masking flatage for the dining area and stage backing for a smaller presentation area.

Nick Murtagh designed the main set with a core emphasis on smooth, flowing lines, and Stage One was thus firstly tasked with constructing four juxtapositioned oval stages of varying heights, each carpeted in a different colour and with a painted facia. The company then built a series of white filled cloth flats, providing a backing for two rear projection screens, and a central logo panel.

The seamless nature of the set was emphasised as the central logo panel curved down

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UK - By January 1st, lighting supplier White Light had already supplied its first new touring show of 2006: the musical Footloose, which began its UK tour at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

Produced by Mark Goucher, Michael Rose and Tristan Baker, Footloose is directed by Karen Bruce, designed by Morgan Large with lighting by James Whiteside. White Light have supplied a rig that includes Martin Mac500 and Mac2000 profiles, Mac600 washlights and Clay Paky Alpha Halo washlights, as well as ETC Source Fours, Rainbow colour scrollers, Par Cans, 5kW fresnels, L&E battens, Coda-4 floods, Unique haze machines, and White Light's fully-rated LOLER lighting ladders.

The rig is fed from Avo touring dimmer racks, controlled by a Strand 520i console programmed by Rob Halliday. The show's production electrician is Jeremy Duncan, with Simon Gooding the production manager.

T

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UK - How do you describe a live set by Prodigy? As one reviewer put it, "Sheer, eardrum-destroying blasts of raw noise that has such unbelievable force it's as if your internal organs are being shaken." And just how do you mic up a Prodigy live set?

Front-of-house engineer Jon Burton says: "At the beginning of this tour I had approached Sennheiser about radio systems. We had been very straight with them as we get through a lot of mics. It is a hot, sweaty, unpredictable show, and Mr Flint isn't averse to toe punting the odd mic into the crowd if it malfunctions. In a world tour lasting a year we have never completely lost a mic. Also, the radio side has always been spot on, all around the world, from South America to Russia."

Burton adds: "We were using a rival popular kick drum mic, but as we had a kick drum with a solid front head, the mic needed mou

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UK - The UK Government's Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) is looking to the professional lighting industry for input into its future plans for the country's lighting technology strategy, and is holding a workshop meeting this month to begin the process. The output of this workshop will help to develop the Government's strategy for solid state lighting and photovoltaics.

The meeting will discuss photonic technologies, which have the potential to be used in both the generation of energy and its efficient use: in particular, photovoltaics have the potential for micro-generation of electricity without the use of carbon and solid state lighting technologies have the potential to make very large reductions in energy consumption.

The DTI says there are major opportunities for UK companies and other stakeholders in Energy Photonics. These opportunities include device development,

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USA - City Theatrical's new VL500/1000 floor stand is a sleek, low profile, moving light mounting base specifically designed for Vari-Lite's new VL500 Wash Luminaires. It features a broad, stable, low profile base measuring 17" x 13" x 1" tall (43.2cm x 33cm x 2.5cm) with stylish rounded corners. Fabricated from strong but lightweight aluminum, the VL500/1000 floor stand is stackable for ease of storage.

The mounting plate of the VL500/1000 Floor Stand contains ½" diameter (12.7mm) mounting holes on 8" (20.3cm) centers suitable for either VL500 or VL1000, as well as a centre hole to enable the mounting of any conventional lighting fixture.

City Theatrical specializes in inventing, manufacturing and customizing unique lighting accessories, and has been an innovator in the field since it began manufacturing in 1994.

(Chris Henry)

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USA - BSR E1.22, Entertainment Technology - Fire Safety Curtain Systems, is available for public review on the ESTA website until 28 March, 2006. The draft standard describes the materials, fabrication, installation, operation, testing, and maintenance of fire safety curtains and fire safety curtain systems used for theatre proscenium opening protection.

It is a serious attempt to avoid offering a cook-book description of a fire safety curtain system and, instead, to specify how a fire curtain shall perform. That is, it doesn't tell you what kind of fabric to use for a fire safety curtain, for example, but instead tells you how strong whatever fabric you use must be and what abrasion and fire tests it must pass. The document may be accessed by visiting http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_do

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Japan - The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association held their 39th Tokyo Motor Show - Passenger Cars & Motorcycles - at the Makuhari Messe complex in Makuhari, Chiba City from 21 October to 6 November 2005.

The theme of this year's show was "Driving Tomorrow! - from Tokyo" with over 1.5m visitors taking in the sights and sounds of the industry's most advanced technologies and designs.

Motor shows mean prodigious amounts of lighting, and the Tokyo Motor Show, with its 40,000sq.m of space, was no exception. Countless numbers of lighting fixtures were incorporated into exhibits from more than 200 companies, including 264 Martin products for exhibits by Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Volkswagen, and others.

At the Toyota exhibit MAC 2000 Performances were painted silver-white to match the ceiling, truss, and walls while Alien O2 color changers were pai

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USA - Aviom, manufacturer of the Pro16 Monitor Mixing System, is pleased to announce the addition of Dana West as its new District Sales Manager for Northeast U.S., reporting to Gary Lee.

West, has many years of sales and marketing experience in the pro audio industry. His past experience includes roles at Fishman Transducers, Lexicon, and most recently as regional sales manager for Line6. West will conduct product training, seminars, as well as attend trade shows in the region in addition to his sales management duties. "This is a great opportunity; I am excited to become a part of the Aviom team," says West.

"Dana will be an important asset to the Aviom team," notes Dan Garrett, vice president of sales and marketing for Aviom. "His great familiarity in the Northeast will surely facilitate continued growth in the region."

Aviom is the world's l

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USA - After conducting 200 extensive surveys during PLASA and LDI, Wybron and Acromatics now begin the second phase of market development research on the performance lighting industry. The ongoing research program will consist of monthly online questionnaires, with access to surveys being as close as the nearest computer. The monthly surveys will cover a variety of subjects including industry hot topics and product usage habits, with results to be shared with the industry.

The first phase of research, sponsored by Wybron, was accomplished at PLASA2005 in London and ETS-LDI in Orlando. Executed by New York-based Acromatics, it involved a combination of one-on-one interviews and computer questionnaires. "The idea of the monthly online surveys was a result of the overwhelming response we got from the respondents in London and Orlando," says marketing guru Stuart Agres, wh

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UK - Lighting designer Ian Turner and his company, Southampton-based GLS supplied 24 Robe ColorSpot 1200 AT fixtures for Irish folk punksters The Pogues' recent UK arena tour. Turner has designed lighting for the band since their reformation in 2001. The hugely popular 2005 Christmas shows saw a re-release of their massive hit, "Fairytale of New York", with all royalties split between homeless charities and the Justice For Kirsty Campaign.

He chose the Robe fixtures for this tour - the first time he's used them on a full tour - as his main moving lights initially because of their "incredible brightness". He needed a moving light that would hold its own amidst the 200 Par cans and 24 Molefays on the rig, which was designed as a contemporary take on that classic rock 'n' roll pub-band-on-a-big-stage look. The 24 fixtures were distributed all across the three-tr

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UK - Mitsubishi Electric has launched a new projector - the new XD205U, which utilises DLPÔ technology allowing high brightness of 2000 ANSI Lumens combined with a high contrast ratio of 2000:1, and is XGA resolution (1024 x 768).

The Mitsubishi XD205U has been designed with budget conscious corporate and education end-users in mind. Mitsubishi have strived to develop a unit that meets the requirements of any projector buyer with a small budget, without compromising on high quality performance. Mitsubishi have also ensured low cost of ownership when it comes to replacement lamp costs. The XD205U also benefits from a three year comprehensive loan replacement warranty.

Alistair Duthie, Divisional Manager of Mitsubishi Electric said "We are very aware that some end users have minimal budgets for AV equipment, and this new model has been specifically designed with them in mi

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UK - The TSK Group has completed its first implementation of Stardraw.com's new application, the aptly named Stardraw Control, at the Radisson Hotel in Birmingham. TSK's specialist communication environments arm has installed a comprehensive and sophisticated background music and presentation source routing system across five floors of the hotel utilising an EtherSound network controlled by Stardraw Control.

The cutting-edge system is part of a project that will see TSK breathe new life into the hotel's presentation facilities. The background music system is implemented across all five floors of the installation, which comprises two floors of bars and restaurants, two floors of meeting rooms and business facilities, and the eighteenth floor which plays host to the gym and the presidential suite. The presentation source routing system is concentrated on the two floors that form

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India - Rich Audio, one of Mumbai's oldest rental companies, has augmented its inventory with the acquisition of a Soundcraft MH2 48 channel audio mixing console. Speaking of the purchase, Rich Audio owner, Richie Braganza, states: "After looking at the products available in the market, we had no second thoughts in opting for the Soundcraft MH2-48. We considered the features, in particular the onboard VCAs, and excellent price point - and of course the availability of the product."

The console was available ex-stock from Cinetekk, one of the Harman Pro Group distributors in India. "The assistance provided by Sushil S. John, country head for the Harman Pro Group in India, made our decision very easy," concluded Braganza.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Arena Seating closed a successful year with over 100,000 people sitting on their seats at events through December. The milestone was crossed amidst an incredibly busy December with 100,003 people sitting on Arena Seating at events during the final month of the year. The range of events highlighted the diversity of Arena's products and logistical expertise.

In December, Arena Seating's well known red tip-up seats accommodated music audiences at the last of the shows at the temporary Wembley Arena Pavilion whilst fans also enjoyed Rod Stewart, The Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Duran Duran at the series of sold-out concerts at Earls Court.

Nearly 20,000 seats were supplied to a festival of Islam at and several school Christmas concerts and Christian celebrations of Christmas also employed Arena Seating. On the sporting front, boxing was the order of the day at ExCeL where 13,50

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Italy - Italian manufacturer Outline snc has announced that ist Globe Source Radiator (GSR) - an innovative omnidirectional loudspeaker for acoustical measurements, is now available as a package incorporating a companion matching 4-channel 500W/channel power amplifier with built-in noise source and wireless remote control and accompanying subwoofer, which can store the GSR. Using the miniature matching amplifier, the nominal sound power level of the system is 125dB, say Outline, with less than 0.3dB power compression, but the source can deliver up to 130dB with a more powerful power amplifier, with the same power compression.

The GSR and Outline miniaturized power amplifier can be configured to power selected drivers to obtain different radiation patterns, useful for approximating musical instrument sources. An optional powered subwoofer extends the response to 40Hz.

The GSR c

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UK - Two Gloucester DJ's, Jason Ayers and Steve Blake, have got their hands on a landmark Stroud venue, and lovingly restored it from near dilapidation over an 18-month period. Having secured Stroud's first late night licence back in 1969 the venue became The Marshall Rooms (hosting bands like U2 among others). But its recent history has been chequered and it eventually closed down.

When they were ready to convert it into the 425-capacity Riga, they contacted Contract Audio Visual (CAV) for their technology infrastructure. CAV's sales manager, Howard Williams, says: "They loved the power of the NEXO Alpha Touring System, in particular the heavy bass, and opted for that on a contract rental basis."

But power comes at a price, and being in a residential area the operators needed one hundred tonnes of concrete to provide the necessary sound reinforcement after CAV had c

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UK - The sleepy market town of Hitchin recently gave birth to a high-octane style bar.Locally-based tanning salon operator, Carl Barton, managed to complete the conversion of the former Grade II-listed council offices and library into Ivory, just in time for the Christmas season, thanks to assistance from Hitchin-based sound specialists Rossco.

Barton had planned to install the sound system on a shoestring budget until an inquisitive Ross Sharples, MD of Rossco, put his nose around the door during the site development to see what was going on.

"He convinced me that upgrading the quality of the sound system would pay dividends -and thank goodness I listened," says Barton, in his 400-capacity venue, with neon illuminated white façade.

Sharples runs Martin Audio touring boxes in his rental stock, but turned to the exquisitely designed, fast-fit AQ architectural boxes

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