UK - Wireless battery powered lighting manufacturers Core Lighting reports an excellent PLASA 2014 exhibition at London's ExCeL Centre, which they seized as an opportunity to launch the new little PinPoint fixture.

Core's PinPoint - made in the UK as with all their product range - attracted serious attention.

Already in production, the tiny IP65 rated wireless pin-spot / birdie weighs just 700 grams while its single LED lightsource outputs a punchy 300 lumens.

The head is connected to the base of the PinPoint via a flexible stainless steel 'gooseneck' for maximum focusability, and the brushed aluminium housing gives a contemporary, streamlined finish which looks fabulous in any environment.

Further options are added with the base capable of vertical or horizontal orientation

UK - Flare Audio has launched what they believe to be the world's first 'fully' open back headphones. The Reference R1, aimed at the pro audio and audiophile market, uses Flare's unique new approach to produce distortion free sound, even at full volume, enabling true transfer and transmission of source material.

Revealed at PLASA 2014 in London, the R1's were nominated for the show's Award for Innovation and are stopping people in their tracks with their undeniably crystal clear sound. This is enabled using Flare's groundbreaking new approach based on 'Waveform Integrity'.

"Traditional headphone designs are based around two main formats, closed and open backed. Both of these traditional approaches suffer from sound distortions in some way caused by enclosed residual pressure interference (ERPI)," explains Flare managing director and R1 creator, Davies Roberts.

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UK - At PLASA London 2014, Chauvet Professional previewed several products to be launched at next month's LDI in Las Vegas, including two new Rogue Wash fixtures, an addition to the COLORado family and a house light from the Ovation line. The show also marked the European debut of a selection of exciting fixtures including the Next NXT-1 moving head LED display and the ÉPIX Tile 2.0.

Making their international debut at the show were two new additions to the successful Rogue family, the R1 Wash and R2 Wash. The Rogue R1 Wash is a powerful wash unit with smooth colour blending and zone-segmented LED control for stunning visual effects. A versatile and bright LED wash, it is "guaranteed to give you the coverage you need at the speed you require". The Rogue R1 Wash features smooth pan and tilt operation, a 3° to 34° zoom range that gives you the spread to co

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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

Europe - Panasonic has unveiled an ultra-narrow, 3.5mm bezel display for video walls, promising high picture quality and high reliability.

The new 55" TH-55LFV70 display, available next month (November), has been designed with the industry's narrowest bezel, allowing configurations of powerful and natural images with the screen borders barely visible.

The TH-55LFV70 series features a 'failover system'. With two DVI-D ports, HDMI, DisplayPort, DIGITAL LINK, and USB, if the main video and audio signals are interrupted, the system immediately switches to alternative signals, making it suitable for critical applications in control rooms and surveillance centres.

The TH-55LFV70 is also capable of continuous 24/7 operation and supports portrait installation.

Enrique Robledo, marketing manager at Panasonic, said, "Because of the in-plane switching (IPS) panel, the displ

UK - When SA Sound Services were asked by the Grace Church in Milton Keynes to design and supply the sound system for their weekly evangelical worship, the Roland M-200i console and Roland S-1608 Digital Snake proved to be the digital solution.

The brief for SA Sound Services owner Steve Ashley was to come up with a compact and portable system that was easy to use and quick to setup. The reason for this specification was that Grace Church - who are without their own premises at the moment - are using a local school hall for their services. Therefore the AV - including a console, loudspeakers, digital snake, projector and screen - has to be stored away during the week and then brought out and setup by church members each weekend.

Supplied by Leisuretec Distribution, the Roland 32 channel M-200i was chosen as the digital mixing console for the system based on its compact design,

UK - SEDA, the South Eastern Discotheque Association, marked its 40th anniversary at the weekend with a gala dinner at The Britannia, Chatham. So far as is known, SEDA is the oldest DJ organisation in the world. During its four decades it has worked to educate and improve the industry and the public, and has worked with national and local government bodies and trade and industry associations, organising seminars, exhibitions and technical events.

SEDA's Honorary President, Theo Loyla, told LSiOnline: "SEDA was involved with the formation of the British Association of Discotheque Equipment Manufacturers [BADEM - the forerunner to PLASA] following the demise of Ben Cree's DJ Magazine and National Association and associated Discotheque equipment exhibition. I remember SEDA organising the meeting at the Ski Club of Great Britain in Eaton Square, with the help of folks from Opti

UK - Following a review of their playback systems, and a need to create higher capacity MADI streams, the National Theatre on London's South Bank has purchased six Optocore DD4MR-FX converters from dealers, HD Pro Audio.

These have been deployed as MADI interfaces for the venue's DiGiCo SD7T and SD10T consoles, following the introduction of the full DiGiCo integration of Optocore devices.

Commissioned by project engineer Tim Middleton, and senior sound technician Alex Caplen, the Optocore devices are distributed in pairs between the three theatres that make up the complex - the newly-named Dorfman (formerly Cottesloe), Lyttelton and Olivier Theatres. These are linked to the DiGiCo front of house consoles (SD7Ts in the Olivier and Lyttelton, SD10T in the Dorfman) with a roaming SD10T, which can be used as a rehearsal console or designer's remote.

After providing a redundant o

France / UK - Following a new distribution partnership for the UK freshly signed with Ambersphere Solutions, Ayrton's return to the PLASA Show for the first time since 2011 was "a complete triumph", the company says.

Ayrton launched two new products at the show, with the NandoBeam S9 and MagicRing-R1 receiving their world premieres, and showed off the newly released Radical Series for the first time in the UK in a spectacular light show.

"The British visitors were delighted with the new Ayrton products, and discovered many new fixtures which had never been seen in the UK before," says Valère Huart, Ayrton's international sales manager.

NandoBeam S9 is the big brother of the NandoBeam S3 and NandoBeam S6 LED moving head fixtures, offering 55 x 15 W RGBW LED and the same massive zoom range of 8° to 40° in a highly controllable, rock-solid package.<

UK - PSCo, the trade-only AV distributor and rental specialist has confirmed that it has officially partnered with Green Hippo in the UK.

PSCo will be a key distributor for Green Hippo's AViary video tools, a partnership which joins together two companies at the forefront of their respective fields; large format, video wall and LED display solutions, and real-time video playback tools. For systems integration and live event customers, the combined expertise opens a new era in display solutions.

"Green Hippo is the pioneer in real-time video playback and AViary video tools are the perfect complement to our display offering," says Stuart Holmes, CEO of PSCo. "We are excited to be combining forces. Going forward our customers will see the benefits that our joint offering can deliver in terms of creating innovative, cutting-edge solutions that push the boundaries of

France / UK - Robert Juliat chose PLASA London 2014 to unveil its latest followspot, Merlin revealed both its name and its presence on the Robert Juliat stand, shared with exclusive UK distributor, Ambersphere, to give visitors the first opportunity to see the new touring model.

A complement to Robert Juliat's extensive range of premium spots, Merlin is the culmination of an ambitious project to produce a powerful, rugged followspot for the touring market. With an output that belies its 2500W HMI lamp and a massive 3-12° beam range, Merlin covers both long and medium throw ranges in one unit. Merlin delivers a performance that outshines the ever-increasing power of LED lighting and videowall backlighting, while newly designed bodywork ensures Merlin is easy to install and maintain, tough enough for the road and supremely tourable.

Merlin has been created to reflect the spe

UK - leading supplier of Hybrid Power Generators (HPGs) for the events sector, Firefly reports that its Cygnus HPG has saved over 1m litres of diesel since its launch in April 2013.

With increasing requirements from event organisers to power events with a more sustainable, environmentally friendly approach, Firefly creates the appropriate renewable energy solution for any event, whilst significantly reducing fuel costs.

As an experienced and trusted supplier of affordable sustainable power, Firefly has been powering festivals and live events since 2007. Firefly provide turnkey low emission temporary power, technical and creative services. Working with festival organisers, from conception to implementation; Firefly provides power that doesn't cost the earth.

Andy Mead, director comments: "The 2014 summer season has been the company's best yet, as more and more events are

Slovakia - When planning the refurbishment of the popular Slovakian club Ponorka Music Pub, it was essential that the owners found an unusual effect to help restore the venue's reputation. SGM's distributor City Light Slovakia presented a quality solution encompassing both light and sound, from concept to installation.

With a decorative, high luminosity LD-5 ceiling, City Light Slovakia achieved a perfect matrix effect, producing a colourful centrepiece surface for the club and amazing dynamics for its dancefloor. Some 1260 of these units, each containing four RGB LEDs and measuring 80mm in outer diameter, were mounted in the wooden cladding panels over the dancefloor and in front of the bar in a uniform formation with a distance of 200mm between each dome.

"We selected the LD-5 from SGM because of its accurate RGB colour mixing and potential for creative colour changing.

South Korea - The Incheon Asian Games in Korea is the largest sporting event in Asia - set on an Olympic scale, with around 10,000 athletes from 45 countries representing 36 sports.

For the 17th edition, both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were held in the 62,000-capacity purpose built Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, with K-Pop stars and Gangnam Style singer Psy headlining the star-studded opening show.

With 'Diversity' as the theme, the large rental company Canlite drew on huge quantities of PR Lighting fixtures, deploying nearly 200 heads to perform specific tasks - comfortably the largest single brand represented. At the same time it met the specification of lighting designer, Han Soo Na, and his programmer Young Gu Kang.

The inventory included more than 100 powerful PR 5000 Spot, Wash and Framing variants - many of them positioned, along with XR 330 Beams on the top of t

UK - In 2014, UK audio visual and electronics distributor CIE-Group is celebrating 50 years in business. This significant milestone is also an opportunity to look forward to new business goals and aspirations that will provide the impetus for future CIE-Group developments.

CIE-Group was established back in 1964 as Canadian Instruments and Electronics, a UK subsidiary of Toronto-based Radio Components. At this time the company specialised in the distribution of electronic testing equipment, components and connectors.

Based in the East Midlands from where it still operates today, the company has a firm foundation in the professional audio market, in particular the public address and professional audio sector. More recently however, product portfolio has been further enhanced with a number of key new distribution appointments resulting in the addition of latest AV signal distribu

USA - Just a short drive from the Mexican border and southeast of the city of McAllen, Valley International Christian Centre (VICC) recently opened a new, almost 70,000sq.ft sanctuary. This state-of-the-art church is the largest house of worship in the Rio Grande Valley and, in 2013, was recognized as one of the fastest growing churches in America by Outreach Magazine.

Music plays a vital role in VICC's worship services and, to ensure a high level of speech intelligibility and excellent music reproduction characteristics, church officials recently gave the green light to the deployment of a new sound reinforcement system drawn from the catalogue of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

Simon Estrada Jr. serves as VICC's campus sound engineer and the church's Praise and Worship leader. He also operates a sound services company under the name Supernatural Designz of Brownsville, T

Japan - Following 12 successful years with its Meyer Sound MSL-4 loudspeakers, the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Japan returned to Meyer Sound when it came time to upgrade. With an emphasis on exceptional audio quality and system reliability, the 2,550-seat venue chose a design based on M'elodie and MICA line array loudspeakers.

"In my opinion, the best equipment should be robust and reliable," says Masaru Kirie of Takarazuka Stage Co., Ltd. "The new system's performance lives up to the prestigious Meyer Sound brand, and the sound quality is excellent in all respects."

The theatre's main system is anchored by left and right lower proscenium arrays of 13-each M'elodie loudspeakers and three over-proscenium L-C-R clusters consisting of seven MICA and three M'elodie loudspeakers each. Ten 700-HP subwoofers provide low-end reinforcement, with six placed overhead

USA - Every EDM festival owes a debt of gratitude to Nocturnal Wonderland. Long before EDM fests became the hottest thing on the entertainment scene, Nocturnal Wonderland blazed the way as the pioneering event in this red hot live entertainment genre.

Produced by Insomniac, this outdoor celebration of music and creativity is now in its 19th year, but it's definitely not resting on its laurels. Case in point is the 2014 event's Sunken Garden stage, which was energized by an eye-popping wall of light designed by LD Steve Lieberman, using 136 Nexus 4x4 panels from Chauvet Professional.

"The lighting on this stage definitely made a powerful statement," said Todd Roberts of Visions Lighting (Brea, CA), which provided all of the lighting, staging, truss and video gear for the Sunken Garden stage "Everything on this stage worked to engage the audience."

Featurin

UK - When London's Royal Court Theatre sought to upgrade their existing lighting stock they turned to entertainment lighting specialist White Light for solutions that would suit the venue's needs. Concerned with reducing lighting energy use and keen to take advantage of the versatility of new technology, Jack Williams, head of lighting at Royal Court Theatre, went searching for a complete lighting solution that would combine new sources - such as LED - with the theatre's existing tungsten fixtures.

"We've been looking into LED fixtures for some time," said Williams. "Following the technology over the past few years, manufacturers have done a great job pushing it further. With the quality of products available in the market, now is definitely the right time to invest in LED."

Light quality and versatility were high on the list of requirements but matching ne

Singapore - Mark Rothko, one of the most influential post-war American artists, was famous for using colours and forms to interpret his artistic philosophy. He paid particular attention to the lighting where his paintings were exhibited. That's why Singapore's Blank Space Theatre focused on the lighting design on Red, an award winning docudrama by John Logan which covers Rothko's work in the late 1950s.

ETC LED luminaires, controlled by an ETC Ion console, helped lighting designer James Tan achieve that lighting goal during a production at Singapore's Esplanade Theatre Studio.

Red takes place in spring 1958, in Rothko's New York studio. In order to create natural looking light shining through the window into the compact space, Tan used seven ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ luminaires.

"I decided to use LED fixtures that would be intense enough and could also ch

UK - Dick Tee, managing director of EnTEEtainment Ltd, has tendered his resignation as Pyramid and Other stage production & area manager. After 18 years at the helm of Glastonbury Festival production, the veteran award winning production manager cites 'irreconcilable issues' and he and his staff will cease their association with the festival with immediate effect.

Says a statement from EnTEEtainment: "In the past two years since Festival Republic ended its involvement with the festival there have been a series of management restructures and operational changes at Glastonbury, which Dick feels leave his team unable to fulfil their role professionally."

Dick states: "I am extremely sad and disappointed that my concerns regarding the way certain elements of the festival are now being structured and managed are not being adequately considered and dealt with, and as

Italy - With effect from 13 October 2014, Osram has successfully completed the acquisition of leading show lighting manufacturer Clay Paky. All necessary approvals from the respective authorities have been granted regarding the acquisition. With this move, Osram will further expand its position in entertainment lighting. "The successful closing of this transaction is a further step towards strengthening Osram's specialty lighting segment in a highly attractive market", said Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of Osram. Pio Nahum, who has been appointed CEO of the Clay Paky business also with effect from October 13, 2014, explained: "As part of Osram, we have good prospects for further growth".

With the acquisition of Clay Paky, Osram is pushing forward its strategy of technology and innovation. The innovation-driven entertainment lighting market is very attractive, with mid-

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