Germany / UK - AC-ET's Video division has extended its portfolio with the G-LEC range of low resolution, transparent LED video solutions, including the new Solaris+ display launching at ProLight + Sound this wek. The agreement covers exclusive distribution for the video range in the UK and Ireland.

Featuring 40mm diameter 'pixel spheres' mounted at 120mm centres on flexible rope, the Solaris+ hanging 360° LED video curtain provides an extremely cost effective way to furnish eye catching video and graphics effects in entertainment and architectural projects.

Also launching soon is G-LEC's Chimera LED video system for installations. Featuring LEDs mounted on printed circuit boards, the Chimera is the first 'cut to fit' product to offer absolute flexibility of shape without compromising control over individual LEDs. The system offers designers enormous possibilities for drama

Germany - Clay Paky will present a number of new products alongside its established lines at ProLight&Sound this week.

Making its world premiere is the Mirage LED Curtain display, a semi-transparent LED display which allows an outstanding degree of transparency; specifically designed for rental use, it is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications.

The HandsOn, a software based DMX control system turns a standard computer of any type (Windows, Apple, Linux) into a friendly-user DMX controller with features and operating methods similar to those of the most popular pro-desks in the lighting industry.

The Alpha Profile 1500, combining an impressive zoom with a patented framing system is capable of creating triangular shapes of any size, with the exclusive single-blade Total Curtain.

The Alpha Spot HPE 1500, with a full array of spectacular graphic and chromatic effects, is

UAE - Once again, the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival took place in Dubai's Media City Amphitheatre. It was the eighth edition of the festival which featured artists including The Brand New Heavies, David Gray and James Morrison.

For lighting control, the show's lighting designer and operator Paul Smith relied on a grandMA system solution consisting of one grandMA full-size console, one grandMA light as a backup, one MA NSP (Network Signal Processor) and a laptop running grandMA 3D for pre-programming and show adjustment.

"The requirement was to create a dynamic environment for the wide variety of artists who were performing, ranging from classical Arabic Jazz to R&B to Acid Jazz to Soul", explains Smith, "I needed a versatile desk that was familiar to the two visiting LD's - Tom Lesh and Bill Adie, with Liz Berry programming and operating for Bill -

Denmark - Martin Professional is ready with the first result of a research collaboration with Aalborg University's Institute for Nano-Physics and Institute for Energy Technology. The project, a cooperation between Martin Professional, Aalborg University (Denmark), and the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation, is called INLED (Intelligent Light Emitting Diodes) and stems from a technology grant awarded to Martin and Aalborg University two years ago by the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (H°jteknologifonden).

The first result of the INLED project is the new MAC 350 Entour, billed as the most powerful and energy-efficient profile LED-based fixture the market has seen. In recent years, the intelligent lighting industry has seen a wide range of LED wash lights, but still has not seen a serious bid for an LED profile fixture for professional use. With the

UK - The most prestigious of acting talent came together for the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards. The awards were presented by Anthony Head and the ceremony was hosted by The Society of London Theatres to honour London's best stage productions.

Stage Electrics supported this event by supplying all the lighting for the fifth year running, working closely with lighting designer Matt Evered to produce a visually stunning event.

Adam Blaxill, head of marketing for Stage Electrics commenting on the nominations said, "We would like to congratulate all the nominees and winners from last night. We are particularly proud to have provided the lighting equipment for multiple nominee Oliver! the musical."

This year's event saw the leading lights of London theatre come together with the largest ever performance in the awards' history. Over 53 performers from the London and

UK - This year's PLASA Focus sees GDS (Global Design Solutions) exhibit a number of new, innovative products, including additions to its successful LiteWare and CueSystem ranges.

GDS will showcase the newest addition to the LiteWare range, LiteWare HO (High Output). Following the success of LiteWare wireless RGB uplighter, launched in 2009, LiteWare HO is a high output version offering 80Watts of LED power. Designed to be completely compatible with the existing LiteWare range, the LiteWare HO product is the same footprint as the standard version and is calibrated to deliver colour-matched output.

Also at the show is the new TCP-IP CueSystem a Networked cue light system which launches at ProLight + Sound this week. In an industry first, with the ever-increasing trend towards completely networked show control and lighting systems, the TCP-IP CueSystem bridges the gap for stage m

Germany/Italy - The first five products from Italian manufacturer Sagitter are showcased on Proel's stand at Frankfurt's Prolight + Sound this week

The Arrow 700 moving head, the Mantis LED projector, the Arrow moving mirror, the Supertracer followspot and a professional line of smoke machines compose the first new Sagitter line, available as of the beginning of next summer.

Particularly interesting is the decision to integrate the traditional lamp range with the Lockit OSRAM 300, 700, 1500 in the Wash, Beam and Spot moving heads. Completely different from the conventional moving heads, the Spot Beam Series feature new patented focusing and zooming technologies.

The Arrow Mirror, in combination with the 575 Beam colour changer, creates a web of light beams and new evocative visual effects, giving free rein and emphasis to light designers' creativity, says the company.

The

Germany - At Pro Light + Sound this week, Philips Entertainment is demonstrating a synergy of product lines from Philips Vari-Lite, Color-Kinetics, Strand and Selecon. By combining four of the leading manufacturers in the entertainment lighting industry, Philips Entertainment has the ability to share the most innovative technology developments and patents across all product lines giving lighting designers and dealers the very best tools for the lighting industry today, says the company.

"We are very excited to have a fully integrated showing of all the Philips Entertainment brands at Pro Light + Sound," said Peter Rogers, senior director entertainment marketing. "By building on the success of our showing at PLASA in 2009, we have a unique position in the lighting industry. Philips Vari-Lite, Color Kinetics, Strand and Selecon have always been at the forefront in e

Australia/Germany - LSC Lighting Systems, the Australian based manufacturer of lighting control systems, has announced the appointment of LMP Lichttechnik as its exclusive distribution partner for Germany and Austria.

Based in Ibbenbüren, in the north of Germany, LMP has a long history of supplying quality products to the German and Austrian markets where service and support are paramount.

The range of lighting control consoles, dimmers and DMX512 distribution products developed and manufactured by LSC is aimed at both the touring and installation sectors.

Uli Petzold, LMP's CEO comments, "We have been great friends of LSC for many years now and it is a wonderful opportunity for us both to be working together again. LSC is at the forefront of lighting product design which includes the new and powerful Clarity lighting and media control system and they continue to embra

UK - Llanelli- based PAI has completed the installation of a sound and lighting scheme for the new University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) Student Union building, located at the Cyncoed Campus, north Cardiff.

PAI has enjoyed a trading relationship with UWIC for many years, and its relationship with the SU's general manager Mike Davies dates back to the early 1990s, when he was running the main university of Wales Student Union building in central Cardiff.

The new bar and social area - called Centro - is an essential hub of the new building. PAI was approached to come up with ideas for the technical elements required for the two levelled multi-purpose space, which has a capacity of up to 400 people and includes a bar, lounge, dining and performance areas.

They needed a solution that would work for both day and night time usage and be capable of accommodating a variety of

USA - Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas (225,000 gross registered tons, 5,400-passenger capacity), boasts a spectacular and varied entertainment environment. From Broadway productions and comedy revues, to ice skating shows and hot dance clubs, Oasis offers a broad spread of entertainment options to cruising passengers.

A number of designers working independently on various projects aboard Oasis chose the same lighting - Acclaim Lighting. More than 650 LED fixtures and some control solutions from Acclaim are being used to light Oasis.

The largest application of Acclaim products is in the ship's 1380-seat Opal Theatre, where scenic designers Vicki Baral and Gerry Hariton (Hariton/Baral Design, Los Angeles) used 400 Acclaim X-Panels to create a wall of lights for the ship's production of the Tony-award-winning musical Hairspray.

As with so many things ab

Germany - Coemar is presenting its new range of multi-lamp moving head projectors at ProLight + Sound this week.

The Infinity M range of projectors is designed to hold the revolutionary 700 W mini fast-fit bulb. As powerful as 1,200 Watt projectors, they consume up to half the energy due to the optical quality of the parts used. The reduced dimensions make them easy to handle and transport and the modular construction facilitates maintenance.

At Frankfurt Coemar is exhibiting all the projectors in the range: Infinity XL, Infinity S, and the latest Infinity M.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Responding to demand for more of its Selador LED lighting fixtures, ETC has introduced two bold colour spectrum specific versions: Fire and Ice.

Fire features a warm wash of saturated reds, oranges and ambers never before seen from LEDs or gels. Ice provides, in one fixture, a palette of deep indigo, blue, cyan, green (and a touch of red) - the gamut of blue washes that designers seek for their lighting plots. Integral to the new Selador Vivid lineup, Fire and Ice offer these rich, lush colours while equalling or exceeding the brightness performance of conventional tungsten PAR fixtures and saving dramatically on electricity.

In a typical colour application, Fire and Ice fixtures produce more light and consume less than 70 watts of power compared to their gelled tungsten counterparts at 575 watts. Changes in LED technology have also prompted ETC to upgrade its popula

Germany - At the 2010 ProLight+ Sound expo in Frankfurt this week, Barco announced a broad spectrum of enhancements, upgrades and new products geared towards strengthening the digital lighting and moving luminaire product lines. This comprehensive multi-product announcement expands the capabilities of the DL.3 digital light, the Axon Media Server and the DML-1200 digital light, and unveils two brand new products - the SDI-DMX Mixer Pro and the new intellaspot XT-1.

For the DL.3 digital light and the Axon media server, Barco advances the product line's core capabilities with new version 2.0 software - providing additional media streams, new features and additional creative effects.

Exclusive to the Axon media server, each unit now ships with dual HD-SDI inputs as standard. For the DML-1200 digital light, the unit's latest software upgrade expands the system's functionality with

UK - Traxon Technologies has introduced Media Tube RGB, an ultra-bright linear media solution designed to enhance sophisticated architectural applications with full colour lighting effects and video animations.

With the ability to display stylish full colour effects and replay medium-to-high resolution video content, Media Tube RGB is an ultra bright media solution, which enhances demanding and sophisticated applications with a multitude of vibrant colours and sharp video animations with long distance visibility.

The slim-profile LED solution is designed to create ribbons of colour and colour changing effects. With up to 40 individually-controllable pixels per running meter (25mm pitch), Media Tube RGB offers the precision required to display large-scale videos and graphics in any architectural, retail, or hospitality setting, says the company.

Featuring premium quality LEDs

Russia - The Russian government's Presidential commission for modernisation has announced that the transition from incandescent bulbs to energy efficient lighting devices will not take place by implementation of energy saving lamps (CFLs), but by converting to LEDs directly.

The corresponding law should be effective by June of this year. This new law will result in the Russian lighting industry's escalated adaptation to the new conditions. Only one factory in Russia currently manufactures light-emitting diodes. The production capacity (about 10% of the requirements) obviously does not support wide-range coverage of the industry and the population with LED lighting.

This topic will be featured during the 4 LED Forum Moscow, which will take place within the scope of the Interlight Moscow on 10-11 November 2010 at the Expocentre Fairgrounds.

(Jim Evans)

UK - PLASA Focus: Leeds 2010 - which takes place on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 April at the Royal Armouries - is fast building its profile as a show for new products as well as networking, with a host of products launching in Frankfurt scheduled to make their first UK appearance in Leeds just a few weeks later. Among these are the latest developments from some of the 31 new exhibitors who have signed up to PLASA Focus since the first show last year - leading to a completely sold out event.

From the audio world, exhibitors include Allen & Heath, showcasing new products including the iDR-16 3U MixRack and iLive-R72, iLive software v1.6, Xone:PB, Xone:XD40 headphones and ZED-10 and ZED-10FX mini mixers; Ateis International with its new ECS-Teleconference unit echo cancellation system; Cloud Electronics' new MA60MEDIA combined mixer/amplifier/digital music player; Duran Audio's AXY

South Africa - For young revellers, the Potch Rag is an event not to be missed. This year's concert, held on the 4 and 5 February 2010 at the Potchefstroom University in South Africa, saw performances from Straatling Kinders and Die Heuwels Fantasties, with the lighting and AV provided by MGG Productions. The show incorporated the Robe 700 Beams with control by grandMA.

"The client, C2, were absolutely blown away by the Beam 700s," said Herman Wessels from MGG. "He said it was the best lighting he had seen in nine years at Potch."

Wessels rigged all the lighting fixtures on trussing. Opting for a theatrical LX bar, he incorporated a box truss with two loose trusses hung on either side. He, along with crew Deon Kriel and Kevin Rieck, used Secureload slings and steels for safety.

The six Robe 700 Spots, six Robe 700 Washes and six Robe 700 Beams were rigged

Slovakia - High profile lighting, sound & video rental company Q-99 supplied the full technical production - lighting, video, sound - for the 2010 Miss Universe Slovakia pageant, a live telecast on STV 1 staged in front of 5000 people at the SIBAMAC Arena (National Tennis Centre) in Bratislava.

The show's lighting was designed by Martin Kubanka, and the equipment included Robe moving lights as the main 'workhorses' of the rig.

Miss Universe is one of the most popular programmes on the Slovakian TV calendar and enjoys massive ratings. It is organised by former Miss Slovakia, Silvia Lakatosova-Chovancova, and her company the In Agency. This year the set was designed by Michael Klang, the show was directed by Thomas Eibner and the DoP was Vladimir Durcansky. It was also broadcast live in the neighbouring Czech Republic.

Kubanka has lit the show 11 times previously

Germany - Kreios G, the new LED luminaire by Osram is billed as the first LED module suitable for use in gobo projectors. Kreios G replaces the traditionally used 50W halogen luminaires.

Kreios G has a light output of 600lm and is therefore ideal for numerous applications of projectors in spot lighting and special effect lighting, says the company. Higher output levels are also possible within almost unchanged dimensions of the luminaire. In contrast to conventional light solutions due to the LED lights' long durability, the light source in a gobo projector will only need to be changed occasionally. Combined with the savings in energy costs, operating costs can be significantly reduced. The higher initial investment into the LED solution pays off during the term of usage.

Kreios G is a further addition to the OSRAM Kreios range which includes LED modules for film, studio and t

Germany - Arcstream is partnering exclusively with Ray Laser Technologies (RTI) to launch the new Nano laser range.

The new Nano range is the culmination of a year's research and development by RTI and brings a range of OPS, full colour, laser systems ranging from 10 Watts to 42 Watts; the flagship model being the Nano Rainbow - the first and only OPS laser on the market with six individual wavelengths. The lasers are all assembled in RTI's factory in Germany with the majority of parts and electronics being manufactured onsite.

Ray Laser Technologies managing director, Karl Kaes explains, "We are using the smallest laser diode drivers available for high power laser diodes, this means easier handling due to smaller size and weight, higher efficiency and lowest heat dissipation. Service friendly module technology and easy replacement of each colour gives the opportunity to

UK - Recently shown at ProLight&Sound, the new Chroma-Q Color Force 72 (6ft /1.8m) and 48 (4ft /1.2m) LED batten range features 12,000 / 8,000 lumens light output - providing a powerful fixture for lighting a cyclorama of up to 26ft drop. Combined with an enhanced RGBA colour spectrum, a CRI of 92, theatrical grade dimming and all the benefits of LED technology, the Color Force is billed as a multi-purpose colour-changing fixture.

The Chroma-Q RGBA engine has been developed to deliver a CRI of 92, for true colour balance across the spectrum and accurate tungsten white light emulation. Each 1000 lumen engine utilises unique ColorSure technology for enhanced colour consistency across cells and fixtures.

The unit's custom optical design provides a smooth, uniform output with "outstanding colour blend". Optional accessories include a Cyc lens plate for lighting up to a 1

France - LED screen manufacturer Lighthouse Technologies has appointed a new sales manager for France. A fluent French speaker, Janez Zigon lived in Paris for a number of years and has a thorough knowledge of the country's display technology market.

Working closely with Roberto Segato, Lighthouse's director of the CEME region, Zigon has worked for the company since February 2009 covering the East European regions.

"Janez has exceptional knowledge, both of our products and of the market in France," says Segato. "His appointment is a very positive step for our European operations, demonstrating the many benefits of using Lighthouse LED products to our current and potential French clients."

Zigon adds, "Being appointed Lighthouse's sales manager for France is an excellent opportunity for me and I will be taking a very proactive role in pre- and post-sal

Frankfurt Postscript - Organisers of Musikmesse and ProLight&Sound 2010 report satisfactory attendance figures. "With around 2,340 exhibitors, 62 percent of them from outside Germany, and almost 110,000 visitors from 128 countries, Musikmesse and ProLight&Sound exceeded our expectations," said Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. "Moreover", he added, "the number of exhibitors and visitors remained stable in comparison to last year despite some dramatic drops in sales of up to 30 percent in both sectors over the last 18 months." Overall, the impact of the difficult economic situation in the two sectors was limited to minor declines in the number of exhibitors and visitors compared to 2009 (2,388 exhibitors, 112.478 visitors).

In line with the difficult economic situation prevailing in both sectors, which has hit the ex

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