96sq.m of Barco’s SLite 10 LED screen will be installed at the Estadio das Antas Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 50 00. The opening game of the championships will be played in the stadium on June 12, 2004.
Commenting on the project win, Marco Bruines, Division Manager, Barco Media said: "Barco’s LED display solutions have long been regarded as the reference in the rental & staging and major events industries. Reliant Park in Houston was our first major win in the sports market. Winning the installation of Stadia das Antas confirms the fact that we are fast becoming the preferred solution provider for LED displays at brand new stadiums on both sides of the Atlantic."
The Barco displays, which will be installed at the stadium during the summer of 2003, take on a unique configuration never before seen in Europe. The 96sq.m SLite 10 will be divided into two screens of 48sq.m each positioned on either side of the field. The screens will be installed on columns that enable them to be rotated to face either the field or the highway that bypasses the stadium. When not in use during matches, the column-mounted displays will be turned toward passing traffic for the use of advertisers.
The Stade de Genève, which is due for completion in March 2003 and will seat 30,000 spectators, will feature Barco’s total sports solution encompassing 38.4sq.m of SLite 14, a D320 digitizer and customized score-boarding software. The mechanical design and construction as well as the installation of the display solution, which is due for completion by the end of April, is guided by a dedicated Barco project management team in conjunction with local partner Action Light SA.
With its seating capacity of 30,000, Stade de Genève will be one of the biggest stadiums in Switzerland, behind the National Stadium in Bern, which will have a capacity of 35,000 when completed. The state-of-the-art stadium will also form part of a larger sports, leisure and entertainment complex, which will include a hotel, restaurants, sports retail units, as well as bowling and large shopping-mall.
"We were very impressed by Barco’s demonstration of its sports solution," said Thierry Tribolet, purchasing manager, Stade de Genève. "It offers us unlimited flexibility together with superior picture quality and very impressive processing power. We are very proud to have such a state-of-the-art display solution, which enhances the experience of the fan and offers our sponsors and advertisers a larger-than-life communication medium, as part of the stadium."
(Lee Baldock)
