Distributed in the UK by Ian Kirby's Lighting Effects Distribution, who are providing design support, the system has been installed as part of an automated lighting package by Hugh Frazer-Mann's HFM Lighting & Sound Ltd.
The DreamPanel floor will be controlled from the Catalyst Pro v3.3 Media Server, supplied by David March's Projected Media and programmed by Dan Turner of Video Perspective. Frazer-Mann explained: "Gatecrasher were looking at different heavily-pixellated LED wall and floor effects, including an interactive video floor. But they wanted to go further, and when Gatecrasher's Gary Howard told me about DreamPanel, which offers very good, high-resolution quality I went to Ayrton's showrooms in Paris and became very excited."
DreamPanel is a 50cm x 50cm modular video tile designed for screen floor application, with an internal structure designed to withstand heavy loads and shocks received directly from the tile. The 170° angle image diffusion system allows for clear off-axis vision.
Conceived for diffused graphic animation DreamPanel provides a surprisingly good video rendering (800 x 600 native resolution, with a pixel pitch of 31.25mm) when the display area is of adequate size. The system's resolution allows maximum displays of 25m x 18m to be spread over a total area of 450 sq. metres, and the lifetime (run at 50% brightness) is 50,000 hours.Frazer-Mann says the 140-panel system proved surprisingly easy to install - flush to the rest of the floor. He says that once a perspex-covered version has been developed for touring purposes he hopes to introduce it to HFM's rental stock.
In addition to the DreamPanel, Lighting Effects Distribution has already equipped Discothéque with other LED effects including 16 Tracpod 81s (an eight-lamp lighting bar featuring 648 LED's) for decoration in the main dance area - adding to the 20 already supplied to Gatecrasher Sheffield. A 60-lamp 'catwalk' walkway in the basement of the two-level venue has been designed by Matt Rawlinson, featuring Solar MR16 6W effects on a colour-changing grid - part of a much larger order for the fittings, which are used throughout the building.
(Lee Baldock)
