Bruce Riley (DWR) with the AJR team’s Altus Janse van Rensburg, JD Du Plessis, Anton Chichongue, Anre Jacobs and DWR’s Robert Izzett and Dylan Jones
South Africa - The start of 2023 saw another large Absen shipment arrive at DWR Distribution, another sign that the live events industry is on the road to recovery. The gear was ordered by various technical supply companies across the country and consisted of over 2,000 PL2.9 Lite panels and a combination of over 100 PL3.9W Lite and PL3.9W XL Lite panels.
Housed in a protective casing, the curved PL2.9 Lite screens with lock system, suited for large display applications, were purchased by DNG Presentation Staging, The AV Company, Shattered Glass, Ultra Events, Lucidity Technical Production Services, Pure Event Gear and CCPP Group. In turn, AJR and MGG purchased a combination of PL3.9W Lite and PL3.9W XL Lite panels, well fitted for large outdoor and indoor events that deliver a brightness of 4,000 nits.
As per the large Absen shipment that was delivered during the last quarter of last year, also consisting of over 2 000 PL2.9 Lite panels, the idea was for customers to buy jointly in bulk to reduce the costs and to be part of a network with access to extra panels if needed.
DNG Presentation Staging recognised the growing need to add more LED to their stock but wanted a product with a higher resolution compared to their existing 3.9mm panels. “We chose the Absen panels because of our trust in DWR,” said Neale Harvey of DNGPS. “While we have been very happy with the LED brand we currently use, we were guided by two main factors. Point one, we wanted local support and DWR has always been fantastic in this regard. Point two is around the availability of more panels in the market from the same batch. The ability to cross-hire and support other companies that also stock the same panels is meaningful.”
For Cape Town-based Ultra Events, it’s all about creating memorable solutions for their client and improving their service offering. “We currently have 3.9mm while the market has been requesting a 2.9mm solution,” said Costa Champanis from Ultra Events.
Adriano Landi of Shattered Glass says the company’s existing LED 3.5mm indoor panels had come to the end of their lives and it was time to upgrade. “We had a good look at the market and realised that Absen always makes good quality products.”
Pierre Griffioen from Pure Event Gear shares the view. “My main reason for buying is because DWR is backing the panels and to me, it’s the only route to go. There are so many panels available to cross-rent from, and the quality and backup are good
Meanwhile, Paul Newman from Lucidity had contemplated buying LED for some time but wanted to make sure that there was a regular demand from his clientele. “We recently had a couple of big projects lined up that made it easy for us to make the investment and we went with Absen for several reasons.”
For the father and son team, Craig and Keagan Browning from the AV Company in Durban, constant failures and issues with their existing 2.9mm panels, of which they own over 300 panels, drove them to their new purchase. “After working with the Absen screens and comparing their quality, it was a no-brainer to change over and it was the best decision we ever made” they agree.
AJR’s Altus Janse van Rensburg wanted a LED panel that was multi-purpose for both indoor and outdoor events and selected the PL3.9W and PL3.9 W XL to cater for a wider variety of clients. “Our shows have become more dependent on larger quantities of LED and the panels we bought have opened doors for current and future business,” said Altus. “It’s a great workhorse and we hope it will be an investment that will have the same longevity as our previous LED.”
Bruce Riley and his workshop team at DWR are relied on for technical backup. Dylan Jones is the Absen brand manager.
“Thank you very much to everyone for your support,” said Dylan Jones from DWR. “We work with wonderful and talented people in the industry, and obviously it makes me very happy to see the panels used creatively in a variety of spaces. I hope the panels work very hard for you.”

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