Dutch national newscasters NOS and NTR have installed eight Barco OL-710 video wall cubes, using the 70-inch, LED-lit rear-projection cubes as a backdrop for their news broadcasts.
For NOS and NTR, the key selection criteria were a seamless look and feel, inter-cube colour alignment, low total cost of ownership, limited installation depth and the availability of local 24-hour support.
“The easy adjustment of the LED’s colour gamut to reach the optimal Rec.709 used for HD video, is a first strong point in favour of the OL series,” said Mathieu Massart, director Product Management Displays at Barco. “With lamp-based projection systems, it was difficult to reach this colour gamut, as especially the reds and yellows were under-performing. This problem is completely solved using Barco’s LED technology. Furthermore, LEDs can reach the optimal white point for TV studio lighting (3200K) without brightness and lifetime deterioration. Supplemented by a number of other innovative features for the broadcasting market, including gen locking, minimised frame delay and redundant inputs, the OL series are an excellent choice for use as a studio backdrop.”
The OL-710 has a limited depth, which was particularly appealing to NOS and NTR. This small footprint allows them to limit the space needed to build the backdrop, thus saving on infrastructure costs. Furthermore, the Sense6 automatic calibration system (using a spectrometer) guarantees colour and brightness consistency over all cubes while eliminating ageing effects. Last but not least, Barco’s innovative liquid cooling of the LED engine ensures an extended LED wear life. Tests have shown that optimally decreasing the heat generated by the engine can go as far as doubling the useful life of the light source.
“NOS and NTR have used Barco technology in the past,” commented Steven Luys, business segment director Barco. “We have always succeeded in understanding what colour is all about. After a shoot-out with solutions from competing manufacturers, it was clear that Barco rendered the best image in terms of sharpness, brightness and resolution. Also the 6x redundancy per LED colour and driver impressed the newscasters. Even though LEDs have a longer wear life than lamps, it would be a disaster if one colour fails during a live broadcast. This redundancy gives NOS and NTR the necessary peace of mind.”
