- Barco will make a significant technical contribution to the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), May 14-18. As an official technical event partner, Barco will have no fewer than 60 projectors and three Encore systems at the Malmö Arena, provided by a key rental partner. A main role will be reserved for the HDQ-2K40 projector.
Barco has a long history as a technical partner to the Eurovision Song Contest. This year, however, its role in Europe’s largest annual live TV music event is bigger than in years past. Eurovision 2013 will be an all-Barco show powered by a total of 60 Barco projectors and three Encore systems. A large number of the projectors used are from Barco’s high-brightness range: 28 HDQ-2K40 projectors, 13 of which will be blended and warped into a back wall - the main feature of the stage design. Content will be fed from Green Hippo servers, via a Barco Encore system contacting five video processors, Matrix PRO DVI 8 x8, Matrix PRO II SDI 3G and a large controller. Other destinations are also fed by additional video processors. The proprietary BarcoLink technology provides signal distribution between the projectors and image processors, enabling an easier set-up and cost savings.
With 28 HDQ-2K40 projectors being used, the ESC 2013 will be the largest show with HDQs to date. The brightness and color depth of Barco’s flagship product, which recently received the LiveDesign award of ‘Best Projection Product of 2012–2013’, exceed the expectations of those involved in the ESC production. "I have worked with many different Barco products over the years,” said lighting designer Fredrik Jönsson. “However, the HDQ-2K40 projector is by far the brightest projection instrument I have ever seen. I’m particularly impressed by the stable 7kW Xenon lighting source inside.”
“It is changing the idea of how bright projection can be in a show situation,” said Video designer Mikki Kunttu. “Usually it is hard to get the projected image to appear brighter on stage with all the lighting going on so we used to dim the lights for video. Now it's the opposite. With the HDQ-2K40 it takes guts to go 100% and in open white; we will surely wipe the others off the stage.”
“I'm very happy to have Barco back onboard as a technical event supplier,” said Ola Melzig, Technical Director of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. “We now have a projector that can compete in output with a moving light. It has been needed and sought for, for many years.”
