Jan 31 2007
Color Kinetics Incorporated, a leading innovator of LED lighting systems and technologies, today announced its largest networked lighting system to date: an 11,700 square foot video screen that wraps around Aspire Tower, the tallest building in Doha, Qatar. The project was completed in December as the focal point for broadcast coverage of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
The installation marks the latest in a growing number of large-scale, lower-resolution video displays that are being erected as a cost-effective alternative to conventional high-resolution LED screens. Color Kinetics' flexible, durable systems can enable such displays on almost any interior or exterior surface, including facades, ceilings, floors, and even rooftops and sculptures - placing video where it was previously cost prohibitive or impractical.
The 1,000 foot tower's facade is covered in wire mesh. Approximately 156,500 nodes of iColor(R) Flex SL were woven through the material to form a massive cylindrical video screen that's divided into three low-resolution and three higher-resolution segments. Each node acts as an individually programmable pixel by incorporating Color Kinetics' custom engineered Chromasic(R) microchip. Live coverage of the Asian Games was fed directly to the nodes via Video System Manager.
"We've proven that LEDs are an ideal source for many illumination applications, and now we're increasingly targeting low-resolution video as well, based largely on the strength of our intelligent control technology. With our Chromasic chip inside each self-contained LED node, we can produce video grids in virtually any form, including the transparent grid as installed on Aspire Tower - which wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago," said Bill Sims, President and CEO, Color Kinetics. "On top of the digital intelligence, we can create very durable displays that are able to withstand harsh climates and vibration without the bulk and weight of typical high- resolution LED screens."
"We're pleased to name Aspire Tower among our global collection of landmark projects," said Sims.
Although its exterior is complete, the tower's interior space is set to open in August 2007, comprising a luxury hotel, rotating restaurant and sports museum, among other amenities.