Christie Spyder X80 and Christie Terra manage the largest screen of the Mobile World Congress

Christie's video processors control a 30-meter-wide LED display at the world's most important trade fair for the mobile communication sector


Christie Spyder X80 and Christie Terra manage the largest screen of the Mobile World Congress

How to manage one of the largest screens ever used in an event in Spain? What if the event is nothing less than the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the most important in the world in the field of mobile communication, which brings together more than 100,000 visitors from around the world?

That was the challenge faced by the audiovisual services company Power AV when the events agency Apple Tree Communications entrusted the provision of all audiovisual equipment for the auditoriums of pavilion 4 MWC 2019 held in Barcelona.

Power AV is a consolidated Spanish company of audiovisual equipment and services for events that deals with everything that has to do with sound, lighting, structures, broadcast ... But if anything in a national level is in the theme of video, being pioneers in the use of LED screens.

The screen in question was located in auditorium 1, the largest of the entire fair, with a capacity for 1500 people, and where the main conferences of the event were held. We are talking about a LED display of 2.9 pixel pitch and 30 meters wide by 6.5 high (195 square meters) that offered a whopping 22 million pixels (10080 x 2184).

David Martínez, responsible for the Power AV office in Barcelona, recalls: "From the start we were clear that to manage the contents of such a screen we would need the help of a specialized partner. And immediately we think of MappScreen , whose team has a great experience in the management of large-format content for events. "

MappScreen is a young company based in Barcelona created by three partners with extensive experience in the audiovisual world -Isaac Sancho Ferrer, Xavier Cruz Rubio and Alvaro de Balanzó-, who at the end of 2018 embarked on the adventure of creating their own company of integral audiovisual services for all types of events.

"Our added value is the management of large format content through media servers, video processors and show control systems," says Isaac Sancho. "There are very few companies that know how to launch and fill content with multiple large screens, and that they have the right equipment to do so, and this is clearly our strong point."

When the MWC 2019 project was offered to MappScreen, it had just purchased a Christie Spyder X80 16 08 video processor unit through Charmex . "The truth is that the Spyder was the ideal team to manage this screen," says Xavier Cruz Rubio. "It allowed us to work in 4K at 60Hz in its 16 inputs and 8 outputs with the highest quality, reproducing large videos in a fully synchronized way, and with an amazing processing power of 80 megapixels."

He adds: "With the competition system, we would have had to use a minimum of three linked units so as not to lose resources when working in 4K. A single X80 Spyder, on the other hand, can do it all in 4K without ruffling, and this is something unique. "

Christie Spyder X80 and Christie Terra manage the largest screen of the Mobile World Congress

Specifically, MappScreen used the Spyder X80 to manage all the signals that went to the screen, including Power Point presentations, cameras, show control, multiventanas ... The Spyder, in conjunction with the Octopus software, also synchronized the light games and the auditorium laser show that accompanied the images on the screen.

"The performance of the team was really spectacular," says Xavier Cruz Rubio. "It's the best machine I know, and it allows us to do so many things that it seems to have no end. In addition, its interface is very intuitive and easy to learn. "

David Martinez, of Power AV, points out: "It is an authentically incredible machine, one of the best I know at the management level. It is very comfortable when launching events of this magnitude in first level LED screens. And electronically, it allows us to move some resolutions that other machines can not manage. "

For the transport and processing of the signals, MappScreen also used the Christie Terra AV over IP system, based on SDVoE (Software Defined Video over Ethernet) technology to switch, scale and extend signals of 4K video content.

Christie Spyder X80 and Christie Terra manage the largest screen of the Mobile World Congress

Specifically, MappScreen used a Christie Terra Transmitter , a transmitter that processes audio sources and incoming control signals and transports uncompressed content, with zero-frame latency and no artifacts, over 10G Ethernet networks. He also used a receiver Christie Terra Receiver accepts the audiovisual and control from the 10G Ethernet data network, transferring them to displays or other AV devices.

"The truth is that Terra fascinated us," says Isaac Sancho. "At first we thought it was just a 4K video signal transmission, but then we saw that you can practically launch an event and it works like a separate matrix. It is very powerful and offers great versatility when it comes to sending signals. In this particular event we use it to transmit several signals of different types in the same fiber cable. "

The MappScreen team does not want to fail to appreciate the trust placed in them by Power AV, as well as the support of its audiovisual provider Charmex, which supplied Christie's equipment. "The commercial team of Charmex is extraordinary and has offered us an exquisite treatment, supporting us at all times, with pre-sales and first-level support," concludes Xavier Cruz Rubio.