Genelec – a global leader in professional loudspeaker systems – is delighted to have been chosen as Finland’s Brand of the Year. Organised by Finland’s Chamber of Commerce, the annual competition is focused on fostering Finnish brand expertise and long-term brand development work, with the results being announced during the recent Great Brand Day at Helsinki’s Music Centre.

Based in Cardiff’s landmark Wales Millennium Centre, Welsh National Opera (WNO) is one of the most prolific operatic ensembles in the UK, with a national and international touring schedule that consists of an average of 120 performances per year. In need of a new in-house communication system, WNO recently invested in a full Riedel Bolero digital wireless intercom system, specified by Autograph Sound.

With five million subscribers, Sky Italia is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies and the largest pay TV provider in Italy. One of the biggest draws to the service is “X-Factor,” the award-winning TV music competition. A key part of the show is that the home viewing audience votes for their favorite performers, with the results tabulated and shared during live broadcasts. Given that viewer interactivity is the foundation of the experience, the technology driving the voting platform is mission-critical. 

20 years of Culcha Candela! The band celebrated this anniversary in March 2023 with an extensive tour of Germany. During the shows, Sennheiser EW-DX wireless systems not only help to provide powerful sound, they ensure the witty song lyrics are clearly understood and give the multi-cultural Berlin band exceptional freedom of movement on stage for their high-energy, full-throttle performances. 

From the producers of HBO's award-winning drama Chernobyl and This Is Going to Hurt, BBC's new police thriller Better wrapped up its gripping season one in mid-March. To capture the crime series’ complex storyline of relationships of loyalty and family, the production team collaborated with Universal Pixels (UP), a top-tier video equipment supplier with a strong track record of providing playback for vehicle driving scenes. UP filmed multiple internal car scenes, utilising Brompton Technology's cutting-edge 4k Tessera SX40 LED processors to seamlessly merge the virtual and real worlds on screen.

FOX’s commitment to innovating its cloud-based media production and delivery platform continues to pay off as seen with its latest production for the 2023 National Football League (NFL) championship match up. An implementation nearly four years in the making, the updated and scalable video workflow powered coverage of the event, with support for 4K resolution and HDR color, delivered in near real time. Leveraging a backbone built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the FOX team optimized settings from signal acquisition through end-viewer delivery to ensure a premium viewer experience across devices, raising the non-4K default to 1080p from the previous 720p.

ARRI announces an exciting new control option for its latest cameras: The CCM-1 is a 7” onboard monitor that provides full camera control and menu access for the ALEXA 35 and ALEXA Mini LF. Opening up new camera configuration possibilities, the CCM-1 combines ARRI color accuracy and a bright display with customizable controls and rugged build quality.

PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a newsroom production and news playout system for TV5HD Thailand. This new venture, at the broadcaster’s studio headquarters in Bangkok, follows on from PlayBox Neo’s June 2022 completion of TV5HD’s core playout and media asset management facility in partnership with US-based EMAM, Inc. Both projects have been coordinated by media systems integrator PS & Sons (Thailand) Co Ltd.

Nowadays, it is hard to imagine football without VAR technology, which makes the game cleaner and fairer. For this reason, more and more national leagues and federations are implementing VAR in their football championships and cups. 

In Rwanda, a country known for its forward-thinking approach to technological innovation and industrial development, a new radio station is emerging on the region's media landscape: Kigali-based Radio O, the on-air institution of the Authentic Church denomination. With their new Lawo RƎLAY solution, Radio O is implementing a cutting-edge technical setup to turn their facilities into a fully equipped radio broadcast center with an innovative distributed approach. Thanks to this Lawo setup, the Authentic Church is ready for the modern production of a whole variety of programs for their community.

Custom Consoles announces the completion of a production control desk and monitor display support system for one of Britain's longest established free-to-air television and radio broadcasters. The project was performed in partnership with Hampshire-based system integrator Dega Broadcast. 

Post-production studio, Studio Brain, has taken a sustainable approach to upgrading its facilities. Based in the Kagurazaka district of Tokyo, the full-service production house is built around two fully equipped creative studios and three editing suites. The 66 m² MA1 control room has featured two flush mounted Genelec 1035 main monitors since 1991. These were in need of some attention, but rather than move to a different solution, Studio Brain decided to give them an entirely new lease of life through Genelec’s 1235 Retrofit Upgrade Kit – thereby creating a thoroughly modern Smart Active Monitoring system.

Astera today announces the introduction of their new Fresnel series of lights; the compact PlutoFresnel and the larger LeoFresnel. These two offerings serve to plug a significant gap in the market: namely, the current dearth of effective LED-based Fresnel lighting. By developing LED lights specifically for integration with a Fresnel lens, Astera aims to provide all of the benefits of LED – including lower power draw, higher output strength, precise colour control, lightweight profile and full installation/application flexibility – whilst still providing lighting technicians with the specific creative qualities associated with Fresnel lighting, particularly in relation to portrait work and the replication of daylight settings.

The latest addition to the Gothenburg skyline is ‘Kineum’, a stunning 28-storey beacon of glass and steel that can be seen from miles around. The building houses Jacy’z hotel and resort – the latest venture from Swedish hospitality entrepreneurs, ESS Group – which offers a Nordic take on an upscale Las Vegas resort with all of the opulence and pizzazz, but not a single slot machine in sight. Instead, guests can choose from three restaurants and a stunning pool club and spa on the top two floors, plus award-winning conference facilities, a hotel-within-a-hotel on floors 17 and 18, a gym and a secret speakeasy bar. Swedish AV integration experts, Informationsteknik AB were contracted to design and supply all of the AV and conferencing systems throughout the building, which included over 130 Genelec 4000 Series and Smart IP loudspeakers.

Control room applications in highly sensitive, mission-critical areas require maximum reliability of all technical components. A key aspect is the implementation of security concepts to maximize availability and cyber security. Here, KVM systems play an important role, as they enable technical computer components to be outsourced to other locations. This, in turn, enables reliable and extremely secure infrastructures and allows user-friendly systems to be set up that are intuitive to operate and can be easily scaled according to requirements.