First virtual studio with Sony Crystal LED display completed

By Guy Campos in Broadcast and media, Displays, Europe January 12, 2023 0

The 90 sq m, 1.5mm, curved Crystal LED screen is combined with Sony's Venice cinematography camera tech at the VP studio near Paris in France.

The first virtual studio with a Sony Crystal LED screen has been completed in France.

Sony joined forces with Plateau Virtuel (a virtual production studio subsidiary of the Novelty-Magnum-Dushow Group) and Studios de France (the leading set provider for broadcasting in France) to create the 700 sq m set at Seine Saint Denis, north of Paris, France.

The Sony Crystal LED B-series screen is 90 sq m (18m x 5m) and is composed of 450 "assortments", each including a combination of 8 LED modules. Crystal LED allows for a very high contrast ratio and a narrow pixel pitch (1.5mm versus a 2.6mm current market standard) even with a curved screen.

Bruno Corsini, technical director of Plateau Virtuel, commented: "It's a screen that took 15 days to assemble, working with the Sony teams. Most studio screens are placed on the ground. For us it was important to have a suspended structure in order to be able to slide floors underneath, be they LED or other kind of floors. We also have an LED ceiling that allows us to do integration if necessary."

Sony's Crystal LED screen is combined with Sony's Venice camera capture technology.

Fabien Pisano, sales director for media solutions at Sony Europe added: "The project was born after filming a campaign for the European Space Agency in virtual production using the Venice camera. The production was good but Plateau Virtuel wanted to go even further. That's where the discussion began. How to take virtual production to a higher level in terms of reproduction but also in terms of quality on set?"

The Crystal LED and Venice technology combination makes it possible to bring the camera very close to the screen without a moire effect, and to offer consistency in the colour spaces of capture and display.

Yasuharu Nomura, general manager of the VP business department at Sony Corporation, said: "We are the only company in the world to supply LED panels and cinema cameras. We know each technical specification and know how to best use it. In order to maximise the potential of these two solutions, the engineering teams developed and designed each of them in close collaboration."

Igor Tregarot, deputy general manager of AMP Visual TV, which owns Studios de France, commented: "Our idea was this "lab platform" or the ability to be able to respond to all types of requests. It is this technical curiosity that has also made the success of our company. And if in addition we associate with this "lab" side a brand like Sony and partners like Plateau Virtuel, we bring in a unique dynamic and we hope to have positive outcomes. We have already some, if only in terms of satisfaction of the first users."

The studio will launch on 12 February, with technical workshops to follow on 16 February and 30 March.