Large outdoor LED screens at the London Olympics
All photos of LED screens borrowed from the web site BBC BigScreen
Our world is being gradually entangled in various nets. We have already got used to the Web, nets of mobile phone operators, electricity grids that cover the whole planet. Gradually local networks are growing bigger and claim to become global, too. We are interested only in networks of LED screens, of course. At present the local city networks of LED screens are fairly common. The LED screen networks can be found in many megapolices of the world: New-York, Beijing, Sydney, St. Petersburg etc. But there are no national networks (with the exception of recently commissioned national Chinese networks of digital transport and outdoor advertising set up by Phoenix Media and Vision China. Therefore the announcement of the Organizing Committee of the London Olympics about spreading the all-England network of LED screens sounds really exciting.
Judging from the press releases by 2012 Games all major UK cities will be linked by a network of large outdoor LED screens positioned strategically on large city squares. Since the support from investors has been assured, only organizational issues remain to be resolved. Naturally, such high-profile project recently called Live Sites is not lacking in financing.
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| Large LED screen in Birmingham | Outdoor LED screen in Bradford |
It has already become a tradition to install large LED screens in public spaces during the Olympic Games. A lot of high quality screens entertained public during the recent Games in Beijing (nearly 30 new LED screens were installed for the occasion); many screens showed the Games in Sydney and Athens; there was a successful experiment of setting up 12 special Fan zones during the German World Cup series. But all of these were temporary installations: the rental screens are usually set up for a short time during concerts, shows, sports events.
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| Large LED screen in Cardiff | Outdoor LED screen in Derby |
At that time the broadcasting is predictable: the LED screens mostly display the sport competition at various locations (during Olympic or Paralympic Games). Sometimes, local events are also included in the schedule for example, musical concerts, presentations of local businesses, announcements of local events that are relevant for the gathering crowd at some particular site. But for the UK project the London organizing Committee LOCOG plans to install large outdoor LED screens as fixed structures for many years to come. Today there is already a small network of seven stationary screens that operate non-stop in downtown Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Hall, Bradford and Middleborough. These large screens are called “digital canvases”. They usually show trailers of the coming movies, local advertising or local news reels.
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| Outdoor LED screen in Dover | Large LED screen in Edinburgh |
But the organizers of the London Games are planning to utilize the accumulated experience in digital advertising at the new level. The LED screens will be installed not only in the capital but in many cities that are not actually hosting any Olympic events. Thus, the Games will be a part of daily life of people not only in the seclusion of their homes where people routinely watch TV, but will transform the public space of many cities as well. Large outdoor LED screens will not work individually with the independent schedule – but will be a part of larger network that will turn all of them into an outdoor TV sports channel. Naturally, advertising will be part of broadcasting.
The screens will not be dismantled after the Games. They will turn into an essential part of city infrastructure. The many new Olympic sport venues will widen the infrastructure of sports facilities in the UK; and the LED screens will expand the city informational and advertising infrastructure. The preliminary polls prove that locals massively support this initiative of building LED screens.
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| Large LED screen in Leeds | Large outdoor LED screen in Manchester |
Commercials and competitions displayed on large outdoor LED screens are more than just a video or information. Many commentators write about a certain magic of giant screens; the outdoor broadcasting transform a regular event into a massive entertainment action. We all know that it’s more fun to be in a crowd, on a stadium, or in from of a large screen in the square or sport bar than watching the same competition on home TV. Large LED screens offer us an immersion into the event, make us part of the action. The installed LED screens will have additional functions to be interactive. The screens will display personal textual, musical or video messages.
Well, everything that brings people joy and entertainment is precious and has to be welcomed. Especially, if these are large outdoor LED screens that are becoming an integral part of our lives, and that expand their sphere of applications with each year.
