The Opening Ceremony officially marked the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The world's smallest and lightest* 20,000-lm projectors (PT-DZ21K and PT-DS20K) were installed
at the Olympic Stadium for the July 27 opening ceremony. Under the concept of "Sharing the Passion,"
Panasonic provided cutting-edge equipment and sponsor activities that helped to deliver
the excitement of the world's top athletes by presenting their passion, tension and
dynamic performances to the world.
* For a projector with brightness exceeding 20,000 lm as of May 30, 2012.
The opening ceremony was directed by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. The scenes in which projectors were used consisted of a montage of 40 years of British pop songs. While the music played, some of the most memorable music videos and clips were projected onto a large house on the stage. The stadium turned into a juke box, with an encyclopedic review of British music history.
A total of 26 projectors displayed images onto the walls of a multi-dimensional structure in the center of the stage.
The installation method is shown below.
* For portrait mode capability, a firmware upgrade and optional portrait mode lamp must be added to the PT-DZ21K Series,
which will be commercially available from 2012 Q4.
Projection mapping is an exciting new projection technique that can turn almost any surface into a dynamic video display.
The projected images are warped and masked to fit perfectly onto irregularly shaped screens with dedicated software.
(Panasonic uses a Geometry Adjustment function.) The warped and masked images transform the wall surfaces into completely different objects, physically impossible protrusions appear, and other visual effects surprise and excite the viewers.
- High brightness of 20,000 lm:
A minimum brightness of 20,000 lm per projector was required in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, making it 60,000 lm for triple stacks. - Portrait mode:
Projection onto long, vertical screens, which was required for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, was achieved. - Compact body and mobility:
For the Opening Ceremony, projectors had to be installed onto the LED lighting bars, which was made possible by their compact size. For the Closing Ceremony, projectors mounted on caster-equipped dollies provided sufficient mobility to allow a single person to move each one around in sync with the moving screens. - Geometry Manager Pro software:*
The use of this special software enabled multi-projection from dual and triple stacked projectors onto non-flat surfaces,
such as the large house-shaped object on the stage and the competition mats. - Speedy startup:
The projectors' speedy projection allowed them to be moved and projected onto moving screens.
Overall, Panasonic was able to provide technical support for all aspects of the Olympic Games.
This was a major contribution to the success of this global event.
* The Geometry Manager Pro software is included in the optional upgrade kit for the PT-DZ21K Series (PT-DZ21K/DS20K).
