all the unintelligible stadium audio system. From announcements through spoken word to music replay it was without doubt the worst sound system I have endured in many decades.
Big screens in the Aquatics Centre Audience participation was guaranteed with the Pixels embedded in every seat
owned host broadcaster Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The numbers of cameras, mixers, monitors, trucks and lighting systems was mind-boggling, with the
European rental industry stretched to the max and the key sponsor Panasonic flying equipment in almost daily from all over the world. Without doubt my favourite
application of technology was the Pixels embedded in the seats in the Olympic Stadium. My experience of the Closing Ceremony was that this piece of technology
provided both a stadium- scale backdrop while drawing every single member of the audience into a personal and immersive experience. A close second was the amazing sound in the Olympic Stadium, succeeding where so many sound systems and stadiums fail. The system provided clarity from spoken word through rock music, classical, military bands and live performance. All without compromise. Clarity and volume were quite breathtaking even when the 80,000-strong crowd were roaring at the top of their lungs. The combination of the stadium design with the flexible roof, the extensive acoustic studies and the deployment of very large quantities of high-quality drive units in optimum positions resulted in one of the most intelligible large- scale sound systems I have ever heard. This contrasted with my one poor Olympic experience, the visit to Wembley Stadium for the GB versus Brazil women’s football match. Don’t get me wrong, the sport spectacle, the women’s football and the crowd experience was truly excellent. However for me this was somewhat dampened by the combined negative impression of the surly Wembley stadium staff, the somewhat fuzzy and noisy permanently installed video screens, and worst of
ON THE BIG SCREENS The mixture of technology sponsor Panasonic’s 12mm (unfortunately, post-tsunami, this excellent product is no longer made) and 24mm LED video screens across the venues provided by their rental partners in the UK, Scandinavia, US and Asia were stars of many of the venues. The video was crisp and bright under all ambient lighting conditions, and the graphics for scoring and other information supplied by OBS was readable from every seat in the house. My favourite implementations were the neatly integrated screens in the Aquatic Centre where by clever scenery construction and control of screen colours the screens disappeared into the blue theme of the venue. At the Olympic Stadium the positioning of the screens allowed all 80,000 of us to see everything and even in the unusually bright British summer days everything was legible.
So, in line with the London 2012 Olympics theme, the question is: did we Inspire a Generation? Well, certainly I noticed the stage and technical crews were a healthy mix of seasoned veterans and younger up-and- coming talent. The veterans I spoke to mostly had to admit the event delivery was as good as it gets and so I imagine the younger technologists, stagers, designers and other assembled professionals have cut their teeth on what will be for some time the global event industry benchmark. By having been involved they will contribute over the next two decades to raise the pro-AV industry bar even higher. That in my view is a legacy worth paying for.