Christie Projectors Create Visual Effects at Olympics' Opening Ceremony

Christie, a company engaged in the development of visual solutions, has announced that its Christie Roadster S+20K and Christie CP2000-ZX models were chosen for creating dynamic visuals at the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008. The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics 2008 took place at the Beijing National Stadium on August 8^th, 2008, at 8:08 pm China Standard Time. Comprehensive and spectacular uses of the projected visuals were made at the ceremony, something unprecedented in the history of the sporting event. 

 

Sha Xiaolan, chief lighting designer, Olympics opening and closing ceremony committee, Beijing Olympic Games 2008, said that this is the first time that such a massive number of projectors has been used for the opening ceremony, which was a combination of approximately 150 Christie Roadster S+20K and Christie CP2000-ZX models, with brightness levels up to 20,000 ANSI lumens.

 

Xiaolan added that as the projected visuals played a pivotal role in the opening ceremony, the visual solution was also the most extensive and complicated in the history of the Games, and Christie projectors maintained their excellent performance and reliability from day one of the rehearsal, right through to the live event.

 

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 lasted for 3.5 hours, and had been divided into four parts: opening addresses, performances, entrance of athletes, and lighting of the main flame. The main theme of the ceremony was "Civilization and Harmony," and the film director, Zhang Yimou had planned and designed the performances, which primarily aimed at spreading the message of harmony from an international perspective.

 

The projection technology for the ceremony was expected to be able to stand intense use and high temperature and humidity levels, so that the artistic integrity and complex design elements could be maintained for the event.

 

Christie provided 84 Christie Roadster S+20K 3-chip DLP projectors for the spectator area in the Beijing National Stadium, through the company's business products partner in China, Wincom Technology Development Company. The Christie Roadster S+20K 3-chip DLP projectors provide an output of 20,000 ANSI lumens, which is considered to be the standard output for providing the required durability and ease of operation for such a big event.

 

Apart from this, Christie provided 63 Christie CP2000-ZX model digital cinema projectors for the event, which are all-in-one digital cinema projectors, in cooperation with Beijing Time Antaeus Media Tech. Company. As China is consistently engaged in achieving its aim of conversion from film to digital cinema, these projectors will be used in theaters across the country after the Olympics ceremonies are over.

 

Jack Kline, president and COO, Christie Digital Systems USA, said that it is an extreme honor to be a part of the world’s greatest sporting event and to project stunning visuals for the ‘One World One Dream’ vision of the 2008 Beijing Games.

 

Kline noted that Christie's commitment to innovation in projection technology has brought the company to the forefront of some of the highest profile events in the world. The company’s passion is to deliver purpose-built visual solutions to help its customers achieve their unique goal of artistic expression.