This year, the famous Tour de France runs from Saturday July 5th to Sunday July 27th. It is the 101st Tour de France in history and covers a total distance of 3,664 kilometers, or just under 2,300 miles.
The Tour draws over five million fans to the sidewalks of many roads along the course — and that’s just opening weekend alone.
British manufacturer Calibre has a hand in helping those peering over the heads of friends and neighbors get a little closer to the action. Large LED screens supplied by Lightmedia and Big TV line the route, all powered by LEDView image-scaling technology from Calibre UK.
Calibre proudly says both companies “chose Calibre’s LEDView530 as their large-display image scaler of choice for the Grand Depart.”
The company has been providing image scaling and processing technologies for the past 26 years. Their products are currently used in many settings, from broadcast/television and digital cinema, to large venue projection, LED video walls and surgical medical applications.
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The LEDView530 is an LED-optimised scaler-switcher and universal interface for LED screens. It is intended for professional, broadcast, sports & rental/staging use. The company says that the LEDView530 features front panel LCD menu and jog-wheel control, and supports screens from 128×96 to 1920×1200 pixels per unit.
Lightmedia’s display screens — 19 in total — are scattered from Leeds to Harrogate and from York to Sheffield, the routes of two opening stages.
“We use the Calibre LEDView530s as a key part of our rental-and-staging operation, to scale live broadcast content from TV cameras around the course for display on each and every one of the LED screens we supplied,” says Eddie Elliot-Smith, managing director at Lightmedia.
Lightmedia also used Calibre technology for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the wedding of Charles and Camilla, even the launch of Xbox ONE in Britain.
“We went down to Yorkshire fresh from Edinburgh Festival and provided LED screens to various areas on the opening weekend, including Skipton, York and Leeds,” says Big TV head technician Simon Woodcock. “The new ‘SkyFly’ mobile LED screen wowed crowds … and Calibre quality is central to our LED fleet for managing live feeds. The LEDView530 can take anything you throw at it!”
Calibre also says the scaler has a projection mode, in which it supports warp mapping and edge blending, as well as geometry correction and general projection scaling functionality. The LEDView530 boasts genlock and I/O lock, making it suitable for on-stage or in-camera use at live events.
“As a Yorkshire company ourselves, we were delighted and extremely proud to have supplied LEDView530 units to power so many LED screens along the route of our county’s Grand Depart,” says Pauline Brooksbank, managing director, Calibre UK. “This unforgettable weekend was not just a celebration of cycling but a unique opportunity for local people to experience a sporting event they had never come so close to before.
