Christie @MicroTiles & @DataDisplay, CNN Democratic Party Presidential Debate
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
When a worldwide audience tuned into the CNN Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas, not only were they possibly seeing the next American president, they also saw over 320 Christie MicroTiles displaying graphics behind each presidential hopeful.
Installed by Data Display Audio Visual, a division of ON Event Services, the 8’ tall by 50’ wide Christie MicroTiles display was chosen for its high resolution, design flexibility and reliability. The technology performed admirably during the debate – highlighting brilliant reds, whites and blues, and, like the candidates, delivered the message to viewers.
“It was a straightforward installation that went well,” says Mark Swanson, technology director, Data Display. “We did a good color balance the first day, which took about four hours. The next day CNN had its content up and it looked good. We did another tweaking here and there and it came together quickly.”
Swanson says that the bright CNN studio lighting had an impact on the setup, so additional adjustments were required to ensure colors didn’t look washed out.
“Once we had tested everything beforehand and had everything locked in, the wall was rock solid throughout the debate,” he says.
Shawn Rockefeller, vice-president, Data Display, says, “We made sure we had enough spare light engines and everything worked before going live. We were fully prepared; there was no way any section of the wall wasn’t going to work. Failure was not an option.”
With a television audience of 15.3 million in the US alone watching live, the Data Display team checked and double-checked everything and, while the team wasn’t nervous, Rockefeller admits the group felt more pressure than the dozens of trade shows they routinely do with machine-like efficiency.
“When we first saw MicroTiles and got the brochure, we were intrigued by them,” says Rockefeller. “I showed some of my customers that are always looking to do something different for their display booths. And I showed them the brochure and I sold it (MicroTiles) sight unseen.”
While not specifically geared for the rental staging market, Christie MicroTiles are definitely a viable solution for tradeshows and one-off broadcasts – not to mention permanent installations.
“We need extremely high resolution for most of our shows because of the software being used,” says Rockefeller, “and space is always an issue with us so MicroTiles fill that technology hole. Using MicroTiles gives booths a lot more usable space because you don’t need projectors shooting across the open space. MicroTiles are a creative tool and I equate them to Lego. You can do whatever you want with shapes and you’re not dedicated to a 16 x 9 aspect ratio.”
Follow DailyDOOH