According to the International Olympic Committee, “the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games symbolizes the Olympic spirit of peace and harmony, which brings people from across the world together around Olympic sport.” [i]
This year’s Opening Ceremony, titled Isles of Wonder and inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, featured appearances from Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Paul McCartney. The ceremony, which was directed by Oscar winning director Danny Boyle, attracted more than one billion viewers from around the world.
As an Official Worldwide Olympic Partner in Audio and Visual Equipment for more than 20 years, Panasonic projectors have played a role in numerous Olympic Games, including in Salt Lake City, Athens, Beijing and Vancouver. This year in London our role has grown in importance, as Panasonic provided the very best and brightest projection technology to light up the Opening Ceremony. The world’s smallest and lightest[ii] 20,000 lumens projectors, the Panasonic PT-DZ21KU and PT-DS20KU, engaged the audience by delivering impressive HD footage.
These 20,000 lumen rated projectors use 3-Chip DLP technology to provide ultra-bright images with vivid colors and high resolution detail. The devices are rich in features, making them extremely versatile for a range of applications. The PT-DZ21KU and PT-DS20KU projectors’ unique quad-lamp system with new high-power UHM lamps allow for an extremely compact size and light weight, while providing an astounding 20,000 lumens of brightness. Their size makes the devices simple to install in restrictive areas, allowing for installation flexibility. Additionally, the projectors feature a geometric adjustment function that allows images to be wrapped onto specially shaped screens or complex surfaces.
Three Panasonic PT-DZ21K Series projectors at Olympic Stadium. (iii)
Not including the PT-DZ21K Series projectors used during the Opening Ceremony, 22 other Panasonic DLP projectors are being deployed throughout the London 2012 Olympic Games.
With more than 30 years of experience developing projectors, Panasonic projectors provide extremely high reliability. All Panasonic projectors go through rigorous reliability tests in order to meet the highest standards of manufacturing quality. This year, the PT-DZ21K Series projectors are providing additional reliability at the Olympic Games, as the quad lamp system prevents image interruptions even if one lamp should happen to fail, resulting in what could be an embarrassing technology dilemma.
Because the Opening Ceremony is so meaningful and because of the enormous global audience, it was important the event went off without a hitch. In addition to the global audience of more than one billion people, there were 80,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium for the June 27th Opening Ceremony, including more than 80 heads of states and 10,500 athletes. For both the athletes and spectators who traveled across the world for the Games, the Opening Ceremony was a once in a lifetime experience that they are sure to remember.
Did you tune in to the Opening Ceremony? Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment below.
[ii] For over 20,000 lumens performance projector as of May 30, 2012.
[iii] Portrait mode capability of PT-DZ21K Series requires a firmware upgrade and optional portrait mode lamp to the current product generation, which will be commercially available in Q4 2012.
