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| Barco security products responsible for surveillance in the Bird's Nest |
The 8 August Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, at Beijing's celebrated ‘Bird's Nest' stadium, was by and far the most coveted ticket of this year's Olympic program. The stellar event was attended by some 90,000 spectators, including a large contingent of world leaders and dignitaries, and enjoyed a worldwide television audience estimated at four billion viewers.
The much-anticipated event was directed by renowned Chinese filmmaker, Zhang Yimou (Curse of the Golden Flower, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern). The highly imaginative show was powered by a number of Barco cutting edge visual display solutions, including a total of 78 Barco High End Systems Orbital Heads, which allowed the production team to reposition the images anywhere in space - in this instance, onto different scenic elements on the field.
Working in conjunction with the Orbital Heads was a record 110 Barco High End Systems Axon Media Servers and 5 Wholehog 3 consoles. No visual event to date has incorporated so many servers of this type.
In addition to its role in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Barco is also providing LED solutions to many of the other Olympic venues. At the 12 Olympic Live Sites, Barco LED screens make it possible for millions of Beijing people to watch the games in large groups, live and in the outdoors, causing a great atmosphere of unity and excitement. At the landmark Jingxin Building, home to China's largest outdoor LED screen, the 758 square meters LED screen beams Olympic images to millions of visitors on Beijing's 3rd Ring Road. The Olympics soccer field in Shanghai is also lit up by a 391 square meters Barco LED screen.
In a 3rd major role, Barco is involved in ensuring the security and safety for the Olympics and its millions of visitors. Barco Security and Monitoring products are responsible for the surveillance in the Bird's Nest and other venues, for guiding the 
flight traffic at Beijing's new Terminal 3, and for directing all the road traffic at the city's Urban Traffic Control Centre.
"We knew it would be something special, but what we witnessed was truly beyond that. Our teams worked for over 18 months with the various teams involved in the Olympics. We are proud that through the efforts of our various product teams we have become the leading AV supplier to the Beijing Olympics," says Frank Christiaens, Managing Director responsible for Greater China.
