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Fiber in Action

Lightvision Media uses 7220 to transmit high-res video for Vancouver BC Stadium

Mark Spevakow, Vice President of Technology and founder of Lightvision Media, Canada’s largest outdoor digital signage advertising network, discusses using the Pure Digital Fiberlink 7220 Series to transmit high-resolution video to one of the LED screens outside BC Place Stadium - one of Vancouver’s premiere sports and entertainment complexes, located in the heart of downtown Vancouver, British Columbia.

Founded in 1999 in Vancouver, B.C, Lightvision Media owns and operates ten outdoor, full motion video billboards across multiple Canadian provinces. The company’s state-of-the-art LED Video screens are strategically placed in high traffic areas throughout western Canada, delivering over 20 million impressions monthly from passing motorists and pedestrians. Advertisers typically purchase a ten second ad that airs as part of a 90 second continuous loop, with each ad airing at least 760 times each day.

Lightvision’s two newest screens are BC Place Stadium - host to more than 200 events per year. The LED screen that is connected to the 7220 Series is the largest in Western Canada measuring 30 feet wide by 20 feet high. The other screen measures 21 feet wide by 13 feet high. Both screens are capable of high-resolution full motion video.

Like all the screens in Lightvision’s network, the BC Place screens are operated from Lightvision’s head office in Vancouver. There, an FTP server is regularly updated with information, schedules and video spots specific for each location. Throughout the day, at regular intervals, the networked video player at each screen location automatically logs into the server and downloads the most current content and schedule information. Automated monitoring and remote login capability also allows Lightvision employees working at the head office to check the status of any player or actively modify its playback schedule over high-speed internet connections.

“The BC Stadium screen,” explains Mark Spevakow,” is different from most of our other screens in that its location allowed us to locate the screen’s video players within the actual stadium, located approximately 500 feet away, inside an air-conditioned control room. Many of our screens are located on highways, in locations that are not within a reasonable proximity to a building where the video players can be housed. In those cases, the players need to be mounted directly behind the screens, in a less-than-ideal environment. However, in the case of the BC Stadium screen, we were able to make use of the stadium itself. Our challenge was to find a reliable method to transmit the high-resolution video over a 500-foot span of multimode fiber, linking the video player to the screen.

Initially, we tried other products that weren’t “plug-and-play” and they just didn’t work properly,” explains Mark. “But with the Pure Digital Fiberlink system, the exact opposite happened. It arrived within a day of ordering, and the inputs/outputs were exactly what we needed. We took it to the Stadium, plugged it in, and right away, everything worked perfectly. There were absolutely no issues. Installation took 15 minutes and it’s been running great for several months now. The picture quality is very good, and there’s no degradation of the image whatsoever.”

The video processor that provides feed to Lightvision’s outdoor network operates at a 640 x480, non-interlaced resolution, although the Pure Digital Fiberlink 7220 Series has the ability to support resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 and transmit stereo audio over the same single fiber. Mark explains that one of their outdoor signs did actually incorporate FM Simulcast audio in the past, however the audio portion of the Pure Digital Fibelink system is not currently being used.

Lightvision has a contract to own and operate two LED Screens outside BC Place signs for the next 7 years. During that period, both the football and the hockey stadiums located on site will be official 2010 Olympic venues, and the screens will be used to broadcast live feed from the events in addition to other related Olympic uses. “I have every reason to expect that the Pure Digital Fiberlink system will still be up and running for us then,” says Mark.

As for the future, Lightvision plans to expand its network, with additional screens being added every year. “Our immediate goal is to have 15 screens installed and go upwards from there,” Mark elaborates. “We’re very proud to be the largest network in Canada, and if you factor in that we can run full motion video, which most companies can’t do, we may be the largest in North America. If any of those future locations allow for a remotely located control room, similar to BC Place, then the Pure Digital Fiberlink system will certainly be part of the installation.

When we started out, we were ahead of the technology. Now the technology has caught up to us.”

 
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