Uplifting entertainment at the Tmall Singles' Day Gala

The annual entertainment and shopping festival, Singles’ Day, has spread across China like wildfire. It originated as a celebration of single life and being single. But Singles’ Day has become much more. It’s undoubtedly an important shopping day, with sales that total four times those of ‘Black Friday’ in America. How do you put everyone in the mood to enjoy Singles’ Day? With state-of-the-art entertainment at the Singles’ Day Gala.

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The Singles’ Day Gala was held on 10 November, on the eve of Singles’ Day itself. The gala show was directed by David Hill, the visionary behind the Superbowl show, who pulled every trick out of the entertainment-technology book to optimize the experience for viewers. This melded perfectly with the all-star line-up of sports and entertainment celebrities from China and around the world. ‘Happy Singles’ Day to You’, a collaborative composition by Wu Yifan and Grammy Award winner Pharrel Williams, was a definite highlight. And one of the most popular songs in China, ‘In That Faraway Place’, was brought to life by Chinese superstar Karen Mok, truly thrilling the audience. All this was supported by an amazing, innovative stage presentation. Barco supplied the technology that made it possible.

Setting a new standard in image projection

The main stage was backed by a colossal wall with a unique and intricate design. It proved to be the perfect canvas for scenography and lighting geniuses Ferrian Vader and Bobby Dickenson to broadcast stunning visual effects, including (literally) outstanding 3D projections.

These were achieved with eight Barco UDX-4K32 projectors. This top-of-the-range projector uses 3-chip DLP® technology, Barco ‘Pulse’ image-processing technology and a high-contrast optical engine to achieve Barco’s high standards: brightness levels of up to 31,000 lumens and 4K UHD resolution. With excellent color calibration and stability, the UDX-4K32 is perfect for projecting images on uneven surfaces to create highlighting or background effects. The high level of technological innovation allows different colors to be presented in separate color blocks—a necessity for a large-scale projection such as at the Singles’ Day Gala. Of course, to ensure the 3D-imaging was projected flawlessly onto the irregular surface of the projection wall, targeted image tracking with pinpoint precision was also called for. This is why the show was created by the Barco UDX-4K32. It enabled the different colors to be projected in line with the performances and in time with the rhythm of the music. An example?

When Liu Tao sang ‘Snowman’, the rich imagery created the sense of a snow-bound world. Of course, to project mountain-shaped holograms for this song, two extra Barco UDX-4K32 high-definition projectors were called into service. Working with the main rear screen and the image broadcast on the large LED screen on the floor of the stage, the projection perfectly integrated the exquisite pictures with the live performance, creating an illusion of snowflakes drifting silently through the air.

This was not the first time that Barco products have completed different tasks in a single show. In previous Spring Festival Galas, different products such as Barco LED screens and high-definition projectors successfully coupled together to present eye-catching visual effects. The extraordinary show at the Singles' Day Gala added to the legend of the Barco UDX-4K32 while inspiring viewers to make Singles’ Day 2017 a record-breaking celebration of commercial expenditure and pride and happiness in being single.