The BET Awards



The 2nd Annual BET Awards was held on June 25 at the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, and for the second year in a row, American Hi Definition of Calabasas, California got the call to set up all the large-screen displays for the event. According to Ady Gil, one of the partners of American Hi Definition, the staging of the awards show was not a particularly challenging project, but the implementation did require the use of five different screens that had to complement the elegant ambience of the event.

The centerpiece of the show was a large, round, rear-projection screen that made use of three Digital Projection 15sx projectors to create a converged image for extra brightness. Off to the side were two more, polygonally-shaped rear-projection screens, each making use of two 15sx projectors. A metal frame built in front of the screens gave them the appearance of a video wall.



Video clips of award nominees were shown on a fourth screen, about 15' high by 20' across, that was flown in and out as necessary. This was a front projection screen that also used two 15sx projectors to create a converged image. And finally, for one dramatic sequence, American Hi Definition created a 18'×24' walk-through screen. Built of six-inch wide strips of an elastic material that are overlapped and stretched across the24-foot high frame, the screen allowed one award presenter to make a dramatic entrance onto the stage by stepping through a waterfall projected by a single 15sx projector.

Video for all the screens was fed from Grass Valley Profile video servers located in a mobile control room that was brought in to produce the event.