Editing by Kate Yuan
The global audience has been impressed by the largest LED panels at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which has featured an impressive variety of cutting-edge technologies. Beijing-headquartered Leyard Group (利亚德) is the key supplier for the LED panels, together with BOE.
The total size of the LED panel used at the opening ceremony is 14,500 square meters on February 4. Leyard provides 70% of 10,000 square meters along with the controlling system. BOE provided most of the rest.
Leyard is the same supplier of the LED panel at the 2008 Beijing summer Olympic Games 14 years ago. But both the size and features of the panel have improved. High-definition LED with 16K picture quality covered the entire floor of the Bird's Nest Stadium, allowing the audience to experience the dazzling applications of AI, AR, and glass-free 3D.
Leyard started in 1995 and became listed in 2012. With factories and facilities in Wuxi, Xian, Hunan, and other locations, Leyard has the largest global LED panel market share, according to its chairman Li Jun.
Through a partnership with TCL, Leyard has developed an ASIC chip and started volume production last November, said the company.
The opening ceremony has been rehearsed about 12 times on the "Virtual Bird's Nest" through a self-developed system by the digital performance and simulation technology team of the School of Computer Science of Beijing Institute of Technology. This simulation is accurate to every actor's position, movement, pace, even every second, said a Xinhua report.
The team leader, Professor Ding Gangyi said, "We simulated the whole process of the opening ceremony through 3D simulation technology, and carried out an all-round arrangement of all factors such as actors, lighting, music, fireworks, Olympic torches, and even broadcast cameras.
The application of 5G+VR technology is another major feature at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The 360°VR technology captured 3D data of the games with no dead corners, and broadcasters can switch back and forth between each camera to select different angles to enjoy the highlights from all angles. The Olympic broadcasting service is 5G-based.
According to a Xinhua report, eleven of the venues are being reused from the Olympic Games in 2008 to cut emissions, reduce environmental impact, and minimize the consumption of water, energy, and materials.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said, “The Beijing Winter Olympics is unprecedented in the application of science and technology, which will hopefully be widely used around the world.”
