Pioneer Central School District in Yorkshire, New York, unveiled an upgraded performing arts center, which features an 18-foot-wide by 49-foot-tall digital video wall backdrop manufactured by Watchfire Signs, an LED display manufacturer, according to a company press release.
The 2.4 millimeter high-resolution video wall is located outside of the Broadway theater district in New York City.
Pioneer Central’s 1,200-seat performing arts center is used by both the school district and community organizations. The district serves 2,500 students.
«A lot of our facilities are considered among the best in the region,» Benjamin Halsey, superintendent of Pioneer Central School District, said in the release. «Families in the region don’t have easy access to other enrichment activities, so we felt it was important to provide the best facility for dance, music, and theatrical performances.»
The original performing arts program stage was designed without «fly space,» an area above the stage where stage crews raise and lower curtains, scenery and other effects, which limited what crews could do with moveable props. To solve the problem, the school looked into raising the roof above the auditorium as well as installing a video board backdrop.
«From a cost perspective, the video board was more advantageous,» Halsey said in the release. «We also felt that this was the future of performing arts, and it gave us another avenue to teach students a new skill.»
Convergent Technologies Design Group, an engineering firm involved in the project that specializes in audiovisual, telecommunications and acoustic services, specified Watchfire for the project. The backdrop surpasses 4k resolution, higher than most TV screens, according to the release.
«It was important to specify technology that students would encounter in a studio environment after graduation,» Paul Corraine, principal at Convergent Technologies Design Group, said in the release. «The district is very progressive in teaching students how to generate the content for the video wall, putting them on a career path after high school.»
The video wall is funded through school capital reserves and state school construction funds. Others involved in the project include M&E Engineering and Jones Architects.