The FSE light and sound show debuted in December 1995. The "space-frame" Viva Vision canopy is 462 yards long, covering a four-block section of Fremont Street from Main to Fourth streets. It stands 90 feet high, five feet deep, and has a curved radius of 44 feet. The interior surface covers more than 175,000 square feet, which equates to slightly more than four acres. According to the official FSE geek stats, "A section comprising one-fiftieth of the total space frame equals the size of the world's current largest electronic sign." The Experience is by far "the world’s largest pixel matrix for a single display supporting text, graphics, and sophisticated animation."
Originally, the Experience consisted of 2.1 million incandescent light bulbs. But on June 14, 2004, a new $17 million lighting system debuted. It consists of 12.5 million energy-efficient synchronized red, blue, and green light-emitting diodes (LEDs), capable of displaying up to 16.7 million color combinations and employing special effects that include split and rotating screens, and live video feeds. The LED lamps are also much more closely packed: two inches apart, compared with the old bulbs' six-inch spacing. In addition, the system broadcasts images at 60 frames per second, roughly double the number of frames you see on a typical TV set.
Accompanying the light display is a powerful sound system. A total of 218 speakers are mounted under the space frame, along with 220 remote amplifier locations around the pedestrian mall; all told, they produce up to 540,000 watts of concert-quality sound.
The seven- and eight-minute shows, which take programmers and animators up to four months to create, are seen as a continuous four-block-long image. But the canopy is actually broken down into eight individual screens. Each screen is driven by a separate supercomputer equipped with a high-definition video (HDV) player whose individual image is in sync with the other seven. All the computers are housed in a central control room; together, they share nearly 10,000 gigabytes of storage space. (In the old incandescent system, the screen consisted of 30 sections and 30 computers mounted above the canopy. If one went down, the entire show had to be turned off while a technician climbed on top of the structure to repair it.)
No doubt about it, the crooning canopy is a marvel of modern technology. But it's still evolving. Future applications will also certainly include more interactivity, with, perhaps, sporting events, news, and advertising broadcast on the screen or even CCTV cameras projecting events happening on the pedestrian mall.
Click here for the FSE show schedule and descriptions of the various shows currently airing.
