“The Colbert Report” is using Christie MicroTile modular display technology on its new redesigned Red, White & Blue set.
The redesigned stage, which debuted on Jan. 4, features 41 MicroTiles arranged as three horizontal displays, in 1x4, 1x5 and 1x4 arrays underneath Colbert’s desk; and four angled 1x7 vertical columns along the backdrop. The tiles display high definition video and graphics created exclusively for the show.
This marks the first installation of Christie MicroTiles since the product was launched in November 2009. “The best part about being the first show to use the Christie MicroTiles is that we are the first. We love being first,” notes Meredith Bennett Co-Executive Producer, “The Colbert Report.”
Videofilm Systems, Inc. of Bridgeport, Conn. collaborated with design firm Jack Morton to specify and install the Christie MicroTiles for “The Colbert Report.” Dale Cihi, Engineering Designer at Videofilm recounts: “After Giselle Vogel, our VP and I saw the MicroTiles demo at InfoComm ‘09 we were taken by the technology and knew we had to include it on the set of ‘The Colbert Report.’ Real-time color correction and off-access viewing were the primary requirements we had to overcome and Christie MicroTiles definitely met the criteria. It’s the kind of product that sells itself once you see it. It definitely has the ‘wow’ factor.”
Jim Fenhagen, SVP of Design at Jack Morton and Chief Designer of “The Colbert Report” set comments on Christie MicroTiles’ unique combination of DLP with LED illumination: “We found that in updating the set, the brightness factor was crucial and we really wanted to include strips of video into the redesign. The set had to be amplified visually without being too distracting, while still maintaining its unique signature on air. Christie MicroTiles were perfect. They fit seamlessly into the existing space while providing the best color matched graphics and video without any pixelation.
Christie MicroTiles achieve 115 percent NTSC broadcast standard and PAL color gamut, according to Mitch Rosenberg, Director of Sales, Visual Environments Display Systems at Christie. “No other display can do this,” he said. “MicroTiles have an amazing visual impact and are fun to work with…it’s as easy as…design, lock and play.”
