CPL Enjoys Spring Shopping Spree

West Midlands UK based technical solutions and video specialist Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) kicked off 2014 with a busy schedule and a proactive program of shopping which sees major investments in new projectors, screens, cameras, media servers, sound, and lighting equipment to help facilitate an expected busy year ahead.

The purchases include premium brands like Avolites, Barco, Clay Paky, Clear-com, d&b, ETC, Panasonic, and Yamaha.

CPL's MD Matthew Boyse explains that a robust start to the year included a series of bold procurements which were "A mix of completely new purchases and others that give us the latest versions of popular and favorite items."

Stocks of Panasonic projectors have been boosted, together with those of Sony HXC100 broadcast quality HD cameras and Samsung LED screens / monitors.

There's been an all-round increase in demand for specialist projection services and CPL's expertise in this area includes multi and widescreen productions and 3-D mapping onto all types of surfaces and objects.

Eight new Panasonic 20,000 Lumen machines join the 10,000 and 7,000 lumen units, bringing CPL's current total of the latest larger format Panasonic projection technology to over 40 machines.

CPL has invested heavily in the latest generation of Panasonic projectors over the last two years, and this latest round of purchasing adds more 20,000, 10,000, and 7,000 lumen machines to the hire fleet, together with a number of Panasonic's new solid state 35,000 range.

"They are small, lightweight, extremely solid and almost plug-and-play," says Boyse explaining the choice of brand, which is becoming ever more popular for both corporate and entertainment industry applications, especially with its smaller higher brightness units.

Boyse adds that the service and after-sales support they receive from Panasonic in Cardiff is "Phenomenal."

Multiple new units of Panasonic's AW HE60 and HE120 hot head cameras have been added to the inventory--offering a wide choice of these compact products, and several new Teradek Bolt Pro 2000 wireless camera systems also join the fleet--able to operate at vastly greater distances than the previous technology.

More Panasonic AV HS410 vision mixers and more Barco PDS switchers and ImagePRO II scalers all reflect the need for precise control technology for widescreen video / projection and 3-D applications, together with the latest version of Coolux Pandora's Box media servers & players which were also high up the shopping list!

Plasma screens are now rapidly being replaced by LED versions which are thinner, lighter, very easy to rig and more aesthetically pleasing, the company says. Customer demand for LED monitor / comfort / relay screens has driven CPL's decision to replace all of their plasma stock with LED. The latest round of purchasing brings the current total of LED screens to over 80 in a variety of sizes.

Boyse says, "We were busy in 2013, but the first quarter of 2014 looks even more buoyant, so all these result-orientated purchases will ensure we continue to offer the best, most imaginative and up-to-the-minute solutions to all our clients."

CPL's audio department continues to grow and is now benefitting from additional Yamaha QL series digital desks--with four being delivered in May, plus the ever-increasing stock of d&b speakers, expanded again with the latest additions of E6 speakers and D6 / D12 amps.

The amount of Clear-com wired and wireless comms has also increased, together with a large amount of Motorola two-way digital radios. Most of CPLs comms systems are now digital bringing greater reliability and clarity.

The lighting department also grew steadily throughout 2013, together with the trend of CPL being asked to supply more full technical production and design packages for events in addition to video.

Looking for quality LED moving light fixtures, Boyse decided to purchase CPL's first Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K10 and K20 luminaires--with 20 units being delivered to their west Midlands HQ, along with Sharpy & Super Sharpy beam fixtures, all of which will be added to CPL's large stock of Martin moving lights.

Meantime, the generic lighting kit has been multiplied with large quantities of ETC Source Four LED HD Profiles and PARs, and on the control side, several new Avolites Tiger Touch consoles join the company, bringing "Quick, highly versatile, and portable control."

For lighting all types of spaces and environments, more of the latest Core Colourpoint & Point 30 battery powered LED uplighters are handy and a must-have for any live event, the company says.

Finally, all CPL's trussing has also been replaced by Prolyte H30V & H40R over the last six months.