UAL becomes the world’s first to install Sony’s Crystal LED VERONA

University of the Arts London (UAL) and Sony have partnered on a specialist Virtual Production (VP) research stage, housed within the Fashion Textiles and Technology Institute (FTTI) at UAL’s new East Bank campus in London. This state-of-the-art facility features a Crystal LED wall powered by Brompton Technology’s advanced LED processing, delivering exceptional visual quality and flexibility.

The East Bank campus is set to become a hub for research, innovation, creativity, and learning, driving collaboration between world-leading universities, cultural institutions, industry experts, and local communities. The VP stage will play a key role in advancing transdisciplinary, practice-led research in Virtual Production (VP) and XR textiles and dress, offering a dynamic environment for experimentation and creative exploration.

The studio is equipped with a seamless horseshoe-shaped Sony’s Crystal LED display that has a total size of 19.5m x 4m, made up of 312 Sony’s VERONA panels in two pixel pitches. The 8.5m wide middle section consists of fine pitch Sony’s VERONA 1.5mm pixel pitch panels, flanked by 11m of the 2.3mm pixel pitch panels, for an impressive total resolution of 22,557,760 pixels. Both screens integrate with Brompton Technology’s advanced Tessera LED processors, with the primary screen running on four 4K Tessera SX40 processors, and the secondary powered by two additional SX40 units. The entire setup is managed by 12 Tessera 10G data distribution units, offering a seamless and efficient workflow.

Brompton LED processing offers unparalleled colour management and flexibility, making it ideal for large-scale LED displays in VP environments. The Tessera SX40 processors ensure accurate colour reproduction and real-time image optimisation, crucial for creating lifelike visuals in virtual production. With the latest Tessera v3.5 software, content creators can unlock advanced features such as Dark Time Insertion, which builds on Brompton’s ShutterSync® technology to improve viewing experiences for human audiences, not just cameras. Additionally, the Enable Brightness Limit feature allows users to cap maximum brightness in Global Colour, maintaining visual consistency while protecting the integrity of the display. Other industry-renowned features, including ShutterSync, Frame Remapping, ChromaTune, and PureTone, further elevate the creative potential of UAL’s VP stage.

The volume is further enhanced by top-tier technologies, including Vicon tracking systems, Lux Machina ARCA media servers and Arri Orbiter and SkyPanel lighting, providing the ideal environment for advanced virtual production research and development in a textile, dress and performance context.

“University of the Arts London selected our Crystal LED VERONA for their robust, future-proof technology, offering exceptional colour accuracy and detail. We’re proud to support UAL’s vision and can’t wait to see the groundbreaking research and creativity that will flourish with this new installation!” says Chris Couzens, Channel Account Manager, Sony Europe.

“We already knew that with the technical capability and extensive experience within cinematic volumes for ICVFX, Brompton would be a natural choice for our virtual production research volume, however, what became quickly apparent is that when you are in uncharted waters, you also need a partner that is ready to explore the frontier with you. Brompton have been exceptional in their response to the technical challenge of blending two adjacent, yet different Crystal LED VERONA pixel pitches, ensuring that our colour pipeline works seamlessly and looks stunning in-camera.” says Marcus Saunders, Associate Director, Technical Resources, UAL.

“We conducted an extensive and rigorous series of camera and screen tests,” explains Peter Hill, Technical Manager, 3D and Material Science, UAL. “Ultimately, the combination of Sony’s Crystal LED VERONA and Brompton Technology’s LED processing perfectly met our requirements, delivering a flexible VP stage with exceptional visual quality and versatility.”

Professor Jane Harris, Director of UAL Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute, says: ‘’This ecosystem of technology, with Sony’s Crystal LED wall powered by Brompton Technology processors, will unlock a new world of opportunities in the research of VP/XR textiles and dress. This facility, funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council CResCa (Creative research capability) Award, is the first of its kind in the world, and will enable researchers to forge new paths for digitally rendered textiles and dress, with the aim of working towards real-time scenarios.’’

“We are excited to see our Tessera SX40 processors at the heart of UAL’s state-of-the-art VP facility,” concludes Rob Fowler, Director of Business Development at Brompton Technology. “The VP Stage will give students enrolled at FTTI a hands-on experience with industry-standard VP technology and workflows, inspiring innovative ideas and practice-led research through VP and XR.”