Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Another Miracle of the Chinese National Stadium

As was to be expected after the spectacular opening of the Summer Games in 2008, the opening ceremony for the Winter Games in 2022 in Beijing was characterised by a fireworks display of visual effects based on digital displays and lighting. Especially due to the reduction of human actors, which was also due to the corona, the media technology was even more in the focus of the staging compared to the opening of the Summer Games at the same location 14 years ago.

A total of about 15,000 square metres of LED material were installed for the show planned by the Chinese star director Zhang Yimou in the Beijing stadium, the so-called Bird's Nest. With about 11,000 square metres, the lion's share came from Leyard.

The Largest LED Stage in The World

The 11,000-square-metre LED stage alone, 7,000sqm of which came from Leyard, can probably be described as record-breaking. 42,208 LED tiles, each with an edge length of 500x500mm, were mounted on a substructure created in cooperation with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). This created an LED surface with a total resolution of 14880x7248 pixels, which delivered breath-taking images to the unfortunately few visitors in the stadium, but above all to the millions of television viewers.

Further installations by Leyard included a 60-metre-high video icefall with approx. 1200 square metres of LED modules and an oversized ice cube with 600 square metres of LED surface, which were seamlessly integrated into the overall visual concept. In addition, Leyard installed two thousand-square-metre classic video walls above the visitor tiers. In view of such dimensions, the 50-square-metre LED video wall in the stadium's control room, which was also supplied by Leyard, seems almost small.

Quality according to Aerospace Standards

At such a prestigious and high profile event as the opening ceremony, nothing would weigh more heavily than a partial or even complete failure of the technology during the final show, so the highest standards were set for the quality and robustness of the components installed. Redundant power supplies, dual signal routing, specially coated surfaces, IP66 protection class and regular tests and rehearsals at temperatures as low as -20°C, have resulted in the highest level of fail-safety here, which has ultimately proved its worth.

In addition to supplying large parts of the hardware, Leyard was also responsible for planning and implementing the feed. Seven groups of 8K playback servers and six groups of video mixers were created to realise synchronous pixel-precise playout of content from multiple players.

Zero Latency MegaPixel Playout

In addition to supplying large parts of the hardware, Leyard was also responsible for planning and implementing the feed. Seven groups of 8K playback servers and six groups of video mixers were created to realise synchronous pixel-precise playout of content from multiple players.

To avoid the risk of serial errors inherent in conventional synchronised cascade switching, Leyard used a single generator for the image synchronisation signal, providing a unified external synchronisation signal for 14 playback servers and 24 video splitters. This ensured that the 38 independent units operate synchronously and without interference, with a tolerance of less than two microseconds or less than one line in image sampling.

Dual power mode and dual power supply design (designed and drawn by Leyard)

Dual Power Supply, 200km of Cabling

In order to ensure the greatest operational reliability in the power supply as well, the complete infrastructure was also designed redundantly. The main and backup power supply circuits require 2600 kW, were divided into 52 power distributors with 100KW each and 534 distributors with 20 KW each, and connected to the LED displays via almost 200km of cables and supply lines.

How to achieve a reliable, safe and stable power supply for such a large LED display is also one of the problems Leyard had to solve. The total power consumption of the display areas on the Opening Ceremony stage is very high. The power consumption loads of the main and backup circuits require 2600 kW each. The three units share 52 sets of 100 kW flightcase power distribution cabinets, 534 sets of 20 kW power distribution cabinets and 198 000 metres of various wires and cables.

Giant LED floor screen and scrolls are created by Leyard at the Opening Ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics

A Dual Olympic Enterprise in a Dual Olympic City

After Leyard had already contributed the main part of the display hardware for the opening ceremony of the Summer Games 2008, the market leader in the field of high-resolution LED displays was able to prove its reliability once again in the perfectly staged performance for the kick-off of the Winter Games on 4 February 2022 and the final closing ceremony on February 20.

Watch the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony Highlights on the IOC Youtube Channel