During the European Athletics Championships from 7 to 12 August 2018, we installed LED screens in the Berlin Olympic Stadium with a total area of 550 m² (10 mm pixel pitch) and two screen boxes with 26 m² LED surface each. At Breitscheidplatz, we also used the new UPAD III H5 LED modules in different versions with 50 m², 40 m² and 16.5 m² each.

Accepting challenges and finding solutions
Before the start of the European Championships, the organisers expressed the wish to capture the atmosphere with an oversized 32:9 format. Whereas at the last World Championships in Athletics the marathon gate was covered with a 250 m² video wall, this time they wanted to leave the gate open for visual and architectural reasons. Thus, after extensive testing, the installation could only take place in the spectator area. Since the loads for a video wall of up to 300 m² were too great, taking into account all static forces, we examined the possibility of a suspended version in the stadium roof. After consulting with roof and testing structural engineers and preparing a proof of the influence of wind forces on the video system, we received approval for the suspended installation of two 275 m² 32:9 video walls.

Visual highlight: LED presentation gate
We installed a unique LED installation in the only access to the interior of the stadium – in the Marathon Gate. Here we erected an LED presentation gate. It consisted of a 4.9 mm outdoor LED video wall in the form of a gate frame and a 16:9 backdrop video wall behind it, which could be folded upwards on demand with the help of a motor. This was necessary, on the one hand, to ensure access for emergency services at all times and, on the other hand, to enable the entry and exit of technical equipment.

European Mile brings stadium feeling to Berlin city centre
In addition to the sporting competition venue in the stadium, there was another event location in the centre of Berlin, the European Mile on Breitscheidplatz. The organisers built a small public stadium for the city centre and were thus able to bring the European Athletics Championships even closer to the people of Berlin. Here, we used three more UPAD III H5 video walls with 5.9 mm pixel pitch, which were used as stage backdrops as well as for public viewing from the Berlin stadium and from Glasgow from the European Games or showed the stage events with music or interviews to the thousands of visitors.