"Never forget, and there will always be echoes. We are your echoes." A fan connecting online said this on the evening of March 27 at THE9's immersive virtual concert "Virtual City". Before the concert, many fans, despite having purchased tickets, still had doubts about the concert's price, format and content.

This concert incurred a cost of over 100 million yuan. Leveraging XR technology and virtual production, it enabled "cross-temporal interaction" between fans and idols. This concert by THE9 is a trial for iQIYI in the field of intelligent production. Wu Lei, the executive producer of the concert, told reporters: "There are three core technological breakthroughs required for this concert live broadcast: first, the virtual technology itself; second, the ticketing system; third, user interaction. Only by ensuring content quality and user interactive experience can we unlock more room for commercial monetization in the future."

"This concert is a showcase, and iQIYI will make significant investments in virtual production in the future with a series of plans in place," introduced Yang Haitao, Vice President of iQIYI. In addition to concerts, virtual production technology may be applied to stage plays, film and television production and other fields in the future, and other related projects are currently under research and development.

At the opening of the concert, THE9 took an elevator shuttling between buildings to reach their own "Virtual City". The stage for Dumb Dumb Bomb was designed in the shape of a rising top; the background for Hunt was set in a primeval jungle where the performers rode a truck through the woods; Sphinx incorporated elements such as Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx into the stage design... From the neon-blinking city to the pyramids deep in the desert, this concert brought fans an immersive "Virtual City" through modern technology.

Different from the atmosphere brought by offline stage design to the audience, virtual production technology offers enormous imaginative space and expressive power. Three XR virtual camera positions and film-grade production equipment were adopted in this concert, enabling real-time rendering and the integrated presentation of realistic and stylized scenes.

Turning imagination into immersive visuals requires technological support. A key factor behind the infinitely extendable space and images presented in this performance lies in the screens. LED displays were used on the concert stage, making the extraordinary audio-visual experience of the intertwined sound and light on site absolutely stunning.

THE9 on stage never disappoints their fans, and neither did the LED displays that strived for perfect presentation throughout the concert. The combination of XR technology and film-grade LED screens is the key element that brings immersion to the entire concert. Thanks to the inherent characteristics of LED, it can project images onto people's bodies, skin and wearable items, greatly enhancing the sense of reality.

In fact, in the field of film and television content, the American drama The Mandalorian released in 2020 and HBO's Westworld have both made core use of the "combination of XR technology and LED screens", opening up a channel for the integration of "realistic" and "virtual" production in filming and creative space.

In November 2020, Billie Eilish's concert utilized XR technology to create visual elements with a strong visual impact such as a giant spider, outer space and tropical rainforests.

This time, however, THE9's "Virtual City" concert has reached a new height in the integration of technology and content.

Specifically, it applied both film-grade LED realistic virtual production and XR technology to the concert live broadcast, thus achieving both a cinematic visual experience and immersive performance.

Notably, this is also the world's first XR live concert with film-grade LED realistic virtual production.

In addition, with the increase in various commercial performances, the rise of LED displays in the stage design field has also boosted the prosperity of the LED display rental market. LED rental displays have the advantages of light weight, simple structure and easy assembly and disassembly, which meet the requirements of the rental market such as quick installation, high protection and collision resistance. Therefore, LED rental displays are widely used in various commercial performance venues.

In concert applications, special-shaped LED displays feature a unique three-dimensional sense. These new types of LED displays with a sense of design and technology integrate virtual space with reality, presenting a realistic and three-dimensional ideal world. The images they create are delicate and lifelike, with a stronger impact than real scenery. They allow the audience to obtain more sensory experiences beyond the performance, which in turn influences the audience's psychological changes and makes them feel personally on the scene.

Beyond stage effects, LED displays are also widely used in government squares, leisure squares, cultural squares, large entertainment plazas, bustling business centers, advertising information billboards, commercial streets, railway stations, airports and other places.

Stage styles are diverse, but LED displays are definitely set to become a trend of this era. With the rapid economic development in China, the market share of stage design is gradually expanding, enabling LED displays to deliver perfect effects in various large and medium-sized concerts and large-scale performances. LED displays will continue to evolve and break new ground in our daily lives, and their future development is well worth looking forward to.