XR is the general term for all immersive technologies that can overlay 3D layers on the real world. The currently available technologies—Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR)—expand our experiences by fusing the virtual and real worlds or creating fully immersive experiences.

With the rapid development of the industry, innovative elements are emerging one after another, creating more applications and opportunities. As a hot topic this year, XR technology is soon to shine brightly in the professional audio-visual field.

Extended Reality (XR), also known as Cross Reality, refers to a real-virtual combined, human-computer interactive environment generated by computer technologies and wearable devices, and is the general term for multiple forms including AR, VR and MR. The integration of the visual interaction technologies of the three realizes a seamless “immersive” experience between the virtual and real worlds.

To seize the new opportunity of virtual production in China's film and television industry and accelerate the pace of international integration, EXCO Vision has recently undertaken the large-screen project of China's first fixed commercial standard virtual studio, with product configurations featuring a refresh rate of up to 7000Hz, 22bit+ grayscale processing, a 180° viewing angle and a contrast ratio of 7000:1.

With high-quality LED display products, powerful media servers and camera tracking systems, XR extended reality technology can provide high-quality virtual production services for film, television and event production. By using XR technology, the performance design team can achieve real-time coverage of the real world beyond the on-site LED screens and conduct intuitive expansion processing. Meanwhile, MR mixed reality technology is applied in camera tracking, ensuring that the on-site cameras during live broadcasting are always consistent and synchronized with the digital cameras in the virtual scene.

The realization of such an important technology places unprecedented high demands on LED products:

1. Ultra-wide viewing angle

XR extended reality realizes synthesis through the disguise media server, uses the camera tracking system to locate spatial position information, maps the spatial relationship between characters and scenes in real time, and presents and outputs a 360° virtual scene without dead angles. Therefore, when the camera is shooting from all angles, the ultra-wide viewing angle ensures that the image quality of the display screen will not be compromised by angle changes, and at the same time, there should be no reflective light spots such as moiré patterns on the screen surface.

1. High color reproduction and low-brightness high-grayscale technology

In response to the full-process tracking and shooting of cameras, the image display details and information captured by the camera must be clear and complete. High color reproduction and low-brightness high-grayscale technology enhance the layering and color saturation of the image.

1. Intelligent brightness adjustment

It adapts to different ambient brightness in the virtual studio and optimizes the display effect of the screen image.

1. Real-time monitoring and synchronous switching of arbitrary signals

Virtual studios can realize the rapid switching of virtual scenes and modify and adjust scene content in real time, which greatly improves the efficiency of scene changing and revision and reduces shooting costs. This requires real-time monitoring of the operation status of the display screens on site, remote control of the content played on the displays in real time, timely feedback of problems, proposal of solutions, and guarantee of normal shooting. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure the synchronous switching of arbitrary signals to adapt to different virtual scenes and a variety of signal sources.

Compared with the traditional green screen technology, the combination of XR extended reality technology and LED displays allows directors to experience real-time images on site, shortens the workflow, greatly reduces post-production work, improves production efficiency, and enables the creation of more magical scenes according to the director's needs, realizing the shooting of large scenes in a small space.

(The picture shows the on-site screen construction by the EXCO Vision team)

With the rapid development of the industrialization of China's film industry, the popularization of this set of working systems for virtual space expansion in the film industrial production line is just around the corner.