MGM Cotai Theater Video Wall System

McLaren Engineering Group provided engineering design services for the Hall of Stars Theater Video Wall System at MGM’s Cotai Resort in Macau. The Hall of Stars Theater uses revolutionary technology to bring audiences multi-sensory experiences unlike anything before.

Moving Video Wall

The video wall is the centerpiece of the venue and is recognized as Asia’s first immersive dynamic theater experience. Spanning 900 square meters (the size of three tennis courts), the 4K LED screen contains 13 independent major axes of moving components, making it the world’s most flexible ultra HD screen at 28 million pixels. With the theater’s moveable video wall, stage, seating area and lighting, the entire theater is able to be transformed to accommodate multiple resident shows from fashion shows to talk shows, night clubs and more.

From the initial concept to final design, McLaren engineered the entire project using in-depth knowledge of theatrical stage machinery, infrastructure, LED screens and rigging systems. McLaren provided conceptual sketches, technical performance specifications, facility impact loads, LED layouts, fully detailed structural and mechanical engineering design drawings, and attended acceptance testing for all the equipment during fabrication. A particularly challenging element required “mid-air” dual engagement of pivoting door edges on opposing sides of the theater, to create the proscenium and header configuration in an open space. This large scale move allows the theater environment to transform from a proscenium-style LED wall configuration to an immersive, arena-style theater LED wall configuration, in view of the audience.

One of our entertainment engineers on the project, gives a more detailed explanation of how McLaren successfully worked through this complex project, in the video below.

Seamless LED Screens

McLaren designed the moving LED screen seams to be under 2mm (a penny is 1.52 mm thick) for repeated flawless transformations. The level of complexity it took for these multiple moving pieces to create such small seams, has never been done before on this scale. Each moving axis of the video wall system includes large scale theatrical machinery (“macro” moves) that works in conjunction with onboard precision “micro” move machinery. Breaking it up into these controllable elements allows the frames to fit in the space available with each move to create a seamless screen in a variety of configurations.