It is officially the start of the 2008 holiday season with this the day of thanksgiving in the United States.  We here at iSquint.net would like to wish each and everyone of our readers a Happy Thanksgiving, Festive Holidays and a Wonderful New Year.  We hope to see you back here for the rest of 2008 and the start of 2009.  We have many nex exciting things planned for you, our valued reader, so check back often.

Speaking of New Years… E:Cue Lights the New Years Eve Ball

One of the biggest lighting effects in recent years around the holiday season is the New Years Eve Ball that drops at Time Square in New York City.  In the past years the ball has been given a race lift with all Waterford crystal triangles covering it’s surface.  This being the 100th anniversary of the ball being drop, Philips Lighting and Waterford Crystal developed a new design just for this years ball drop.

2008’s edition is more than “twice as bright as the previous year’s ball…” The newest LED technology from Phillips along with enhanced color variation and control from the house of e:cue surpassed the expectations of everyone involved. 9576 Philips Luxeon LED’s (controlled per DMX512), provide the ball with a unique appearance, and a significant energy savings. Additionally, for this project e:cue developed a remarkable show- and patchfile which allows for a pixel-based mapping of the sphere. During the show, the patchfile could be modified in real-time thereby facilitating 360° video rendering both horizontally and vertically in an infinite number of positions.

To learn more about the new New Years Eve Ball, you have a couple of choices, see the live video report from CNN or from New York Post.  To read more about the Ball, visit the Times Square Alliance website, or MyFox News New York.

To learn more about the e;cue product line, visit their website at www.ecue.tv.