Custom Transparent LED Screen Transforms Circuit Paul Ricard

Overview

At Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France, you can’t have speed without spectacle. So when the team behind this iconic motorsport venue reimagined the arrival experience for every visitor, they didn’t just want any old screen – they wanted something breath stopping (in a good way).

We were delighted to work with the amazing team at ND Tech Med, France’s AV system integrator par excellence, to design, build and install a tailor-made transparent LED display – one of the largest transparent LED screens in Europe. It would sweep across the entire façade of the circuit’s main entrance. Broadcasting live coverage, interviews and sponsorship news, this pre-pitstop preview would halt guests in their tracks before they even got trackside.

About Circuit Paul Ricard

Paul Ricard Circuit is a literal and metaphorical landmark in motorsport history.

Established by Paul Ricard of pastis fame way back in 1970, the circuit has hosted all the top tier races like Formula 1 and Le Mans, and has branched into motorbikes, cycling and running.

The Vision: A Transparent LED Display as Impressive as Circuit Paul Ricard

Circuit Paul Ricard’s DNA is a double helix of ambition and innovation. The team was looking for a welcome hard on the wow-factor. Bigger isn’t always better, but this time it was. The team envisioned a massive transparent LED screen as the entrance centerpiece, purpose built to:

• Impress guests instantly.
• Broadcast live racing, ramping up guests’ excitement.
• Enable bigger, better marketing opportunities and brand enhancement for partners and sponsors.
• Increase advertising revenue.
• Support its brand-building toolbox.

The Challenge: It’s BIG. It’s ORIGINAL

Circuit Paul Ricard wanted to showcase its welcome with one of the largest transparent LED screens in Europe. There’s nothing off-the-shelf that could do the job – not even from our comprehensive range of flexible build-your-own LED displays.

There were a ton of challenges to consider:

• The screen had to fit precisely across 32 glass canopy windows to the nearest millimeter. Each window required a unique custom designed transparent panel, but still needed to maintain overall visual consistency.
• Transparency levels: too much transparency and spectators think they’re seeing ghosts. Too little, we lose that open-air lightness of touch.
• Viewing angles: moving crowds coming from all directions needs perfect visibility from every angle.
• Structural integrity: transparent LED screens are lightweight, but large-scale means a bigger load – and strong fixings that flex with thermal expansion and don’t bust the glass. Not easy.

Taking our cue from French haute couture, our local team in France and our partner ND Tech Med knew this project would be a custom build from the ground up: a one-off, high-spec, catwalk-quality design, with oodles of swag.

The Solution: Scaled-Up Transparent LED Screens

Our friends from ND Tech Med are as big on partnership and teamwork as we are. They came to us full of curiosity and collaboration, asking smart questions, sharing valuable info, and working closely with us to shape a fully bespoke product from the very beginning.

The in-depth design process included a fact finding visit to our showroom in Barcelona, and three demos at the Circuit Paul Ricard itself, for proof of concept.

The Build

We designed the LED display from scratch, building 3 bespoke panels for each of the 32 windows – that’s 96 transparent panels in all. The screen measured 15m by 5.4m in total (81 square meters).

Because it would be viewed from a distance, it needed horizontal clout for big, bold visuals, so we chose a pixel pitch of 4mm-8mm.

We designed the fixings to be strong but flexible, and made sure that set-up and maintenance were super-easy, because you can’t have a main entrance showcase out of commission on race day, even for a millisecond.

The Result: Built Big to Thrill

Circuit Paul Ricard’s new LED screen isn’t just a warm, bold, dynamic welcome. It’s an architectural statement. It’s also a vision that we were honored to help bring to life.

For us, no aim is too complex or too wacky. We custom-built every element exclusively for this project, because for over 16 years and with more than 200 patents, we can adapt to any space or ambition.

Got a big, impossible plan? We’re all ears. Talk to us now.