An Interview with Grace Kuo, Sales Director at ROE Visual
AVL TIMES had the exclusive opportunity to an interview with Grace Kuo, Sales Director at ROE Visual, as she shares valuable insights of the company, and especially what’s next for ROE Visual, a globally leading LED display manufacturer.
Founded in 2006, ROE Visual started the journey of making the best LED display platforms. Not just any LED panel, but the best. Carefully selected high‐end components, the latest technology, in‐depth knowledge and a lot of passion go into ROE Visual’s LED products. Being familiar with the challenges of the market, the company offers the best possible solution for the creatives, designers, and technicians that rely on ROE Visual’s LED products for a flawless installation, shoot or performance.
Dedicated to the philosophy of delivering the latest display technology with a lot of passion, now we have the global presence to ensure our exceptional services. Headquartered in Shenzhen, ROE Visual has grown into a globally operating company with sales and service operations based in the USA, the Netherlands, Japan and the UK, serving over 500 customers in more than 90 countries.
Foremost, ROE Visual is a collection of people who are open in their engagement with customers and partners. Based on these profound partnerships, transformations are allowed. This ability to listen and adapt is what defines companies like ROE Visual.
What aspects of Asia‐Pacific and/or Global market sectors make video technology an exciting industry to be involved in?
Video and LED technology is a young and still fast developing market. New technologies and innovations are fast‐ paced, which makes it exciting for a company to stay on top of the game. Focusing on innovation is ingrained in our product philosophy. New technologies or inventions offer changes to create better solutions for our clients. As a company, you feel constantly challenged to improve, working in an environment that is not only willing to invest in new technologies and take the risk to use them but also often looks for a new way of doing things. For instance, the film and live events markets have shown their resilience during the pandemic by looking for new ways of doing things. It’s an incredible drive.
e.g. the game‐changing virtual production technology, including LED volumes, has gradually expanded from the US and Europe, and now it finds its way into the Asia‐Pacific region, where we have supported several studios with the implementation of virtual production technology.
How much did the 2020‐2021 pandemic crisis affect the business, and what new insights have you learned about the industry from those 2 years.
The drop in the rental market was sudden and huge, with live events being cancelled unprecedentedly. Finding new opportunities for LED display applications in the market for virtual production offered a great alternative.
The soaring demand for content helped this new technology to be implemented fast and on a wide scale. The pandemic showed the resilience and creative power of our industry. Many performers and companies found new ways of doing things, using virtual LED backgrounds in the process. Virtual backdrops were applied for broadcast and film production, corporate events, streaming live shows, operas, you name it. Due to this, ROE Visual’s overall performance has stayed to level, achieving our goals.
What we have learned is that, as a company made up of every individual in it, we have a great ability to adapt to changing circumstances. It can’t be pointed out too much that most companies and persons working in the AV industry are very adaptable and flexible. That’s something to be very proud of.
Which markets are currently of most interest to you: rental, commercial install, worship, education, broadcast, studio, etc.
ROE Visual’s products are used for a wide scope of applications. Having a very strong position in the rental and film market, we also see a lot of cross‐ over between markets, so typically, our products find their way to all of these market horizontals. With a drive for product innovation, we’re always quick to adapt to changing market demand, developing products tailored to specific needs.
What is different about how the video market is today when compared to 5‐years ago?
Over the years, the innovation for LED products has attracted more attention as the need for advanced techniques and better visuals occurred. For this reason, common‐cathode technology and products with smaller pixel pitch were introduced. ROE Visual LED products keep the pace, from the standard 5‐8mm products to 2‐3mm nowadays, even for rental products.
Videos could be shot in an LED volume five years later, surrounded by an immersive environment. Virtual production, as a relatively new market for LED applications recently, has raised the requirements for LED displays.
Producers and users focus more on the visual effects for the optimal viewing experience by the screens, affected by contrast, color performance, brightness, etc.
What are the newest market trends in video technology that have emerged over the last 24 months?
As a LED manufacturer, we can see the rise of virtual production technology, flip‐chip in production, and COB techniques. For the virtual production field, the emergency of GhostFrame technology improves the production workflow efficiency. As a powerful suite of features, GhostFrame creates simplified, faster workflows in the application of virtual production technology for film and broadcast productions.
When it comes to the LED production process, the flip chip technique is worth mentioning. Offering a very efficient heat dissipation, flip‐chip LEDs have a high luminous efficiency, which caters for the market demand for higher brightness and contrast.
Next to that, COB technology becomes more mature. Product performance and quality are improving, and costs begin to decline, making it more suitable for wider‐scale applications. It is believed that the COB process will become the backbone of the display market in the future.
What is the latest technology advancement that ROE VISUAL is introducing in their product range currently sold in the market?
ROE Visual’s Black Pearl BP2V2 panels are perfect for film shooting and live events for the high frame rate, low scan lines and high fresh rate, delivering excellent in‐camera performance. With the boom in virtual production, BP2V2 panels are commonly used in the global film studios and xR stages, such as Monolith Studios, MELS Studio, PXO&WFW stage and TDC Studios. It is recognized by many industry‐leading companies in content production as the trusted Film‐Centric LED panel.
For the fixed installation market, the Opal series will be an ideal choice. As a newly launched product designed for permanent installation, the versatile Opal LED platform delivers a creative display solution that accommodates indoor and outdoor applications. Based on universal modules and frames, the product allows intuitive installation and flexible designs in almost any shape and size desired. And there is no compromise on visual effects.
Which recently completed or currently ongoing projects using your products are you most proud of?
Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics tour has shown an unconventional and innovative in the round concept, accompanied by eye‐catching LED elements. ROE Visual LED products, provided by Colonel Tom Touring, were used for several video elements in the show. ROE Visual Vanish V8T for the central HALO, Carbon CB5 for the mast hoop structure and plectrum screens, and Black Marble for the stage floor.
PXO&WFW virtual production stage in Toronto has applied the BP2V2 and Carbon CB5 panels, providing a fully functional stage for film and TV production and commercial shooting. The LED screens deliver vivid images and videos when used as digital backdrops, offering more creative shooting possibilities to the producers. Recently, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was shot on the Toronto stage, and the LED canvas brought lifelike scenes during the production.
The ABBA Voyage concert premiered at the ABBA Arena on May 26 in London. Supplied by Solotech, the show features one of the largest installations of ROE Visual Black Pearl BP2V2 LED screens (2262 pieces). Next to the Black Pearl LED wall, the ABBA Voyage is decorated with over 4200 ROE LED strips. This eagerly anticipated live music event of the decade brought the 70s supergroup back to the stage in a seamless blend of the virtual and physical worlds through ROE Visual screens.
MuShang has developed an XR space in Shanghai, featuring a large LED canvas composed of ROE Visual Black Pearl BP2V2 panels. The high frame‐ and refresh rates and low scan lines make the BP2V2 LEDs perfect for this application. The main wall measures 5 meters high by 12 meters wide and delivers stunning visuals and excellent in‐camera performance. As an integral part of the full‐functional setup, the screen works with all other state‐of‐ the‐art technologies, allowing users to achieve a complete virtual production solution.
Please tell us what you personally find exciting and/or challenging about being involved as a key participant in the growth of video technology for newer and future applications.
Every time we support a great project or studio setup, we are motivated to explore and discover more advanced display techniques. In this way, we can help the users of ROE Visual panels create immersive digital backdrops when shooting, improving production efficiency. With no complacency, we are always on the way to combine visual art and cutting‐edge techniques so that the users can achieve the ideal viewing experiences.
And finally, what are ROE Visual's dream to achieve in 2025.
Our team is dedicated to creating the ultimate and most monumental visual experiences for our users, and becoming the premier choice in supplying LED products globally. In addition to providing state‐of‐the‐art LED display technology, ROE Visual will continue delivering an unmatched level of support for its client base. Always keen on innovation, we have some surprises for the future up our sleeve.
Based on our solid relationships with our partners, we hope to continue participating in exciting projects, including virtual production, fixed installation and rental parts. While keeping the leading position in the rental market, we expect to raise more awareness of the permanent installation and deliver the message of our strength in this specific market.
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