Christie MicroTiles help give ‘Colbert Report’ a unique screen

When “The Colbert Report” debuted in HD January 4, one technology helped take the set’s displays to a whole new level, Christie MicroTiles. MicroTiles are a relatively new product that can be arranged in any configuration to create unique video displays in various shapes and sizes.

The redesigned “Colbert” studio features 41 MicroTiles arranged in three horizontal displays and four angled vertical columns.

“The best part about being the first show to use the Christie MicroTiles is that we are the first. We love being first,” said Meredith Bennett Co-Executive Producer, The Colbert Report.

Videofilm Systems, Inc. worked with designer Jack Morton to create the unique MicroTiles pattern for The Colbert Report.

MicroTiles arranged in a skyscraper pattern. Courtesy of Christie

“We found that in updating the set, the brightness factor was crucial and we really wanted to include strips of video into the redesign. The set had to be amplified visually without being too distracting, while still maintaining its unique signature on air. Christie MicroTiles were perfect, said Jim Fenhagen, SVP of Design at Jack Morton. “They fit seamlessly into the existing space while providing the best color matched graphics and video without any pixelation.”

“Set design is a very competitive business and to stay on top you have to find creative and renewable ways to use the technology you have,” Fenhagen continues. “This is what we love so much about MicroTiles. Its innovative media easily adapts for entertainment spaces. We can stack them the way we want and repurpose them later to create a totally new design. The ease in which the tiles went in was also very accommodating; we didn’t have to redo the existing columns.”

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A single MicroTitle. Courtesy of Christie

MicroTiles are designed to fit anytime nearly any studio space and, “the possibilities are endless in terms of what they can do. The added advantage is that HiDef cameras love MicroTiles. They achieve 115% NTSC broadcast standard and PAL color gamut – no other display can do this,” said Mitch Rosenberg, Director of Sales, Visual Environments Display Systems at Christie.

“MicroTiles have an amazing visual impact and are fun to work with…it’s as easy as…design, lock and play.”