The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 2011 at the Berlin Wall memorial site attracted considerable national and international attention. A comprehensive programme was organized for the of� cial memorial event in Bern-auer Strasse. Numerous top level guests from the worlds of culture, politics and business attended the event and paid tribute to the victims of the division of Berlin and Germany. The entire stage programme was easily visible to all visitors on a big video wall consisting of 16 Sharp monitors from the new high-brightness PN-V602 series.

Brilliant pictures for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall.

The ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall was the biggest event to have been held to-date in commemorationof the division of Germany. The practical requirements were corres-pondingly high. In addition to organizing the accompanying programme, with readings, exhibitions and fi lm screenings, it was necessary to provi-de an appropriate framework for the offi cial commemoration ceremony. In partnership with the event organization specialists from Lanz Event & PR and Horst Friedrich Krause Consulting (HFKC), this major commemo-ration event was planned by the Berlin Wall Foundation under the autho-rity of the City State of Berlin and the Federal Government Commissioner

for Culture and Media, Minister of State Bernd Neumann.An open-air stage was specially erected at the Berlin Wall memorial site for the central memorial event and for screening historic fi lm material. To ensure that visitors could follow the programme from every seat, the speeches, interviews and fi lms had to be projected on a video wall. Since rows of seats were also planned immediately in front of the stage, a solution had to be found to provide the best possible picture quality even in sunlight. The organizers opted for the professional displays from Sharp. “When we received the enquiry from the Berlin Wall Foundation, we were delighted to have this opportunity to contribute to this signifi cant memorial day,” explains Peter Heins, Product and R&D Manager at Sharp Electronics Europe. “We were in the process of preparing for the market launch of our new high-brightness monitor (PN-V602), which is specially designed for cascading – in other words, for combining several individual displays in a video wall or in signage and advertising boards. The oppor-tunity to use the new model for the commemoration event was naturally the best possible ‘dress rehearsal’ before the launch,” adds Heins, noting the added motivation for the electronics group to give its total commit-ment to this project. The individual monitors have a diagonal screen size of 152 centimetres (60 inches). Compared to other, much smaller LC displays from the competition, the Sharp model has fewer lines, because a wider area can be covered with each screen. The very narrow bezel width of only 6.5 mm renders the separation lines between the individual displays virtually invisible, providing an almost entirely seamless image. 16 monitors designed for “semi-outdoor” applications were combined to form a 16 m2 video wall on the covered stage.The fi rst practical application and also the world premiere of the new high-brightness monitor series was on the evening of 11 August.

President Christian Wulff, at his speech to the 50th Anniversary of theBerlin Wall.

Sharp‘s video wall of semi-outdoor displays on the stage at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

The massive video wall was used to present historic fi lm footage from the 50s and 60s on the theme of “Divided City, Divided Country”. Al-ready at this point, the benefi ts of using the particularly bright Sharp displays were clear. During the screening, the sun shone directly on the over-sized monitor installation, so that under normal circumstances the picture would have been barely visible. However, thanks to Sharp’s latest generation of monitors, all the visitors could enjoy the fi lm on the video wall in HD quality. “Our new PN-V602 high-brightness display is espe-cially suitable for use in bright surroundings,” explains Peter Heins. “With an extremely high brightness of 1500 candelas and impressive colour depth, this monitor provides high contrast and well-lit picture quality, even in bright sunlight.”The climax of the commemoration ceremonies was the central memo-rial event on 13 August, attended by Federal President Christian Wulff, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit and several hundred other invited guests, together with thousands of onlookers. In addition to the commemoration speeches, a number of people who lived through the division described their memories. The programme also included an ecumenical service in the Chapel of Re-conciliation and various chaired discussions. To conclude the entire day of stage programming, the documentary fi lm “Mauerhaft” [a play on words in German between the words for “wall”, “imprisonment” and “permanent”], which was compiled from private fi lm material relating to 13 August 1961, was shown on the Sharp video wall. “I was thrilled by the brilliant picture quality of the Sharp monitors. Even in direct sunlight, the guests at the commemoration were able to see everything on the video wall in total clarity,” was the fi nal verdict on the video wall from a delighted Dr. Axel Klausmeier, Director of the Berlin Wall Institute. Press representatives from all over the world reported on the event and TV station ARD provided a two-and-a-half hour live broadcast of the cere-mony. “Its use as a video wall at the commemorative act for the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall was the world premiere for

our new high-brightness display. The offi cial market launch will not take place until October of this year. We are very happy that we were able to contribute to the successful outcome of this memorable event,” reports Maximilian Huber, a member of the Board of Management of Sharp Elec-tronics Europe.

Berlin Wall FoundationThe Berlin Wall Foundation (Stiftung Berliner Mauer) is a joint foundation of the German federal government and of the City State of Berlin. The foundation is responsible for the Berlin Wall memorial site on Bernauer Strasse and the Marienfelde Refugee Centre. The aim of the foundation is to document and communicate the history of the Berlin Wall and the cases of fl ight from the former East Germany (GDR) as part of the effects of the division of Germany and of the East-West confl ict in the twentieth century, and also to preserve its historic sites and authentic traces, thereby providing a fi tting memorial to the victims of communist tyranny. www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.de

Iris Lanz event & creative pr The main focus of the work of Iris Lanz event & creative PR is the conception, consulting and staging of cultural and brand-specifi c events. Particular importance is attached to a tho-rough analysis of the existing actions of the relevant enterprise. New networking approaches are embedded in existing communication plans, and the relevant brand is refreshed through evolutionary, creative strategies. Iris Lanz has been a partner and organizer in high-profi le national and international projects of varying scale, both in and beyond Berlin, since 1997.www.irislanz.com

HFKC – Horst Friedrich Krause ConsultingThis Berlin-based agency for communication, sponsorship, marketing and sales advises re-nowned companies in marketing and in-house and external communication. HFKC forms an intermediary link between specialist agencies and the company. As such, in the context of major corporate marketing projects, in particular in the domain of sports, HFKC focuses mainly on the professional presentation of the relevant enterprise and monitors the networking of all fi rms and sub-contractors involved. For Sharp Electronics GmbH, HFKC is already an active part of the project for the new LCD indoor signage and advertising boards. These boards have been in use since the beginning of 2011, including in the EHF Handball Champions League. www.hfkc.de

Sharp Electronics (Europe) GmbHSharp Electronics (Europe) GmbH, based in Hamburg, is a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation in Osaka, Japan. The company has been the head offi ce for European business since 1968 and, as such, manages Sharp’s operations in Germany and Austria. Sharp is among the world’s leading developers and manufacturers of LCD technology and digital core technologies which play a signifi cant role in innovative electronic products for private and business use. Sharp Electronics (Europe) has set itself the goal of improving people’s quality of life through its use of modern technology and its commitment to innovation, quality, value and design.www.sharp.eu

The stage at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

Sharp Electronics GermanySharp Electronics (Europe) GmbH Company domiciled in Hamburg

Sonninstraße 3 • 20097 HamburgTel.: (040) 23 76-0 • Fax: (040) 23 76-27 60

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Your questions will be answered byStefanie Schünhoff • Public RelationsPhone: +49 (0)40 2376-25 77E-Mail: stefanie.schuenhoff@sharp.eu