In 2023 Dynamo LED Displays supplied a virtual production LED screen hire for TNT Sports’ Champions League advert: an 8 m × 5 m back wall and two 6 m × 5 m side walls at 2.6 mm pitch, plus an 8 m × 6 m LED floor at 3.9 mm, driven by Barco, NovaStar and Disguise processing.
Updated September 2026. Case study first published September 2023.
When BT Sport became TNT Sports in July 2023, the new brand needed a launch film for its Champions League coverage, and the production wanted to shoot it in-camera rather than against green screen. The original plan was projection. What was built instead was a three-sided LED volume with an LED floor, hired from Dynamo, with Primal Scream performing in the middle of it. This case study covers the hardware, why the pitches differ between walls and floor, and what a production needs to bring to a virtual production LED stage.
Project summary
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Client | TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport; rebranded 18 July 2023) |
| Production | Champions League, Europa League and Conference League launch advert featuring Primal Scream |
| Back wall | 8 m × 5 m LED at 2.6 mm pixel pitch |
| Side walls | 2 × 6 m × 5 m LED at 2.6 mm pixel pitch |
| Floor | 8 m × 6 m LED floor at 3.9 mm pixel pitch |
| Control | 1 × Barco E2 presentation switcher, 6 × NovaStar 4K processors, 1 × Disguise 4×4 pro media server |
| Build | Set built and commissioned in a couple of days; supplied on hire |
| Output | A 3 min 32 s film |
What Dynamo built for the shoot
Three LED walls at 2.6 mm
The back wall measured 8 m × 5 m and each side wall 6 m × 5 m, all at 2.6 mm pixel pitch. Together they made a U-shaped volume 8 m wide and 6 m deep with the camera looking into the open side. At 2.6 mm the pixel structure stays invisible at the distances a jib camera works from, and the walls were bright enough to light the performers as well as fill the background, which is the point of shooting in-camera rather than compositing later.
An LED floor at 3.9 mm
The 8 m × 6 m floor ran the same graphics as the walls so the set had no visible edge where wall met ground. Floor panels are built to be walked on and are viewed from a shallower angle, so a coarser 3.9 mm pitch was the right choice: it takes the load of the band, drum kit and crew, and the extra pitch is not visible to the camera at floor level. Our LED floor hire for Trapstar at Selfridges shows the same panels in a retail setting.
Processing and media playback
Every panel was fed from six NovaStar 4K processors, with a Barco E2 handling the switching between sources and a Disguise 4×4 pro media server playing the content across the walls and floor as one mapped surface. The LED video processor layer is what lets a director change a background in seconds; our NovaStar processor guide explains the hardware in more depth.
Why shoot the advert on LED rather than green screen or projection
Directors and actors see the final shot in real time
With the background playing back live on the walls, the director, the band and the camera operator all see the finished frame in the viewfinder. There is nothing to imagine and nothing to fix in post. Camera tracking and a real-time render engine let the background move with the camera when the shot needs it.
Shots are planned to the frame
Because the environment is a file rather than a location, every scene can be planned to the director’s storyboard before the crew arrives, and still changed on the day. Swapping a background, moving a graphic or re-timing a sequence happens between takes without risking the schedule.
Budgets stay under control
Weather, location availability and green-screen spill are the usual causes of an overrun. On an LED stage the content is re-shot during production rather than fixed in post, the set is built once, and the crew works in one place for the whole schedule. The original TNT Sports approach was projection; LED gave the same in-camera result with the brightness and contrast to shoot a band under stage lighting.
How the hire worked
The walls, floor, processing and media server all came from Dynamo’s rental stock, with Dynamo technicians building the volume, commissioning the processing and supporting the shoot. The set went up, was filmed and came down within days, and the finished 3 min 32 s film ran across TNT Sports’ Champions League coverage. For a permanent stage built on the same principles, see our XR LED studio at Brook Sixth Form; for a single camera-facing backdrop, the 4K LED screen we built for DEFY’s promo video.
What a production needs to provide
- Stage dimensions and camera plan. Wall heights, floor area and where the camera will be, so we can size the volume and choose the pitch for the closest shot.
- Content at the right resolution. Backgrounds rendered to the native pixel size of each wall, or a real-time engine and tracking system we can integrate with the processing.
- Power and rigging. Three-phase supply for the walls and floor, and either ground-support space or a rigging plan for hung walls.
- Time to commission. A day to build and a few hours to calibrate colour and frame rate against the camera before the first take.
Virtual production LED screen hire: frequently asked questions
What is virtual production LED screen hire?
It is the hire of LED walls, an LED floor and the processing and media servers needed to shoot a film or advert against a live digital background instead of green screen. The background plays on the walls in real time, so the camera captures the finished shot. Dynamo supplies the hardware, builds the stage and supports the shoot.
What pixel pitch do you need for a virtual production LED wall?
It depends on how close the camera gets. The TNT Sports walls were 2.6 mm, which keeps the pixel grid invisible at typical jib and dolly distances; tighter close-ups call for finer pitches such as 1.9 mm or 1.5 mm. Floors can be coarser because they are seen at a shallow angle. We choose the pitch from the shot list, not the room.
Why was the LED floor a coarser pitch than the walls?
Floor panels have to carry people and equipment, so they are built heavier with a protective surface, and they are viewed at a shallow angle where the pixel structure does not show. The 3.9 mm floor at the TNT Sports shoot ran the same graphics as the 2.6 mm walls and the join between them was not visible on camera.
Can you hire a full LED volume for a short shoot?
Yes. The TNT Sports stage was built, filmed and de-rigged within days, with walls, floor, processing and media server all supplied from Dynamo’s rental fleet. Tell us the shoot dates, the stage size and the content workflow, and we will confirm availability and a hire price in writing.
Is LED virtual production cheaper than shooting on location?
Often, once travel, weather risk, location fees and green-screen post-production are counted. The whole schedule happens in one place, backgrounds change between takes, and what is shot is what is delivered. The saving depends on the production, so we price each stage against the specific shot list rather than quoting a day rate in isolation.
Planning a virtual production shoot?
Send us the shoot dates, the stage size you have in mind, the camera plan and how the content will be generated. We will come back with a written specification for the walls, floor and processing, and a hire price for the run of the production.
Get a quote for virtual production LED screen hire. Contact Dynamo LED Displays or call 020 3489 9878.
