The annual Microsoft Ignite conference typically attracts more than 20,000 in-person attendees and 200,000-plus digital participants for a programme of keynote presentations, product demos and workshops. The stage is equipped with a 360° LED screen set-up for slides and live visuals.

For the 2025 event at the Chase Center in San Fransico, High Resolution Engineering, which supplies AV rental kits for live events, used Lightware’s MX2 48×48 HDMI 2.0 matrix switcher alongside three Christie Spyder X80 video processors to ensure flawless switching, control and video quality.

Zero latency facilitates synchronisation
The MX2’s zero latency was crucial for maintaining real-time synchronisation across the screens.

Drew Taylor, chief executive of High Resolution Engineering, says: “With a large-scale project like Microsoft Ignite, Lightware’s powerful MX2 48X48 HDMI 2.0 switcher stands out as the number-one choice.

“Many brands simply don’t offer solutions at this scale for events of this size, and we know from experience that the MX2 is super reliable.”

Lightware’s MX2 48×48 provided the backbone of the event’s video distribution system, routing more than 30 4K60 10-bit video feeds from media servers, PowerPoint machines and an Unreal Engine server, while distributing the signals to Spyder X80 video processors. The processors then drove 18 4K outputs to a complex arrangement of LED screens around the stage.

“With over 142 million pixels spread across 20 different ROE Visual LED screen surfaces, the set-up provided a truly immersive, wow-factor visual experience,” says Taylor.

“Maintaining clarity and sharpness on every screen was crucial, and the MX2’s 4k at 60Hz 10-bit support ensured that high-resolution content was distributed without any loss of quality.

“With LED, you’re dealing with a range of formats and custom resolutions – we had one screen with a massive resolution of 11,520 pixels wide by 2,112 pixels tall.

“The MX2 can easily handle multiple resolutions and different custom EDID without any issues.

The MX2’s flexibility and high capacity allowed it to route and manage diverse video feeds, ensuring consistent performance and image quality across all screens throughout every presentation. “The matrix integrates flawlessly with our other equipment, such as the Spyder video processors and Companion control software.”

‘Unmatched performance’
To enable 10-bit, 4K media server content to run via HDMI 2.0, High Resolution Engineering created custom EDIDs with reduced colour subsampling (4:2:2) and other tweaks to the colour space.

“The Lightware MX2 48×48 stands out for its unmatched performance and value,” says Taylor. “At this scale of inputs and outputs, there’s simply no other option that works as well.

“It’s a reliable product that anyone can learn to use quite quickly. Thanks to its intuitive built-in web GUI, there’s no need to install additional software, making it extremely user-friendly.”