THE Metro Tower in Shanghai's Xujiahui area will be the first local building to have a giant ball-shaped LCD screen which will broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The construction work will start after the May Day golden week and end in August, the Oriental Morning Post reported today. People can see the screen from four directions: Huashan Road, Hongqiao Road, North Caoxi Road and Zhaojiabang Road, the constructer Tulip Mega Media said.

The building currently has a huge glass ball above its front gate.

The LCD screen has an area of 3,000 square meters, which is ten times as big as the current screen on the Orient Shopping Center and 30 times as big as the one on Grand Gateway Shopping Mall in the same area – all of which are in the busy Xujiahui business and shopping area.

Wang Min, CEO of Tulip Mega Media which is seeking a listing on NASDAQ in the end of this year, told the newspaper that the proposed giant screen will cost 180 million yuan (US$23.3 million).

Zhuang Yong, COO of Tulip Mega Media and a former Olympic swimming gold medal winner, said that the media has been authorized to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics at outdoors venues, the report said.

Zhuang said the three outdoors LCD screen in Xujiahui will differ in contents. Metro Tower will mainly broadcast advertisements for international premium brands and big events such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cup, while Orient Shopping Center will show moving advertisements lasting between 12 to 15 minutes and Grand Gateway Shopping Mall will focus on road shows and promotions.

Wang said the spherical LCD screen uses the latest high-tech innovations that will transmit light during daylight hours and won't damage the image of the building. The screen will be on for about four hours in the evening. The light units will adjust automatically to the visibility of the sky and the surrounding light to ensure the comfort of pedestrians' eyes.

Source:佚名