Osram Lighting Solutions was distinguished with the Global SSL Showcase Top 100 Award by the International Solid State Lighting Alliance (ISA) for its spectacular LED solution in the "Wuhan – Two Rivers and Four Banks" project. The world's largest synchronized LED light show extends across 320 buildings, has a length of 20 km, and covers the banks of the two rivers Jangtse and Han that flow through the city. Osram also received the coveted award last year for its unique lighting solution in the Sistine Chapel.

The old harbor town of Wuhan is located at the confluence of the mighty Jangtse and Han rivers. The two rivers and their banks have now been transformed into a spectacular backdrop as a celebration of life and commerce: a synchronized LED light show with a length of over 20 km extends across 320 buildings and weaves fables into the night sky and onto the surfaces of the water.

The Jangtse and Han rivers in Wuhan illuminated with smart LED lights from Osram. (All photos courtesy of Osram)

Osram supplied everything from a single source for this unique project: all control systems, most of the luminaires and the requisite services for installation and programming. In total more than 6,700 components are used to regulate the LED screens on the buildings, including the e:cue Butler Pro, and over 2,800 architectural LED luminaires emit spectacular light onto selected buildings.

The lighting can be interpreted as the narrative part of the project, where all e:cue products are connected via a unique hybrid glass-fiber and 4G network solution for synchronization in a fraction of a second. Commissioning the light show took just four days, achieved by using an innovative installation approach consisting of a primary and secondary control server in each building based on a user datagram protocol (UDP). This protocol enables the videos of artists stored on the secondary servers to be ideally distributed across the integrated buildings. The solution has proved to be completely reliable for rendering media in real time and also enables further system connections in the future.

The spectacular LED ‘canvas’ extends across 320 buildings and has a length of 20 km.

The ISA has been awarding the Global SSL Showcase Top 100 award since 2012 for innovative project solutions with SSL technology. The association is an international alliance of well-known institutions, universities and leading companies in the SSL sector who share the aim of improving global cooperation and driving forward the long-term development of SSL. Osram was the recipient of this coveted award for the second year running.