Disguise: More Than a Media Server

The Changing Requirements of Modern Venues

Modern museums increasingly rely on interactive exhibits and sophisticated digital storytelling.
Theatres demand frame-accurate synchronization between video, lighting, audio systems, and stage automation.
Sports arenas operate dozens of displays and multimedia systems simultaneously. Immersive environments require precise alignment between visuals, spatial audio, and architectural elements.
Architectural projection mapping and large-scale urban media installations often involve dozens of projectors, interactive components, lighting systems, and audio networks that must function as one coordinated system.

As a result, venues require comprehensive control platforms capable of integrating projection, LED displays, graphics engines, interactive technologies, and visualization systems into a unified multimedia ecosystem.

More Than a Media Server

Over the years, Disguise has evolved from a media server manufacturer into a comprehensive platform for creating and managing sophisticated visual experiences.

The ecosystem includes:

• Designer software environment;
• High-performance media servers for content playback;
• Dedicated render nodes for Unreal Engine and real-time graphics;
• Synchronization and system-scaling technologies;
• RenderStream technology for integrating external graphics engines.

This architecture allows operators and designers to unify video playback, projection mapping, LED systems, XR environments, interactive content, and third-party control systems within a single workflow.

The Current Disguise Product Portfolio

Disguise offers several product families designed for applications ranging from small theatrical productions to large-scale shows, museums, and immersive venues.

X1 — Entry Point into the Disguise Ecosystem

X1 is the latest software-based implementation of the Designer platform, allowing users to access Disguise workflows without dedicated Disguise server hardware. It is aimed at corporate events, theatrical productions, mobile installations, and smaller-scale projects while providing access to the same show-programming and visual-control tools used on world-class productions.

EX Series — Designed for Permanent Installations

The EX Series is widely deployed in museums, theme parks, corporate experience centers, educational facilities, and fixed installations.

EX servers support multi-display environments and offer the reliability required for continuous operation. Models including the EX 2, EX 2C, and EX 3+ address a variety of project scales, from compact installations to venues utilizing multiple projection systems and LED displays. The EX 3+ supports up to three independent 4K outputs and video capture functionality for interactive applications.

GX Series — For the Most Demanding Projects

The flagship GX Series powers concert tours, large-scale live productions, sports arenas, immersive attractions, and multimedia venues requiring maximum performance.

GX servers manage massive LED canvases, high layer counts, complex content compositions, and synchronization across extensive visual infrastructures. The latest GX 3+ delivers a 175% increase in Notch rendering performance compared to the previous generation, supports 40% more video layers, and features 96 GB of GPU memory, enabling significantly more complex real-time visual experiences without compromising quality or resolution.

RX Series — Dedicated Rendering for Unreal Engine

The RX Series is designed as a dedicated rendering platform for external graphics engines, particularly Unreal Engine.

These systems are widely used in virtual production, XR stages, digital twins, interactive museums, and applications where visuals are generated in real time rather than played back from pre-rendered media.

Technologies Driving Next-Generation Projects

One of Disguise’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring together multiple content creation tools within a unified production environment.

The platform supports integration with:

• Unreal Engine
• Notch
• TouchDesigner
• Unity
• Virtual Production workflows
• XR environments
• SMPTE ST 2110 IP video infrastructures

This flexibility allows designers and system integrators to develop multimedia solutions ranging from museum exhibits to stadium-scale experiences, national cultural institutions, and city-wide festivals.

Disguise and Barco Encore: A Powerful Combination

Even the most advanced media server is only one component of a complete multimedia architecture.

When managing dozens of projectors, multiple LED canvases, complex projection surfaces, or large-scale architectural mapping projects, an additional layer of signal processing and distribution becomes essential. This is why Disguise solutions are frequently deployed alongside Barco projection systems and Barco Encore image processing platforms, particularly on high-profile international projects.

These technologies are not competitors—they are complementary.

Disguise is responsible for content creation, synchronization, playback, and show control.
Barco Encore handles signal routing, scaling, multi-layer compositing, screen management, and content distribution across projectors and displays.

This division of responsibilities creates a highly scalable and flexible architecture regardless of project size. The combination is particularly effective for:

• Architectural projection mapping;
• Immersive environments;
• Museum multimedia exhibitions;
• Sports arenas;
• Concert productions;
• Corporate experience centers;
• Large-scale multi-projector and multi-screen installations.

Opportunities Across Central Asia

These technologies have already become standard on leading projects throughout Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia. Today, an increasing number of suitable applications are emerging across Central Asia, including:

• Museums and cultural institutions;
• Theatres and performing arts venues;
• Sports and entertainment facilities;
• Corporate experience centers;
• Next-generation immersive environments where image, audio, and architecture operate as a single integrated system.
• Technologies Shaping the Future

Demand for platforms such as Disguise continues to grow across every sector—from sports and entertainment to museums and theatre. Video, projection mapping, LED systems, spatial audio, interactive technologies, and control systems are increasingly designed as a single ecosystem rather than independent subsystems.

The multimedia industry continues to move toward deeper integration, and this trend is rapidly becoming one of the defining directions of modern audiovisual technology.

Thank you for reading. This article is the first in a series of Sound Creations publications dedicated to Disguise technologies. Future articles will explore real-world applications, including architectural projection mapping, integration with Barco projection systems, and practical workflows that will be demonstrated live at the Sound Creations Immersive Lab in Tashkent.