September 21st, 2026. Garden Studios, the London virtual production facility, has expanded its long-standing partnership with Brompton Technology as part of a significant investment in a new virtual production stage. Since opening the UK's first permanently installed VP volume in 2021, the studio has continued to run its original wall on Brompton Tessera S8 LED video processors, and has now added Brompton's flagship Tessera SX40, paired with Tessera XD 10G data distribution units, to power a new, larger stage purpose-built for driving and simulated travel work.
The new stage is centred on a 24m x 5m ground stacked curved LED wall from ROE and a 10m by 5m high-resolution LED ceiling from Absen, mounted on a custom rig developed with Cirrolite that allows the volume to move freely within, above or around the stage, and doubling as a front wall for 360-degree shooting. The ceiling can travel up to 20 metres front-to-back and switch from a fully enclosed setup to a rain-ready configuration in under a minute, removing the need to reposition vehicles between shots to line up reflections.
“Since opening our first volume in 2021, our LED wall has more than doubled in size, and we now have one of the highest-resolution LED ceilings in Europe, enabling crisp, in-focus windscreen reflections with no visible pixelation,” says Rich Phillips, CTO at Garden Studios. “One of the key challenges we identified was the limitation of large pixel-pitch LED ceilings when used for windscreen reflections. To address this, we invested in a new high-resolution ceiling solution from Absen, allowing us to capture in-focus reflections directly in camera.”
The ceiling's four degrees of movement, and the need to drive it at 10-bit, 50Hz, called for substantial bandwidth alongside flexibility and reliability. “SX40 processors paired with XD data distribution units over TAC fibre were the obvious choice, providing the flexibility, bandwidth and reliability needed for such a dynamic system,” Phillips explains.
For Patrick Goodden, Technical Sales Manager (UK & Ireland) at Brompton Technology, who has worked closely with Garden Studios since its first volume opened, the story is as much about longevity as it is about new hardware: "They've taken the S8s processors bought five years ago and are using them for the main wall in a brand-new studio, meaning they only had to invest in a new SX40 for the ceiling," he says.
“The reason they needed an SX40 for the ceiling is because it's on a moving track, going from horizontal to vertical. With S8s, cabling runs directly out the back of the processor, so you'd need to run a thick loom of cables to the wall. With the SX40, they can run one or two fibre cables and split out, which makes it far easier to manage a moving ceiling. On our side, they work seamlessly together; you get the exact same colour output, and the sync works the same.”
The relationship between Brompton and Garden Studios has also seen the Brompton team support their events and open days, assist with testing, and contribute to the studio’s virtual production training courses.
Over the past five years, Garden Studios has delivered more than 150 productions across its virtual production stages, with many high-end television clients choosing the facility for driving scenes because of its purpose-built stage and team experience. “Driving Process is a big part of our work, and we've delivered HETV projects spanning all the major streamers,” says Phillips. “Most recently our work has included Twenty Twenty Six and The Capture for the BBC; Goodbye June and Man Vs Baby for Netflix and films like The Roses. These relationships continue with a broad selection of projects set to release throughout 2026 and into 2027.”
Colour accuracy and frame-rate flexibility remain central to the setup. Garden's HETV clients often shoot at 23.98fps, while commercial productions typically work at 25fps or 50fps, and Brompton's patented ShutterSync feature helps eliminate artefacts across shutter angles such as 172.8 degrees. “How LED looks on camera is one of the most challenging things in virtual production, especially with the shutter speeds and frame rates film productions like to use,” Goodden says. “ShutterSync lets you input your camera's shutter settings into the processor, so its refresh completes within the exact window when the shutter opens and closes.”
Dark Magic and Extended Bit Depth optimise the panels for low-brightness operation without visible banding, while PureTone calibration keeps colour accurate even in the dim areas typical of a VP volume. Full 3D LUT support, with a 17-cube LUT covering 4,913 colours, integrates directly with Pomfort Livegrade, allowing DITs and DPs to grade the LED wall using tools they already know. “We also make extensive use of Brompton's API, which powers a number of custom tools that streamline on-set workflows,” says Phillips. “For example, we can switch instantly to a chroma green card at the press of a button, or freeze the LED wall so cinematographers can maintain lighting setups while content is being reloaded.”
The investment also reflects Garden Studios' B Corp ethos: “Our commitment to sustainability extends beyond our B Corp certification. We believe the industry must do more to reduce waste and manage its carbon footprint,” adds Phillips. “We believe that making careful purchasing decisions and maintaining equipment properly helps extend its useful lifespan, reducing the need for frequent technology refresh cycles and lowering overall environmental impact.”
Free Tessera software updates mean Garden's original S8 processors continue to benefit from Brompton's latest features alongside the new SX40 units.
For Brompton, the expansion is a marker of a wider trend. “When there's VP, there's always a demand for the high end,” Goodden concludes. “Studios like Garden, especially with their new pop-up experience, are making virtual production more approachable on a smaller scale, and we're now seeing it used not just in big Hollywood films, but in smaller-scale TV dramas, comedies and adverts, too.”
