Novatech Wins 2026 AVIA for Best Application of AV in a Production
Novatech Creative Event Technology has been awarded the 2026 AVIA Award for Best Application of AV in a Production, Exhibition or Display for our work on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Adelaide 2025.
The national recognition celebrates excellence and innovation in audiovisual production, with the AVIAs judging projects on the strength of their concept, execution and ability to solve complex production challenges. For 2026, Novatech’s work on the Championships was selected as a winning project in Best Application of AV in a Production, Exhibition or Display
The award marks another significant achievement for our team and recognises a project that brought together large-scale sporting production, broadcast requirements and creative AV design on an international stage.
The win marks the third consecutive year Novatech has taken home an award in this category, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to creative thinking, technical excellence and innovative applications of audiovisual technology.
Bringing a World Championship to Adelaide
Held from 14 to 23 November 2025, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships marked the first time the tournament had been staged in Australia.
Across the event, custom beach volleyball courts were created within Adelaide’s River Torrens parklands and at Centre Court inside The Drive tennis complex, transforming the familiar city space into an international sporting environment. Novatech was appointed as the official production supplier, delivering audio, lighting and vision systems across the competition and adjoining festival site.
Each court incorporated a custom temporary AV installation, including L-Acoustics audio systems, LED displays for scoring, timing and broadcast playback, together with the supporting audio and vision switching infrastructure required for an international sporting production. While the scale of the wider technical delivery was substantial, one element became a defining feature of the Championships.
Reinventing the Player Entry
In collaboration with RWS Global Sport and Volleyball Australia, Novatech developed a custom player-entry experience for Centre Court designed to work equally powerfully for spectators in the stadium and audiences watching around the world.
The centrepiece was a 15m x 8m ROE Visual Vanish V8T LED backdrop positioned behind the main stage overlooking Centre Court.
The semi-transparent LED technology allowed the screen to operate in two completely different ways. With content running and a dark environment behind it, the LED appeared to form a solid visual canvas for scoreboards, broadcast imagery, sponsor content and live performance visuals. When content on the centre section was removed and purpose-designed lighting activated behind it, the screen effectively became transparent.
Within the larger display, a 5m x 5m central section was set back to create the player reveal.
Moments before each entry, the screen appeared solid. The centre then seemingly disappeared, revealing players silhouetted behind the transparent LED in their national colours. As they moved through the opening and onto the sand, the display transitioned back into a complete LED canvas, with national imagery continuing the introduction.
The result turned a familiar sporting convention into one of the visual signatures of the Championships.
Designed for the Stadium and the Broadcast
Creating a spectacular player entrance was only part of the challenge.
The experience needed to perform in broad daylight and evening conditions, support live performances, scoring, broadcast feeds and commercial content, and remain tightly integrated with lighting, video, content playback and show calling.
It also needed to work repeatedly under the pressure of a major international sporting event featuring more than 216 matches.
By providing the lighting, audio and vision solution as an integrated production system, Novatech was able to reduce technical risk and create a robust, broadcast-ready environment across the event. Careful system design, planning and onsite execution allowed the production team to concentrate on the wider delivery of the Championships rather than individual AV systems.
For Novatech, the player entry represented the sweet spot between technology and creative production: using an existing technology in an unexpected way to create something memorable.
The transparent LED reveal showcased Adelaide’s sunset behind the court before transitioning into player silhouettes, national colours and broadcast content, creating an experience designed specifically to translate from the venue to television.
National Recognition for AV Innovation
The Audio Visual Industry Awards, or AVIAs, recognise standout audiovisual projects across Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The Best Application of AV in a Production category recognises productions that combine strong creative thinking with exceptional technical execution.
For the judges, Novatech’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships project stood out as the winning example for 2026. The official AVIA announcement highlighted both the wider production delivery and the unique Centre Court LED solution, noting how the custom player entry attracted attention from FIVB, athletes, media and volleyball professionals from around the world.
The 2026 win continues a remarkable run for Novatech, marking our third consecutive AVIA win in the Best Application of AV in a Production, Exhibition or Display category since 2024.
Across each of these projects, the technology, environment and creative challenge have been different, but the approach has remained consistent: finding smarter, more inventive ways to use AV technology to elevate the audience experience.
A global championship. A South Australian stage. And an AV moment designed to be remembered.
