BT has constructed a major new customer showcase at its site in Stockport, with a 9m x 4m curved Christie projection wall as the centrepiece of an advanced AV integration.
The high-impact display which BT Showcase can present for its customers, is already reaping rich dividends. Still and live multi-source footage can be presented as a single seamless edge-blend ‘letterbox’ image or as three individual 3m x 3m high-resolution projections — thanks to three ceiling-mounted 3-chip Christie DS+5K projectors, fitted with Twist modules and Christie’s advanced FRC-5100 Display Wall Controller.
This allows BT Showcase to create warped images and picture-in-picture scenarios.
Responsible for the concept and procurement process were BT Showcase’s London-based operations managers, Mark Hammond and Karen Ahern, while BT Showcase manager, Asif Saghir, is responsible for on site usage.
One of the requirements for the projectors was that they should demonstrate high performance from a compact form factor… perfect territory for the DS+5K 3-chip DLP projectors, which output 6500 ANSI Lumens in native SXGA+ 1400 x 1050 resolution. The 1600-2000:1 contrast ratio ensures highly enhanced image detail is achieved, with excellent colour accuracy.
To guarantee continuous operation of such a highly-utilised facility, built-in redundancy was a further requirement to safeguard against system failure.
The BT Showcase in Stockport is one of four such state-of-the-art BT presentation suites distributed around the UK to deliver bespoke events and demonstrations to BT’s customers and stakeholders each year.
The North West Showcase moved to Stockport just over a year ago from Grand Island Manchester, taking over the space originally used as a telephone exchange hub.
“We spent the previous seven years in Manchester until the move in Oct. 2007,” Asif explained. “The new Showcase was virtually reconstructed from scratch, giving us an opportunity to improve substantially on the technology we had used at Grand Island.” Built by Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), the new Showcase spans at least 75% of the facility’s net 700 sq metre internal area.
The advanced facilities in Stockport — including a Data Suite, Network Monitoring Room, auditorium and ‘breakout’ café — offer an environment in which customers can not only watch but take part in demonstrations of the latest innovations in BT. This enables them to explore the potential of the BT Propositions and interact with solutions designed for their specific industry as well as gain valuable insights into BT’s global networked IT services.
And it’s all done in real time thanks to the cutting edge audio-visual and IT facilities which exist on an integrated data network which is linked to BT’s R&D centre at Adastral Park near Ipswich.
“In other words,” says Asif, “as one of the delivery arms of BT’s key messages, we are able to demonstrate how the latest telecoms technology could transform customers’ future. It brings our propositions to life.”
Because the space can be customised for each individual purpose, the images generated from the Christie projectors become the focal point. He explains, “Multi-national customers are already telling us how delighted they are with the manner in which BT Showcase are creating an imaginative profile for their visit.”
Asif Saghir adds that flexibility was high on the list of requirements when the Showcase was conceived, including room reconfiguration to provide different scenarios.
All the media is stored digitally on the BT network and delivered from a ‘server farm’ of 40 x PC’s, using KVM via IT (e.g. ten of these PC’s are dedicated to delivering network presentations in specified areas, such as the Data Suite).
Meanwhile, patch panels and floor traps create the flexibility to plug in roving laptops. “There are more than 40 WLAN points in the Showcase, and this enables us to integrate our IT and AV faciiities; it means that on the Cat5 backbone customers can plug in all nature of appliances — we even had a Nintendo Wii!”
The complete system operates under the master control of AMX NetLINX processing, and Christie-compatible hand-held touch screen, while Smart-e devices take inputs from a wide range of sources — including CCTV and TV — via the SmartNET SNX 64 x 16 switching matrix, which routes signals to eight zones (providing a DVI feed to the Christie Wall Manager). Other destinations include seven wall-mounted 42in plasma screens, six small LCD monitors in the Data Suite and other OHP. The facility also hosts Tandberg video-conferencing facilities.
Summarising, Asif Saghir is delighted with the new Christie integration. “This solution has not only enabled us to design a curved screen — thanks to the Twist module – but we can pull and compress the image. The DS+5K’s have performed excellently, and the special mounting plates provided by Christie for the projectors, along with laser-mapping technology, ensure optimum picture alignment.”
The BT Showcase AV integration is supported and maintained by Audio Visual Machines (AVM) in London, having acquired the AV system installation and service divisions of Metro Broadcast Ltd in March 2007.