Romanian AV integrators, AVITECH have completed the second phase of a complex control room integration for telecommunications giant, Ericsson, using a Christie solution.
AVITECH first went on site at the new Global Service Delivery Centre in 2008, installing 24 cubes of Christie’s RPMX-D120 single-chip DLP® rear projection modules with 50’’ screen and sliding rails, along with a TVC1210 controller in their Network Operating Centre.
However, from the outset one of the requirements was that the system should be expandable. Acknowledging the benefits that AVITECH’s solution and Christie’s equipment had brought to the operation, Ericsson this year invited the integrators to expand the system with a further 32 x 50’’ cubes — moving the entire integration to an expanded room location. This ensured that the Ericsson headquarters in Romania now hosts the largest control room in Eastern Europe.
Explained product manager, Iuliu Cristian, “Prior to the implementation of the AVITECH / Christie video wall solution, the operation was running using PC monitors.
“The client wanted a more professional Network Operating Centre with superior images and extended capacity to provide monitor, control and data management of all the telecommunication network applications — which is why we extended the wall with another 32 RPMX-D132U cubes and a TVC1210 controller.”
But AVITECH treated the project like as if they were implementing a completely new contract, since the relocation of the earlier cubes into a larger room meant reinstallation, calibration and programming of all 56 cubes afresh.
The new architecture is based on three separate video walls running native XGA resolution — the lateral ones made up of 12 x 2 cubes and the centre one of 4 x 2 cubes, separated by smaller two sets of 2 x 2 47in LCD monitors. The overall 32m long (by 2.75m high) wall make this one of the biggest video walls in Europe.
However, the contract itself had been hard fought. AVITECH were invited to participate in a tender process involving others national suppliers. “One very important issue was the maintenance services that our company offered, coupled with the competitive advantage of having held the number one position in the audio-visual field for more than ten years, with the experience and professionalism that that brings,” believes Mr. Cristian. “On top of that, we impressed the client with our other control room references and the reputation that the Christie brand has.”
AVITECH have been working successfully with Christie for the past two years. “The Christie solutions are generally considered by specialists to be the ‘professionals’ choice’. Their equipment was most appropriate for this project, and besides, we always have a great collaboration with the company.”
One of the prime considerations was that the system had the capacity to operate in critical applications, without interruption, 24/7. Interoperability, flexibility and the perfect quality of the displayed image were further criteria that the Christie system had to meet.
In addition to price and quality, AVITECH also needed to satisfy delivery and installation times as well as maintenance services. The close collaboration between AVITECH and Christie ensured that delivery and installation of the system took place within 40 days.
With all inputs to the processor via DVI-A, the 56-cube wall is used to display a wide range of relevant information related to the Service Delivery Centre over a global network, for Ericsson's Managed Services business.
The integration has been a complete success and Ericsson is delighted with the technical competence, consultancy skills and quality of equipment provided by AVITECH.
Summing up, Iuliu Cristian said, “One of AVITECH’s biggest advantage is the fact that we are always mindful of what the customer want to obtain from the project. We are proud that we had the opportunity of implementing such a solution for one of the telecommunication market leaders.”