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10K PROJECTOR SOLVES THE PROBLEM
By Abrie du Plooy (NE C & GALAXY Product Manager)
What do you do when you need to fill
an 8,8m wide screen from 60m away
and still display a Full HD picture? The
answer is easy - you use a super bright
projector with a super long zoom lens
and voilà! The problem is solved.
to mount the projector against the back wall
underneath the gallery bulkhead. This proved
to be very practical from a mounting point of
view but unfortunately resulted in a massive
60m throw distance (distance between the
projector lens and the display surface); enough
to make any projection designer shudder.
The guys from Panavision were recently faced with
this challenge on a city hall renovation project. It was
a case of ‘Challenge Accepted!’ Panavision received
a request to provide a solution in record time. Due
to circumstances beyond control, the solution and
pricing structure had to be submitted within four
days of receiving the brief. Panavision approached
the team at Electrosonic SA for assistance; after all, as
the saying goes, two heads are better than one. So
we put our heads together, but not before firing up
the coffee machine and donning our thinking caps.
This large throw distance posed another major
challenge; how to deliver the required brightness
and resolution to adequately display a bright Full
HD image and fill the massive projection surface
way up front.
The first challenge Panavision faced was to fill the
8,8m wide screen. The ideal solution would have
been a rear projection system, but the maximum
width was only 6m, which didn’t suffice. Front
projection it was going to have to be. This presented
the second challenge - where to mount this thing?
And by that I mean we had to establish a physical
mounting location for the projector. Because the hall
had a very high roof, a ceiling mounting would not
only be tricky but would also result in an eye-sore in
the smack-dead-centre of the finished ceiling.
It would also have to hang quite a few meters down
in mid-air, something that would’ve displeased
many users of the theatre. The solution was
So it was back to the drawing board; and after
doing the calculations we came up with a solution.
The correct projector and lens combination
delivered exactly what we needed. We suggested
a NEC PH1000U projector with a light source
that delivers 10 000 ANSI lumens to provide the
brightness required. And we used a NEC NP29ZL
long zoom lens (4.16 - 6.96:1) which filled the 8,8m
wide screen from 60m away. It was impressive,
even if we say so ourselves.
The NEC PH1000U is a 3-Chip projector with
a high definition 16:10 resolution (WUXGA –
1920x1200) for installations that demand the
highest levels of heavy-duty usage. The Five
optional bayonet lenses and an integrated
stacking frame make it ideal for high-end display
solutions. Features such as the motorized lens
shift, and easy analogue or digital connectivity,
make it a real gem when it comes to cost and
time management. Great picture quality from
As anyone who watches Animal Planet
knows: bats see with their ears. They emit
ultrasonic sounds and sense where their
prey is by the length of time it takes for the
sound to bounce back. Humans are not
quite that sophisticated in picking up the
direction from which sound is coming,
but we can still sense when sound is out
of sync with that we are seeing.
This is where Elite Screens comes in: they’re a
California-based projection screen manufacturer.
Their Lunettes are not only curved, but also
acoustically transparent; both important factors
in enhancing the authenticity of the viewing
experience. If your projection screen in your cinema
is acoustically transparent it means that instead of
having to put your loudspeakers out of position
(to the side, or below the screen) you can put them
behind the screen. So while watching the latest
blockbuster movie the sound comes directly from
the screen, ensuring proper audio localization.
the 10-bit Hollywood Quality Video signal
processing, and a dual lamp system to deliver
the powerful 10k brightness, makes this machine
even more appealing to the user. It also offers
special characteristics such as 3D Stacking;
Blanking; Crestron RoomView; DICOM Simulation;
Digital 3D Reform™; Edge Blending Function
(03.2012); Free Tilt; Geometric Correction; Lens
Memory; Lens Shift and Lens Shutter with
Powerpoint, Movie, PDF and USB Picture Viewer;
RS-232 Control; and Seamless Switching.
So, to close off the chapter, we did it! Between the
teams at Panavision and Electrosonic SA we created
the perfect solution that matched the requirement
and got the nod from satisfied customers. Not
only was this an awesome projection design and
installation, but also the first of its kind in South
Africa from the NEC arsenal.
At Electrosonic SA we pride ourselves in providing
world class design assistance and in meeting
tight turnaround times. What’s more, we offer
this service at no additional charge. We invite our
customers to take us up on the offer.
This is how it’s done in a public movie-house, and
how it’s done in some private viewing rooms too.
Recently Jacques Kruger, from HFX Systems, installed
a 120 inch Lunette Elite Screen for a private client. The
curvature of the Lunette reaches into the viewer’s
peripheral vision, and this too helps to enhance the
immersive experience. The curvature also eliminates
the pincushion effect, where the projected image is
larger on the sides and smaller in the middle. Jacques
explained that the finely woven fabric of the Lunette
screen, which runs diagonally, is especially designed
to eliminate that unwanted patterning effect known
as moiré when the perforation of the fabric lines up
with the pixels of the projector’s LCD or DLP chipset.
The screen also supports 4k resolution.
Besides the screen, HFX Systems also installed the
projector; a full 7.1 surround system (including
diffusive and absorptive acoustical panelling);
and a specially designed acoustically friendly airconditioning system.
HFX Systems, who have installed a number of Elite
Screens, is very happy with the product and notes
that it is excellent value for money.
PROMAG
– fourth quarter 2013
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