The University of Salford opens a new multimedia space with Christie MicroTiles

The University of Salford (United Kingdom) has installed a gigantic Christie MicroTiles display in 'The Egg', the center dedicated to learning, the teaching and digital research that the company has in MediaCityUK, a large complex that also houses a BBC headquarters and a group of creative entities, independent digital and media.

The University of Salford, near manchester, has inaugurated a unique space dedicated to learning, digital teaching and research. The center is located at MediaCityUK, a large complex located in Salford Quays that also houses a BBC headquarters and a collection of creative entities, independent digital and media. The public area on the ground floor features a digital interactive display that includes a space for formal presentations and ten interactive touch tables., designed to stimulate visitor participation. The central milestone is a high-resolution video wall, made up of a total of 120 Christie MicroTiles and with the ability to display images at resolution 9600 × 3840. The integration of the project has been the work of the company Electrosonic.

The building houses 1.500 students and employees and offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses on all types of topics related to radio, television, computer games and digital media production. It also has facilities for research. The access area to the new building, popularly known as 'The Egg’ (The egg), has been described as “an interactive, publicly accessible digital showcase for visitors and students”, conceived as a flexible space in which to deploy resources in different ways - for example, for experimentation purposes- or where to show research from other centers using cameras or computers for motion control.

The Center for Virtual Environments was responsible for the original technical design of the space. (Virtual Environments Center) from the University of Salford, Electrosonic being assigned the engineering and installation of the entire system.

120 Christie MicroTiles

Although the MicroTiles video wall is initially mounted with a 15 x 8, The design of the blocks could be rearranged in the future with a different layout to meet specific project needs. (For example, 12 x 10, o 20 x 6). The Christie MicroTiles - a step forward in display technology- It is built using tested DLP technology designed to achieve maximum image quality in complex interiors and environments with high ambient light such as the one described here.. The university adopted the Christie solution on the recommendation of Electrosonic. A prerequisite was that the display be mounted free of charge on the floor., without structural fixings to the building, a condition that required the design and construction of a suitable restraint frame. To carry out these structural engineering works Electrosonic relied on the services of Long & What de Dartford. Additional frames have been provided in case the needs of use require dividing the video wall into smaller blocks..

The display is powered by a series of DVI computing sources. From servers 7^thSense Delta Media Servers, each of them equipped with four-head graphics cards, provide a global resolution of 8000 x 3200 (in native 8K video format). It also has an Nvidia Quadro 7000 connected to a workstation, with resolution 4000 x 1600, while other PC/Mac sources are 1920 x 1080. But also, There are SDI connection lines to the existing television studios in the building, and all DVI sources and inputs from two Christie Spyder X20 video processors 1608 connect to a Lightware Matrix. Spyders operate in a master/slave configuration.: one manages the upper half of the screen and another the lower half. All exits are directed, using Lightware fiber optic extenders, towards the sixteen external control units.

Gesture recognition

The intention is that the video wall and all the surrounding space will be used in future academic and research projects.. For this, The equipment includes three projectors directed at the ground and six artificial vision cameras, a combination created to make possible the development of projects based on the recognition of gestures and images.

The main space also contains ten tactile interaction tables for use by students and the general public.. Electrosonic was asked to provide work systems that included initial content. The production of the interactive software was outsourced to Stardotstar, a Manchester-based content producer capable, therefore, to provide ongoing local support. The initial design included panels of 32 inches with capacitive sensors. However, The development of the design advised changing those panels for others of 40 inches, Equipped with PQ Labs multi-touch infrared sensors. The touch tables operate using Mac Mini computers stacked in a structure located in the control room. Used Extron USB over CAT5 extenders.

Meeting space

A room located behind the video wall serves as an area for formal or informal meetings and for presentations of research or other projects. The spatial layout of the room can be modified, although it counts, yes indeed, with a large fixed projection screen served by a Christie DHD800 projector, recommended for being the most appropriate to the client's needs. Feeding can be done from any compatible device located in the control room or from the computer of the person making the presentation.

Electrosonic has also designed and supplied comprehensive and flexible audio control and sound reinforcement., both in 'The Egg’ as in the presentation spaces. The initial configuration consists of a system 5:1 y 2:1; nevertheless, It is possible to relocate or increase the team depending on the different projects.

A separate control room houses all of the source equipment, control and routing in six rack structures. This is where we find the Christie Spyder X20 processors 1608, the three Extron DVS304DVI scalers for analog sources, eight Lightware DA2DVI DL distribution amplifiers with dual DVI connection and four Extron MDA4V HD-SDI distribution amplifiers. Twenty-nine Lightware TX/RX110 DVI fiber extenders are used to distribute the signal, and a Medialon Showmaster ST has been installed to cover internal organization needs and daily user interface.

What differentiates this global system is that it works, at the same time, as an experimental installation and as a showcase, It is the university's intention to explore the best way to meet the two objectives. As for the MicroTiles video wall itself, it is visible to everyone, including pedestrians passing by the building.

The University of Salford has its own team of technicians for daily operations and content management, so most of their production is carried out within the institution. If we add to that the hiring of two permanent content creators, we can only hope that in the coming months the MicroTiles display will show its full potential..