Christie offers its latest rear projection technology to Boeing Defense UK

Defense company Boeing Defense UK has selected Christie's latest rear projection technology, integrated by AvexiA, to equip your 'Boeing Portal' installation, dedicated to analysis, modeling, simulation and experimentation.

The reason for this project Boeing Defence UK, specialized in the defense sector in the United Kingdom, has been moved from its 'Boeing Portal' headquarters in Hamsphire, dedicated to analysis, modeling, simulation and experimentation in this environment, to the nearby town of Fleet.

Taking advantage of the new location, The company has equipped its multiple laboratories with the latest technology, as well as its presentation room and board room, for which it has had the advice of the integrator AvexiA, which in the last five years has been in charge of offering solutions adapted to the various Boeing facilities.

One of the requirements of the project was the installation of a large rear-projection glass screen in the presentation room. Paradigm Audio Visual -of 7.4×1,85 metros-, for which Graham Salvage, de AvexiA, advised to introduce the latest technology series of projectors from Christie, Matrix WUXGA.

To this were also added the RPMWU-LED01 WUXGA Led full DLP rear projection and ultra high resolution mosaic projectors., also from this supplier, with the aim of making the most of large display systems.

To achieve maximum impact, It was also recommended to include three Christie Matrix WU5 display projectors (with native resolution of 1,920×1.200), equipped with zoom lenses 1.16-1.49:1.

The result of this setup is a stunning image with edge-blending in a multi-frame processing environment, with the projector beams reaching the huge glass screen thanks to three Paradigm Audio Visual mirror rigs.

With similar characteristics to the presentation room, and close to it, in the boardroom AvexiA has deployed three Christie Entero RPMWU-LED01 WUXGA engines, with the edges perfectly fitted on three dnp Cross Prism screens 80 inches, in contact and without separations.

Explaining the design, Graham Salvage points out that “recourse to an Image Builder system has allowed us to 'stitch' the three displays of 80 inches without the separations being perceived at all, and with impeccable alignment of the projectors”.

In this sense, Salvage knew that by installing three 1920 engines×1.200 Christie Entire and by canceling part of the chip of each projector it would be possible to achieve a display with coupled edges and a resolution of 4,800×1.200, which would allow the entire room to be cloned and projected with exactly the same resolution, alternating single or multiple images.

Using five Christie Spyders (one of 380, another of 240, two of 204 and a remote CPU), The glass screen in the presentation room can display up to twelve images in any type of configuration (selectable via Crestron or via a Spyder control PC), or up to nine images if the meeting room is being used at the same time (which will require three Spyder outputs).

“By removing the mirror that is normally used in a Christie cube - Salvage specifies - we achieve maximum brightness and considerably increase the size of the display.. RPMs have ultra-wide angle lenses for use in cubes, an aspect that delighted Boeing: Those LEDs achieve incredible black levels, "which translate into a surprising image with notable contrast without causing the slightest damage to the eyes.".

For the Director of Operations in Advanced Programs at Boeing Defense UK, Simon Burney, This unique facility has already managed to impress high-level visitors who use the 'Boeing Portal' facilities..

Global connectivity

Another of the fundamental aspects of this project is that the entire assembly also had to achieve global connectivity., so that the contents could be shared with other company centers around the world. Para Burney, “The main factor to achieve this is flexibility, and AvexiA offers it in spades”.

With plenty of connection points for single or multi-channel sources, AvexiA has guaranteed not only connectivity for all rooms/laboratories, but has developed for this project a sophisticated network distribution that uses the Magenta Voyager fiber optic signal distribution platform..

This platform offers the possibility of switching to 160 I/Os on a multimode fiber optic cable throughout the building. All audiovisual systems are controlled through processors Crestron Pro 2 equipped with touch screens and Crestron e-Control.

As Graham Salvage recalls, “One of the main reasons we decided on fiber was the advantage it offered of sending high-resolution signals to very distant locations”.

At the moment, The company uses a total of 59 sources from local computers or laptops or from inputs located anywhere in the installation, that use a multimode cable and fiber matrix that, at the moment, has 48 Departures.

The main system is connected via fiber/matrix to another interactive display facility, located on the ground floor of the building, which can also be displayed in the presentation room.

HD video streaming

AvexiA has also installed IPVS HD video streaming equipment that allows real-time distribution of six channels over Boeing Defense's international networks. (through three Tx and three Rx), to view the entire 4,800 display in other places around the world×1.200 pixels in real time or receive a similar multi-window display in the Fleet installation.

The IPVS system also makes real-time recording and playback possible with image synchronization. “The result of this project is truly impressive,” Burney emphasizes., as it allows us to use the new equipment effectively with a large number of clients and in various ways”.