Projection done properly at MMU
Project:
The Client
A purpose built, interdisciplinary school at one of the UK’s leading universities, the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University is a £35m investment into the workspaces, networks, teaching and research that drives ideas and innovation across all forms of creative content. Offering spaces for collaboration and innovation, through to state-of-the-art facilities, the building has been created with the capability to adapt and respond to emerging technologies. Specialist facilities include a digital innovation and UX lab, film studios, green screens, edit suites, sound, music and production studios, a screening room, and a gallery. Roche AV had been awarded the tender to roll out the AV across more than 35 specialist spaces, this case study focuses on the large display requirement at the main entrance.
The Challenge
The spacious ground floor entrance required a large display solution to showcase students work to visitors and staff. In the initial plans we specified a 3.6m LED wall for this requirement but it quickly became apparent that this wouldn’t be viable for the space due to various constraints including the weight of the LED panels. To complicate matters, floor-to-ceiling windows allow natural light to flood the space in and such an environment, great care would need to be taken in choosing an appropriate alternative. The LED wall was utilised in the large village green space on the second floor and work then began on providing a suitable display solution for this challenging space.
The Solution
A standard projection setup would not give a clear enough image in a space bathed in daylight so Roche worked alongside Visual Displays and Greg Jeffreys Consulting to explore ALR (ambient light-rejecting) screen technologies. A detailed evaluation led to a standards-curated design to optimise display size, position and correct ALR (ambient light rejecting) technology – from which standards-based calculations were made to specify the projection. The final specification included a 4m wide DNP Supernova screen coupled with an Epson EB-PU1750U 15,000 lumen projector.
Key Features
- 4m wide DNP Supernova Projection Screen
- Epson EB-PU1750U 15,000 lumen projector
The Result
The detailed design and consultancy efforts paid off lavishly to provide a magnificent showcase for student artwork. The three chip 3LCD Epson laser projection technology displays ultimate colour quality as it’s displayed on DNP Supernova ALR (ambient light rejecting) material certified by the ISF (Imaging Science Foundation). Unlike dvLED screens, there is no visible pixelation even to the closest viewers thanks to Epson’s 4K enhanced projection technology. Not only does this display deliver ultimate image quality, its low power consumption delivers energy savings and thus minimised carbon footprint.
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