Application Story

Customer: ESRI

Location: Redlands, California

Industry/Market: Manufacturing - Software

Requirements: Brightness, resolution, clarity and flexibility •to accommodate presentations of ESRI software, meetings and events

Quality, high-performance, reliability•

Adequate lens shift – 16’ elevation •difference between projection booth and stage in auditorium

Support of multiple computers and •integration with video conferencing, satellite feeds and BluRay/DVD sources

Real-time and programmable presentations•

Easy-to-use for end-users with a variety of •technical skill levels and presentation styles

Meet ESRI standards for innovation and high •quality within budget

Summary:The majority of presentations in the new ESRI Conference Center are demonstrations of ESRI's GIS mapping software. Therefore, the projection system in each meeting room needs to ensure that all stages of the software development – concept through to final release – can be presented in real-time with bright, crisp, detailed images.

Solution:Two Christie Roadster HD10K-M projectors •stacked (in booth at rear of auditorium) for brightness and redundancy.

A rear projection system (in the executive •briefing room) with two Christie DS+6K-M projectors with a Vista Spyder video processor. This display offers the flexibility to present in real-time, using multiple sources, in multiple windows and make notes directly on a Stewart Filmscreen AeroGlas screen.

Five Christie DS+750 in three meeting/•collaboration rooms. Two of the three rooms include curved screens that are also whiteboards.

ESRI

Christie presents true-to-life images

As you enter the new ESRI worldwide headquarters building in Redlands, CA, you immediately get a sense of the company’s vision for creating high-quality, state-of-the-art technology. The lobby of the building includes two impressive three-storey, floor-to-ceiling glass walls that enable you to look north and south along New York Street. From the main entrance, there are two hallways that lead to either the ESRI Conference Center or other meeting and collaboration rooms. All of the room designs reinforce the standards established by ESRI stakeholders for innovation and attention to detail to ensure quality.

ESRI was founded by Jack Dangermond as Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., in 1969 as a privately held consulting firm that specialized in land-use analysis projects. In 1982, ESRI launched its first commercial geographic information system (GIS) software called ARC/INFO. It combined computer display geographic features with a database management tool for assigning attributes to these features. Today, ESRI continues to innovate with the goal of creating the software tools that enable people to take and create maps for various purposes – business, industry, government – according to their specific geographic needs.

Designed for hosting a variety of corporate and community events, the auditorium in the new ESRI heaquarters building needed AV equipment that was easy-to-use.

"There were several months of research, walking tradeshow floors,

evaluating specifications and side-by-side demonstrations before

the final design and equipment selection came together. It just

made sense to choose Christie."Jim Sorensen,

Graphics Services Manager, ESRI

During the two years of planning the structure of the new building, the required elements of the auditorium and each meeting room were also being decided. The majority of presentations in the new ESRI Conference Center are demonstrations of ESRI's GIS mapping software. Therefore, the projection system in each meeting room needs to ensure that all stages of the software development – concept through to final release – can be presented in real-time with bright, crisp, detailed images. Everything has to represent the software in its ‘best light’ so that their international customers understand what to expect in their specific application.

Another consideration in the design of each room, including the AV equipment selection, was that meetings, especially in the auditorium, are hosted by ESRI employees and/or external visitors with a variety of technical skill levels. ESRI participates in public service initiatives, community outreach and volunteerism, particularly in the communities surrounding ESRI headquarters. They invite community groups to use their auditorium for a variety of events. With this in mind, the decision was made include a projection booth at the back of the auditorium to house the equipment, but users are able to control the lighting and presentations from the stage. A technician is available during set up, but not necessarily onsite during the event so the system needs to be easy to use and intuitive.

In the executive briefing room (EBR), again, the requirement was to have a system that was easy to use and control by users. A technician is not required for the actual meetings, but pre-programming the presentation is an asset – the presenter simply presses a button and the presentation displays as planned. Both the auditorium and EBR systems support and manage a variety of inputs – video, data, satellite and video conferencing, as well as be bright, clear and true-to-life. The remaining meeting and collaboration rooms did not need to be elaborate, just functional and flexible in order to stimulate brainstorming and the sharing of ideas in a creative environment.

Jim Sorensen, Graphics Services Manager at ESRI and project manager for the AV portion of the building construction, spent several months researching products by walking tradeshow floors, evaluating specifications and performing side-by-side demonstrations before the final design and equipment selection came together.

In the auditorium, the challenge was that the Da-Lite screen is 40 feet wide by 15 feet high and 78 feet away from the projection booth and the elevation difference between the front and back of the auditorium is 16 feet. Two Christie Roadster HD10K-M projectors were chosen for their brightness, flexibility and lens shift capabilities. According to Sorensen, “the Roadster HD10K-M projectors not only offer the required lens shift, but they can also be stacked to provide 20,000 ANSI lumens or redundancy according to the presentation needs. Quite often presentations take place with the lights on, so extra brightness is required to ensure everyone in the audience can see the presentation - no matter where they are sitting. The projectors also prove to be quieter and use less power than many of the other projectors that were considered during the evaluation process.”

The requirements for the EBR presented some unique challenges, as well. This moderately-sized room supports more intimate, highly-interactive, collaborative meetings with internal and external customers that often run 12-14 hours per day. The equipment chosen for this room has to perform flawlessly – every time. There also wasn’t the space to have the AV equipment in the room.

The Christie DS+6K-M and Spyder are set up behind the screen in the executive briefing room and integrate seamlessly with the teleconferencing system.

Results:Christie projectors and Spyder met the business and technical requirements for each room, are easy to use and fell within budget. The service and support provided by the Christie team exceeded expectations and made the buying decision easy.

Two Christie Roadster HD10K-M projectors, mounted in the auditorium projection booth, are stacked for additional brightness and redundancy.

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For the most current specification information, please visit http://controlrooms.christiedigital.comCopyright 2010 Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All brand names and product names are trademarks, registered trademarks or tradenames of their respective holders. Canadian manufacturing facility is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified. Performance specifications are typical. Due to constant research, specifications are subject to change without notice. Printed in Canada on recycled paper. ESRI Application Story April 10

To ensure that nothing would obstruct the view of the screen or clutter the boardroom table, a rear-projection set up was chosen with a Vista Spyder driving the content. The Spyder was chosen because it enables dynamic, easy-to-use multiple-destination video and data mixed signal switching. “When compared to the competition”, says Sorensen, "the Spyder offers the best picture quality, is the easiest to implement and enables the AV team to pre-program the display. With the touch of a button the presenter can change displays without having a technician in the room. It just made sense to choose the Spyder.” Once the Spyder was chosen, the projectors and screen needed to be selected. Two Christie DS+6K-M projectors were selected for this edge-blended, rear-projection set up because they provide the required brightness and flexibility to be edge-blended when required, as well as reliability. They are quieter and have the best heat dissipation when compared to other projectors that were evaluated. These features are important since the equipment room where they are housed is adjacent to the EBR and they need to be invisible to the visitors in the room.

Many of the presentations in this room are dynamic and in real-time, so being able to write on the screen and highlight aspects of the presentation was a requirement. The screen also needs to be able to present side-by-side content from multiple computers, satellite feeds and BluRay/DVD sources, as well as tie in with the video conferencing system. Often, demonstrations are of a command and control situation with up to five displays simultaneously. ”The presenter needs to approach screen without blocking the image and the audience needs to read the displays adequately. We selected the (13 feet wide x 5 feet high) Stewart Filmscreen AeroGlas screen because it was the best option for writing on glass, displaying the images with brightness and clarity and it provides a quality edge-blended surface for the rear projection display,” explains Sorensen.

For the remaining meeting and collaboration rooms, the projectors must offer high brightness, superior color quality and be reliable. They also need to be quiet, and able to warp and blend images since two of the rooms include curved screens that double as whiteboards. The Christie DS+750 fulfills these requirements. Its long-life dual lamps, 24/7 performance reliability, low acoustics and sealed optical engine ensures that the content can be seen by everyone and annotated as required. Typically the content shown in these rooms “varies from demonstrations of ESRI software to conceptual pieces and workflow designs”, explains Sorensen, “the projected images on the curved screens work well to pull everyone into the project that is being discussed.”

After determining the needs of the ESRI executives, AV team and other stakeholders, and months of research and planning, the final design and equipment came together. The Christie projectors and Spyder were chosen because they met the business and technical requirements for each room, are easy to use, and fell within budget. Additionally, the team at Christie helped make the decision easy. “It didn’t matter if we had a technical question or needed a demonstration arranged with short notice”, concludes Sorensen, “all of our requests were handled promptly and to our satisfaction. We are very pleased with our Christie equipment and look forward to adding more to our displays. We know that Christie will meet our expectations for quality, performance, service and support."

Wall-mounted Christie DS+750 projectors are ideal for the curved screens used in the open-concept collaboration areas.