The 240-seat auditorium at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, headquarters of IBM’s research division, is often used by employees to present their findings in executive and client engagement meetings. Requiring presentation displays up to the task of communicating its work on some of the world’s most complex problems and promising opportunities, IBM chose a Digital Projection Radiance LED video wall to upgrade the experience.
The previous display technology utilised in the auditorium was a Digital Projection Titan Pro Series projector with a motorised screen. The client’s vision involved upgrading to direct-view LED technology to create a brighter, more colour-rich and dynamic presentation space, uninhibited by ambient light, and capable of delivering ultra-high resolution up to 8K pixels. The modular Radiance LED solution also enabled a seamless image across the entire front wall.
To achieve the desired resolution, and to ensure an excellent viewing experience from every seat in the venue, the 1.2mm (0.05in) pixel-pitch Radiance LED Performance Series was selected. Designed to be maintained completely from the front, and needing only a few inches of depth, the Radiance LED system required very little modification to the auditorium wall infrastructure. The actual LED display panels fit perfectly where original wood panelling was installed.
The resulting LED display measures 34ft (10.4m) wide by 16ft (4.9m) tall and was installed to match a curved wall that was important to the aesthetic of the auditorium. In partnership with HB Communications, Digital Projection provided design engineering and installation of the curved wall, ensuring a successful deployment of the enormous, near-8K resolution display.
“We believe that profound breakthroughs come when businesses, governments, academic institutions and others work together to tap into diverse points of view and expertise,” said Lorraine Herger, former director of research integrated solutions at IBM. “Our vision was to provide a stunning, jaw-dropping image that would make presentations more memorable to the audience. The full screen image with its immense size is amazingly lifelike and impresses the audience.”
Collaborating with HB Communications, a new presentation and production system was developed to complement the fine-pitch LED video wall. Tim Hutton, senior account executive at HB Communications, described the integration process as very in-depth. “We included an Analog Way multi-layer premium seamless switcher, Ross SDI routing system, Crestron NVX network AV encoding/decoding system, Shure MXA910 beam-forming ceiling microphones, Meyer Sound surround-sound speaker system and Panasonic HD PTZ camera systems, just to name a few,” he said.
As for the room design itself, Hutton added: “One of the main challenges for this application was meeting the client’s technology requirements while preserving the architectural integrity of the auditorium. The front wall of the auditorium consisted of wood panelling, which IBM wanted to retain, so an ingenious solution was needed. Multiple high-resolution pictures of the front wall were taken and combined into a single background image which perfectly emulated the wood panelling when displayed on the Radiance LED video wall. Digital Projection was engaged from project inception to completion. DP engineering and sales worked seamlessly with both HB Communications and IBM on the design, structural requirements, installation and system commissioning to make this impressive installation possible.”
When the installation was finished, IBM’s guests and staff were “stunned”, as Herger described: “During our opening event, we displayed a high-definition image of our original wall on the LED wall and our community did not know the original wall had been removed and replaced with an image. The colours, brightness, clarity and depth of vision that can be achieved are amazing! The Radiance LED wall brought our vision to life with image quality exceeding our highest expectations. We were extremely impressed and grateful with the level of dedication and meticulousness that the DPI installation team showed in order to provide us with this wonderful LED experience.”
