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14February

PORTABLE PROJECTORS FILL BIG SHOES

PORTABLE PROJECTORS FILL BIG SHOES

By Abrie du Plooy (NEC & GALAXY Product Manager)

One of the biggest challenges in AV system design is the colossal gap between a client’s wish list and the budget. I have witnessed many a twinkle-in-the-eye disappears when the bottom-line figure is the main decider. It requires careful planning, and a broad product knowledge, to provide a solution as close as possible to the initial request, but also satisfactory to the bank manager.

Recently two of our integrators had similar challenges in providing big solutions for two school auditoriums. As always in educational facilities the budget was limited and the requirements huge. Thankfully NEC came to the rescue with their portable and muscular P451W Professional LCD projector.

The first solution was for the school hall at Afrikaans Hoër boys school in Hatfield, Pretoria. Affies is a well-established institution and just shy of celebrating their 100th birthday. The very beautiful and conventional architecture of the school, and especially the school hall, pushed the design boundaries to the limit. Unlike modern-day auditoriums the school hall has massive windows all around, which posed an ambient lighting problem. Another challenge was the non-layered seating layout, which calls for a large display up front to maximise visibility.
Armando Dos Santos, from Sono-Luminus, has formed a solid relationship with Affies through years of continuous supply and support on the audio and video technology front. Armando arranged for a demonstration and Electrosonic SA grabbed the opportunity to show off the compact and mighty P451W projector. The demonstration was a success and Affies’ principal Dr Pierre Edwards gave us the nod. Sono-Luminus handled the installation and wrapped up the project successfully.

The second solution was somewhat different to the first. Midstream College in Centurion is a very young establishment, and required a projector for their new, modern auditorium.
The architecture of the auditorium is such that it provides a very wide, and layered, style seating plan to maximise viewing from every seat in the audience. Ambient light wasn’t a problem, but the auditorium’s state-of-the-art lighting setup did pose some difficulties.

Careful planning and management were required to maximise display, without compromising on brightness. Again, a demonstration sealed the deal with Principal Vernon Harmse.
Conrad Beukes, from iInstall.com, handled the installation in true ‘to-the-book’ standards as per their reputation in the market for doing just that. Conrad also had the challenge of providing multiple connection points – on stage as well as from the control desk – which he solved by using a Kramer VS-211H automatic switcher. Everybody involved was highly satisfied with what was a high-end solution to a simple project.

The P451W Professional Projector delivers a very powerful 4500 ANSI lumens at WXGA resolution (1280x800), which meets High Definition standards. Even though this projector is very bright, it remains a portable lightweight unit that only just pulls the needle past. An integrated 1.7 x optical zoom lens enables this projector to fill a screen up to 9.5m wide, from just 13m away. The brightness capability makes even that distance a viable option.

For more information, and a demonstration, on this stunning projector from NEC contact abrie@electrosonic.co.za

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