Class Leading Performance from Digital Projection
Project:
The Client
Norwich University of the Arts has established itself in arts, design and media education for more than 175 years. From a city centre campus that boasts cutting-edge facilities, to an approach to teaching which saw them awarded Gold under the "Teaching Excellence Framework" and ranked 10th in the UK for teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times "Good University Guide 2022", its reputation for excellence is well-earned. Norwich University has thrived as an established University, developing a national reputation as an innovative and creative academic community. Its commitment is to offer practice-based courses highly-prized by the creative industries that afford students space to develop their skills and pursue their passion.
The Project
Norwich University of the Arts’ newest building at Duke Street Riverside is a flagship centre, combining teaching venues and student accommodation. The centrepiece is the Production Theatre - a lecture and performance space, situated on the ground floor of the building. Primarily designed to function as a lecture theatre, the venue can also be used as a multi-functional space as required by the various user groups. A flexible seating system accommodates 338 for lectures when fully extended, and for performances, a steeper rake accommodates 177. The seats can also be fully retracted to open the auditorium space out to flat floor, allowing for rehearsals, filming and events. A mammoth 7m wide screen was chosen as the focal point for the space so a projector was needed that would be up to the challenge. On-site demonstrations were carried out alongside Digital Projection's Simon Hutchinson to find a unit that could deliver and ensure the University were happy with the suggested solution.
The Solution
The E-Vision 15000 single-chip DLP projector was chosen. Renowned for being a robust, reliable workhorse, the latest generation of this compact, lamp-free projector utilises Colorboost + Red technology to create the most realistic and beautifully saturated colours ever seen from any high-brightness 1-Chip DLP Projector. With new intelligent processing, colour performance of the E-Vision Laser 15000 is ever closer to that of a 3-Chip DLP projector. New to the E-Vision 15000 is Art-Net control that allows easy integration into existing lighting installations. The E-Vision 15000 WU has sealed optics and uses liquid cooling with radiators to remove energy to the outside environment. The optical system, from the laser light source up to the lens is completely sealed and can be considered IP60 rated. This ensures that light output and colour performance will not be degraded due to the ingress of dust. Another advantage of liquid cooling via radiators is that the projector is completely filter-less. This greatly reduces maintenance requirements when compared to many competitive products where replacement or cleaning of filters is a regular necessity.
Key Features
- 15,000 ISO / 13,500 ANSI Lumens
- WUXGA Resolution
- 10,000:1 Dynamic Contrast
- IP60 Sealed Optics
- ColorBoost+Red Laser
IP60 Sealed Optics: The optical system, from the laser light source up to the lens is completely sealed and can be considered IP60 rated. This ensures that light output and colour performance will not be degraded due to the ingress of dust. Additionally, this projector is completely filterless as the system is liquid cooled and uses a radiator heat exchanger, minimising maintenance as no replacement or cleaning of filters is necessary and allows unrestricted airflow.
ColorBoost + RedLaser Technology: The E-Vision Laser 15000’s built-in COLORBOOST + Red Laser technology brings the most realistic and saturated colours to this 1-Chip DLP Projector. Intelligent processing brings the colour performance ever closer to that of a 3-Chip DLP projector.
The Installation
(Photography by Joakim Borén)
Partners
The Result
Alongside the E-Vision 15000 the system incorporates Crestron control and distribution and an Extron Streaming Media Player. The Production Theatre is a highly efficient, flexible and multipurpose space that will support Norwich University of the Art’s students and teaching staff with state-of-the-art facilities for many years to come.
Project Feedback
“It was great to work alongside Roche AV and the University on the riverside Production Theatre venue. Site visits were vital to demonstrate the E-Vision 15000s brightness in situ and give the client complete peace of mind that it was the perfect solution for this space. We are delighted with the finished installation; the projected image looks superb - the unit certainly delivers, and then some! We look forward to working with Roche on future projects”
- Simon Hutchinson, Sales Manager UK & Ireland, Digital Projection
‘We are very proud of our Duke Street Riverside development which provides professional production, performance and lecture theatre resources for our students, staff and the community. The building was named Best Higher Education Building (up to £20 million) at the prestigious Architects’ Journal Awards beating some stiff competition at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and St. Andrews. Roche AV handled the AV installation with great enthusiasm and expertise. Their support helping us identify the best a projection solution for the Production Theatre was second to none. They arranged product demonstrations on site so we could see different projectors in action and make a very informed choice. We are delighted with the result and Roche AV continue to be one of our main contractors for AV solutions in learning & teaching spaces across campus. We’ve yet to throw them a problem that they cannot solve.’
- Carl Bayliss, Head of Technical Services at Norwich University of the Arts.