Project: Massive 24K Pixel Wall Lights Up At Christie HQ

June 10, 2013 by Dave Haynes

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This is very nice. A huge, jagged sweep of displays that span two walls of a renovated lobby at Christie Digital’s US HQ in Cypress, California.

The visual technology giant’s new video wall uses 108 MicroTiles is a visual canvas that rolls up to a full native resolution of 23,760 x 2,700 pixels; which is the equivalent of 30 full HD sources, or eight 4K resolutions.

The wall combines 17 Christie MicroTiles ECU control units, 11 high performance custom PCs, using a coolux Pandora’s Box as the main installation manager and playback software. The system also uses a Christie Spyder X20 video controller and one Christie JumpStart server. It was all put together by Montreal’s Arsenal Media, which handled the installation design, technical playback system, interactive tablet controller and custom content strategy. The wall turned on May 16th.

“With this project, we feel we’ve pushed the Christie brand to a whole new level,” says Kathryn Cress, Vice-President, Global and Corporate Marketing, and the project’s executive producer. “Our main objective was to fully leverage MicroTiles’ capabilities and push the limits in terms of content standards, and we’ve achieved this in spectacular fashion. It delivers the level of impact a customer or partner would expect when they walk into the headquarters of a company with Christie’s reputation and track record.”

Says the press release:

Arsenal developed a rich, flexible library of full motion digital material for the vast, jagged MicroTiles canvas. They vary from custom “inside looks” at Christie’s product range and company background, to ambient video showing things like Los Angeles streetscapes and whimsical backgrounds that showcase the color reproduction, saturation and crispness of the MicroTiles display blocks.

“This project is about how important technology and content blend to drive a single, streamlined strategy,” says Denys Lavigne, President of Arsenal Media. “It’s about an integrated vision of this fantastic media. It’s also about collaboration and truly impactful experiences. We’re very proud to have been part of this adventure. It was a great opportunity to continue our explorations into the relationship between technology and creativity, in the context of refined, branded experiences.”

Lavigne’s company has been working closely with Christie on its innovative MicroTiles product since well before its late 2009 launch, and has developed and executed the strategy, creative and technical execution for several signature installations – winning project and design awards for work done with such clients as The Nielsen Company, Sun Life Financial, the Miami Dolphins and Caterpillar.

The Arsenal team had already completed two lobbies featuring MicroTiles at Christie’s Canadian offices, but the Cypress project was by far the most involved and sophisticated. “Using this big canvas as a visual showcase was the key element, but we also wanted to develop a system that gave Christie a lot of flexibility in how it could be used and managed,” explains Lavigne.

Arsenal adapted coolux display controller technology to enable content and playlists to be fully managed using a simple tablet app. The user interface allows reception desk staff to control playback sequences, and create custom welcome messages for guests. Christie executives and sales people are now able to do snap demos right in the lobby.

The installation uses a coolux Pandoras Box as the master technology for the system, handling set-up and control of the playlist, content loops, graphic, video and sound layers together, and then dispatching them through coolux Pandoras Box Media Players, which synchronize and drive the MicroTiles visuals. The company’s Widget Designer controls the playlists, allows users to add custom text to certain visuals (such as customer greetings), and is the basis for touch controls using an iPad. 

“Our technology was designed to produce quality visual experiences,” says Steve Gilbard, President of coolux Media Systems USA, “and we’re very impressed with the results of this project, and how it pushed the limits of our tools.”

RP Visual Solutions provided & installed the MicroTiles mounts. “Our MicroTiles mount allows precise mechanical alignment, insuring flat and tight seams for a stunning image. Additionally, we supported Christie with project management services to aid in the installation,” states Randy Pagnan, President of RP Visual Solutions. 

While Arsenal handled the experiential portion of the project, its success owes much to the quality of the collaboration of the overall project team, which included Albert Franco and Victor Flores from Christie, RP Visual Solutions Cibola Systems, R. Taylor Design and coolux Media Systems.

Three things strike me here:

The company (disclosure: I work with Christie and Arsenal quite a bit) is doing the right thing by putting its signature product front and centre, and impressing the hell out of customers from the second they walk in.

They have invested properly in great content, and lots of it.

Arsenal has figured out a toolset that lets anyone pull out the designated iPad and start showing different things. It doesn’t take a propellerhead, designated software only one guy even knows how to use.

Smart.