Christie partner 3Dims GmbH has developed a concept in virtual collaboration for the German Aerospace Center (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt – DLR).
The new system at the DLR’s Center for Lightweight Production Technology (Zentrum für Leichtbauproduktionstechnologie – ZLP) in Augsburg enables up to four engineers at once to present and compare their results in 4K. In the future, it may also be possible for other team members to look at the results on their own screens and to share their own content. The system uses four Christie projectors and the new meeting tool Christie Brio Enterprise.
At the very heart of it are four Christie DWU550-G projectors, which produce one overall picture out of four individual ones in 4K resolution using the edge-blending process. “We chose the DWU550-G because this 1DLP® projector has the option of edge blending built in, as well as possessing the necessary resolution and brightness levels,” explains Friedhelm Birk, founder and managing director of 3Dims. The projector is part of Christie’s reliable and powerful G-series, and offers a light output of 5,500 lumens as well as native WUXGA resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, among other features. “The projector is also WLAN and network-enabled, and very cost-effective, which makes it ideal for this concept.”
Four workstations are positioned in front of the rear projection screen. These workstations can either access the system independently or be used together. The four projectors are connected to a pixel wall computer specially designed by 3Dims with eight DVI inputs and four DVI outputs. This allows up to four images to be displayed in Picture-in-Picture format above, below or next to each other, as desired “This means that any kind of content can be visualised, from presentations to engineering software for development and simulation,” says Birk.
The Christie Brio Enterprise meeting solution was also integrated into the installation. This permits other members of staff, though not sitting at one of the four workstations that are directly connected to the system, to show their results and work with their colleagues at the workstations by using WLAN. Christie Brio Enterprise allows content in 1080p to be made available at various locations, supported by HDCP. It can be integrated seamlessly into the local network for access to the internet and network services.
“All content from connected devices can therefore be shown on all displays, independently of location, and can be used together. That was the decisive factor for our customer, as this kind of direct collaboration via the network has not been possible until now,” says Birk.
The collaboration system can be connected in a variety of ways:
- Dual DVI-D inputs supported by up to 2560 x 1600 pixels per input (LAN connection)
- Up to five video inputs from 640 x 480 to 1920 x 1080 (H.264 encoding)
- Two analogue 3.5-mm stereo audio inputs
- Up to five audio inputs with H.264 encoding
- Four USB sockets
“The system will help us to exchange information across different disciplines, projects and locations in order to collaboratively develop the best possible solutions to complex technological tasks,” explains Prof. Michael Kupke, Head of the ZLP in Augsburg.
