Bloomsburg University, in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania, recently combined 19th century Georgian Revival-style architecture with 21st century display technology at the historic Carver Hall. Students and visitors who utilize the newly updated Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium in the Hall are treated to a revived contemporary visual experience with Christie's high brightness widescreen LCD projector. The Georgian Revival-style Carver Hall has been an icon at the University. Built in 1867, it was the first building on campus and is on the National Register of Historic Buildings.
"The auditorium hosts special events and acts as an overflow room for class activities," reports Randall Presswood, Director, Media and Performing Arts. "We don't regularly schedule classes there, but it's always a great venue for movies that need to be shown for particular courses, programs produced by the campus TV studio, the speakers series run by the Provost Office, and our major university performance series. We can seat 350 people on the ground level and 200 more on the balcony."
The structure was originally built two-stories high and housed an open-room auditorium. A balcony was added mid-20th century, and the projection room sits behind the balcony.
The Christie LW650 WXGA projector was chosen after beating another projector in a 'shoot out' for the venue's first 16x9 display. "Christie's projector was far superior," says Dave Celli, Manager, Technology Support Services. "We have very bright HID lamps, and the Christie LW650 is able to project right through them with little loss of luminance. Our ceiling is Tiffany stained glass, so we had to put the projector very far back so as not to interfere with the light from the ceiling and not obstruct the window. The projector does a very good job projecting from that distance."
Content is displayed on a 15 x 20-foot screen and is sourced via a Windows PC, DVD player, VHS deck, Denon CD system and document camera. Speakers also have the ability to plug in their own laptops. All control is through a Crestron system, and audio runs out of a Nexia mixer to a theatrical sound system.
"We're very pleased with the projector," says Celli. "It offers long lamp life and we've experienced no complications, no lamp failure. With the high quality of this projector, we're now filling outside requests to rent the hall - it's been a new revenue generator for the campus."
About Christie(r)
Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world's most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images. Visit www.christiedigital.com.
