The memorial museum in Guang'an features wide-screen visuals and unparalleled sound of the auditorium’s cinema presentation.
The city of Guang’an, in China’s Sichuan Province, is close to the hearts of the Chinese people as the birthplace and hometown of one of the country’s most beloved leaders, the late Deng Xiaopeng. Widely hailed as the hero whose political and economic reforms helped to foster the modern-day climate that has made China one of the world’s most promising industrial superpowers, Deng Xiaopeng remains revered and remembered fondly since his death in 1997.
The public has greeted the recent opening of the memorial museum in Guang'an bearing Deng's name with an enthusiasm rarely seen among China’s largely subdued culture. Hundreds of thousands of faithful followers attended the opening month’s ceremonies, with some 4 million visitors projected in its first year. The video documentary presentation of Deng’s life has been running some 20 screenings per day to accommodate the unprecedented demand.
This screening takes place in the museum’s newly built auditorium, which is in itself an attraction. The auditorium’s audio and video system, designed and implemented by the China Research and Institute of Film Science and Technology (CRIFST), employs cutting edge presentation technologies that include a networked QSC audio system with digital monitors, and the country’s first 4k digital cinema presentation system, courtesy of Singapore-based GDC Technologies.
The audio system is designed around QSC’s DCM-3 Digital Cinema Monitors, which provide integrated signal processing and monitoring functions in a single integrated system. The DCM system integrates monitor and crossover functions with digital signal processing, including speaker delay processing for acoustical time-alignment of loudspeaker drivers, load fault detection and a menu-driven software application for simplified setup and configuration. The DCM-3 units are configured for tri-amp operation and are compatible with all cinema processor formats including Dolby Surround-EX.
The DCM units connect via QSC’s proprietary DataPort digital interface to a tri-amped system driven by five of the company’s DCA2422 and seven DCA3422 Digital Cinema amplifiers. The DCA amps utilize QSC’s PowerWave switching technology to provide up to 1700W per channel. The DCM/DCA system provides advanced monitoring functions while simplifying system configuration and optimizing loudspeaker performance.
The auditorium’s video component comprises a unique synchronized multiple-server system created by GDC Technologies. The system integrates three of the company’s DLP Cinema projectors to create a combined native picture resolution of 3840 x 1024 pixels. The resulting image is projected onto a wide screen measuring 58ft x 15ft. The system, designed and built by CRIFST, synchronizes the multiple projectors with single-frame accuracy, using GDC’s proprietary edge-blending technology to create a single seamless image on screen.
CRIFST and GDC also worked directly with the Museum’s historians and directors of photography, taking their artistic direction in converting much of the original celluloid film footage of Deng’s life into 4k digital images. The 4k pictures were then encoded in native 4k resolution using GDC Technology’s EN1000 — DSR Digital Film Agile Encoders. The resulting images are projected on three synchronized projectors using GDC’s DSR Servers, which can genlock to various modes of video input. More than 10 of GDC’s SA1000 — DSR Digital Film Servers and SZ1000 — DSR Z-Servers can be configured as synchronized servers for multiple-screen cinema applications.
For followers of Deng’s life and legacy, the employment of this technology in the exhibition of his life is just and fitting, helping to confirm the assertion that his programs of reform and normalization have been a major facet of China’s evolution into a technological world power.
The museum and its auditorium have thus far broken attendance records every month since opening its doors. The wide-screen visuals and unparalleled sound of the auditorium’s cinema presentation have won as many accolades as the content and the museum itself, and the city of Guang’an has seen a notable and welcome surge in tourism as a result.
For more information, visit www.qscaudio.com and www.gdc-tech.com.
