For years, Google was using complex switching and cabling setups, as well as multiple remotes to connect and operate its projectors in order to show various presentations. Google AV/IT staff found this arrangement costly and time consuming. As such, Google decided to replace its existing projection equipment in its auditorium with an up-to-date visual system that offered only the best in terms of ease of use and projecting various types of content simultaneously and flexibly. After an extensive review of display solutions, Google narrowed down its decision to a multi-channel Barco display system.
The display wall installed at Google consists of four Barco SXGA+, single-chip DLP SIM 5R projectors, and its award-winning display management system - the XDS-1000. Barco's XDS-1000 creates a giant desktop environment on the display, and allows users to control the system with mouse and keyboard. Input sources, such as PowerPoint presentations and video content, can be resized, moved or made to overlap anywhere on the screen. Both source and layout selection happen through Barco software on the desktop. Additionally, the XDS-1000 is fully networked, which enables visualization of local and connected sources on the same screen in real-time.
"Thanks to Barco's display system, we can now compare, discuss, share and view our sources at the same time, in any configuration," says Gareth Stewart, Google's manager for multimedia services for the EMEA region. "This greatly accelerates our decision-making process. And what's best of all - the system is so user-friendly that anyone can use it."
Barco's SIM 5R projectors that drive the display come optimized for multi-channel operation. While linked constant light output (CLO) and DynaColor ensure the same colour and brightness quality across the display, soft edge blending eliminates blurry overlap zones where projections converge. The SIM 5R projectors also guarantee a long system lifetime due to their single-chip DLP technology, and boast an improved durability through their sealed optical engine, which prevents dust from entering the projector and degrading its image quality.
(Lee Baldock)
