To enable the two Christie S+16K 16,0000 lumen DLP projectors to deliver edge-blended, razor-sharp images onto a vast 4.7 x 3.5 metre portrait canvas, required numerous calculations and a leap of faith on the part of the retailer.
Harrods have long adopted a progressive policy towards digital technology, largely due to the enthusiasm shown by Harrods chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed himself, and the store's 'Door 5' represented a significant opportunity for them to set a new benchmark for the way retailers communicate to their customers. As a result, trials were successfully conducted by consultants, Wow Factor.
"We always thought this was a very dramatic space in which to give brands more exposure and provide a highly dynamic solution," said Guy Cheston, Harrods' director of advertising sales and sponsorship. "Originally we were looking at a landscape rather than portrait format but it didn't fit within the architecture," he explained. "Besides, we wanted the display to be identified as a digitised poster medium rather than widescreen TV. The beauty of the system is in its flexibility - which enables advertisers to timeshare, and for Harrods to use the site to announce book signings, upcoming sales and so on."
Cheston added that the decision to use Christie has proven entirely justified. "It's a high integrity product, and because they they were both manufacturer and installer, the response time has been good and the advice we have received excellent. The whole set-up was very professionally managed and went a lot smoother than expectation."
The giant screen is the most recent addition to Harrods' digital advertising portfolio which comprises of a synchronised network of over 70 LG plasma screens covering key departments and escalators throughout its seven floors of retail space, triggered by different scheduling software.
A large portion of the cost, however, was in the removal of pre-existing displays. "Two walls either side were poster sites and a lot of the cost was spent in replicating these spaces with the original art deco architecture - we didn't want a mix of media."
One of the men tasked with overseeing the technological developments was Alex Germanis, Harrods' advertising sales operations manager, marketing & communications. He knew that the criteria for this site was an exacting one, and that it would be difficult to source graphics cards with the capability of playing media across this massive resolution, taking into account the edge blend.
"We are fortunate this project took two and a half years because the technology to do all this simply wasn't available back then," he reasons. The resolution is enormous - it's higher than high-definition. "However, we have managed to compress the media without degradation and have maintained the frame rate."
Christie assisted with the calculations to enable Harrods to evolve an exact media specification. Both computer channels output 1400 x 1050 pixels each - the native resolution of the Christie S+16K's - with a minimum overlap between the two projected images of 128 pixels, set within the graphics card. With the overlap, this creates a total usable resolution of 1400(W) x 1972(H) pixels ... or a total height-to-width ratio of 1.40857.
The image is projected over a nine-metre distance from a specially louvre-vented enclosure - designed and fabricated by Vivid Interiors - on the facing first floor balcony, with additional offset fans further dissipating the heat.
Alex Germanis states that the decision to use the S+16K's was also the fact they could use the inbuilt mechanical lens shift rather than have to rely on keystoning.
"As the projectors are side-by-side in the enclosure one has been inverted
