Oriented towards use by the general public, the Attenborough Studio incorporates five full-sized digital screens and 5.1 surround sound. The primary presentation screen is the 130in dnp NWA rear-projection screen from Paradigm AV (with 3,200mm focal length), trimmed to provide a viewing area of 2,561mm x 1,456mm. With a projection booth already pre-determined, IVC worked with Paradigm to specify an Easy-Erect dual-mirror projection rig mounted vertically, folding the beams from the Projection Design HD projector off the mirrors.
Content to be displayed includes interactive pre-automated shows, live presentations with HD camera feeds from a museum lab, inputs from satellite codecs, up-converted videoconferencing hubs and purpose-created computer graphics. Switching is via a 32 x 32 Extron matrix switcher with Panasonic camera control and vision mixing.
Other technology chosen for the project included HaiVision’s low-latency MAKO-HD, which will allow scientists working in their lab to communicate in HD and answer audience members’ questions without needing to be present.
Equipment from Kramer, Sennheiser, Samsung, DPA, Yamaha, Biamp, Sonifex, Cloud, Bose, Violet Audio, Glensound and many others was also specified for the Attenborough Studio.
“Along with key manufacturers and consultants, including Cultural Innovations, Panasonic, Medialon, Bose, Adder, Dell, Halivision and Paradigm, we have worked together to develop a unique facility which is essentially a broadcast studio and presentation suite in one,” commented Patrick Stewart-Blacker, business development manager at IVC Media. “The provision to integrate live audio and an outside broadcast feed or fly away standard-definition video conference system will enable scientists working within the Darwin Centre research labs to present their work to the general public for the first time, which is a particularly exciting proposition.”
