SOLUTIONS: GE GRID IQ GLOBAL INNOVATION CENTER, ONTARIO CANADA
Vivid imagination
A vast new facility designed to promote energy management features 55 rooms, including an impressive Customer Experience Center, writes James Christopher
[INSTALLED]
VIDEO NEC NP-PA550W WXGA LCD 5,500-lumen projector NEC NP-P350W WXGA LCD, 3,500-lumen projector NEC P701 LCD displays NEC P552 LCD public display monitor NEC X551S LED LCD public display monitor NEC NP-PA550W-13ZL WXGA LCD projector Draper Clarion 252195V fixed projection screen SMART Board SBX885IX- MP with UX60 projector SMART Tech 8070i 70in Smart touchscreen Draper 251065 Cineperm fixed projection screen Draper Access Series E electric projection screen
MOUNTING Peerless PRS-UNV projector mount Draper Micro Projector Auto Lift Kramer PTH-1 projector column mounting bracket Peerless ST660 and ST680 universal tilt wall mount Peerless PLCM-1 straight column ceiling mount
The Experience Center features the world’s largest curved Prysm videowall
GE, A GLOBAL leader in energy research and technology, has recently opened its new $40 million, 200,000sqft Markham, Ontario Grid IQ Global Innovation Center dedicated to promoting its next-generation energy management grid. To help bring the centre to
life, GE turned to Canadian integrator Advanced to design and install an integrated AV and IT solution that encompasses 55 rooms including a Customer Experience Center that features a 58ft Prysm LPD videowall. According to Mark Mulford,
president and CEO at Advanced: “This expansive AV and IT installation encapsulates GE’s mantra of Imagination At Work and
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provides an immersive media experience that is vital to convey the forward-thinking technologies GE is developing to improve the efficiency, reliability and security of the world’s electrical grids. We are proud to help GE deliver an unmatched visitor experience.”
The Customer Experience Center brings GE’s Grid IQ technologies to life in a visual and easy-to-understand way. Advanced utilised the Prysm videowall and several wall- mounted touchscreen displays to allow customers to explore GE’s energy technologies firsthand and enable them to discover solutions to improve and enhance their energy grids. In fact, it is the world’s largest curved Prysm videowall,
measuring 58ft (17.7m) wide by 7ft (2.1m) tall and comprising 175 individual tiles with the thinnest seams currently possible. Incorporating Prysm’s LPD (laser phosphor display) technology, the videowall consumes just one-tenth of the power of traditional digital displays. Video processing is provided by the latest Extron Quantum Elite processor and a professional grade multi- zone audio system was installed to complete the media experience. The entire Customer Experience Center features Crestron automation and can be controlled through an iPad.
OUT OF THIS WORLD “GE wanted to create a one- of-a-kind experience for its
customers,” said Mulford. “We worked directly with GE and Prysm on the concept, design and implementation of the system and used the newest cutting-edge AV and presentation technologies. This resulted in one of the world’s most immersive digital environments. To put it simply, there is no other system like this on Earth.” The AV installation
encompasses 54 additional rooms including executive offices, boardrooms, training rooms, meeting rooms and many more. One training room, which can be divided into two separate rooms with a motorised wall, is equipped with a SMART 70in LCD interactive display and an enterprise-grade Polycom videoconferencing system,
AUDIO Polycom SoundStructure C-Series audio conferencing system and VoIP interface Polycom SoundStation IP 7000 conference phone Crown MB 3 miniature boundary microphone AKG C562CM ceiling mic Extron XTRA Series XPA 2001 power amplifier Kramer FC-46xl HDMI audio de-embedder Polycom HDX 8000-720 VC system Shure SLX14/85 wireless bodypack system Shure SLX24/Beta58 wireless mic system TOA P-924MK2 power amp Kramer VM-2Hxl 1:2 HDMI distribution amplifier
CONTROL Crestron TPMC-8X 8.4in wireless touchpanel Crestron CP2E Compact Control System
CONNECTIVITY Extron 60-526-03 Cable Cubby 300S Extron SW8 HDMI and SW8 VGA Ars Auto-Switchers Crestron DVPHD-PRO-R HD digital video processor Crestron DM-TX-201-C DigitalMedia 8G+ Transmitter and receiver Kramer 4 x 2 HDMI matrix switcher