Digital Projection’s award-winning HIGHlite Laser II projector has been selected by
integrator DJ Willrich to sit at the heart of a brand new visitor attraction, The British
Music Experience in Liverpool, UK. In a city synonymous with musical greats from The
Beatles to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the new interactive museum has transformed
the Grade II listed Cunard Building and is dedicated to showcasing the rich heritage of
British music through costumes, instruments, performance and memorabilia. Digital
Projection technology is harnessed throughout to complement the artefacts and create
a fully immersive experience.
The critically acclaimed venue takes visitors on a chronological journey of British
music history from 1945 to the present day, as told in eight state-of-the-art
interactive exhibition galleries. At the heart of the exhibit space is the main stage
show featuring a five-minute custom-produced performance by Boy George, created
by Graham English and Co, and a large-scale stage hologram – and made possible by
the HIGHlite Laser II, powered by a 7thSense Delta Nano-SDI media server.
Widely praised for its stand-out features and performance by the AV community, the
HIGHlite Laser II is specifically designed for environments needing a long-life
projection solution with installation flexibility, inspiring brightness and remarkable
lifetime cost of ownership. Delivering a stunning 13,000 lumens from a stable solid-
state laser light source which eliminates the need for expensive maintenance and
lamp replacement cycles, it is capable of producing over 20,000 hours of illumination
that far exceeds any lamp-based product.
The team at Digital Projection worked in tandem with Josh Miller from DJ Willrich on
the project. The latter confirms: “The HIGHlite Laser II is really the perfect choice for
this type of setting. The combination of an exceptional bright, long-life illumination
source with a host of other precision features – such as edge blending, multi-projector
tiling and projector controller software allowing full management and operation of
multiple projectors from a single centralized PC based application – and you have a
truly fantastic projector solution for a venue such as this where a seamless experience
is paramount.’
Operable in portrait and landscape mode, the HIGHlite Laser II features a diverse
selection of both fixed and zoom lenses and extensive lens shift to ensure integrators
have maximum flexibility concerning projector placement. Developed with “Fit and
Forget’ directive, installers can deploy the product quickly thanks to the easy to use
software which dramatically reduces setup and configuration time, and with minimal
maintenance throughout the lifetime of the display.
“Alongside outstanding quality, we know that reliability and long-term performance
are also key in professional settings,’ adds Mark Wadsworth at Digital Projection. “We
provide a full five year/20,000 hours warranty for our projectors; such is our
confidence in our unrivalled product offering.’
In addition to the HIGHlite Laser II, two 8,500 lumens Digital Projection E-Vision
Laser 8500 laser projectors are deployed to create an impactful first impression in the
reception area, combining to create a giant Union Jack. A further eight 6,000 lumens
E-Vision Laser 6500 projectors drive rotating images of different UK pop stars using
Dataton Watchpax 2 software in a series of arched window bays to separate the
different exhibition zones.
Integrator DJ Willrich was selected to give The British Music Experience a full
technology and content overhaul, following the move from its original home inside
London’s O2 between 2009 and 2014 to its new iconic Liverpool base. Josh Miller,
Director for the company, says of the refresh: “The projection technology used for the
London BME became dated since the installation in 2009, and we needed the
projected video of Boy George on the HoloNet screen to be bright and punchy –
visitors get up really close to the display, so it had to be visually stunning from all
angles and distances. Digital Projection’s HIGHlite Laser II was the obvious and best
choice to help us achieve this.’
Richard Brown, CTO at 7thSense added: “It’s been a pleasure to work with another
forward-thinking technology partner such as Digital Projection for this project and
we’re really proud of the incredible, immersive experience that our media server
delivers together with the HIGHlite Laser II.’
Olly Taylor, Technical Supervisor at The British Music Experience, concludes: “If you
think about music, it has to be inclusive, that’s very important for us here. We want
people to come, but we also want people to come back.’
