Christie

CYPRESS, CA – (October 5, 2010) – Millions of commuters and tourists trust the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority to transport them safely and efficiently to their destination every day and Christie^® technology helps deliver that promise. Twelve Christie HD10K-M digital projectors and four Christie Vista Spyder video processors installed in the Washington DC METRO Command Center and the Rail Operations Center (ROC) enable operations staff to monitor the system in real time 24 hours a day and react immediately to any situation.

“The Command Center is the heart of the Metro and the staff needs an effective way to communicate with the Metro Transit Police and other agencies,” noted Eric Choucroun, AV account executive at Washington Professional Systems (WPS), who was responsible for audio video integration. “Command Center staff also views rail-specific content called traction power maps, communicates via HD videoconferencing, and monitors local news and sports to anticipate train traffic flow.”

Choucroun’s calculations revealed Christie’s HD10K-M projector as the superior visual solution over other technologies based on cost of ownership. “The fact that I could get 10,000 ANSI lumens on 110 volts cinched the deal. I overheard some of the Metro executives say, ‘Wow! They’re so clear. Can you believe this?’”

Three flat panel displays were installed in the Command Center along with two Christie HD10K-M 3-chip DLP® projectors and a Spyder 344. “The projectors, mounted on the ceiling in front of the screen, are edge-blended and the imagery is excellent,” added Choucroun.

Located 15 feet above and directly behind the Rail Operations Center with a large glass wall in front, the command center continually shares data with the ROC. Three projection surfaces were created on the ROC wall with the center, slightly concave screen, measuring 50ft x 20ft. A Spyder 380 and Spyder 359, along with three sets of stacked Christie HD10K-M projectors, display video from thousands of security cameras and the trains, destinations and switches in operation.

To the left of the center screen, two Christie HD10K-M projectors display a second traction power map on a 12ft x 8ft screen. To the right, on a similar 12ft x 8ft screen, another Christie HD10K-M shows scrolling text and communications between the operators and the ROC. Both screens are controlled by a single Spyder 365. The final Christie HD10K-M is at the back of the operations center, positioned for a future rail-system simulation area.

“All transitions are done with the Spyder in a very cool way with sliding windows, dissolves, unique transitions and other effects. The Spyder is the engine behind that flexibility,” said Choucroun. “Using a hardware-based system like the Spyder was a no-brainer for this 24/7 application and I could not have done this project without the Christie team. This has been so successful that I am using the same Christie projectors and the same Spyder models for many similar installations.”