Long Vi Palace

Staging a wedding or event in the grand ballroom of Long Vi Palace – a popular wedding and convention center located in Hanoi – is no longer a mundane affair ever since it embraced state-of-the-art projection technology. The walls of this ballroom have been transformed into a large projection canvas that enthralls guests and visitors with bright, vibrant visuals.

This visually-stunning, 270-degree projection mapping showcase has been made possible using 14 Christie® HS Series 1DLP® laser projectors. Installed and commissioned by Christie’s Vietnamese partner S.AV, the projectors include the D13HD-HS and D16HD-HSmodels capable of full HD resolution and brightness levels of 13,000 and 15,750 ISO lumens respectively.

Strategically fitted on the ceiling of the luxuriously furnished 1,600-square meter ballroom, the projectors present vivid and lifelike images that complement the themes of various events. Four Christie D16HD-HS projectors are used for mapping contents on the ballroom’s front wall comprising the main stage, while 10 Christie D13HD-HS projectors provide awe-inspiring projections on the two side walls of the ballroom to collectively present an amazing 270-degree panoramic projection. With this elaborate set up, Long Vi Palace has become the first wedding and convention center in Vietnam to be equipped with advanced laser projection technology for 3D projection mapping.

“As the leading hospitality venue in Vietnam, we’re always looking at deploying cutting-edge technologies to offer the most unique experience to our customers by delivering breathtaking visuals and creating a brand new atmosphere every single time,” said Cao Bao Ngoc, owner of Long Vi Palace. “After a shootout where we put several projector models through their paces, the Christie HS Series emerged as our projector of choice due to its high-brightness, color accuracy, form factor and total cost of ownership.”

Working at a breakneck pace
Ngo Xuan Minh, Director of S.AV, recalled that the project was executed at a breakneck pace as his company was only given two months to complete the entire installation in time for the peak wedding season. “It was very challenging due to the tight deadlines, and on top of that, the ballroom had to remain operational almost every day for numerous events and functions despite the fact that installation works were being carried out,” he said.

This included building a structure above the ceiling of the ballroom so that the weight of the ceiling-mounted projectors and other AV equipment could be adequately supported. “Even though we had to work around the clock to complete this project on time, we had no complaints because we’re proud to be among a handful of systems integrators in Vietnam that possess the capability to design, install and execute large-scale projection mapping projects.”

Attesting to Ngoc’s choice of projectors used for the 3D projection mapping, Minh said the Christie HS Series, with its compact and lightweight form factor and omnidirectional capabilities coupled with long-lasting laser light source and BoldColor Technology (that creates the color balance needed to reproduce colorful images without sacrificing brightness), is the perfect projector model that fulfils all the requirements for this major project.

“This is the largest indoor 3D projection mapping installation that we’ve worked on in Vietnam and we are very pleased with the effects. This gives us the experience and confidence to undertake more projects of such scale in the future.”

High-quality contents essential for ballroom’s complete transformation
Both Ngoc and Minh share the view that while projection technology is vital, there is a need to create high-quality and engaging contents to fully maximize the HS Series’ capabilities. Thus, local avant-garde production firm Eclips Pictures​ was roped in to design and produce the visual content used for the ballroom’s 3D projection mapping showcase.

According to Nguyen Hong Vy, Managing Director, Eclips Pictures, the projection mapping project for Long Vi Palace – with a resolution of 28,000 x 1080 pixels – is the largest that the company has embarked on and features a variety of content ranging from classical to modern, fantasy to reality. Each theme has a different story and all aspects of the production are meticulously planned to create the best outcomes.

“The inspiration for the contents comes from Long Vi Palace’s ballroom itself – its architecture is very suitable for the implementation of projection mapping, and the extent of the projections is large enough to overwhelm the audience,” said Vy. “Moreover, after conducting the first demo with S.AV, I’m astonished by the performance of the Christie HS Series projectors, which exceeded our expectations with a strong display of lighting and colors that make the ballroom more vibrant. This provided the impetus for us to deliver contents that can be fully maximized by the quality of the projected images on the large projection canvases.”

The result speaks for itself
The results saw the D13HD-HS and D16HD-HS projectors supplying bright, accurate and realistic images for weddings and conventions held in the ballroom, which draw audiences further into the theme of events. Through the comprehensive application of other audiovisual elements, the shows exuded a dreamlike quality with breathtaking effects, culminating in a highly satisfying multimedia experience.

“I’m very happy and satisfied with the help of S.AV throughout the process by advising and figuring out solutions, as well as working very effectively during the installation. It only took us two months to negotiate and bring this project to completion, which I think is very difficult for any other systems integrator in Vietnam to achieve such efficiency in a very professional manner,” said Ngoc. I’m also pleased to note that the performance of the Christie HS Series projectors inspires confidence and it’s a delight to see how the ballroom can be amazingly transformed with different projection contents; making the experience always new and different to customers.”

Ernest Bakenie, Director of Sales for Asia Pacific, Entertainment, Christie, said, “The innovative deployment of our D13HD-HS and D16HD-HS laser projectors by our partner S.AV has beautifully transformed this ballroom into a magical space packed with stunning visuals that elevate indoor projection mapping to a whole new level. I’m heartened that hospitality venues such as Long Vi Palace see the value to invest in our leading edge laser projection system that’s cost effective and easy to set up for high use applications.”

Engineered to perform and designed to excel, the Christie HS Series is available in different brightness levels from 7,000 to 20,000 lumens and resolutions including WUXGA, HD and 4K UHD. They offer a powerful, reliable and cost-effective option for almost any high-use application, and set the benchmark in brightness, color accuracy, power requirements and form factor. Equipped with Christie’s BoldColor Technology, the Christie HS Series is a viable alternative to similarly bright 3DLP® projectors.