University of Hong Kong adopts Mirage SST

Photos courtesy of Wincomn Technology

Over the last two decades, the University of Hong Kong’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine has grown and developed to become a leading medical school in the region. The rapid expansion of its programs and an increase in student numbers have prompted the renowned Faculty to embark on a major expansion and development plan to meet the needs of teaching and research for the future.

This large-scale development includes the construction of a new annex block that comprises offices and meeting rooms, as well as a Faculty boardroom that can accommodate approximately 300 people. The design of the boardroom is inspired by the human anatomy and features panoramic views of the ocean and lush greenery through massive glass windows. The building has been completed recently and boasts state-of-the-art visual technologies for multiple purposes ranging from conferences, lectures, technical seminars to performance and entertainment activities.

Among the highlights is the deployment of a Christie^® Mirage SST RGB pure laser projection system to present lifelike visuals of medical content, as well as to augment an LED video wall that serves as the main display in the boardroom. The projector was installed and commissioned by Christie’s longstanding partner, Wincomn Technology.

Tony Chen, general manager, Wincomn Technology, explains, “The Faculty boardroom serves as a world-class academic facility for medical academics to conduct research and for teaching purposes. The projection system that they were looking for needed to be installed in a small space, and yet achieve high brightness, accurate color reproduction, and incredible image fidelity. After a detailed on-site survey, we concluded that the Christie Mirage SST is the perfect choice for this venue.”

With its innovative fiber-coupled projection head, the Mirage SST provides several design and installation advantages. Its 35,000-lumen output, small form factor, and ultra-low BTU output provides the freedom for it to be installed in tight, challenging environments without big infrastructure modifications such as duct work for cooling. The projector head, weighing just 51 kilograms, can be located away from the chilling equipment so that noise will not impact the show quality. Another benefit is its ability to reproduce rich blacks, which is very useful for displaying medical content such as CT scans, X-rays and MRI scans.

Overcoming on-site challenges

The Wincomn team had to overcome two main challenges during the installation process. Firstly, images displayed on a 5.5-meter (18 foot) screen positioned in front of the ultra-large glass windows have to be carefully calibrated to minimize the impact of strong backlighting. Secondly, the Mirage SST needs to be fitted in a very small space about 14 meters (46 feet) away from the screen. This requires meticulous planning and execution to ensure that the projector can be easily operated and maintained despite its restrictive placement.

Chen explains, “The client has strict requirements for noise control and heat dissipation. Therefore, the projector head had to be installed in a very narrow space just above the doors of the boardroom with only its lens exposed. This makes the task of making fine adjustments to the projector head quite a challenge. Additionally, the chiller unit is fitted in a room situated one level below the boardroom, so the process of connecting the projector head and the chiller using a fiber-optic cable was a tremendous undertaking.”

Despite the challenges, Wincomn completed the installation process within a week, thanks to the team’s thorough planning and rich experience in delivering complex projects in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China. “The Mirage SST is a wonderful addition to the boardroom as it complements the existing LED video wall by providing the Faculty of Medicine with greater flexibility in teaching,” Chen says. “The projector has sufficient brightness and more effects can be added to the venue, such as 3D images, for a more immersive experience.”

Expanding its use in the future

Moving forward, Chen expects the Faculty to utilize the projector more frequently as there is a need for more 3D visuals to be shown during lessons. “This is where the Mirage SST really shines due to its ability to deliver high frame rates of 120fps at 4K resolution for detail-rich visuals. The Faculty is already working on what the 3D content requirements will be and how best to enhance the current systems that are in place to meet these requirements,” he added.

April Qin, sales director for China, Enterprise, Christie, notes, “The University of Hong Kong’s Li Kar Shing Faculty of Medicine has always strived for excellence in medical research and education driven by top researchers and students. We are delighted that it has chosen the Mirage SST RGB pure laser projector for its new boardroom to display high quality 3D images. With its fiber-coupled, ultra-compact and lightweight projection head, the Mirage SST offers unmatched system design freedom and installation flexibility.”

Ideal for various applications including planetariums, domes, theme park attractions and projection mapping spectaculars, the Mirage SST is equipped with a long-lasting, silent and reliable light source that offers 30,000 hours of virtually maintenance-free operation to 80% brightness. Available in 35,000 or 50,000 lumens variants, it is also capable of reproducing an expansive color gamut that approaches full Rec. 2020, providing content creators an entirely new palette to choose from, while audiences benefit from stunning, true-to-life visuals.

The Mirage SST comes with in-built Christie Twist^™ image warping and blending software and is compatible with Christie Mystique^® ​automated camera-based alignment software solution. The projector can also be connected to the Christie Terra^® SDV​oE input board​ for direct interfacing of up to 4K AV content and control over 10G Ethernet for highly flexible, scalable and efficient AV system integration.