Overview
Digital Projection International (DPI), an Emmy® Award-winning manufacturer of high-performance projection systems, announced that Tekamaki, LLC employed 9 LIGHTNING 35HD projectors at the Electronic Arts booth at E3 2005. The resulting unique display helped earn Electronic Arts the award for best booth at the show.

Setup
California based Tekamaki, LLC, a DPI rental and staging customer, was responsible for the audio/video staging for the award-winning booth. Using 9 LIGHTNING 35HD projectors, Tekamaki created a full 360-degree edge blended cylindrical image on a 13.5' tall screen measuring 60' in diameter and 188' in circumference. Under the direction of Rod Swanson at EA, Arnson graphics was engaged to create the 10,053 pixel-wide, 720p high definition presentation that was shown in the booth. The video was sliced into (9) 720P sections and delivered via HD-SDI by (9) Qubit servers, to each of 9 Digital Projection MMS-1000's (multi-media switchers). The MMS 1000's applied accurate geometric warp correction, soft edge blend, and up scaling to 1080P, before passing the HD signals via fiber-optic DVI, to each of the 9 LIGHTNING 35HD projectors.

Results
The resulting display created a user experience that impacted the full peripheral vision of the viewers. Bob Loney, a Tekamaki partner and lead projectionist for the EA booth, commented: "visual elements happening screen front often traveled the screen and concluded screen rear. Comets circled the booth circumference to explode across the entire screen." Working behind the scenes, the nine MMS-1000's from Digital Projection accommodated warp shaping, edge blend geometry, edge feathering, and image scaling up to 1080P. To keep the signal completely digital, Digital Projection's DVI-based fiber optic interface, DigiLink, was used to transmit the signals to the LIGHTNING 35HD projectors. The all-digital signal-chain was kept very clean and simple to ensure the highest image quality.

Conclusion
After an intense pre-planning and testing process, the display was nearly ready for final staging by Tekamaki. Two days prior to the client demo, it was determined that the MMS-1000 needed a firmware enhancement in order to support the unique application. Bob Loney contacted Keith Frey at Digital Projection and within two days, a revised firmware was tested in Atlanta and forwarded to Loney. "Thirty minutes after installing the new operating system, we had a two-image edge blend on a curved wall looking tighter than most edge blends I've seen on flat screens. I've set up a lot of video screens over the years but after all the prep and set up work, seeing this picture was fun, even exhilarating - clearly one of the most memorable projects I've been involved with" Loney said. Todd Arnson of Arnson Communications explained : "After screening the material hundreds of times through the various production and post-production processes...I still found myself on the show floor thoroughly entertained and immersed in this unique promotional moment." Ultimately, Electronics Arts was pleased with the results as well. Nancy Fong, vice president of creative services at Electronic arts said: "Matt Ward and his crew [including Loney, Joe Conway and Ron Machado] at Tekamaki were instrumental in bringing our vision of a surround video experience to reality. This year's booth and video presentation was the most ambitious the company has attempted…winning the Best Booth of E3 Award validated the positive feedback we received from internal and external parties."

In addition to the 35HD utilized at E3, other projectors in Digital Projection's PROFESSIONAL series include the LIGHTNING 30sx+, LIGHTNING 35HD-T, TITAN 6000sx+, and HIGHLite sx+ and HD products.

###

™Digital Light Processing and DLP are registered trademarks of Texas Instruments
Emmy is a registered trademark of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

________________________________________________
About Digital Projection International

Founded in 1989, Digital Projection International (DPI) has been instrumental in the development and application of Digital Light Processing™ technology by Texas Instruments for projection systems. DPI introduced the world’s first 3-chip DLP™ projector in 1997, and has since delivered expert system engineering and world-class customer services, thus maintaining its position as a digital imaging pioneer.