The Mitxelena is a big auditorium and has a requirement for high brightness. The F82 fulfils this with its 10,000 lumens output. This guarantees that the audience can always see a clear, sharp and detailed image, even from the rear-most seats.
Another major consideration was flexibility. The 3-chip F82 offers not just brightness, but several options for accurately adjusting colour balance. With ACOP (Advanced Color Optical Processing) technology, colour gamut can be optically changed from standard computer graphics-optimised to REC709 for HD programming. At a venue such as the Mitxelena, where a mix of graphic, video and film content is presented, this was a huge asset and one which, because the ACOP compensation is purely optical rather than electronic, can be exploited without any loss of bit quality.
“Finally, reliability is a key factor. The F82 requires very little maintenance or in-life servicing. Typical lamp life is long, there are no user-serviceable parts inside, and no filters or other parts that need periodic replacement. The 5-year, 24/7 warranty underlines our commitment to achieving a low total cost of ownership.”
Since its inauguration last year, the Mitxelena auditorium has hosted a wide variety of corporate, cultural, academic and artistic events, with the F82 performing flawlessly every time. An added bonus, concludes Sainz, is that the projector goes about its business so discreetly:
“When the unit was installed, the end customer could not believe how such a large, bright and colour-rich image could come from a projector that is so small and makes such little noise. When you are in a building as beautiful as the Bizkaia Aretoa, that is a great advantage.”
As an extraordinary L-shaped structure designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, the Bizkaia Aretoa is the latest addition to the Abandoibarra campus of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Bilbao. Conceived as the University’s ‘Paraninfo’, the building functions as a focal point for conferences, exhibitions, press events, academic meetings, and a multitude of other gatherings promoted by the UPV/EHU.
