The 3,800 facility administrators and kidney care professionals who attended DaVita Villagewide conference are busy. The multimedia content displayed at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in Maryland needed to be flawless. In the end, Freelance Technical Services (FTS) pulled it off by designing a Christie Spyder X80-based video solution.
[related]Tim Durr, owner of Freelance Technical Services, designed the video package for Villagewide, served as video engineer for the show, and provided the screen switching system.
Using one of two recently purchased Spyder X80s multiviewer video processors to manage the content, Durr filled the venue’s long wall with video projection: two 66 x 20-foot screens flanking a central set featuring window frames with printed graphics and four additional projection screens.
The team – with input from Durr – selected the Spyder X80 multi-screen windowing processor to manage the show’s dual link 3840 x 1080 content and the required inputs and outputs.
Inside the DaVita Villagewide Project
“We had bigger screens and more projectors this year,” said Jay Hawkins, director of the Wisdom Team at DaVita, Inc. in Denver. “We had a lot of sources, a lot of destinations, and a lot of things going on. Tim [Durr] felt the Spyder X80’s ease of use and functionality were much better suited to what we needed to do.”
“No other processor allows us to use any type of signal connectors we want on inputs and outputs: Display Port, HDMI, SDI,” Durr says.
“We were mapping blended content to the screens and scenic elements as well as downstage confidence monitors,” adds Durr.
“We had eight 3840 inputs from a server system to connect all the screens and deliver a single look. And there were six inputs from 1920 x 1080 computers and two more from the HD cameras’ IMAG feeds. Before, we would have needed multiple video processors to do this but a single Spyder X80 could handle the job.
“No other processor allows us to use any type of signal connectors we want on inputs and outputs: Display Port, HDMI, SDI. Everything is 4K compatible so users have the flexibility to choose any input to bring in any signal type. The same for the outputs. This is huge for us.”
Was Christie Spyder X80 the Right Choice for DaVita Villagewide?
Hawkins says the Spyder X80 worked as expected and the decision to use X80 made the project easier thanks to all the features and capabilities it offers.
Durr, owner of four Christie Spyder X20s and two Spyder X80s, says Spyder X20 operators will find the X80’s software interface and GUI controls are exactly the same on the X80.
“Building a smooth and seamless experience for our teammates who attend the conference is crucial to us.
“We want them to leave remembering the content, messages and experience, rather than thinking about all the technical aspects of the event, and that is what X80 let us do for them,” he says.
Durr, owner of four Christie Spyder X20s and two Spyder X80s, says Spyder X20 operators will find the X80’s software interface and GUI controls are exactly the same on the X80.
“You can program the same as you would on the X20 so the operator base is already there. Christie didn’t re-invent the wheel – they just made the wheel bigger. Christie is also quick to modify and update the features of the X80. They always do a really good job of keeping systems up-to-date with the feature set you need.”
