The system integrators were London-based Handy AV, who in just five years have built up an extensive portfolio of clients in their specialist areas of providing a complete systems approach to corporate and retail. Their product supply ranges from their specialist own-branded HandySCREEN and interactive HandyTOUCH displays (such as those showcased at the Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank) as well as mainstream A/V utilities.
Christie's long association with Harrods extends back to the Peter Pan window display during Christmas 2003, which was followed up with the permanent installation of two Christie S+16K 16,0000 lumen DLP projectors, firing onto a vast 4.7 x 3.5m portrait canvas inside Harrods' main Door 5.
Harrods had been attracted to Handy AV's fully interactive display at the Instore Show back in 2004. "They were then invited to our corporate showroom in Islington and were impressed with our partnership status," says Handy AV director, Aubrey Wright.
Following a site survey, Aubrey Wright specified the Christie XGA LCD projector in tandem with their 100in diagonal HandySCREEN Contrast Screen, a high gain lenticular screen with anti-reflective surface. The screen is mounted in a rigid-support 2m x 1.5m custom aluminium frame suspended from the ceiling.
"This produces a wide angle of view without hot spot and it's homogenous in terms of the angle the projector can fire onto the screen," says Wright. "We prefer to run our high contrast screens with highly specified projectors like the Christie LX66A; at Harrods Estates it delivers the image evenly across the media area, unlike the system we replaced."
(Jim Evans)
