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Corporate / BusinessKrombacher Brewery Visitor Center

Germany's leading brewery Krombacher surproses visitors with a stunning floor projection, utilizing Panasonic Projection technology.

4x3 meters on-floor back lit projection
Despite being in operation since 1803 the Germany's number one brewery “Krombacher” is not stuck in a time warp as illustrated by its cutting edge visitor center where the centerpiece is a unique back-lit floor projection system.
Visitors to the center are able to walk across a floor of moving images that are projected from below ground. This is achieved using Panasonic projectors housed in a room that has been dug out of the ground specifically for the visual installation.

This imagery forms a key part of the visitor center that was radically overhauled at a cost of Euros 2.5 million ahead of its official re-opening in November 2006. The refurbishment involved extending the existing building to double its square footage, and incorporating a myriad of state-of-the-art visual equipment. Situated in the main hall, the floor projection system comprises four PT-D5500 DLP™ single-chip projectors that are located in the 1.5m deep purpose-built room which is covered with strengthened glass.
The visitor center of Krombacher Brewery
Panasonic projectors display seamless images onto a 4-meter x 3-meter screen.
These projectors show four separate video sequences (each controlled by PC-based hard disc players synchronized by an external control unit) that combine to make up a single total image across the whole of the 4m by 3m dimensions of glass screen.

People can walk across the "image island" that is projected onto the floor of the visitor center.
The brewery was keen to have the imagery projected onto the floor in this way as it effectively created an island onto which they could highlight the company's natural brewing processes and its close links with the environment while also allowing people to walk over the images without them being obscured.

This link is particularly important to the brewery as it regards the soft spring water, which is low in minerals, as the basis on which the success of its Pilsener beer has been built.
Inside the Krombacher visitor center
Combining materials is the key to the solution.
This underground projection arrangement represented a major project by the marketing agency Videograph GmbH employed to create the new center, and the consultant tasked with delivering its audio visual aspects. At the initial stages the consultant was unsure whether suitably strong glass could be sourced and if a sufficiently clear image could then be projected onto its surface.

Employing some innovative thinking a solution was devised that involved sandwiching a semi-transparent acrylic screen, which would show the image, between a sheet of strong glass (comprising three panes of 12mm thick glass) and another glass plate that could easily be replaced when scratched from visitors' footwear.
Control room with synchronized harddisc videoplayers
Liquid cooling makes the project possible
Another issue the consultant faced was to devise a cooling system for the projectors in such an environment, especially when the equipment would typically be operating from 9am to 5pm five days per week in addition to possible extra usage during internal brewery events.

The choice of Panasonic DLP™ projectors with liquid-cooling helped overcome this problem as they are able to operate in critical environments. Their sealed nature also helps to keep the dust out from the optical components, thereby reducing the need for maintenance, which was another requirement of the brewery in order to reduce ongoing running costs and any potential downtime.

Panasonic was also chosen as the supplier of the visitor center's ceiling- mounted projector that delivers an image approximately 7m across within a cinema-style environment positioned on the perimeter of the main hall, which can be curtained off. The PT-D7700 3-chip DLP™ projector is used to show a three-minute video of the history of the brewery and highlight its various products.

The video footage complements the other visual attractions within the center that are housed within stylish 'waveshaped' cabinets. These contain information on the ingredients used within the various Krombacher brews, details of the brewing process and displays of the brewery's diverse product range. In addition, a number of interactive touch screens enable visitors to view the company's numerous television commercials and product information.

The company's aim with the overhauled visitor center and its unique projection system was to make it an even more appealing environment in order to increase the numbers of customers to the attraction and in the process convert them into advocates of the brewery, thereby helping build the Krombacher brand. It has achieved great success so far as the center is attracting 78,000 visitors per year compared with the previous 30,000. The space is also increasingly used for internal brewery events such as employee briefings, meetings and product presentations to its sales personnel.
Auditorium used for corporate movie projection to visitors and internal personnel. presentations (PT-D7700 projector)



Four PT-D5500 projectors used for the on-floor backprojection
Equipment installed
Location
mediarte Entertainment Works Co., Ltd.  Shibuya, Tokyo Japan
System installed by Medientechnik Thomas (Germany)
Enlarge image for viewing.
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