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Seeking a guiding principle for its 21st-century urban renewal plan, the city of Kitakyushu has adopted the ideal of "an international, technological city blessed with waterfront and greenery" for its renaissance. The Kitakyushu International Conference Center is the centerpiece of the city's convention facilities and a vital part of the ongoing urban renewal plan. Since its completion in 1990, the conference center has hosted a number of events and earned widespread praise as a forum for scholarly and industrial exchange. It has also earned recognition as an international conference center capable of accommodating high-definition presentations. These factors, along with its capability to provide simultaneous interpretation in four different languages, have served to attract a wide variety of conferences and conventions from around the world. However, with the world of technology advancing at a dizzying pace, the center had found it challenging to keep up with the latest ICT (information and communication technology) in recent years.

"Methods of giving presentations have changed since this facility first opened, and devices like computers and video players have greatly evolved, meaning that we were unable to completely meet our customers' needs with our previous system", says Mr. Uchida, discussing the challenges the center faced in keeping up with changes in technology. In addition, they had been receiving customer complaints about problems such the darkness of the screen and the need to lower the lights in order to see the projected images.

In autumn 2007, the center began considering replacement of its current projectors and contacted several companies, including Panasonic, about the possibility of purchasing new projectors. Conditions included "brighter and crisper image quality," "the ability to continue using current equipment as much as possible," and "reasonable overall cost." A demonstration of Panasonic's projector, which consisted of placing a PT-DW7000 next to the existing projectors and comparing the way they operate under the same conditions, was carried out. The obvious difference when looking at the images projected on the three side-by-side screens required no explanation. With powerful 6000 lm brightness packed into a compact body, and other attractive features such as low power consumption and low running costs (including maintenance costs), the conference center's management chose Panasonic's projectors. Mr. Uchida says that the staff were delighted with the new system as well. "Previously, we had to turn the lights way down to see the screen, which made it difficult for people to take notes. Now we're able to provide guests with a more comfortable environment."



A wide variety of optional lenses made it possible to make the best choice, under the center's precondition of using the exiting projection mirror. Thanks to a full range of adjustment capabilities including optical axis shift, it was also possible to use the existing rear projection adjustment stand. This is just one example of how Panasonic projectors meet customer demands. With versatile equipment, customers can make full use of existing equipment to attain the most up-to-date setup at the lowest possible cost.

Three side-by-side rear-projection screens (200 inches each) in the main hall are usually used to present a wide variety of materials. In addition, there is a giant 370-inch screen that can be raised and lowered using an electrical motor. Mr. Uchida notes that "projecting promotional videos, for example, on one giant screen has greater impact than projecting the same image on three screens placed side by side." The PT-DW10000 projector is used on such occasions. It is usually kept in the projection room at the rear of the main hall, but it is portable and can be moved to the event hall next to the main hall if necessary. The projector has contributed to the local community, says Mr. Uchida. "When we invited the public to a film screening, everyone was very impressed with the powerful impact of crisp high-definition images on the giant screen."

"In a large-scale convention hall, the picture on the screen is
essential," says Mr. Uchida. Just as ICT (information and communication technology) is becoming a mainstay of college lectures, methods of makinｓg presentations at academic conferences are also changing-from overhead projectors to computers, from still images to moving images. Panasonic is able to provide effective solutions to such changes in the technological realm. We hope to continue making contributions to the growth and development of the Kitakyushu International Conference Center.