"We need to create a cutting edge and most impressive visual experience to one of the most demanding audiences possible."
That was the briefing provided by the organizers of the International Collegiate Programming Contest – which is like the World Cup
for software developers – for the grand opening ceremony.

Warsaw Congress Hall in Poland

The world's top class software developers and company representatives of the powerhouses of the IT industry are difficult to impress – but that was the aim of the hosting organization the University of Warsaw.
The Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science with its historic Congress Hall, one of Poland’s best known heritage sites, was chosen as a venue – and then it was packed with cutting edge technology, including large-venue projectors to achieve the most impressive visual experience possible.

Piotr Szabliñski, one of Poland’s leading artists, created a concept for a show that turned the historic site of the
Warsaw Congress Hall into a futuristic 2D and 3D combined audio-visual experience. For this, he planned to project
to the dome of the hall, to virtually surround the audience with images and sounds.

To realize this dome projection, rental and staging company WIZJA planned to install 12 powerful 20,000-lm projectors
right in the middle of the audience. Key technical factors that needed to be overcome were:

- 20,000 lm of high brightness and high resolution
- A compact body to avoid reducing the seating capacity
- Low noise that wouldn't disturb the audience
- Low power consumption even with 12 projectors
- The ability to project onto non-flat surfaces
- A multi-lamp system that would provide the maximum safety against a blackout

When WIZJA saw the Panasonic PT-DZ21K Series at the Integrated Systems Europe 2012 (ISE 2012), a systems exhibition
which was held in Amsterdam in January 2012, they realized this was the projector they had been looking for;
a product that combines all of the technical specifications required for this job.

The decision was made to use the PT-DZ21K at the ACM-ICPC Opening Ceremony after planning and testing
were completed with engineering samples.
Skilled SEs from Panasonic System Communications Company Europe visited the site a number of times
to provide WIZJA with support, including technical guidance for installation and adjustment.
A new Geometry Manager Pro software* was used for the dome installation.
The Geometry Manager Pro software provides useful features for multi-projector setups,
and its flexible and complex geometric adjustment capability suits a wide variety of screen shapes.

"The PT-DZ21K was without alternative for this event" said Lukasz Nowak, Technical Manager at WIZJA,
"as we needed a small and quiet projector that provides failure safe operation. The PT-DZ21K had all the required specs
and the multi-lamp system provided best safety against a blackout."

3 PT-DZ110X projectors created long vertical images for the side screen.

Double-stacked PT-DZ21K projectors provided
brighter images on the dome.

* The Geometry Manager Pro software is included in the optional upgrade kit for the PT-DZ21K Series (PT-DZ21K/DS20K).
For more details, please visit the product page.

At the Opening Ceremony, 12 PT-DZ21K projectors and 6 PT-DZ110X projectors lit up the Warsaw Hall dome,
surrounding the audience and the side screens of the main stage with both 2D and 3D images.

When the curtains opened, beautiful images from Panasonic projectors complete with surround sound, dancers and fluorescent body paint on stage and throughout the venue impressed not only the nearly 3,000 guests, it also pleased the organizers of the University of Warsaw who chose this complex concept to represent the history and presence of Poland as a country in the most modern and future oriented way possible.

The dome was lit by the Panasonic PT-DZ21K projectors