Crown Perth’s technical triumph
Story: Christopher Holder
DigitalSignage talks tech with Crown Perth’s AV gurus to learn more about Crown’s amazing screen-a-licious sports bar.
We started by asking Crown Perth’s AV Development Analyst, Jeremy Prestwood, what the big idea was for the Sports Bar.
Jeremy Prestwood: The aim was to deliver something that we hadn’t seen before. We wanted to create a dynamic AV experience for our customers. The main screen can split into 16 separate displays with the ability to show numerous channels at any given time.
We currently have up to 64 different sources expandable to 128. These vary from satellite sports channels, IPTV content, internet streams, signage and in-house event feeds.
We have an amazing AV team here at Crown Perth, and the primary tech solution was developed by utilising in-house resources and skills including LED screen requirements. AV and screen installation was overseen by the in-house AV and Projects departments.
The main Crestron DM128 covers the signal routing across the sports bar and the main gaming floor. This is with a mixture of Crestron DM8 cable and fibre.
DigitalSignage: Technically, what was the toughest nut to crack in getting the bar to function as planned?
Cameron Delaney – Crown Perth’s AV & Technical Manager: Probably the biggest hurdle was to figure out a way to hang a five-tonne LED screen within the existing infrastructure. This required additional steel work and temporarily removing sections of the roof in order to install hanging points. In addition, we had to find a way to route 6.5km of signal cable to run the system.
The system has a lot of varied sources which was challenging to integrate. The result was to give seamless control of the screen and sound system to staff working behind the bar with minimal day to day AV involvement.
DigitalSignage: What’s the Sports Bar like when it’s really heaving?
Jeremy Prestwood: As an example, for the EPL Cup Final we had 10 different matches simultaneously on the large screens and we had well over 1000 customers in the area for a major sporting event like that.
DigitalSignage: What’s some of the tech heroes of the install?
Cameron Delaney: We utilise a lot of tvONE equipment across the complex as we find it reliable and suitable for our needs. The tvONE CORIOmaster was chosen as a primary main screen window processor as it fulfilled the flexible input and window layout requirements, such as rotation of digital signage to portrait mode, multi-source preview and confidence monitoring, and the ability to be used for live events in this space. We have found this beneficial on large-scale events such as sporting launches and promotions.
DigitalSignage: How do you address audio for a Sports Bar with so many different source?
Cameron Delaney: Actually, our main challenge with the audio was to provide sufficient coverage over a large crowd without interfering with general gaming operations. Primary audio is from a line array that covers the bar area and can be fed from any signal source. There are two additional zones that cover the smaller side bar and TAB outlet. The room also has auxiliary inputs for live events. This ensures the patron playing nearby gaming machines can still enjoy their experience while a major sporting event is happening in a close proximity.
Crown Perth: crownperth.com.au
Corsair Solutions (tvONE): (03) 9005 9861 or www.corsairsolutions.com.au