Christie laser projectors bring learning to life

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) has come a long way in preparing Singapore’s future workforce with relevant skills for employability and lifelong learning since its founding in 1992. Today, it offers close to 100 courses at its three colleges.

At ITE College Central, creativity and innovation are highly valued in disciplines such as Electronics & Info-Comm Technology, Engineering, and Design & Media. The College has placed emphasis on technology to enhance learning and prepare students for jobs in the digital age. This includes investing in visual and projection solutions that deliver eye-opening presentations or display dynamic data to inspire students and augment their learning experience.

“ITE has been embracing technology including digitalizing our course materials, and visual technologies are the optimal medium for students to embrace these materials in the classroom. As a technical institution, these visual technologies function as an interpreter much like the pen and paper was in yesteryears,” said Joshua Chong, Technical Officer, Venue Management, CDE Division, ITE. “It is therefore essential that our lecture halls and classrooms are equipped with these tools and solutions to elevate learning to a new level.”

To achieve this objective, ITE College Central acquired 12 Christie DHD1075-GS and D16HD-HS 1DLP® laser projectors for deployment across the campus. Venues include lecture halls and a speaker’s chamber for training, executive saloons and event halls for corporate training, and hosting of VIPs during official events, as well as a 300-seat theater known as Theatre@IlluminITE.

ITE College Central is no stranger to Christie visual solutions. It has previously installed four Christie Roadster HD20K-J projectors in the 1,460-seat Tay Eng Soon Convention Centre, which is used for large-scale concerts and events, including the acclaimed ITE Dance Emblazon arts event and the National Day Rally, an annual address that the Prime Minister of Singapore makes to the entire nation to celebrate the country’s independence.

“Our experience with Christie products has been very positive and we’re highly satisfied with the reliability and performance of projectors across the entire product range. Considering that we conduct Design & Media courses in this campus, image quality and color accuracy is of utmost importance,” Chong explained. “We’ve been using Christie projectors for some time and have witnessed that they are able to maintain color accuracy and consistency through time, which is an important factor in venues like ours where multiple projectors are fitted.”

The decision to acquire more Christie projectors came following the highly successful staging of “Milestones: The ITE Bicentennial Emblazon Edition” in October 2019 that commemorated Singapore’s Bicentennial. The concert wowed audiences with an array of stunning multimedia projections using the four Christie Roadster HD20K-J projectors, as well as a Christie D4K40-RGB pure laser projector, a Christie Crimson WU25 3DLP laser projector, and Christie Pandoras Box media systems. The laser projectors and Pandoras Box systems were provided by Christie Singapore and installed by its local partners Electro-Acoustics Systems (EAS) and Total Solution Marketing respectively for this event.

“We were blown away by the amazing visuals and it became clear to us that if ITE College Central were to invest in more projection solutions for the campus, Christie would be the number one choice,” said Chong. “That opportunity came in late 2019 when we needed to replace some of the ageing projectors. After a tender process, Christie’s high-performing projectors once again emerged as our preferred choice.”

Bright and vivid visuals

Since the new projectors are used mainly in lecture halls and training facilities, the technical team at ITE College Central agreed that Christie’s 1DLP® laser-illuminated projectors are most suitable for these venues due to their compact footprint, low noise, high usage reliability and robust light source that can withstand the rigors of daily use.

“The DHD1075-GS and D16HD-HS models are perfect for our needs. We are most impressed with their high brightness output that produces brilliant visuals, while Christie’s patented BoldColor Technology offers enhanced color performance and saturation over standard laser projection. This ensures color accuracy and delivery of optimum visuals every time.”

The projectors were installed by EAS in less than a month during the school holidays to minimize disruption. The systems integrator has worked with ITE College Central on numerous installations in the past, and Chong applauded its technical team for completing the installation process in a very efficient and effective manner.

“Kudos to the EAS team for working fast and smart for the installation and commissioning of the projectors to minimize inconvenience and disruption to ITE College Central’s operations,” he said.

Investing in Christie the right decision

Various users, including teaching staff and students of the Design & Media courses, are enthralled by the newly installed projectors in the various venues. Eagle-eyed students have also noticed a significant improvement in the quality, color accuracy and consistency of displayed images.

“I’m astonished by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our staff and students, who told us that the projectors exhibited amazingly detailed and colorful visuals. They have benefited greatly from these displays as they made course delivery and learning more interesting and engaging. Their endorsement also reaffirms that we’ve made the right decision to invest in Christie products,” Chong noted.

Bensen Ong, sales manager, Enterprise, Christie Singapore, commented: “We are delighted that ITE College Central has placed its trust in our 1DLP® laser projectors. The GS and HS Series have set benchmarks in brightness, color accuracy and form factor, offering a powerful, reliable and cost-effective option for high-use applications. These state-of-the-art visual solutions will serve ITE College Central well into the future.”