Two Vista Spyder X20-0808 video processors are adding visual punch to the sporting events broadcast at The Owner's Box, the sports bar located in the new Omni Dallas Hotel. A sports lover's dream with patio dining and oversized seating areas, The Owner's Box lets patrons feel the luxury and excitement of being a team owner in a sports-mad city that includes the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.
Walker Engineering, Inc. of Irving, Texas, collaborated with the City of Dallas, Matthews Southwest Developers and Omni Hotels on the project.
A glass floor displays newspaper clippings of the Dallas sports scene with a 'jumble wall' comprising 13 Panasonic full HD displays presenting dynamic visual content in a random, patchwork-style pattern.
"Each of the 13 displays operates independently or all of them can work in tandem so one game image fills the entire wall through the push of a button or as part of a timed sequence," said Kip Kendrick, business development and manager of AVL systems for Walker Engineering. "Content is refreshed constantly and we can even brand the wall with vendor or corporate visitor logos: The Omni Dallas Hotel logo 'pops off' the wall during transitions and the ESPN Radio logo is haloed onto the wall when the network sets up live broadcasts from the bar."
The jumble wall is fed content from a Blu-ray player, DirecTV, Apple and Windows computers, and a media server via a Crestron Digital Media switcher. By attaching two linked Spyders to the Digital Media switcher's inputs and outputs, "the power of the Spyder is harnessed anywhere in the bar they see fit," Kendrick added.
For example, there are five large-format projection screens above the stunning 60-foot ice bar. "We take advantage of the power of Spyder to show college and pro games on those displays. With the push of a button, the bartender can change the performance mode from unaltered video content to a wave effect - heightening fan excitement."
Kendrick has used Spyder for worship market installations and live staging and chose Spyder for its stability and ability to pixel map and manipulate high-definition content across 13 screens spread apart. He said the 18-foot by 13-foot jumble wall defies the current trend toward "zero mullions" and, instead, assembles its 13 displays with varying and substantial distances among them.
"We imported a CAD dimensional drawing to Spyder, and it's incredible how it takes 1920 by 1080 images and maps them across 13 screens with zero degradation to the video," Kendrick continued. "We ran a Discovery Channel Space Shuttle documentary in full-screen mode in the entire bar - the rocket blast off was so cool to see! It's also fun watching hockey and NASCAR moving from screen to screen."
Kendrick praised Vista's "support and commitment," provided by Ryan Strope. "Ryan was there during the hotel's opening day to certify that everything was fully operational. We're very thankful that Vista captured our vision and made it a reality."
Jerry Roskin of Walker Engineering was the lead project manager. Eric Dell and Troy Morgan at PanTech Design programmed Crestron touch panels for Spyder control - creating a GUI display of the 13 jumble wall screens and Spyder's display options.
A Meyer surround sound system provides seven audio zones for patrons to listen to games or enjoy background music.
