Ancient Terracotta Army Exhibit Benefits from Modern Digital Signage

The High Museum in Atlanta is playing back a two-minute HD video presentation on the Qin Dynasty from the Keywest Technology MediaZone to set the mood for the new “The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” exhibit.

Visitors to the new “The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” at the High Museum in Atlanta, www.high.org, are taking a step back to the founding of China’s Qin Dynasty some 2,200 years ago with help from Baker Audio. Baker custom mounted two high-resolution Christie Digital projectors and the MediaZone media player from Keywest Technology. These two displays were stacked and provided an 8’ X 14’ image on opposing walls providing an immersive experience in a highly visual environment.

The exhibit, which runs from Nov. 16, 2008, to April 19, 2009, presents relics from the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi, including some of the famed terracotta warrior figures that stood guard over his tomb.

As visitors enter the exhibit, they are greeted with a continuous, looping HD video presentation about the Qin Dynasty projected from a pair of Christie Digital LW300 WXGA projectors with playback from the Keywest Technology MediaZone. Baker Audio, the system integrator responsible for specifying and installing the setup, selected the MediaZone based on its reputation for superior performance as a robust, dependable media player.

“We were a bit concerned, because the original source for the looping two-minute-and-14-second video was a 720p 24-frame-per-second digital video from an exhibit in Europe. However, the MediaZone ingested the video flawlessly, and has been playing back rolling loops of the video nine hours per day, six days a week since the exhibit opened without a glitch,” said Baker Audio VP Joe Schuch. Scheduling the video for continuous, looping playback was easy with Keywest Technology’s MediaZone software, he added.

While the terracotta soldiers from ancient China are the main attraction, there can be little doubt that the dependable playback of the high-definition video from the MediaZone sets the mood for the entire experience of visitors entering the exhibit.

“Keywest Technology’s MediaZone plays back the HD video we fed it with a good, clean signal, every time as scheduled,” said Schuch. “MediaZone has played a central role in fulfilling all of the objectives of the High Museum for the Qin Dynasty exhibition.”