AV and speed came together recently as Draper Group LTD and Christie hosted a karting event at Daytona Sandown Park in Esher, England, near London.
Draper invited several integrators to spend the afternoon learning about the latest projection and screen technology, followed by an evening of high speeds and sharp turns on the track.
Preparing for the race with some barbecue.
One of the main solution focuses was dealing with ambient light. Draper had three FocalPoint screens with basic 1.0 gain Matt White viewing surfaces, with Christie DHD630-GS, DWU1075-GS, and Captiva DHD400S projectors. An electric Premier drop down screen with TecVision MS1000X ALR was mounted to the top of the FocalPoint frames. This allowed the ambient light-rejecting surface to be lowered over the white surface, demonstrating the difference in performance under light. The impact was immediate.
“Watching the washed out image be gradually replaced by a beautiful picture not affected by the ambient light was amazing,” said one of the participants. “It definitely brought home the importance of picking the right solution for the room—and underlined the range of solutions that are offered through Draper.”
Draper national audio visual consultant manager Steve Cook and Visual Displays Ltd founder Greg Jeffreys provided training and advice on screen selection. Steve and Greg have both been involved with development of projection standards for AVIXA.
“Having Steve and Greg on hand to provide some context for what the integrators were experiencing was a real positive,” said Joseph Burke, Draper’s European and UK manager. “Their deep knowledge of the projection environment gave everyone real insight into how to get the most out of a projection system.”
Attendees also got their first look at two new products offered by Draper Group—the HRT Huddle Hub One, and Connectrac. Both are offered exclusively through Draper Group Ltd, and both were a big hit.
The Huddle Hub One is a collaborative tool that allows meeting participants to wirelessly connect individual devices to share documents, presentations, and more.
ConnecTrac is an under-carpet wireway that allows cable management to be added to a room without cutting into the floor.
And then it was time for the racing.
Ready to roll.
The event was a two hour endurance race with teams of 3 drivers. Intermittent rain made conditions even more challenging. After several lead changes, the Draper team of Nick Collingwood, UK warehouse and customer service manager; UK business development manager John Belcher; and Joseph Burke took the checkered flag.
“The kart racing was an absolute blast,” Joseph said. “High speeds, close-in racing, a bit of rain to up the challenge—it was a great way to round out the event.”
It was such a success that Draper Group is already planning the next race event. Stay tuned for an announcement when we have details finalized. Meanwhile, if you want to be included in the next event, contact Joseph Burke at Draper Group Ltd.
