Reimagining Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales with Panasonic RQ25 4K Projectors

Chosen for their durability, flexibility and small form factor, Panasonic’s PT-RQ25 Series of 3-Chip DLP 4K projectors imaginatively bring Hans Christian Andersen to life through a unique and immersive experience.

"This festival is known for breaking the mould and is a highly contemporary way to showcase modern themes from Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. To make these experiences memorable, you not only need the very best in visual quality but also a highly versatile, easy to use, and compact projector in the field. Together with Panasonic, our team has delivered an immersive and engaging experience."

Client: H.C. Andersen Festivals

Location: Odense, Denmark

Product(s) supplied: PT-RQ25K

Challenge

To deliver an impactful projection mapping experience to H.C. Andersen Festivals, bringing a famous, cultural icon’s fairy tales to life in an imaginative, captivating and highly visual way.

Solution

The stunning interpretation of Andersen’s fairy tale, The Nightingale, was achieved using Panasonic’s PT-RQ25K Series of 3-Chip DLP™ 4K projectors – the world’s smallest and lightest projector that delivers 20,000lm of brightness. Its compact size and vivid, high-brightness 4K visuals enables high-quality and flexible projection in any environment. Panasonic’s RQ25 4K projectors have enabled H.C. Andersen Festivals to deliver a breathtaking and memorable experience for visitors.

H.C. Andersen Festivals is one of the largest cultural festivals in Denmark. Running for over 10 years, the week-long festival takes place every August in the City of Odense, and celebrates the famous life work of artist and cultural icon, Hans Christian Andersen. Visitors to the festival experience more than 500 cultural activities which feature themes from his famous fairy tales. Throughout the week, theatre shows; street art and performances; concerts; exhibitions; storytelling; and light shows dazzle visitors in Odense’s streets, parks, and buildings.

Since the festival’s inception, leading Danish audiovisual provider, AV Center, has managed most of the AV activity. This year, working with animation studio, WeCreateMagic/Nojus Sabalis, it was the turn of Odense City Hall – which houses the administrative offices of Odense Municipality – to be transformed through projection mapping using 4K, IP-based projection.

Class-leading brightness and 4K visuals

AV Center required the images projected onto Odense’s City Hall to be 60 meters wide and 30 meters tall. To achieve this, four Panasonic RQ25 3-Chip DLP™ 4K projectors were craned into position on the building opposite. With both buildings in close proximity, the RQ25s were double stacked to ensure AV Center could project to the required height. The 20,000lm of brightness offered by Panasonic’s RQ25 projectors delivers the colour and detail required for such an intricate projection mapping installation, using just four projectors.

Thanks to Quad Pixel Drive – Panasonic’s groundbreaking 2-axis pixel-shifting technology – and AV Center’s projection mapping expertise, this enables each RQ25 projector to seamlessly project stunning blended 4K images onto the façade of Odense City Hall.

The images are further enhanced using Panasonic Dynamic Contrast technology, which delivers high quality contrast ratio and its image-scene analysis which enables more detailed recognition of light and dark areas and better contrast expression. The technology analyses content frame-by-frame and digitally adjusts light output according to the contrast requirements of each scene of the show. The projectors are ideal for intensive use and long-lasting high brightness in outdoor environments.

Perfect mix of flexibility, control and reliability

The show runs five days a week over the course of the festival, with two to three light shows a night, with each animation over 15 minutes long. The set-up time is short, with AV Center only allowed onsite just 25 minutes before the first show in a busy thoroughfare open to the public.

This put immense pressure on the team to set up quickly and efficiently in a confined space, and in extreme temperatures. This is where the small form factor of the RQ25 – which is 40% smaller and 35% lighter than previous models, without compromising image quality – was crucial for the AV Center team.

To maximise the short time available on-site, AV Center worked with Nojus Sabalis beforehand to map projections using wireframes. On site, AV Center used the RQ25’s control panel to manipulate the projection and network settings, including edge blending configuration. This allows AV Center to quickly and easily preview projections on a laptop, saving valuable set-up time, especially for the elements they are unable to pre-configure before arriving on site.

Delivering 20,000 hours of maintenance-free projection, the RQ25 features unique Multi Laser Drive Engine failover circuitry. In the unlikely event a single diode fails, power is still supplied to the functional diodes in the series. This minimises brightness loss and delivers a consistently vivid and crisp projection.

Working on the fly in the field

Anthony Chandler, Project Manager Technician at AV Center comments: “In effect we are building the plane as we are flying it. This is one of those jobs where you have to work on the fly in the field. Even though we have pre-mapped the video and have test files, we can only finalise the animation and technical installation before the first show call. Ultimately, we couldn’t achieve this without Panasonic projectors – it is highly durable and a great projector for touring. Notwithstanding its fantastic brightness and colour quality, it’s still compact enough to be easily handled in the field by just two people.”

Jesper Laursen, Chief Project Manager of AV Center concludes: “This festival is known for breaking the mould and is a highly contemporary way to showcase modern themes from Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. To make these experiences memorable, you not only need the very best in visual quality but also a highly versatile, easy to use, and compact projector in the field. Together with Panasonic, our team has delivered an immersive and engaging experience.”