MiCo Milan chooses Panasonic projection technology for its congresses

The Milan Congress Fair has renewed the technological design of the MiCo with the installation of 36 Panasonic laser and lamp projectors.

With the capacity to 18.000 people distributed in seventy conference rooms, The Italian MiCo is the largest conference center in Europe to date. Designed by architect Mario Bellini, belongs to the group Fiera Milano Congressi (Milan Fair), and in it five hundred annual events are held.

Technology and audiovisual facilities have been the basis of an ambitious modernization program of MiCo to offer a comprehensive internal service, for which Feria de Milán has selected the DLP projection technology of Panasonic, with a total of 36 Equipment: thirty laser model PT-RZ770, of 7.200 Lumens, and six with PT-DZ21K2 lamp illumination, of 20.000 Lumens.

Internal management of AV services

"The large number of events organized annually, in a continuous and changing program, convinced us that we needed complete internal management to achieve an outstanding competitive advantage, explains Francesco Conti., executive director of Feria de Milan-. Keeping up to date with what is happening and offering a real-time response to any request or need is the guarantee that our customers will receive the high level of service we offer.".

The MiCo conference center includes two different types of facilities, that offer specific packages for different markets: three plenary halls; from two to 4.000 seats; an auditorium of 1.800 localities that are usually configured to suit the needs of the customer, and 28 conference rooms, all equipped with Panasonic video projectors and with the necessary services to organize a meeting.

specifically, these video projectors were selected based on their high performance, such as colorimetry and its high-precision calibration functions. The total cost of ownership of Panasonic's Laser Shine technology was also another important factor.

This is how Fabio Martucci explains it, head of the AV division of the Milan Fair: "Before selecting the projectors we carried out a final comparative test with two other brands.. An essential feature was to have the best possible chromatic accuracy, as many of our clients belong to the medical and pharmaceutical sector, where accurate images and high contrast ratio are vital factors.

To this has been added that MiCo "has used Panasonic products for years and there has never been any problem.. The quality of support and technical service is extremely high, and all this led us to make the decision to choose their projectors".

Its silent operation, light weight and compact size that facilitate installation have been other features valued for your selection. "Relying on just two models from the same brand helped unify the supply., and also offered us a single point of contact for after-sales support", Martucci points out.

MiCo conference rooms have been equipped with thirty PT-RZ770 video projectors, while the plenary rooms have six PROJECTORS PT-DZ21K2, all with DLP technology: a chip for the PT-RZ770 model, of 7.000 Lumens, and three chips for PT-DZ21K2, of 20.000 Lumens.

The PT-RZ770 projector also uses two laser arrays for lighting, with a guaranteed service life of 20.000 hours without needing to change the air filter; dust protection for the optical engine and instant on/off, as well as greater energy efficiency.

The lenses chosen for the screens, three to five meters wide depending on the rooms, have been ET-DLE250 for the model PT-RZ770, with zoom and focal length of 33,9 ÷53.2 and opening of 1,8 ÷2.4, and ET-DLE350, with focal length of 35,0 ÷50.9 and opening of 2,5. For the PT-DZ21K2 model the lens is ET-D75LE20, with focal length and aperture options similar to those of the ET-DLE350.

Fiber optic cabling

The two control rooms, for the rooms of the North and South pavilions of the MiCo, have fiber optic cabling due to the large distances and the need to use a guaranteed quality signal, in terms of both power and equalization.

"We have used single-mode fiber, with twelve-pair optical cassettes and SC/LC connectors – explains Fabio Martucci-. The installation is configured so that the control rooms function as platforms to transmit signals from one room to another and expand the video system depending on the spaces used. The rooms are modular and can be combined with each other".

Connecting the projector to the control room for each environment also uses fiber optics, as it offers long-term reliability. Controls for PT-RZ770 projectors and all av devices are connected to a specific network, so they can also be managed remotely.

To ensure installation flexibility, additional inputs and outputs are provided at the front of the rack, with specific patches to adapt to different needs at the time of use.

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