INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Christie

 

A: Christie offers a complete range of turnkey solutions for sophisticated virtual reality and simulation systems. Our Christie Matrix family of projectors incorporates a number of simulation-specific features, and in combination with our unique systems integration technologies, we can address a wide variety of customer requirements.

Q: Discuss the latest developments in the Christie Matrix line of simulation projectors.

A: The Christie Matrix StIM is a highly scalable integrated environment projection system developed to meet the most demanding combinations of customer requirements and to support the full range of training and simulation tasks.

Previously this challenge has been addressed by developing more complex and costly projectors for simulation. However, we take a completely different approach. Christie leverages the latest low-risk technologies from the commercial market to develop groundbreaking new capabilities for simulation with significantly less hardware complexity. The result is a more compact form factor as compared to current, high-end simulation projectors. We use a modular architecture that features Christie self-maintenance technology for exceptional stability, scalability and sustainability.

Q: How do Christie’s visual display products enable military aircrews to train and rehearse for night operations and missions in restricted visibility?

A: The Christie Matrix StIM employs our InfraScene technology with a four-band LED illumination source that enables new levels of NVG training fidelity for our customers. In addition to the red, green and blue primaries, InfraScene utilizes a separate infrared LED to stimulate the operational night vision goggles [NVGs].

Previous approaches to NVG stimulation required compromises in the balance of IR energy to visible light. Typically a fixed ratio is established via optical filters. But with our InfraScene architecture we can now provide new levels of flexibility. The IR scene stimulating the NVGs can be optimized completely independent of the out-the-window [OTW] scene. It’s like having two separate projectors within a single projection head assembly.

Q: MT2 has observed a number of recent innovations in visual display technology. Describe Christie’s other progress in delivering higher fidelity visual displays.

A: In terms of higher fidelity, the often stated goal is to achieve ‘eye limiting resolution.’ Current projection display systems have difficulty scaling to meet this goal over large fields of view. The limitations can include packaging restrictions, supportability, costs, etc.

With the Christie Matrix StIM we start with a new threshold for stability at the projector level. This is then further enhanced with real-time processing and calibration capabilities at the system level—something we call ArrayLOC.

This, in combination with the added flexibility to optimize projection geometry with the Christie Matrix StIM, now makes scalability on a massive level feasible in a simulator environment.

Q: Are there any new product or program developments your military customers may see in the next three months?

A: We believe some of the developments in the next few months will be in systems level optimizations in the IG/display interface that will allow us to take full advantage of the new capabilities in the Christie Matrix StIM, especially for high fidelity NVG training. Our customers have expressed a great interest in generating both the NVG view and the OTW view without having to compromise one for the other.

Also, in the next three months, we anticipate developments in how data is processed throughout the visual display system pipeline. For example, our Matrix projectors are able to accept image warping and blending data from the IG or other computer. This provides additional flexibility in our complete solution development and opportunities for additional system level optimizations.

Q. Should cost-of-ownership be a factor in decision-making for display system purchases?

A: Cost-of-ownership and life-cycle costs were major considerations in the development of the Christie Matrix StIM. A system that needs constant maintenance can compromise its effectiveness through longer downtime or the frequent need for trained personnel to service it.

The Christie Matrix StIM requires no mechanical shutters or moving parts in the optical path, no prisms to combine multiple image sources, and no polarizers to degrade over time. The reliability and stability of the DMD image source has been proven in the field. And the LED illumination source in the Christie Matrix StIM completely eliminates the requirement for regular lamp changes.

With Christie ArrayLOC we employ a network architecture that enables individual projectors to effectively become ‘intelligent display nodes’ in a larger system infrastructure, taking advantage of system alignment data and image content information that is measured and utilized on a real-time basis.

In total, this provides our customers with unprecedented levels of system stability and lower cost of ownership. ✯

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