Halle University clinic (Saale) case study

Students have studied medicine in Halle since 1694. The first hospital within this medical faculty was established at the start of the 19th century. It was located at the Domplatz in Halle, designed and built by Johann Justus Peter.

The Halle University clinic (Saale), which is affiliated with the Martin Luther University medical faculty in Halle-Wittenberg, is still located there today. With almost 1000 beds and 2850 employees, it is the largest hospital in southern Saxony-Anhalt with 29 clinics and polyclinics. A new extension building was constructed at the turn of the millennium. It features numerous operating theatres, a modern intensive care ward, a blood bank, polyclinic areas and wards. New lecture rooms, seminar rooms and a library were also added.

“The medical faculty at Martin Luther University has four large auditoriums and four smaller ones across both of our sites,” explained Frank Lippert, the Department Leader of System Operation – Central Service 1 at the Halle University Clinic. “During the refurbishment of our IT infrastructure, projectors for auditoriums and seminar rooms were required as part of the tender.”

The projectors in the auditoriums must reproduce the moving and still images here – including presentations or demonstrations of operations – with bright, natural colours that do not put strain on the eye. The auditoriums are not only used for lectures; special events and conferences are also held there. As is typical in the medical sector, the requirements for imaging systems were exceptionally high, since there are often fine nuances which must be depicted as faithfully as possible. “We already had lots of prior experience with projection technologies,” continued Lippert. “In the past, we used devices with DLP technologies but we noticed that the colour reproduction in particular was completely unsatisfactory. Even in direct comparisons between 3LCD and DLP systems, the DLP projector regularly fell behind.” 3LCD technology was therefore a clear choice. The reliability of the machine also played an important role due to its special installation”. Lippert added, “In total, devices run for eight to nine hours a day, at least five days a week. In addition to 3LCD technology, it was also very important for us to have a reliable, durable laser light source given that devices are fixed to the ceiling and are difficult to access. Epson projectors are extremely reliable display solutions which also deliver [text field: EB-2250U, EB-1470Ui and EB-700U are used in the Halle University clinic seminar rooms.] exceptional image quality.”

In the end, the University Clinic opted to equip its small auditoriums with five Epson EB-L1405Us and four EB-L1505Us in the larger rooms. The projectors' 8000 or 12,000 lumens of luminous flux, in conjunction with their WUXGA resolution, allow for clear, precise projection of complex content. To further increase the utility of the rooms, the clinic opted for a media control system from AMX, which can interconnect presentations happening in the various auditoriums when required. With the Epson projectors, used in conjunction with the AMX system, the clinic has a powerful AV infrastructure that permits numerous data sources to be connected and mixed together via all current interfaces.

The clinic also relies on 3LCD technology and a fit and forget laser light source for projection in the seminar rooms. How the rooms are used or need to be set up are also a consideration. EB-2255Us are used in the conventional seminar rooms, in which most communication comes from the speaker at the front. Interactive machines are required in other rooms where users are working in a more collaborative way. In these locations, the devices should also be as close as possible to the screen so the presenters are not standing in the light. The EB-1470Ui and EB-700U ultra short-throw projectors are used in these rooms, as they meet all of the clinic’s requirements. “Next to almost every projector that we have installed, we will also use an Epson control unit,” continues Lippert, “which gives the lecturers [text field: The Epson ELPLB02 control box allows projectors and data sources to be conveniently managed.] a great deal of freedom when choosing data sources as well as in the distribution of their documents.” What’s more, the seminar rooms require specific hardware due to the nature of the institute. For example, it is planned to present the images from a special microscope, whose HDMI output is connected to Epson projectors. Even here, a precise, colour-correct depiction of the microscope slide's contents can be displayed.

In general, bright and even lighting of the projection areas are extremely important in seminar rooms. “We no longer want to darken rooms when we're projecting something,” concluded Lippert. “With the Epson projectors that we've installed in our rooms, this is no longer required. We are extremely satisfied with the devices and are convinced that we made the right choice.”

Media technology at the Halle University clinic (Saale) comes from:

SPIE Fleischhauer GmbH

Oldenburger Allee 36
30659 Hanover, Germany

Telephone: +49 (0) 511 9014 -0
Email: info-spiefleischhauer(at)spie.com