AUSTRALIA: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) and the new Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre have taken different approaches to display technology, but both have converged on BARCO projection and screen management solutions.

At Nyaal Banyul, projection was deliberately separated from the broader builder-led procurement process because of its importance to customer outcomes. Michael Walker, Senior Manager – Audio Visual at Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre, explains: “Projection was deliberately removed from the broader builder-led procurement process because of how central it is to customer outcomes.”

The venue’s requirements centred on exceptional image quality, display clarity, colour accuracy and resolution. Its expression of interest called for large-format laser projectors above 30,000 lumens, alongside seven to 10 smaller units for breakout spaces. Shortlisted products were assessed using a standardised slide pack and video toolset, with testing covering colour reproduction, skin tone accuracy, scaling artefacts and ghosting. The evaluation resulted in the selection of Barco UDM-4K30 projectors for Delama Event Space and Barco I600-4K15 projectors for meeting rooms, while Barco Encore3 processors provide vision and signal switching across events.

At MCEC, the upgrade was shaped by the venue’s existing infrastructure and operational demands. David Strangio, Head of Audio Visual MCEC, says, “We needed a solution that would fit within existing custom projector housing boxes, work with legacy fibre infrastructure, and perform consistently across rooms that turn over multiple times in a single week with constantly shifting lighting states. Your challenges start to define your scope, and then you start to see how the market solutions compare to how your scope is lining up.”

MCEC selected the Barco QDX-N4K45 projector for its Plenary; with Diversified handling the installation as system integrator. The retrofit involved replacing projectors within purpose-built elevated housing boxes. The QDX units are lighter than the previous projectors, simplifying installation, although their slightly wider footprint required custom metal feet on the mounting plate. One of the three plenaries also required a minor aperture adjustment to accommodate the new lens offset. Protective glass panes were removed from the projection apertures for safety and ventilation, while the QDX units’ low noise levels meant airflow management became a greater consideration.

Daniel Woodward, Operations Manager (Victoria) from Diversified, says: “Alignment was notably straightforward: where the previous projectors required significant physical tilt, QDX’s lens shift handled the geometry entirely. Units arrived pre-QA’d and firmware-updated from Barco’s Melbourne facility, and this streamlined the deployment process.” The upgrade across Plenary 1-3 was completed within a week, despite a live event taking place during the installation.

The results became particularly evident when MCEC tested its 50-ft screen configuration, normally requiring a three-projector blend, using a single QDX unit. Strangio informs: “We zoomed out and it fit perfectly. Everyone was just sitting there commenting, this is a game changer for us. The display was cinematic. The brightness, clarity, sharpness, detail, and depth were excellent and the blacks were stunning. It’s restored a lot of people’s confidence in projection.”

At Nyaal Banyul, four UDMs are operating simultaneously in Delama Event Space as final handover processes conclude. The projectors have also been aligned under full working lights, reaching 500 lux at floor level. “The brightness, punch, and sharpness of these projectors is just phenomenal. Even hanging openly on truss without housing enclosures, there are no perceptible fan noise issues in even the quietest room conditions” says Walker.

For both venues, retaining projection rather than moving to LED wall technology was a deliberate decision. At Nyaal Banyul, customer interviews during development highlighted flexibility as a key requirement; as Walker explains, “Should we need to move screen positions forwards or backwards, reduce the image surface or expand it, we can do that on a projector with optics. With an LED wall, you have to take it apart, move it, put it back up again.” A Barco projector mounted on a motorised truss, with the appropriate lens, provides the required adaptability.

MCEC faced similar operational considerations, as Strangio shares, “Screen sizes and bar configurations change constantly at MCEC. Roof loading constrains large LED installations and setup and pack-down time. With projection there is a significant operational saving. It was never really a question of ‘are we doing away with projection?’. It was about how do we continually enhance what we already offer?”

Lee Tran, Country Lead, Immersive Experience at Barco Australia, says the competitive evaluation process was important to the outcome: “A lot of vendors have good products. But we know our product and we know what it can do. It was instrumental that we were given the chance to have a fair comparison with every other vendor out there.”

For two Australian convention venues at very different stages of development, projection has emerged as a technology capable of combining image performance with the flexibility demanded by constantly changing event environments.