Four Winds Casino Selects Wireline Advantage for their Entertainment Spaces

Challenge

The Silver Creek Events Center at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI hosts a wide variety of events including conferences, trade shows, weddings and concerts. The casino and hotel prides itself on delighting guests with world-renowned entertainment in an elegant environment. When the AV team turned their attention to projection screen upgrades within the 17,000 sq. feet (1,579 sq. meters) event center, the comfort and enjoyment of guests remained top-of-mind.

Wireline screen surfaces drop low enough for viewers to comfortably view presentations at the Silver Creek Event Center.

Due to 24.5 foot (7.46 meters) ceilings in four conference rooms, the projection screens originally installed didn’t drop low enough for viewers to see projected content clearly without straining to look up and taking their focus off the presenter. The space required new screens with the flexibility to adjust height lower for easier viewing. Airwalls between the conference rooms and the adjacent ballroom move to accommodate larger crowds, so excessive black drop on screens obstruct the stage for some audience members.

Projection screens on either side of the stage and along the side walls of the ballroom needed special consideration as well. In such a large space, the size and position of the screens was paramount to ensure everyone in the audience gets the best viewing experience.

Thin steel cables lower the Wireline screen surfaces which eliminates excessive black drop, preserving room aesthetics and keeping viewers focused on projected content.

Solution

Entertainment staff at Four Winds Casino worked with TPC Technologies in Niles, MI to research and select the right screen solutions for the entertainment and conference spaces. For the conference rooms, TPC recommended the Wireline™ Advantage®. The Wireline features thin steel cables up to 29 feet (8.8 meters) instead of traditional black drop to lower the screen surface to an appropriate viewing height for a clean, aesthetically pleasing presentation. “They look like they’re floating almost. We don’t have that black headway, so it’s a lot cleaner look. It’s less distracting,” said Jason George, Director of Entertainment at Four Winds Casino.

Customized solutions were needed for the ballroom. The Da-Lite Design Center assisted in the creation of two Tensioned Professional 264” (671 cm) diagonal screens to fit around the stage. Not only was size a factor in ensuring an optimal viewing experience, the screens flanking the stage were angled inward to better align with sight lines of the audience. Two Tensioned Cosmopolitan 220” (559 cm) diagonal screens, installed above side entrances to the ballroom, guarantee viewers can easily see projected content regardless of how the room is set up.

Conference room airwalls behind the Wireline screens can be opened to accommodate larger crowds in the adjacent ballroom. Without black drop, the Wireline blends better with the environment and obscures less of the stage.

“It was a very seamless process from our end as far as getting the customization done to the specific widths that we needed to fit within the soffits of our ceiling in the Silver Creek Events Center,” said George. “The visual is really nice when you walk into the room. You can see the artist up close and personal from the screens.”

HD Progressive 1.3 was selected as the surface for all screens. Ideal for applications where projector brightness and screen size require an increase in gain, the purest white HD Progressive surface offers true color reproduction and allows for more flexibility with ambient light conditions. It also allows for easy viewing of detail in video as well as charts and graphs for corporate events.

Customized Tensioned Professional screens flank the Silver Creek Event Center stage.

Da-Lite Solutions for Silver Creek Events Center at Four Winds Casino

Four Wireline Advantage 164" (417 cm) diagonal screens, one per conference room

• HD Progressive 1.3 surface

Two Tensioned Professional 264" (671 cm) diagonal screens flanking the stage in the ballroom

• HD Progressive 1.3 surface
• 129.5"H x 230"W (328.9 cm x 584.2 cm) with 52" (132 cm) of black drop, customized by the Da-Lite Design Center

Two Tensioned Cosmopolitan 220" (559 cm) diagonal screens on either side of the ballroom

• HD Progressive 1.3 screen surface
• 52" (132 cm) of black drop

An angled installation of the screens, which are customized to fit ceiling soffits, ensures the entire audience can clearly see them.

One of the Tensioned Cosmopolitan screens installed along the side of the ballroom, so content can be viewed no matter how the room is configured.

Results

The Wireline Advantage has improved satisfaction among guests and clients of Four Winds Casino. The conference rooms are more often requested to host corporate presentations and meetings.

“The original screens were so high; it wasn’t the best customer experience. The new screens allow us to bring them lower, even bringing them almost all the way to the ground, if needed for special events which gives us great flexibility,” said George. “We’ve gotten positive reviews. There’s better sight lines and less neck strain, things you wouldn’t normally think about until you’re sitting in a conference or a meeting for three or four hours at a time.”

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