Direct-view LED is a fantastic story of concept, evolution, and refinement… but someone needs to tell the tale.
Direct-view LED technology began its story on the biggest stages. Between pixel technology which offered only wide pitches (ergo further away viewers) combined with a cost-of-entry which was prohibitive to many spaces, direct-view technology was only realistically available in arenas, billboards, and certain high-profile spaces. Initial displays had poor power-balancing between their red, green, and blue elements resulting in massive power consumption. Initial dvLED also had limited viewing angles due to the early pixel-shader styles, which created discoloration and loss of image if you looked at a display from an oblique angle.
As direct-view technology has refined, so have the needs to implement it. The newest direct-view models boast fine pixel pitches, with robust and ruggedized pixel technology. Displays can run 24/7, while not emitting enough heat to require costly HVAC. Displays are light-weight, often requiring nothing more than a plywood backing for mounting, and a small handful of standard 110V circuits to power. This once mysterious and complex technology is now so modular and stable that many manufacturers now offer mobile cart options which sport full HD resolution, plugging into standard wall outlets.
In order to realize the full benefits which dvLED has over alternative display technologies, the conversation will need to eventually change. Direct-view technology deserves a new narrative from spokes-people familiar with the ease at which a variety of parts can quickly become a beautifully uniform and truly seamless display.
The best avenue to creating these technology evangelists is a simple certification, which can be earned in as little as three days. For many manufacturers, becoming certified requires an understanding of how data and power works with the technology, often including hands-on exercises. There are educational offerings out there to help installers get comfortable with the technology before jumping into a certification course. Almo Pro AV is offering a full dvLED installer education track at each stop of their 2020 E4 Experience. Certification in dvLED can be a powerful tool to becoming an ambassador, telling the story of a technology that does not require extraordinary mounting needs, complicated site-surveys, or extreme power handling capabilities.
It’s only fitting that the world’s largest shopping mall should have the world’s largest LG OLED video wall.
The mall is the Dubai Mall, the city’s shining landmark. Home to 1200 shops, the multi-million-dollar mall contains the area of 50 football fields filled with rows upon rows of opulent spaces and stores.
The Dubai Mall also hosts the world’s largest acrylic panel aquarium, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, which is 107.8 ft. wide x 27.2 ft. high x 29.5 in. thick, and weighs 245 tons.
Sitting atop the aquarium is the world’s largest LG OLED video wall, and it has officially received three Guinness World Record titles. Thanks to the partnership with LG, the screen has set the record for being the world’s largest high definition video wall, the world’s largest OLED screen, and the world’s highest resolution video wall.
The LG OLED video wall has 820 ultra-thin 55-inch panels and 1.7 billion pixels that emit their own light; no backlighting required. Taking advantage of LG OLED’s flexibility, the mammoth video wall is also beautifully curved, mimicking the curve of the aquarium below it.
Being in the Pro Av arena for 10 years there is really not much that I haven’t seen. You would think by now I wouldn’t be the person walking behind a LCD panel in a store or restaurant to see what mount is being used or what type of ceiling accessory it has…..well, you would be wrong! Yes, I am still that person! Just yesterday I received a text message with a picture from my niece while she was at Petco Stadium watching the Padres vs Diamondbacks game, instead of commenting on her experience my first response was “I love that stadium! I was part of their original AV renovation project in the early 2000’s”! Again, I am that person.
With that said, while there is not much in the AV arena I haven’t seen, there is still a TON that impresses me! Living in Chicago I have access to some of the most historic arenas and stadiums equipped with the best AV systems money can buy. Last month I had the privilege of going to the United Center to see Adele perform live. While I’ve been to the United Center numerous times over the last year, no other experience compared to this for me. I walk through the doors on July 13th and see the 35’ x 9’ curved video wall with no other than, yes, you guessed it, Adele! I was smiling from ear to ear and most definitely felt like a newbie in the AV industry. I am a huge fan. =)
As with many sporting events and concerts, signage was everywhere! Visitors of the United Center can see 64, 42 inch flat panel displays throughout the 100 level concourses, not to mention LED boards inside each of the four main gate entrances.
I feel very lucky to be part of a great industry like Pro Av! I get to help clients spec in products that enhance their customers experience in many different vertical markets. On July 13th I was just a patron benefiting from a truly immersive fan experience thanks to innovative, Pro Av solutions.
It’s especially nice when the manufacturers plan their distributor summits in a nice warm location during the dead of February. Such was the case this month with Samsung in beautiful San Antonio, Texas. Distributors, resellers and DMR’s gathered to hear the vision to 2016 and beyond, while seeing some of the latest product developments.
One of the greatest things about these functions is the networking aspect. You’re surrounded by customers, the manufacturer’s folks and even your friendly competitors (and if you are lucky a celebrity or two). The opening reception kicked off this portion of the conference. Here I am rubbing elbows with George Gervin from the San Antonio Spurs (left) and Director, US B2B Distribution for Samsung, Tom Perrier (right):
A lot of the conversations revolved around the ever-present dilemma of shrinking and sometimes even razor thin margins on displays in both the Pro and especially consumer markets. I think Samsung has got some new things up their sleeve that may be impactful for their partners as to help with the margin issue. More on that later. Now speaking of razor….
I’ve been on the road a lot lately, and even though I consider myself a season traveler, inevitable I forget something. This time it was a razor so I went down to the JW Marriott gift shop. Filled with cowboy hats, sombreros, ponchos, hot sauces and other Texas sized treats, it was your typical gift shop. I grabbed my usual brand from the stand, went up to the register and the cashier said, “That will be $20.12”. WHAT???!! $20.12 for one disposable razor?
I said no thanks and started to wonder…in this age of fighting declining margins in our industry, how is it that a commodity product like the razor can command 3000% mark up? Location, location, location. Resourcefulness took me to the spa and they ponied up a razor at no charge.
On to the Samsung Product Showcase – in usually Samsung fashion they never disappoint when it comes to new product development. It was good to see some of the concept things coming to fruition such as:
The transparent display which holds a multitude of applications such as retail and anywhere the end user just basically wants to be uber swank.
The mirror display which they showed in a retail setting with RF technology in clothing and shoes that dynamically changed when the user took them to the mirror. Here is our Business Development Manager extraordinaire, Apryl Lamberti taking it for a spin.
Outdoor displays – not just ruggedized, coated and cased back- lit LED panels but..
Finally the indoor LED was quite a hit. Here is Apryl examining the type of panel used to make the video wall in the background.
I think the future looks bright with the new LED products (no pun intended). What Samsung was showing are solutions that require an ecosystem of services, which is where the margin lies and value to our partners. The opportunity for services such as content creation, can create that long-term relationship with a customer, long past the sale of the display.
First, if you haven’t heard of the term “techorating”, it’s not something I made up. I thought I had but after I asked my dear friends Alan and Jonathan Brawn to write a course for our E4 AV Tour on this trend I was calling techorating, they discovered it was not an original. Techorating was a catchy term coined back in 2008 by interior designer, Doug Wilson from the TLC TV show Trading Spaces, as a concept for the emergence of integrating home technology and home decor in balance with one another. Since the Brawn’s taught this course for us a few years ago, the term caught on it the AV industry and has been written about in nearly every major AV publication, including a recent article in Digital Signage Today.com. I’ve seen a lot of great examples of techorating, especially in Las Vegas where designers and architects continue to push the limits to wow audiences, attract visitors and keep us coming back for more shows, casinos, long cab lines and the ever-present linger of 2nd hand smoke. Which is why my visit to Comcast last week was filled with techorating awesomeness! It was an experience like no other, elegantly done with a playful yet bold approach – and 100% smoke free. You enter the lobby on JFK Boulevard in downtown Philadelphia, which is the tallest building in the city, and at first it looks like any other normal lobby: Nice ashy oak walls, silver accents, very clean and polished look. But wait, something starts to happen and… It’s not just a wall! It’s an intergalactic force to be reckoned with. No wait, it’s a water wall! Cool stuff, right? It’s the attention to detail as well that struck me. Much of the content intertwines with the wall architecture, creating virtual joints in the places where the LED panels “join” – you can see from this shot that part of the image is a real joint and the other is silver colored pixels. You may be wondering what I was doing lingering in the Comcast lobby. I was there on official business but I can tell you that this is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Philadelphia, so it’s not uncommon to see all sorts of people in their lobby. We launched our new Almo Connect service for our resellers to offer bandwidth, cable TV and voice services to their customers and Comcast is one of our partners (along with many other top cable providers). Why would our partners offer bandwidth services? Think about if you’re doing a digital signage deployment and you plan on refreshing high resolution content on a daily or weekly basis. You need LOTS of bandwidth! And for future proofing, think about 4K – now you’re talking BIG data coming across a network. And of course the IT people are like, “no way, not on my network!” And you’re like, “no big deal, we offer high speed internet and we can take care of everything.” Voila – the reseller makes monthly reoccurring revenue on that sale – that’s right – every single month. But back to the techorating – here’s a very cool video so you can see how they use different parts of the wall for entertainment, like this “cubical” video:
Kudos to the designers and especially to the content creators. The convergence of architecture, decorating, digital display, graphic arts done spectacularly well and I didn’t even have to walk through a casino to see it.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
