Installing Your Custom LED Displays: 5 Key Elements for Success

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In today’s competitive business environment, companies must make a concerted effort to differentiate themselves and stand out within a crowded marketplace. One-way organizations are setting themselves apart is through the adoption of LED digital signage. These vibrant and dynamic video screens are proven to drive customer engagement and promote better guest experiences. While digital signage is an excellent tool for content delivery and audience retention, it is only effective when properly integrated into a space.

Successful signage requires 5 key elements: proper planning, the right company, the right product, the right content, and proper calibration.

  • Every LED signage deployment is unique, making it crucial to plan properly. This means defining the goals of the displays. Is the intended video wall meant to entertain, inform, or advertise? What is the source of the content? Is it television, video, internet, live stream, or presentation? Will the content be HD or 4K? Is text readability important? Having firm answers to all these questions is important to ensure a high ROI.
  • While many organizations believe they can integrate LED displays into their space on their own, it would serve them better to turn to a company with expertise in LED installation. This means connecting with an experienced partner that can make a video wall dream a reality. The company should be able to offer custom solutions, and know how to work with architects, designers, engineers, and consultants to blend LED displays with an environment.
  • The right company will be able to recommend the right products for the job. Taking into account the location of the intended video wall, specific professional-grade products will be needed that are suited for the climate and constant 24/7/365 use. The installation company can configure the screens so that they are seamless and provide easy access for future maintenance. These products should be expandable, and contain the necessary cooling fans and robust inputs to allow for an extensive lifetime of usage.
  • Even the most advanced LED displays that are perfectly installed will still not deliver the expected ROI if the right content isn’t broadcasted across the screens. Who is creating the content? Is the content capable of fulfilling the objective or goals of the display? How will it be updated across a network? Is the content configured correctly so that the images are displayed correctly, and not stretched or distorted in any way?
  • An investment in a video wall and the corresponding content won’t pay dividends if the screens aren’t properly calibrated. Each screen must be perfectly and uniformly calibrated for color, brightness and contrast so that images consistently look great. Failing to do so would be throwing money out the window.

 

By following the five keys to proper LED signage installation, an organization can drive engagement and better guest experiences, ensuring that the investment in the technology pays off. To learn about how PixelFLEX can help integrate LED signage to create memorable moments visit us online today!

 

Designing a flawless custom LED Display can be hard. Let PixeFLEX help your vision become reality.

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PixelFLEX heads downtown to Macy’s Brooklyn with Reflect

Senior Systems Engineer Chas Thornhill creates a new LED video display for a renovated consumer environment using FLEXLite NXG 3.9mm LED video technology

Nashville, 10/18/2017 – In recent years, few cities across the United States have seen the type of revitalization that has occurred in Brooklyn, New York. Included in this revitalization, retailers located in the New York City borough have also begun to undergo renovation projects of their own expanding the attention of their retail environments. As Macy’s Brooklyn Downtown began their renovation journey, they wanted to expand their digital media to enhance the consumer experience, so they called up longtime partner Reflect who installed a new FLEXLite NXG 3.9mm LED video display from PixelFLEX.

“Looking to add digital media to the new Brooklyn store design, the executives at Macy’s brought us on early in the project where they were originally concepting a large video wall composed of 55” LCD displays,” began Chas Thornhill, CTS, Reflect’s Senior Systems Engineer. “I took one look at that and immediately started working to change the design from LCD to LED. In the end, we were successful in proving that LED would look better while being more cost-effective when considering the full installation and maintenance costs, and the FLEXLite NXG looks great in the new space.”

Now with fully front-serviceable video panels, plus seamless right-angle corner capabilities, the FLEXLite NXG is one of the highest resolution LED video displays on the market. Available in 2.6-6.25mm pitch options, plus a 6.25mm full outdoor IP65 version as well, FLEXLite NXG tiles are calibrated directly out of the box to ensure perfect color and brightness and will help you realize the full potential of your retail LED video environment.

“Macy’s has a few corporate owned LED displays, mostly in the Herald Square flagship store, so they weren’t completely unfamiliar with the technology, but they did have the idea it would be much more expensive over LCD,” continued Thornhill. “Using the entirety of the project cost including installation, maintenance and content creation, I was able to show them that we could bring in the LED wall at a little lower cost than the LCD.”

Getting started on the install, the new LED video display would be placed on a concrete wall of the escalator well, between the first and second floors.  Measuring 5 meters high x 2 meters wide, Thornhill would need to decide how to best attach the display to the actual concrete, and in the end, he developed a completely custom solution.

“The installation was pretty interesting in that in between the escalator wells there is a 2-foot thick, 3000 psi concrete sheer wall that runs from the basement all the way to the top of the building,” explained Thornhill. “We wanted to hold the LED wall as close to the concrete as possible, so I designed a custom bracket that we fabricated here in New York, and then attached it to the concrete wall. We then attached the top row of the FLEXLite NXG LED tiles to the bracket and hung the remaining panels from the top row. When we got the bottom, we attached a couple of bolts to tabs so that the LED wall couldn’t be swung out without an authorized employee.”

With the install complete, the design team was ready to start sending content to the new display which would use the proprietary ReflectView™ system for digital content management that is standard across all Macy’s locations.

“The content is mostly experiential and promotional with beauty shots of clothes models and graphical messages to promote sales and other store announcements,” added Thornhill. “The signal is provided by our ReflectView system which Macy’s adopted a few years ago to drive digital content to all their locations. We then have an IDF room on the floor above the LED wall with the ReflectView media player and PixelFLEX sending unit, and the entire system is powered from only three 20A power circuits.”

In today’s consumer environment, LED video is quickly becoming recognized as an affordable and creative design tool to capture the attention of shoppers and drive sales. When showcasing the new Macy’s LED video display to the executives in charge of this design, Thornhill was excited for them to see for themselves what he had known from the beginning.

“They absolutely loved it,” concluded Thornhill. “They really liked the brightness and the image quality. Even the general contractor who installed the mounting bracket talked about doing similar LED walls in his other projects. They love the fact that it is extremely easy to create the content, and the final design with the FLEXLite NXG LED, instead of LCD, was very well received.”

An American-based LED manufacturer, PixelFLEX offers creative solutions, reliable products, and dependable service for our industry-leading LED display technologies and solutions. Driven towards excellence to meet your standards, PixelFLEX offers a one-of-a-kind design for your tour, event or installation through our award-winning line of LED video walls and video screens. Working with architects, designers, engineers and consultants, PixelFLEX is proud to develop custom LED solutions for each and every customer while also providing top-tier customer support throughout the entire experience. For more information on the complete line of PixelFLEX LED video walls and video screens, visit PixelFLEX at pixelflexled.com, follow us on Twitter at @pixelflexled or find us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

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LED Video Wall Price, Determining What’s Right For Your install?

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LED walls have the power to captivate audiences with their impressive visual stimulation, high contrast ratios, and ability to reproduce vibrant content. When deciding to implement a creative LED video wall application, understanding exactly what is desired for the video wall is important when considering the price of your LED video wall. LED display screens have so many custom factors involved that it can be difficult to estimate the price of a display application without the help of expert knowledge and job specific consultation. LED displays have so many possible configurations that it is sometimes challenging to understand what the display visuals will turn out based on the buyer’s vision. Finding a LED partner that can ask you important questions and help you consider various options will help you decide what you need and what you don’t and what the overall price will be.  By considering all the available options with a LED display expert, unnecessary costs can be avoided while optimizing your installation without sacrificing your audiences experience and the final price of the project.

When first deciding on an LED display one must consider these 5 variables that will affect viewing environments and project price:

Display Size
Bigger displays reach wider audiences and produce an enthralling environment but are more expensive. Basic principles show that screen size will directly affect price, but the next topic can help with overall cost of your display.

Resolution/Processing
Resolution is determined by the pitch of pixels in an image. The smaller the pitch, the more pixels fit into a fixed dimension, resulting in a clearer image. Increasing the pixel count delivers higher levels of detail and smoother edges to the images. Understanding viewing distance and how it correlates to resolutions needs can decrease project budget. The processor is many times the most expensive part of the display and with newest technologies emerging, processing speed plays a critical role in image quality. 4K and Ultra HD displays have recently become popular but will dramatically increase the amount of processing needed to produce the desired image. High-quality processors run anywhere from around $8K to upwards of $30K depending on desires of complex playback capabilities.  If you choose to add a higher quality processor, it is important to understand that your project price will increase dramatically.

Wall Configuration
Complex LED video tile arrays are more expensive but ultimately command more attention. Fascinating video installation with missing tiles and various spacing between display sections will increase the price of the wall but can create a unique art installation. Curved LED walls can make the display that much more striking, but are higher priced due to the additional mechanisms and components that allow the tiles to curve.

Mounting
Today’s video wall mounts come in nearly every imaginable configuration and have slowly evolved into complex installations. Mounting solutions vary from display to display. Some displays may call for a custom mounting solution, while others are accomplished with standard mounting practices.

Indoor Vs Outdoor
Screen environment can have a large effect on price. Outdoor screens are IP rated to withstand dirt, wind and precipitation which makes these types of screen more costly to manufacture with module coatings and sealed enclosures. Indoor displays are usually much simpler in terms of cabinet and componentry, ultimately allowing price to remain lower.

Working with a LED expert can lead the project in the right direction by focused questions and providing important information to understand exactly what is needed and what is being paid for. PixelFLEX® develops customized solutions for every customer, as they understand that each project is unique. Their team of architects, designers, engineers, and consultants work to innovate LED displays that will amplify the surrounding environment. LED displays are not cheap, and designing one can be challenging due to all the factors to consider. PixelFLEX® helps support customers by giving them exactly what is needed to optimize the function of their display, the display quality, and their overall project budget.

To learn more about PixelFLEX’s® award winning displays and how they can help you optimize your display designs and fulfill your project needs, visit https://pixelflexled.com/design-build/

 

Contact Us Today For Your Free Consultation

Email or Call 1-800-930-7954

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PixelFLEX LED deepens the impact at Cathedral of Faith

Director of Operations Kurt Foreman oversees the installation of a FLEXTour 3.9mm LED video system as a dynamic replacement for the sanctuary’s LCD video wall

Nashville, 10/4/2017 – In San Jose, California, the Cathedral of Faith has been providing powerful and encouraging worship services for its congregation since its inception in 1965. Believing in the power of multimedia arts to help convey their message, the technical team behind those services is asked to create the ideal worship environment each week. Knowing that they needed to renovate their production design with LED video to maintain a high level of creativity and performance, the church recently worked with Nashville-based PixelFLEX and installed a new FLEXTour 3.9mm LED video system.

“I initially looked at LED video technology about 8-10 years ago, but at that time it was too cost-prohibitive so we ended up installing and LCD TV wall for our worship design,” began Kurt Foreman, Director of Operations, Cathedral of Faith. “It worked well, but it had its limitations, and we couldn’t send a live video feed to it. As LED video has now become more cost-effective, we started looking at manufacturers that could meet the challenge of our HD cameras for the live IMAG video feed, and that’s when we discovered the FLEXTour system from PixelFLEX.”

FLEXTour is a robust, high-definition and curve-able LED video display designed specifically for the high demands of live entertainment production. With its unique rigging capabilities that allow for traditional and off-set configurations, each 500mmx1000mm tile is fully front-serviceable and its integrated climbing ladder allows for quick access to displays flown high overhead. Built with the highest standard in components including the new NovaStar A8s receiving card, FLEXTour is completely flicker-free making it one of the premier LED video design solutions available today.

“We saw that other churches have been using PixelFLEX technology in their worship designs, and they were actually the last manufacturer we looked at during our search for the right technology,” continued Forman. “Although they assured us their video screens would look great with our HD camera’s, when we saw their demo it was more than we could ever had dreamed, and the impact that it now has on our worship environment is amazing.”

Ready to move forward with PixelFLEX, Foreman knew the technical specifications and performance capabilities of the FLEXTour LED would be exactly what they needed, but he was a bit surprised at how easily it integrated into their existing system.

“Our FLEXTour LED video system is about 13-feet high and 26-feet wide in a 16:9 ratio, and we knew we wanted to be in the 3-4mm pixel range because we wanted an impressive finished design,” explained Foreman. “It was interesting, given the different manufacturers that came in, that the PixelFLEX system was the only true plug-and-play solution. It really didn’t take any time at all to get the FLEXTour LED video fully integrated it into our production environment.”

With the LED video system now ready to join the congregation, Foreman was excited to see how it would meet the challenge of the live HD camera feeds. Having already had a demo of the FLEXTour LED, he was confident they had made the right choice, and its performance certainly did not disappoint.

“We are currently using the FLEXTour as one massive wall directly centerstage in our worship design and it has exceeded everyone’s expectations,” added Foreman. “For playback, we are using ProPresenter and ProVideoPlayer, and for our live shots we have an HD 4A switcher with six Hitachi HD cameras. With the PixelFLEX system there is no moraying, and it looks great due to its high refresh rate. It’s one thing to see a demo of the product, but when you get the full LED wall in your space, it’s amazing. The FLEXTour system really looks phenomenal.”

In a worship environment where the production team is dedicated to creating a dynamic experience, the introduction of the FLEXTour LED video would be a wonderful addition to the services at Cathedral of Faith. Understanding how many people today live in an increasingly digital world, Foreman knew the LED video wall would only deepen the impact of the church’s message.

“At Cathedral of Faith we have four weekend services and we put a big emphasis in using all the multimedia arts to present the gospel in an interesting and engaging way,” concluded Foreman. “The FLEXTour LED really helps us create a whole new level of immersion where the congregation is locked in with the worship leader. It really has provided opportunities for a unique worship experience, and it speaks to the relevance of the church in how we communicate the message to today’s generation.”

An American-based LED manufacturer, PixelFLEX offers creative solutions, reliable products, and dependable service for our industry-leading LED display technologies and solutions. Driven towards excellence to meet your standards, PixelFLEX offers a one-of-a-kind design for your tour, event or installation through our award-winning line of LED video walls and video screens. Working with architects, designers, engineers and consultants, PixelFLEX is proud to develop custom LED solutions for each and every customer while also providing top-tier customer support throughout the entire experience. For more information on the complete line of PixelFLEX LED video walls and video screens, visit PixelFLEX at pixelflexled.com, follow us on Twitter at @pixelflexled or find us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

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