Key Factors In Creating A Control Room Video Wall

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Video wall technology is one of the most exciting communications developments of the decade. This technology has experienced huge popularity growth mainly because there is just so much to love about video walls. Their flexibility, clarity of picture, and dynamic presentation abilities are just a few of the benefits they bring to a space. As a series of seamlessly overlapped displays that are controlled by one processor, this technology is exceedingly intricate, yet extremely powerful. Utilized in higher education, the military, and lobbies of executive office suites, their applications are nearly limitless.

One of the current prevalent uses of video walls is the 24/7 control room. Their functionality, ergonomic design, and capability to share critical data quickly and accurately make them a must-have in today’s decision-making environments. However, not all video walls are the same. Some are created to dazzle and entertain, and others, like those needed in control rooms, should offer more practical features. When looking to purchase and install this technology in your control room, there are several key factors to consider.

From a financial standpoint, you need to ask some important questions. First, what is the life-span of the wall? This technology is currently advancing at a rate faster than the degradation of the typical control room housing, so you must consider the protection of your investment. The best approach, then, should include investigation of longevity issues such as maintenance and service policies, as well as upgrade options.

While longevity is an important consideration, it is only one portion of the TCO, or total cost of ownership. Other significant features to research are power consumption, cooling requirements, and reliability. Your video wall will be in operation 24/7, and thus, will require sizeable capital, so it’s important to make the smartest choice to preserve that investment.

Less directly related to financial concerns are questions of quality and functionality. Color quality and brightness are paramount in a control room setting. Timely educated decisions depend on clarity of text and images. Sharpness of display improves legibility, both close-up and at a distance. When deciding which system to use, you’ll want to investigate issues such as pixel size and resolution, relative to the planned positioning of your wall.

At PixelFLEX ®, our process for your video wall begins with your vision. We offer creative solutions to your unique projects, and we want a partnership to last the long haul. As technologies change, you can trust that our relationship with you stays strong.

To learn more about PixelFLEX’s products and services, visit us online today!

Hotels and Hospitality: LED Digital DisplayVideo Walls Engage Where Smaller Screens Can’t

The hospitality space has become increasingly competitive for the past several years: AirBNB and similar services draw potential guests away by offering alternative, cheaper ways for travelers to stay overnight. To continue to attract guests, traditional hotels must add value to their services by delivering a superior experience that extends beyond the hotel room. However, today’s screen-addicted culture presents a unique challenge for the hospitality industry.

Fifteen years ago, guests in a hotel lobby might have engaged in small talk with the concierge or browsed pamphlets to learn about local attractions or recommended eateries. But today, more and more guests are interacting with their smartphones rather than sourcing information via outmoded lobby offerings. Still, most hotel lobbies are areas with heavy foot traffic, making them tools that can be leveraged to inform and entertain guests when the right technology is deployed. In a large open space, single-screen displays can too easily fade into the background, though. This has led many leaders in hospitality to turn to LED digital signage as a multifunctional solution to keep guests involved.

A lobby wall transformed into a full-sized LED digital display offers a contemporary solution that can keep hotels in touch while improving the guest experience in several different ways. For one, a large LED display wall can serve as an engaging artistic production that can be as unique and distinctive as the hotel chooses. Captivating LED signage provides hotels with the opportunity to promote their brands, set a desired mood, or display revenue-generating advertisements with maximum effect. The hotel can more successfully upsell its best rooms or sell tickets to local attractions by displaying visually compelling adverts. An LED digital display wall can also be used to make important information readily-available to guests. In addition, information displayed digitally can be updated constantly so that materials—such as menus, agendas, event flyers—aren’t constantly needing to be reprinted. And LED digital signage can be used to display weather and travel conditions so that guests can stay informed and engaged without turning to their handheld devices.

According to industry leader Trent Cate, “In this day and age, hotel guests have a universal expectation of having any and all information they desire instantly at their fingertips.”1 Many LED digital displays include touch screen technology that enables guests to find information almost instantaneously while offering an experience no smartphone can replicate. And to suit diverse customers’ needs, LED digital signage can be designed in more traditional grid or mosaic styles, or angled displays can be used for a more creative layout in line with the hotel’s preferred image and branding. When used effectively, LED digital displays are a gateway to long-term digital engagement with guests that goes beyond the single stay.

Competition in hospitality is fiercer than ever before. Now is the time for leaders in the industry to explore creative solutions that can help their brands remain relevant and stand out from the competition. LED digital displays offer an innovative, visual way to communicate messages that will grip today’s technology-oriented consumer in a way single screens and smartphones can’t. And

keeping your audience engaged and informed is easier than ever with PixelFLEX’s ® LED digital display technology.

Learn more about how PixelFLEX® can help you find a creative LED display solution for your business by visiting https://pixelflexled.com/retail/ today.

PixelFLEX helps Chicken Charlie’s draw a crowd

Hitch-Hiker Mfg. works with the Nashville-based LED video manufacturer to create two outdoor, high-definition LED displays on top of a new mobile concession stand

Nashville, 1/9/2018 – Located in New Middleton, Ohio, Hitch-Hiker Mfg. leads the way in design innovations for the mobile food concession industry. When approached by Chicken Charlie’s in San Diego, California, they were asked to help create an innovative LED video display for the new “FryBQ” mobile concession stand that would surely capture the attention of patrons passing by. Needing a solution that could overcome the challenges associated with an outdoor, traveling environment, they called upon Nashville-based PixelFLEX who provided a completely IP65-rated FLEXStorm 6mm LED video system.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 34 years and we’ve had the mobile concession stand for 23 years now,” began Charlie Boghosian, Chicken Charlie’s Owner. “We have a season every year that last about 5 months where we travel across Southern California, and I first put LED video on a stand about 10 years ago. This year, as we were building this new trailer with Hitch-Hiker, I wanted to create an even better multimedia experience, and when we shared our vision with PixelFLEX they really helped us take it from an idea to a reality using the FLEXStorm LED video.”

Designed specifically to overcome the challenges associated with traditional outdoor LED video displays, FLEXStorm from PixelFLEX utilizes an intelligent, auto-correcting light sensor control system to ensure the perfect brightness at all hours of the day. With its safe and reliable IP65-rated connections, FLEXStorm can weather the environment, and is available in a variety of custom sizes, resolutions and configurations.

“This really was a great team project to find a custom LED video solution for the ‘FryBQ’ mobile concession stand,” explained Mark McIntosh, PixelFLEX Sales Engineer. “As we started getting into the details of the project, one of the biggest challenges was that the displays would need to be securely attached to the top as the stand traveled from one location to another. We also needed to go with an outdoor-rated, modular solution to help shave as much weight off the supporting structure as possible, so we worked with Hitch-Hiker to fabricate a custom, sheet metal structure that would secure and support the new FLEXStorm displays.”

Built to withstand adverse weather conditions while still providing a truly breathtaking experience, FLEXStorm can be utilized for outdoor advertising, entertainment, and much more. With its adjustable sensors that communicate directly with the cabinets control system, FLEXStorm has variable brightness offerings between 6500-7500 Nits to look its best day or night. Additionally, the fully front-serviceable panels allow for quick access to the electronics and data control for any onsite service.

McIntosh continued, “One of the things we pride ourselves on at PixelFLEX is that we are a solutions-based manufacturer, and a lot of our products are designed ideally for custom installations and fabrications. We are not limited in any capacity to create the exact design we need.”

As the team got to work installing the custom system, Boghosian’s vision for an even more impactful LED display began to come to life. With the weight and supporting structure no longer an issue, it was time to create an easy to manage content delivery system to truly showcase what Chicken Charlie’s could do.

“Since Charlie wanted the ability to change his content on a regular basis, we needed to implement a user-friendly content management system for video playback,” added McIntosh. “We decided to go with a BrightSign media player with an Apple TV system connected to it, and he now has the ability to create and control content for both LED screens independently directly off his iPhone. Using the raster presets we created in BrightSign, this system is very easy to use and it gives him quite a lot of capability at a relatively low cost.”

With the project now complete, the new mobile concession stand for Chicken Charlie’s has two new LED video displays; one measuring 30-feet long and 40-inches high, and the second measuring 13-feet wide and 7-feet high. In a world that is becoming increasingly reliant upon digital displays and signage, Chicken Charlie’s no longer has to worry about being lost in the crowd.

“When you have a static billboard, it’s just one sign and one message,” concluded Boghosian. “We now have two bright, high-definition LED video displays that I can easily change at any time allowing me to really show people all our products, and create a much more dynamic and eye-catching display that really draws people to us.”

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.

Maximize Your LED Video Wall Budget: Tips to Get the Most In the Face of Rising Digital Display Prices

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In the past five years, the market for high-resolution LED displays has grown exponentially on a wave of new pixel pitch technology. The rapid growth has provided businesses with an array of powerful display solutions, but the skyrocketing price has some concerned about how to develop a balanced budget that maximizes the value of their investment. There are a number of considerations to take into account when surveying the field, and though the market is producing cutting-edge technologies, the key to efficiency may be surprising.

Recently, competitors in the LED display market have focused on increasing resolution by focusing on reducing the fine pixel pitch, which measures the physical distance between two LED diodes, center to center. Less than a decade ago, 10mm to 20mm pitches were standard. But recent advances have put 3mm and less products in the spotlight, with a 15.8% CAGR predicted between 2014 and 2024.[1] Industry insiders say that this race to develop the finest possible LED display have pushed prices too high, as the R&D and man hours necessary to create the technology is simply too expensive for manufacturers. This both limits the growth of the market and creates an additional challenge for businesses looking to integrate an LED display into their approach.[2]

The key for businesses looking to maximize their investment is to look back by a year. Though instincts say that older technology is outdated and therefore not as good, the upgrades seen in fine pixel pitches have been incremental. Whereas 4mm pixel pitches were cutting-edge last year, this year they’re considered old news. Despite that, 4mm products are extremely high-resolution and using that technology means the same goals can be met with a much smarter, leaner budget.

Creating an immersive experience for customers is harder than ever, and though having a high-resolution display is essential, it’s far from the only consideration to be made. Putting up a digital display of any kind will create more engagement from viewers, with more than half (55%) not only recalling a digital screen they’d seen but remembering the exact message displayed.[3] Standing out from the crowd is absolutely key, and recent advances in LED have made thinking outside the box more than possible, but necessary. “Audiovisual designers can be more creative than they’ve really ever been able to be. They’ve been limited to rectangular boxes for such a long time,” David Venus of LED manufacturer Pixel Flex said.

When looking to balance a high-resolution with price, distance is your friend. The more natural distance between viewer and display, the less important it is to have a fine pixel pitch. Many locations, like university unions and property managers, are renting out ad space on their digital display to offset the cost of an initial investment, and though this solution isn’t ideal for every user, it’s a powerful way to regulate a budget.

Perhaps the most important element of investing in a current digital display is to seek out manufacturers who are creating standardized displays. When electronics are uniform across platforms, it’s easy to buy a lower-resolution version today and then simply upgrade later down the line when more powerful technology becomes affordable.

The future of digital displays is a thrilling one. As technologies grow more powerful and affordable, the A/V world will likely never be the same. To learn more about the exciting new technologies emerging and ways to find digital solutions on a smart budget, just visit: https://pixelflexled.com/products/

[1] https://epsnews.com/2016/09/01/fine-pixel-pitch-led-display-market-reach-3-1b-2024/
[2] http://www.tmrblog.com/2016/09/fine-pixel-pitch-led-displays-market.html
[3] https://oaaa.org/NewsEvents/PressReleases/tabid/327/id/4244/Default.aspx