The Multi-Use Video Wall

There was a time in the not so recent past, when the technology, design, and installation of video walls was financially out of reach of the average business. Not only was it a large financial investment, but there was typically a major time investment by the user to learn how to properly operate the system.

Some of you may have had an experience in the past (or possibly even recently) where you walked into a conference room containing a 2 x 2 video wall, a control panel on the table, and cables seemingly growing from somewhere within. The space that was meant to be a showpiece, ended up being a source of much frustration, as non-technical users struggled to share their presentations, or even turn on the displays. Meetings would start late as the presenter attempted to find the correct cable and press the correct series of buttons. Forget about using it to watch the big game during some after-work bonding.

As technology has improved, and costs have come down, video walls are no longer reserved for the uber rich corporations, pro sports team, or mega churches. Instead, they’ve become almost ubiquitous, appearing at your local fitness center, airport, house of worship, or even in the entrance of a tanning salon.

More than ever, video walls need to be easy to understand, and easy to manage. Because many of the smaller companies investing in a video wall have limited space, these video walls must also be multi-purpose. Instead of being set aside specifically for quarterly board member presentations, they are now used for an impromptu employee meeting, a hybrid sales meeting, employee entertainment, or showing off your latest project to a prospective client.

Since the popularity has continued to grow, more integrators are being asked to design and install large video wall systems. Previously, the integrator would need to be very familiar with ISF guidelines for calibration, and walls would need to be re-calibrated every few months. Now, such advancements like auto calibration, or pre-calibrated dvLED bundles, the barrier to entry is much smaller.

Let’s take a look at some current technology we can utilize to create an easy to use, easy to manage, video wall with multiple functions.

Display technology

Video walls are no longer limited to a number of ultra-thin bezel displays arranged in a matrix, with an expensive, multiple input processor behind it. Because of the decrease in pixel size, as well as cost, a fine pixel pitch dvLED display in either 16:9, 21:9, or 32:9 aspect ratio would offer an affordable, long lasting, and easy to manage solution. Popular display manufacturers like LG have “all in one” packages that include the mount, cabinets, controller, dvLED modules and even sound. The installation has been simplified, and the modules come pre calibrated so they look great out of the box.

dvLED video wall

There are a number of benefits of using a dvLED display including no bezels, 100,000 half-life, and a controller with multiple inputs. The best thing, many models can be controlled with the same remote control that you use on the 55” display in your breakroom.

The next step is to determine the Main Use of this display, and what additional technology is necessary.

Main Usage: Presentation

A presentation is the type of application typically found in a boardroom. A manufacturer whose name has become synonymous with wireless presentations is Barco. Since the introduction of the Barco Clickshare, wireless presentations have become the norm, and many manufactures have followed suit, chasing the Clickshare success.

The Barco product allows users to walk into any Clickshare enabled space, and quickly and wirelessly present content from any device, including a cell phone or tablet. For more details, I suggest contacting your Exertis Almo rep, or one of our Barco BDMs.

But what about when the room isn’t being used for presentations? With the Clickshare device, you have additional flexibility, including digital signage. With a few quick steps, you can use the Clickshare to display digital signage presentation when not in wireless presentation mode. Keep people informed, inspired, and impressed (borrowed that from Barco).

digital signage

Now, adding some entertainment to the mix is a simple as sharing content from your personal device via the wireless system, or using a Barco model with HDMI inputs to add in your cable or satellite (you could also use a secondary input on the video wall).

Main Usage: Digital Signage

There are quite a few video walls installed whose only purpose will continue to be digital signage. These tend to be located in public spaces such as airports, stadiums, or Times Square. For less public applications, there may be times when the owners of these large displays would like to utilize them for other purposes, like a sales meetings, or entertainment. Digital signage software companies, like Enplug, understood the need and took action. Using a BrightSign player, which is built for digital signage, and the Enplug CMS, the owner not only gets a reliable, easy to manage digital media player, but they add in the flexibility to show live TV (using an HDMI input on the XT1145), share content from a mobile device (streaming through the Enplug software), or even control the various other AV products in the room via RS232.

Main usage: UC (Zoom Room / Teams Room)

Teams or Zoom rooms continue to gain popularity as the workforce continues to be divided between on-site and at home employees. These rooms allow for collaboration between people in various locations. Previously these rooms were used exclusively for these applications, which obviously limits their usefulness. Zoom and Microsoft recognized the value of adding additional flexibility and have added digital signage functionality to their platform.

Unfortunately, for live TV, or other entertainment features, the user would need to utilize the additional inputs, or smart features of their display.

There are many other uses for video walls, and odd aspect ratios, or mosaic type walls still require expertise. However, I hope that I’ve provided some insight on how current technology has made creating a flexible, easy to manage, and easy to operate video wall a project that any AV integrator can tackle. If you wish to learn more about video walls, digital signage, or other technology that Exertis Almo partners with, please visit the Exertis Almo website, and navigate to the page on our many BDMs. Let us work with you on finding the right technology for your next project.

Todd Heberlein
About the Author

Todd Heberlein | CTS, DMC-D-4K, DSCE

Business Development Manager

Supported Manufacturers: Digital Signage Services, Technical (National), BrightSign

Episode 4, Hot Takes with Maz & Wheelz

This Video Series was recorded by Exertis Almo's Business Development Managers: 
Dan Mazurkiewicz, DSCE, and Liz Wheeler, DSCE.

“Hot Takes” with Maz & Wheelz – a video series of conversations about LED technology.

Episode 4 of “Hot Takes” with Maz & Wheelz! This episode with Exertis Almo’s Business Development Managers, Daniel Mazurkiewicz and Liz Wheeler, with ‘hot takes’ from guest Jonathan Brawn, Principal at Brawn Consulting, on Samsung’s WMB Series – Flip Pro All-in-One Digital Flipchart Collaborative Display.

Watch to listen in on their conversation!

Did you find this video helpful? Connect with us and #TeamExertisAlmo over on LinkedIn.

Find more episodes on the Exertis Almo YouTube Channel.

Liz Wheeler

Liz Wheeler | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (NE, SE, MW)

Dan Mazurkiewicz

Dan Mazurkiewicz | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (SW, West, NW)

5 Possible Benefits of an External Media Player

Digital Signage Players

I spend much of my day discussing digital signage projects with system integrators, consultants, and end users. I know, you are probably wondering how I got so lucky. You may even be thinking about a career change. Not so fast my friend, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. Some of it can actually be confusing, or even frustrating.

Working in distribution affords me the advantage of having many choices when deciding on a game plan for a digital signage project. What I see as an advantage can be daunting to the average consumer. One decision that can appear to be easy on the surface, can often come back to be an important one.

With manufacturers including a signage player as part of the display (sometimes referred to as System on Chip, or SoC), it can be a challenge for consumers to see value of an external player. It is simple assume that when faced with adding the cost of an additional piece of hardware, it would be better to use the built-in player on a display.

In some circumstances, it makes sense to use the SoC. This is especially popular in retail applications. We’ve seen successful deployments, where simple video or image playback is all that is needed, and the budget was one of the largest deciding factors. However, the flexibility of an external media player can oftentimes be the key to a successful deployment.

There are a numerous manufacturers of digital signage media players. They come with operating systems, ranging from open source options like Android to the ubiquitous Windows OS. Some of the more popular manufacturers have created their own OS, specifically made for digital signage. These have been proven especially efficient, as well as secure.

There are different abilities for each SoC as well as each external player. However, the features listed below are typically included as part of the external player ecosystem.

1. Player Management

Content management is the prime focus of CMS providers…it’s literally in the name (CMS = Content Management Software). Player management is almost never a focus, especially since most CMS platforms work on a variety types of players and operating systems. Their agnostic approach allows them to be retrofit into previous deployments, as well as specified in current projects.

With the world’s most popular media player brand, the ability to manage remotely, including player setup, reboot, and even player reset if needed, is their main focus. A free software, specifically focused on allowing users to manage almost every aspect of their players, allows for separation of responsibilities. This allows the IT department to focus on managing the players, and their network, while the remaining team can focus on content management.

church audio solutions

2. Firmware

In consumer applications, firmware updates are typically done to take advantage of a new feature release. In commercial applications, the features take a back seat to security. Many displays with included software can provide an ingress for hackers, so updating the firmware helps maintain the security at the highest level.

Updating the firmware on your display can have an adverse effect on the digital signage content management software. There are times when the management software has not been updated at the time of the firmware release, which can cause the glitches due to a firmware mismatch.

An external media player remains separate from the display firmware, allowing your signage to remain functioning.

3. Horsepower

The ability to choose an external player with processing power and memory that matches your digital signage needs now, as well as into the future, may only be available if using an external player. The SoC provided in displays may be powerful enough to play images and videos but may lack performance when additional content comes into play.

External media players range from basic video and image playback to multi-output, 3D capable video engines capable of playing the most demanding content.

4. Triggers

External media players can have various IO ports, as well as methods for communicating with their players. USB ports allow for the connection to an overlay or button panel to trigger playback of content. Some even over a GPIO port (short for General-Purpose Input/Output), allowing one to integrate numerous connections. This is important if you want to trigger playback using something other than the Ethernet port.

Connecting a fire alarm, button push, or something else that can be used to trigger the playback of content is important.

5. Hot Swap

As reliable as displays have become, most are replaced every 3 years for one reason or another. This can be because of improvements in technology, product failure, or even a matter of aesthetics. The replacement of a display does not have to mean downtime on the digital signage. If an external media player is being used, it is only a matter of plugging it into the HDMI port of the new display.

Along with hot swapability (I know, it’s not a word), there are also additional benefits. When a power outage occurs, most external media players automatically restart playing media as soon as the power is back. There is no human interaction needed. Since the failure rate of the top external media players is so low, I’ve seen them running for 10 years straight without interruption.

Conclusion

The list above provides some of the more popular reasons people continue to use an external media player, but there are many more. I didn’t even touch on video walls, or other multi-display deployments. Just because a media player is included in the commercial display of your choice, there are still a number of good reasons that an external player should be considered. If you’d like to discuss your project, or wish to learn more, feel free to contact me at ExertisAlmo.com.

Todd Heberlein
About the Author

Todd Heberlein | CTS, DMC-D-4K, DSCE

Business Development Manager

Supported Manufacturers: Digital Signage Services, Technical (National), BrightSign

Episode 3, Hot Takes with Maz & Wheelz

This Video Series was recorded by Exertis Almo's Business Development Managers: 
Dan Mazurkiewicz, DSCE, and Liz Wheeler, DSCE.

“Hot Takes” with Maz & Wheelz – a video series of conversations about LED technology.

Episode 3 of “Hot Takes” with Maz & Wheelz! This episode with Exertis Almo’s Business Development Managers, Daniel Mazurkiewicz and Liz Wheeler, has a few ‘hot takes’ from guest Jonathan Brawn, Principal at Brawn Consulting, on the ease and convenience of the All-in-One LED solutions.

Watch to listen in on their conversation!

Did you find this video helpful? Connect with us and #TeamExertisAlmo over on LinkedIn.

Find more episodes on the Exertis Almo YouTube Channel.

Liz Wheeler

Liz Wheeler | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (NE, SE, MW)

Dan Mazurkiewicz

Dan Mazurkiewicz | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (SW, West, NW)

Episode 2, Hot Takes with Maz & Wheelz

This Video Series was recorded by Exertis Almo's Business Development Managers: 
Dan Mazurkiewicz, DSCE, and Liz Wheeler, DSCE.

Continuing “Hot Takes” with Maz & Wheelz – a video series of conversations about LED technology.

The 2nd episode with Exertis Almo’s Business Development Managers, Daniel Mazurkiewicz and Liz Wheeler, is all about total cost of ownership over time. Guest, Jonathan Brawn, Principal at Brawn Consulting, discusses considerations for choosing LED vs LCD vs Projection. What are the pros and cons you need to consider?

Watch to listen in on their conversation!

Did you find this video helpful? Connect with us and #TeamExertisAlmo over on LinkedIn.

Find more episodes on the Exertis Almo YouTube Channel.

Liz Wheeler

Liz Wheeler | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (NE, SE, MW)

Dan Mazurkiewicz

Dan Mazurkiewicz | DSCE

Business Development Manager

 

Supported Manufacturers: Samsung Pro (SW, West, NW)

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