Last time I was at ISE (2014), the giant ribbon over the main entrance was driven by ten edge-blended Barco HDQ-2K40 projectors, a sight to warm the heart of any dedicated projector engineer. In 2017, however, this array was replaced by a LED videowall. Time and technology moves on, I guess. I miss the image quality of the Barco projectors, though.
LED videowall above the main entrance to ISE at Amsterdam’s RAI
The number of LED videowall manufacturers world-wide is nearly uncountable but very large. Not only do they come and go, but sometimes they have multiple names and brands and it is hard to tell if a company should be counted as one company or three. In any event, Bob Raikes split the list of videowall manufacturers at ISE into three parts: one for him to visit, one for me to visit and the third part, the largest part, companies that neither of us would time to visit. (I heard that there were 160 Shenzen-based LED companies at ISE! BR) Below are brief stories of the videowall companies I visited. -Matthew Brennesholtz
Arch
Arch.EU is a European videowall manufacturer founded in 2003, located in Belgian and Andorra and at ISE for the 12th time. They make videowalls with pitches from 2mm to 15 – 20 mm. Some of their business is in standard modules but they also create custom designs. Their CEO and Founder Sébastien Clément told me their designs can be customized for high-temperature regions and he specifically mentioned Dubai. He added that they will be opening a branch in the US and plans to do some of their manufacturing there.
Shenzhen AuroLED Technology Co. Ltd.
AuroLED featured a number of their products at ISE but the one I found most interesting was the LED-based COB shelf edge labels with a 1.875mm pitch. Each module was 60mm high and 300mm long. They were designed to latch onto standard retail store shelf edges and easily connect end-to-end. While they were demonstrated at ISE giving prices, etc. for the products on every shelf, I suspect, in the short term, they are too expensive for that. Instead, they could be put on one shelf on every aisle to provide a digital messaging system without taking up space that could be dedicated to shelves and products for sale. In addition to the shelf edge labels, AuroLED was featuring both their COB poster displays and their transparent LED displays.
COB LED-based shelf edge labels from AuroLED
Shenzhen CreateLED
Shenzhen CreateLED introduced four new products at ISE this year. First was a fine pitch module series named AirTV. The AirTV range will bolster the already well established AirMag range and will be available in 0.9mm, 1.2mm and 1.6mm pixel pitch. Second is the AirMag-S range. This series will have a pitch of 1.6mm and above. Third was is called the AirMagLite-R. Like the new AirMag-S, it has been designed with weight and thickness in mind, to provide the rental industry with an advanced high definition outdoor LED display solution. The AirMagLlite-R comes with handy accessories like touring frames, transport dollies and fly kits, making it very quick and convenient to set up and dismantle. The series is available from a pixel pitch of 3.9mm upwards. Finally is the ChromaLED PRO HD, which is an advanced LED display controller. The ChromaLED PRO HD is able to accept DVI, HDMI, SDI, and DisplayPort and can output a resolution of 3280 x 2048 pixels per controller. This advanced LED display controller enhances gray scale, contrast ratio, sharpness and refresh rate, and is designed to match any CreateLED display product.
CreateLED booth at ISE with a prototype AirTV 1.2mm pitch display in the center flanked by two AirMag-S 1.6 mm pitch displays.
Shenzhen DiColor Optoelectronics
Dicolor was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. At ISE they were featuring their newest product, the X series, a high-end staging product. There are five different modules in the series, from 2.84 pitch to 4.81mm pitch. All the modules have a IP40 front/IP21 rear ingress protection making them only suited for indoor use except the X-480 module with a 4.81mm pitch and a rating of IP65/IP54, making it suitable for outdoor use. A second 4.81mm pitch module, the X-481 has IP40/IP21, again making it suited for indoor use. The main display above the Dicolor booth was made up of X-281 modules with a pixel pitch of 2.84mm.
X-281 modules were used in the main Dicolor display at ISE.
DigiLED Group Ltd.
DigiLED is headquartered in Surrey, UK and they manufacture their products in China. In addition, they have an offices in Japan and Hong Kong and have recently opened an office in the US. At ISE, they highlighted their new HRi3570, a high end 3.5mm rental module with magnetic front surface, quick-swap detachable power & data units and a host of fast-rig & play features which was introduced at ISE in 2014. One of the recent projects the company is very proud of was the “Colossus” display at the Bristol Motor Speedway, installed in April, 2016 and said to be the largest center-hung LED display in the world. It used nearly 1,000 square metres of digilED Toura 6mm LED modules built into a 4 sided centre-hung structure, designed to be visible to the spectators that completely surround the race track.
Colossus at the Bristol Motor Speedway (Photo: DigiLED)
Shenzhen Gloshine Technology
Gloshine from Shenzen was founded in 2006. Gloshine did not introduce any new products at ISE 2017. Their booth featured their V-Series panels intended for indoor use and with pitches of 2.97, 3.47 and 3.91mm.
Shenzhen InfiLED
InfiLED was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. At ISE they were highlighting their DF and X series of LED videowall modules, plus their most recent introduction, the ER series. The ER series is a high performance rental panel for indoor and outdoor applications. They come in eight different pixel pitches from 3.47mm to 12.5mm. Panels with 5.95mm and above have an IP65 rating front and IP54 rear. Modules are 100cm x 50 cm, although half size 50cm x 50cm modules are also available. The panels are said to have “4Easy.” Easy #1 is easy setup and dismantle, with magnents, guided posts, easy-operating locks and light weight simplifying assembly. #2 is easy maintenance, with front or rear access maintenance available and separate and exchangeable data and power units. #3 is easy to make straight and curved arrays. Modules have calibrated angular scales and can be installed with an angle of up to ±10° between adjacent panels. #4 is easy stacking and hanging. This includes special carts where the panels can be stored and unloaded in pairs directly into the array being assembled.
ER Series panels in the InfiLED booth
LianTronics Co. Ltd.
LianTronics from Shenzhen showcased its new VH series of videowall panels at ISE. The main wall was made from VH1.4 modules with a 1.4mm pitch and provided 3840 x 1080 resolution. Other modules in the VH series have pitches of 1.2, 1.9 and 2.4mm. The modules are specifically designed to produce standard HD and UHD resolutions with an integral number of panels with no unused areas. For example, the 3840 x 1080 resolution wall was made of an array of 12 x 3 panels.
Main display at the LianTronics made from VH1.4 modules
Lighthouse Technologies
Lighthouse Technologies of Hong Kong launched a new fine pixel range at ISE 2017 called the i-series. The i-series is designed specifically for indoor use and is said to be ideal for applications such as broadcast studios, control rooms and auditoriums. It offers a range of pixel pitches including 1.5mm, 1.8mm and 2.5mm. Part of the i-series is its all-in-one video processor, the LCM-4KS. This is Lighthouse’s most powerful processor to date and can support UHD 4K content. It features frame synchronization, without time and frame delay and can drive a display area of 4096 x 2304 pixels. Other advantages of the i-series include a magnetic module design for quick and easy installation and servicing. The die-cast modules can be stacked, hung or wall mounted, allowing for a variety of installation techniques. The i-series also has low energy consumption, critical for long hours of use and continuous indoor operation. The first install of an i-Series display is scheduled for April this year.
Lighthouse i-series display at ISE
Shenzhen Nexnovo Technology Co.
Nexnovo was featuring its X-Glass transparent LED displays at ISE. These displays are available either as modules for building large displays or as defined, poster-sized displays. Pixel pitch ranges from 2.5mm to 31mm. The displays are mostly used for shop windows, stage design and architectural media.
Transparent X-Glass displays from Nexnovo at ISE.
Retop LED Display
Retop LED Display has recently introduced what they call “High Precision LED Displays.” This technology is used in their Rex Series of indoor displays with pitches in the 1.26 mm – 1.9 mm range and the Lex series of outdoor displays with pitches in the range of 3.91mm – 5.95mm. The technology is said to be more efficient, lighter weight and lower maintenance than older LED videowall designs. The company says the high precision displays are suitable for replacing older DLP-based displays such as Christie MicroTiles. The company is headquartered in Shenzhen and has nearly 200,000 m² of manufacturing area in Zhuhai.
UniLumin Group
The Unilumin Group was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. They have partnered with Eyevis and Avid Solutions to develop a 0.9mm and 1.5mm pitch videowalls specifically designed for the control room market. The 0.9mm version was featured in the Eyevis booth at ISE and the 1.5mm version was featured in the Unilumin booth. Both are designed to have a 100,000 hour life (11.4 years of 24/7 operation) and have a 3 year warranty. According to Unilumin, there are already many installations of this 1.5mm system in the US. The 0.9mm design shown by Eyevis is still in development.
Unilumin 1.5mm pitch display designed for the control room market.
Squadrat
Squadrat GmbH was founded in 2005 and is located in Schwanstetten, Germany. Their newest products, the S[quadrat] Sky series, are also known as NEC LiFT series. NEC is the cooperation partner for Squadrat and the Sky/LiFT series were actually introduced by NEC at InfoComm 2016. At ISE, these products were shown at both the Squadrat booth and the NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH, where the LiFT L015Si and LiFT L038Si LED displays from S[quadrat] were introduced to the European market.
Transtech LED
At ISE, Transtech and its European distributor AED Group held a contract-signing ceremony. This cooperation marked Transtech’s deeper involvement in Europe and is expected to expand the company’s market share there. Based on the AED brand advantage, broad channel covering and customer bases in Europe, this strategic cooperation is intended to drive the deeper collaboration in marketing, products and business model and therefore offer high quality display and solutions. Transtech did not release any new products at ISE but showcased its existing product lines, including the small pixel pitch Discovery series, the Braves series of multi-use outdoor displays, the Ranger rental series, the Iposter series of stand-alone digital displays, the Legend LED mesh and a glasses-free 3D display.
Transtech and the AED Group signed a cooperation agreement at ISE. (Source: Transtech)
