ViewSonic recently launched a folding and movable LED display for corporate, education and meeting room use. (ViewSonic Unveils Industry-First Foldable 135″ All-in-One LED Display Solution Kit). There’s a video on the display here.
We were intrigued by the product and had some questions. Here is what we heard from the firm.
Q. With tiled displays such as LED, the big challenge is to hide the joins between the modules – even if you have a fixed display. How do you reduce the visibility of the joins when there is an obvious fold point?
A. Due to the pre-assembled design of our All-in-One LED Display Solution Kit (LDS135-151), the LED module has been assembled before leaving the factory – including adjusting the gap and flatness of the display to the best state so there’s no obvious fold point. As for the foldable design, we used a specially designed joint that is strong and immovable. It is sent to the laboratory for a vibration test (simulating sea transportation) to ensure that the gap at the fold is not affected by any movement during transportation.
Q. SMD LED displays can be easy to damage. Does ViewSonic do anything to reduce the damage risk if the display is likely to be moved and handled?
A. The LDS135-151 is contained in a flight case with cushioning. The foldable design can also protect the LED module(surface of screen) from a collision while moving the display.
7 extra/spare LED modules and a vacuum suction tool also come with the solution. If any damage is found, the user can replace the module immediately. Damaged modules can also be sent back to ViewSonic for repair within the warranty period.
Q. 1.56mm pitch is quite large – do you have plans for smaller pitch/smaller sized displays?
A. We launched the solution kit with a 135-inch display which is the mainstream specification. A smaller 108-inch display (1.2mm pixel pitch) is actually not much different from the size of a LCD Panel (98-inch). Even though the pixel pitch is smaller, there is not much demand in the market.
Q. Do you have plans to go to higher brightness – e.g. by using common cathode technology?
A. The current brightness (600 nits) of the LDS135-151 is quite adequate. Even under strong ambient light, our LED Display can still present images clearly. There is actually little demand for brighter brightness, so we will continue to adapt the current brightness specification as the main one.
Analyst Comment
I can imagine that this product could be considered very useful in a lot of large corporate or educational facilities. I look forward to getting a chance to see a version for myself to make my own judgement about the alignment. If ViewSonic has been able to get a good and robust folding joint, then hats off to them!
The comment about the lack of demand for finer pitch is interesting. Of course, this is no doubt partly a factor of the pricing. The 108” non-folding version actually has a higher price than the 135” version and in that situation, I can see that if the physical size is not a problem for the larger one, it becomes an easier purchase decision. However, the 135” version is available for a list of £100K. You can buy a lot of projectors for that!
(See this article for the background to this slightly surprising cost issue if you are not involved with LED.)
