Visualize a Better Video Wall Experience

Visualize a Better Video Wall Experience

Technology is growing rapidly and with it the demand for digital signage is also increasing in the market. One such example of digital signage is video walls. When you visit a mall, restaurant, airport, or theater, you see video wall digital signage and you may be fascinated by that video wall. But what actually happens behind that video wall? A video wall is a multi-screen wall that is created by joining multiple small screens together to make one larger display. The display screens can be LED/LCD/OLED panels, tiles, cubes, or projection screens. A video wall can be as simple as an image from a single source stretched across multiple screens.

Video walls display multiple content or images from multiple sources simultaneously including live news feeds, social media feeds, and advertisement videos on multiple displays. The main purpose of using video walls is to enhance the visual experience by offering higher-resolution, greater flexibility, scalability, and creativity. Video walls are typically arranged in large horizontal or vertical rectangles, but screens can also be arranged in various configurations to create creatively-shaped presentations. Video walls can be deployed on mobile mounting systems or wall-mounted for permanent installation.

See for Yourself: An Example of a Video Wall Implementation

Are you looking to invest in video walls digital signage? Before you plan to invest in video wall signage, you should first know your requirements, including why you want digital signage and what type of video wall you need. Do you want a simple, an advanced, or large-scale control room wall, or something in between? Your industry and their applications will drive what type of video wall you choose.

Video walls can be designed in many ways, with various displays for different uses. Some video walls are specifically designed for mission-critical 24/7 environments. These are powerful systems with advanced controls and built-in redundancy.

Main Components of a Video Wall to Consider

1. Display

When designing a video wall, consider what type of displays you’ll use. Video walls can use different types of displays, such as LED, LCD, OLED, tiles, cubes, etc.  Each display has its own pros and cons. Some displays are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and best suitable for indoor applications, while other displays offer vibrant colors, higher resolution, and are ideal for outdoor applications only. Considering the width of the display bezel is also very important. Newer displays feature ultra-narrow bezels that result in a more seamless image.

2. Video Processor

There are many types of video wall processors to choose from depending on your application and your future needs. These days, the terms video wall processor and video wall controller are often used interchangeably. A video wall processor is mainly used for splitting video content for each display in a multi-display wall. This device also ensures that each source signal goes to the right screen with the right resolution. It takes one image and sends it to different screens to be displayed as one large, cohesive image. In short, we can say this device is responsible for taking various inputs and putting them all together to display them on a large screen.

An advanced video wall processor can receive content from multiple sources and display it on multiple screens. Video wall processors are very similar to traditional video scalers, but these devices have greater input, output, and processing capabilities.

3. Video Extenders

Video Extenders transmit video signals from the video wall processor to the displays. They are used when the distance between the processor and the displays is too far to use video cables alone. Sometimes a video wall processor may need to be located in a server room or IT closet. In that case, the video processor cannot be connected directly to the video cables and video extenders are needed.

Some IP-based systems use smaller receivers (one per display) that can be mounted on the back side of the display. In these cases, signal extension occurs over the LAN and there is no need for extra video extension.

4. Control

There are different ways to control multi-input and multi-window video walls. First, there is the video wall software that runs with the help of a processor, which provides both content control and system management. Usually, administrators want to allow users access only to specific predefined functions or controls, rather than the ability to change system administration settings.

The most common and simple solution is an external control system port that sends commands to the video wall processor's control port via a serial (RS-232) or Ethernet (telnet) port. Some systems also support control via HTTP or XML. Control systems with touchscreens can be designed and customized for simple and intuitive operator control.