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Abstract
Some other technologies are available but cubes and LCD panels are the most commonly used.
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Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Video wall display requirements and considerations ............................................................................................ 3
Visual performance and human factors. .......................................................................................................... 3
Screen seams, gaps and bezels. ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.
high quality video wall display without the interruption of any seam or a bezel ......................................... 4
2.
3.
4.
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(office walls, white paper etc.) while laptop screens and computer monitors
are around 150 cd/m2. It is clear that a video wall may not have a much higher
luminance compared to all the rest, otherwise our eyes will adapt to it and will get tired as we
constantly adapt to lower levels around us. This would be the same effect as going out from
an office to an unlit hallway. Hence, it is best to have all objects in your control room with a
luminance as homogeneous as possible.
When the human eye is adapted to a prevalent ambient luminance level, it can see comfortably
(meaning: reading, perceiving contrast, colors etc.) within a range of around 102 cd/m2 of
ambient luminance without the need of eye re-adaptation. Any luminance outside this range
requires frequent eye adaptation and will cause eye fatigue.
Therefore the selection of a suitable display technology with the right luminance is a key factor
for comfortable working conditions.
To avoid human eye fatigue in a control room work environment, all sources of light shall fall
within the recommended relative luminance boundaries.
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Barco Seamless
(Zero gap)
Barco LCD
( 3.5mm Bezel)
Although these applications seem to be very diverging, the overall display requirements are very
similar. For instance:
-
The video wall is in most cases required to work in a 24/7 operations while staff are situated
in front of the display wall for an entire working shift.
The ergonomic considerations such as wall brightness and viewing angles will be carefully
looked at during the design phase (e.g. the operators shall be able to look at and
comfortably see the content for 8 hours a shift, every day , all year!)
The reliability, and expected lifetime and overall appearance and quality of the display wall
are important and where the display quality degradation over time need to be minimum.
The frequency, duration and ease of service, in addition to future spare parts availability are
key.
The system total cost of ownership (e.g. cost of operation and maintenance on top of
equipment initial cost) need to be reasonable.
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Many standards already exist to guide the designer through these aspects. The selection criteria
of the suitable video wall technology shall take into account the above requirements and
considerations.
Please refer to appendix 1 for more details about what makes Barco projector based video wall
displays a perfect fit for mission critical 24/7 applications.
The video wall has no requirement for 24/7 operation , it can be switched off after normal
working hours , also operators and viewers dont need to look at the display for long hours
during work shifts.
The ambient environment light levels are considerably higher than normal office
environment ambient light, this creates a need for a brighter display wall than what is
required for mission critical applications where ambient light is comparable to office ambient
environment light levels.
The frequency, duration and ease of service are not an issue since work interruption is
allowed and/or service can be done during normal operation or after normal work hours.
The initial Capex investment is more relevant than total cost of ownership including service
and operational costs, since the display wall is normally completely replaced every 3 to 5
years to cope with interior design changes.
Please refer to appendix 2 for more details about Barco LCD based video wall displays and their
features , also explaining the limitations of LCD technology in general if used in mission critical
24/7 applications.
The next few pages show a table with an appreciation per technology (LCD versus Cube) for a
list of the most important requirements and considerations.
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50 LCD Based
Projector
50 Cube Based
Viewing Angles
Contrast
+++
( Better black levels)
Colors
+++
( True Colors)
Brightness
+++
( higher brightness
( less bright but more
for high ambient light suitable for human eye
environment)
comfort in 24/7
applications )
+++
( calibration is
possible with Barco
LCD technology)
(Automatic and
continuous without work
interruption , also unnoticable)
+++
(Quality degradation
(Automatic and
over time)
continuous without work
interruption , also unnoticable)
Auto brightness & color calibration
Technology Lifetime
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++
+++
(needs operator
intervention, some
work interruption
needed)
(Automatic and
continuous without work
interruption , also unnoticable)
+++
3 years typical on
LCD panel
White paper
Requirements and Considerations
50 LCD Based
Projector
50 Cube Based
+++
Easy to upgrade
projectors in the
future
(typical 3 years
only)
Gaps/Seems/Bezels between the screens
Image retention
Image degradation
+++
---
+++
Due to a limitation
of LCD technology,
a previous picture
might remain
visible on the
screen
No Image retention
---
+++
limitation of LCD
technology
No image drgradation
with time
Slightly smaller
than 50 Cubes
++
++
+++
White paper
50 LCD Based
Projector
50 Cube Based
Attraction of dust
---
+++
---
+++
liquid cooled engine
---
+++
not available
Noise levels
+++
liquid cooled (silent
operation)
Serviceability
---
+++
---
+++
The Building Blocks
can be upgraded to
newer technology.
The Mechanical
Structure can be
reused & Redeployed
---
+++
---
+++
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Summary
We have seen throughout this white paper that the technical display specs are not always
reflecting real demand, and that there are many other important factors to take into
consideration when building a good information display.
The design decisions are not only about the technology part, it is the combination of several
as important factors, such as :
-
Application of use and which technology is a better fit for this application and for the
operators looking at the display wall.
Corporate branding and prestige for large projects (being the best and having the best
technology)
Conclusion
Taken into account the reliability requirements, the ambient luminance, ergonomic
factors of a 24/7 operation, the Projection Cube technology gets a plus versus the LCD
technology. LCD technology is technically speaking acceptable but is to our findings
not really suited to be heavily used in critical environments. Nevertheless, LCDs will
do the job but with less reliability and operators satisfaction.
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Barco projector based cubes are designed for and intenssively tested in 24/7 applications, it is a proven
technology suitable for mission critical application in many ways:
-
o
o
o
o
o
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Drasticly reduces the risk of loosing image on the display wall incase one LED is becoming faulty.
Easy replacement of the LEDs in minutes. Prefilled and sealed cooling cycle.
Sixfold redundant LEDs per color
Sixfold redundant LED driver per color
End to end redundancy concept for additional operational safety
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o
o
o
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-
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Calibration SW (running on internal processor) allows to automatically maintain colour and brightness
uniformity among screens in a video wall
The TRADITIONAL way to resolve the problem is to use an EXTERNAL sensors to measure each screen
behavior and set each screens with different parameters in order to ensure that the visual behaviour of the
screens are back similar.
BARCO WAY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM is SenseX . This is an UNIQUE BARCO FEATURE where the sensors is
located inside the LCD that can measure brightness and color of the screen and pass the information to the
SenseX software running on the BCMC box.
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Image retention
o Within LCD type displays, image retention is caused by impurities inside the liquid crystal
material, this phenomena results from the prolonged exposure of the liquid crystal material to
the same static image ( e.g. which can be some text, a logo, a frame around video camera
image, a structural item such as a door or a floor photographed by a security cameraetc.)
24/7 operation.
o ALL LCD panels use organic materials, therefore no matter what measures are taken image
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o
retention remains an issue and the LCD screens need to be switched off frequently from time to
time ( depending of the type of content displayed ) in order to reduce the image retention
issues.
Although some manufacturers claim that LCD technology is good for a 100% 24/7 operation with
no image retention, this claim may be made as typically these companies come from the world
of digital signage, where content continuously changes.
Using an LCD in a true 24/7 control room operation ( where some static images are part of the
content ) will cause any brand of LCD panel to suffer from Image Retention.
Dust issues.
o LCD panels attracts dust due to electrostatic nature of the LCD panel.
o The panels are fan cooled , this allows dust to get inside the LCD screen through the backside
ventilation air inlets, and when the inlets are blocked with dust the failure risk becomes
considerably high due to improper ventilation and overheating.
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One NGP200 can drive 4 cubes with only 2 cables between the controller and the projector inputs
(loop through) , reducing the number of cables required.
b.
o
o
NGP200 Mounting
Pedestal mount (cube structures)
For OL/OVL and MVL
Pedestal mount of the controller will reduce the cable distance between cubes and controllers,
and will eliminate the need for additional active components to drive signal over longer cables .
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c.
N + 1 Redundancy concept only works with Cube technology ( not with LCD ) since the cubes have a second
input which is intelligent enough to detect input signals failure and automatically switches to the second input
in case of input 1 failure.
N+ 1 Redundancy concept helps reducing redundant system cost substantially by decreasing the number of
needed spare controllers to only one controller per video wall. This is only possible with cubes solution (not
LCD)
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