The contenders – LCD, RPC and LED
Only Tiled LCD, RPC (Rear Projection Cube) and LED (Direct View LED) are considered to be viable technologies for control rooms in critical infrastructure environments. These include utilities, traffic/transportation agencies, and security and surveillance centers, where having accurate, real-time data can mean the difference between life and death. Each video wall technology has its own strengths and weaknesses, so how do you determine which one is right for you?
The purchasing decision should be driven by the particular requirements of the application. That means resisting the temptation of a special sales price, shiny new housing or initial brightness. The most important factors focus on image quality, reliability and other aspects that help you choose an option that performs consistently at optimum levels for the long term.
We believe that there are five key questions to consider when choosing a video wall for your 24/7 operation. We’ve rated these criteria with respect to the various video wall technologies on the market today: LCD, RPC and LED, indicating their suitability to critical infrastructure environments as follows:
GREEN – Optimal
YELLOW – Satisfactory
RED – Not Recommended
1. Image Quality: What is the level of color, brightness and contrast consistency over time?
Color and brightness are of vital importance in control rooms and are critical factors in comparing displays. While every video wall technology provides plenty of brightness for control room use, the real challenge lies in maintaining a constant brightness over the entire wall, over time.
Things to consider: Are the colors and brightness consistent across the wall? Do you need manual intervention to keep the wall balanced in respect to color and brightness? Will the display units still be equalized (internally consistent) five years from now? Or, even more fundamentally: is it even possible to balance these discrete image generators across an entire wall?
Moving ahead slightly, the fact that Barco’s new RGB laser video walls for 24/7 control rooms deliver the best possible color gamut and are the brightest displays make them the most attractive option for critical infrastructure environments.
2. Ergonomics: What is the viewing distance for control room operators?
A display wall installed in a control room should be ergonomically friendly for the control room operators and supervisors. It is a well-known fact that the display wall should be designed for operator legibility − i.e., can he/she read the fonts?
Legibility is a function of the right combination of the desired pixel pitch plus the aggregate resolution required to display all applications across the wall. Users should also consider the screen viewing angle that enables the operator to maintain a consistent view of the display wall with limited [little or no] brightness drop-off. Proper screen selection and positioning the operator in front of the video wall will produce the most positive result.
3. Reliability and Serviceability: What are the expected long-term reliability and service needs?
Control rooms are built to provide situational awareness in order to facilitate fast and accurate decision-making, so uptime is of paramount importance. Failure of the video wall could lead not only to crises, but devastating financial and company image problems.
These factors are critical in developing the requirements for a 24/7 environment:
4. Longevity: What is the lifespan and upgradeability of the video wall?
There is an inverse relationship between advances in video wall technology and the typical lifespan of the actual control room facility, i.e., video wall technology evolves much faster than the building housing the control room deteriorates. As a result of this dilemma, investment protection is often overlooked when evaluating the various video wall options.
In most cases, large screen visualization solutions have an average lifespan of eight years, but with the latest laser illuminated models, can extend to more than 11 years. But beyond the estimated lifespan, you should also consider the following factors:
Note: It is also very wise to invest in a display wall that has the ability to be upgraded over time to avoid costly re-construction work.
5. Total Cost-Of-Ownership (TCO): What are the total costs incurred over the control center’s lifetime?
The cost of the video wall should be evaluated over the expected longevity of the control center – not the lifetime of a display unit. Most 24/7 control rooms typically have a lifespan of 20 years, so you should consider the total investment in the solution over this time period, factoring in total costs for procurement, operation, cooling and maintenance. Based on a lifespan of 8-11+ years for today’s video walls, facilities will need to upgrade or procure an additional video wall at some point in the future.
Each of the video wall technologies require a different level of operating costs, which are driven by the following factors:
And the winner is…
Of course there are many other factors you should consider when choosing a video wall technology. When taking the requirements of control rooms into account – and “testing” technology vs. those requirements − the most logical conclusion is that Rear Projection Cube (RPC) is the best overall solution.
The RGB Laser for 24/7 Control Rooms is THE ultimate video wall for critical infrastructure monitoring
If all of your needs point toward procuring a rear projection cube, then don’t settle for anything less than Barco’s RGB Laser for 24/7 Control Rooms display. Leveraging decades of experience in rear projection video wall technology, Barco evolved this solution to feature a laser light source, offering a quantum leap in performance, quality and ergonomics.
When it comes to choosing your next video processor, you will be confronted with a large choice of solutions that are available on the market today. While a look though the specification sheets may suggest that several processors can meet your requirements, it pays to ask the right questions before making your selection. In this useful guide, we will provide you with the 6 questions you should ask before your next video wall purchase.
How can your visual design be delivered?
The number of options for video wall design continues to grow. For example, there is a noticeable increase in Direct View LED solutions and a resurgence of projector edge blending, while flat panel displays are still being used for square, non-square, and creative video walls.
With so many options available, engage early with potential equipment suppliers to ask pertinent questions during the initial stages of the project. The last thing you want to do is choose an unsuitable video processor towards the end of a project. Ask for a design consultation and a product demonstration to check your end-to-end workflows.
What are the source & display set-up options?
Whatever your client facing video wall design looks like, the video processor will not deliver if it cannot manage the basic challenges of AV design, including setting custom resolutions, EDID selection and HDCP management.
You cannot risk having a blank source or feeding poor quality video to your expensive wall. In order to avoid this, make a list of all your sources and displays including the resolutions, frame rates and HDCP versions. Then, check that the solution you have chosen can support all these factors. To help, many distribution partners will be able to demonstrate end-to-end workflows.
How simple is it to create a system configuration?
The very best configuration software can be used with little or no training and will guide you, step-by-step, through the configuration and set-up of your wall. The software should work whether it is connected to a unit or if it is used offline. Finally, it should make even the most complex task simple to achieve, while still offering the full range of menu options when you want to dive deeper.
To check out the usability of the companion software, download a copy from the manufacturers website or ask for a demonstration of your video wall configuration. Easy-to-use software will save you significant time and money later in the project. Also, ask for 1-2-1 training so you can create your own offline configurations and input and output configurations.
What is the viewing distance?
The distance between the viewer and the video wall determines the ideal resolution that is selected to be fed to the displays. Remember, this will be different when displaying video clips to distant viewers compared to the requirements of an operator close to the wall who needs to resolve fine details. Once you know this information, you can determine your output resolution which may, in turn, allow you to display at 1080p rather than 4K. This could save you money and system bandwidth to enable more video windows in your design.
If the end user is working very close to the wall, your calculations might lead you to even higher display resolutions. Some high-end processors have already implemented quad 4K solutions to display 8K resolutions. If they have this capability, they will almost certainly have the horsepower to be able to move to a single cable solution, allowing you to futureproof your install.
Can you create non-standard video walls?
A common limiting factor for the creation of larger displays is the height of the room. Therefore, video processors need to go beyond standard widescreen aspect ratios. The result will be distracting if the video is not displayed in the correct ratio, so check whether you have full control over the aspect ratios. Also, ask how a 16:9 image will appear when stretched across the full wall and whether extreme upscaling will result in visual artifacts.
If the width of the wall is so extreme that scaling up a standard aspect ratio image is unacceptable, ask if the video processor has the option of playing back a series of synchronized 16:9 clips. If it can, a graphic designer can easily cut up an extremely wide clip or still into 16:9 segments which can be joined later by the processor. This function is useful for corporate backgrounds, broadcast sets or point-of-sale solutions.
What is the viewer experience?
The “Zoom Generation” increasingly demands collaborative, multi-window environments as standard. As individuals venture to their workplace, every minute they spend together needs to focus on seamless information sharing. Before choosing a solution, check the actual number of windows that are available, including the scaling quality and the video latency. Also, make sure you see a “clean” cut or fade to black when you switch between your window sources, even when the resolution/frame rate varies between those sources.
Beyond that, end users are increasingly demanding eye-catching animations and source transitions to mimic what they are experiencing on TV. When working in multi-window environments, it is best to start planning this early in the project, even when creating storyboards. Designing each of the window presets in advance will lead to superior results and save time on-site.
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