A video wall (also known as display wall) is a large visualization surface consisting of multiple displays. Originally, they consisted of multiple televisions or monitors closely put together. The objective was to make it seem as one large display surface.
The problem however was the large frame (or bezel) that surrounded the useful display surface of each television. This completely tore down the effect of a single canvas and ruined the visual performance. Therefore, new technologies were introduced to minimize the ‘dead pixel space’ between the different displays.
Today’s display wall solutions are generally using tiled LCD panels, rear-projection cubes, or direct-view LED tiles. Typical application areas include control rooms, meeting rooms, digital signage and other demanding environments.
These display walls are available in a wide range of sizes, typically with a screen diameter between 46” and 80”. The choice of the screen size depends on the typical content and the viewing distance. If watched from up close, the pixel density should be high enough to not see the individual pixels. The resolution is subject to the wall size. For example, a 4K video wall requires 4 Full HD screens in a 2 x 2 setup.
Although these different technologies have very distinct merits, answering specific needs of users, they have a number of things in common. They all:
- Need a video wall controller to get content on the screens
- Are very flexible regarding size (number of individual displays)
- Need a calibration mechanism to ensure that all individual tiles have the same brightness and color settings. Barco’s automatic calibration technology does this in real-time, both calibrating single displays and entire walls
- Require a minimal inter-tile gap (or ultra narrow bezel) to counter the ‘raster effect'
