Advanced Designs Unique Mobile Video Wall In Two Weeks For New CTV Show "The Social"

What do you do when your TV show uses a video wall for direct viewer interaction, but the entire set needs to be mobile because other shows film on the same soundstage throughout the day? According to the makers of the new CTV talk show “The Social”, you call Advanced, Canada’s premier AV and IT integrator, to develop an innovative mobile video wall solution that can be easily rolled on and off the set!

Advanced recognized that the show needed a solution as technologically advanced as the show’s concept, which capitalizes on social media to make viewers a very literal part of the show, allowing folks at home to tweet and message the show in real time and influence discussions and pose questions. It’s the 21st century’s answer to the old mainstay of “let’s go to our next caller”, and the set deserved a 21st century display to show the audience’s input.

The most amazing thing may not be the display itself, but the fact that Advanced designed, built and installed the custom mount and display in just two weeks working only after-hours, from the day the order was placed to completion. According to Advanced’s General Manager of Systems Integration Omar Prashad, systems such as this one usually require a 4-6 week lead time, which meant that the team had to work literally 24 hours a day for the final two days to have it finished on time for the show’s debut on Monday, September 2.

“We’ve never built a mobile video wall before,” he said, “so there was a lot of brainstorming at the very beginning to determine the best way to build the mount that houses all nine 46-inch displays. It's not something a lot of AV companies could do, but we developed a custom mobile mounting solution with custom welding that can be moved by a single person, even though it weighs nearly 800 pounds. We also couldn’t be on the set during the day because it’s used for a variety of programming, so we constructed the mount offsite, then spent the final two days working around the clock to get it integrated with the switchboard and working flawlessly for its debut on the air on Monday.”

The video wall is composed of nine 46-inch ultra-thin NEC X463UN displays, creating a nearly seamless 138-inchdisplay that gives viewers an HD view of show graphics that may include photos, videos, text and live viewer feeds from Twitter and other social networks. The video feed is delivered directly from the switchboard to a Kramer scaler that optimizes the incoming signal and then sends to the video wall.

“It was a lot of pressure to design, deliver, color calibrate and make sure it was 100 percent working in such a short time frame, but it was exciting to see it all happen,” Prashad added. “There’s nothing Advanced can’t do, and this last-minute mobile video wall is an incredible proof of that philosophy.”

NanoLumens Delivers A Stunning Performance At The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party's Record-Breaking Fundraising Dinner

To make sure every attendee at the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party’s November 2011 Greater Toronto Area Dinner could clearly view party leader Tim Hudak’s speech, the event’s production company Metalworks Production Group knew they needed a super bright, vivid display that could be set up and broken down quickly and easily, viewed from any angle and was bright enough to be seen clearly from hundreds of feet away.

To find the right solution for this event, Metalworks turned to the audiovisual experts at APG Displays, who recommended they deploy two NanoLumens NanoFlex 112” flexible digital displays on either side of the speaker’s podium to allow for optimal viewing for all attendees. And it’s a good thing they did, because the event turned out to be the largest and most successful dinner in the party’s history, drawing more than 800 supporters and candidates and raising nearly (Canadian) $1.5 million for the party.

Because the dinner was just a few hours long, it was vital that Metalworks Production Group be able to set up and break down the digital displays quickly and easily without needing a whole crew of workers. The NanoLumens NanoFlex displays were the perfect solution for this because they weigh just 85 pounds, need minimal labor to install and don’t require any heavy or cumbersome rigging. In fact, NanoLumens is the only manufacturer that sells a flexible, durable, lightweight digital display solution that is bright enough to be seen from hundreds of feet away and provides a vibrant, consistent edge-to-edge image quality no matter the viewing angle or how close the viewer is to the screens.

“Metalworks Production Group had never used the NanoLumens displays,” said David Weatherhead, Vice President of APG Displays, “so they really were shocked when we told them about the NanoFlex 112” display that could be set up and broken down in less than two hours. Using a projection screen or a traditional digital display would have required more people and much more time to install, so the NanoLumens displays turned out to be the perfect solution for the event. The picture quality is amazing, and they looked beautiful from every spot in the room.”

According to NanoLumens President and CEO Rick Cope, “The Greater Toronto Area Dinner is exactly the kind of environment that NanoLumens Flex displays were made for. Special events are a rapidly growing market for digital displays, provided that the displays can be moved in and out quickly and can be deployed in every type of room environment with minimal structural requirements. NanoLumens Flex displays make it possible for events to be held in any environment, indoors or outdoors without regard to weather, and provide the opportunity to create a mobile messaging platform by moving the lightweight display to different locations throughout the event.”

The NanoLumens NanoFlex 112” flexible digital display is truly the only display of its kind. Currently there is no other digital display this large that can claim it is waterproof, has a two-inch thickness, a mere 85 pound weight, brightness capability up to 5,000 nits, uses far less energy than traditional displays and is literally flexible enough to fit any application. Whether the situation calls for the perfect quick display solution for a two-hour event, a display that can be moved around from room to room or a unique and creative permanent installation, the NanoFlex display is the ideal solution, making it the simplest, most durable display ever.

First introduced in 2010, NanoFlex™ digital displays remain the only solution of their kind. They conform to fit any surface, are thin, lightweight and energy efficient, and can be mounted as easily as a work of art. NanoLumens is the only company in the world able to reliably manufacture ultra-thin and lightweight, easy-to-install and maintain, seamless 6mm pixel pitch flexible LED displays in virtually any shape or size to meet each customer’s unique requirements.

Designed and assembled entirely in the United States, NanoLumens displays are now available in both flexible and non-flexible frames in four product lines: NanoFlex™ and NanoWrap™ flexible displays; NanoSlim™ non-flexible rectangular displays; and NanoShape™ non-flexible round, square, and triangular displays.

APG Displays’ rental division searches the world for the most innovative, high impact audiovisual products and brings them to special events, meetings and trade shows in Canada and the U.S. We are proud to offer one of the most comprehensive portfolios of cutting-edge large video display solutions, each with customized accessories, specialist technical support, and full system design and installation services. We have worked with some of the largest exhibit, conference and production houses in the business, providing tailored support for each client. We also partner with some of the biggest A/V names in the country with our exclusive Trade Partner Program. APG Displays is a member of MPI, ITRA, TSE, ISES, and Tourism Toronto special event and rental organizations.

Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, NanoLumens, Inc. (www.nanolumens.com) is a privately held corporation engaged in the research, product development and component design for unique flexible displays that address a yawning technology gap in the $14 billion digital display industry. NanoLumens has built a portfolio of more than 20 international families of issued and filed patents on its flexible display technology that effectively address the commercial market void between relatively small flat-panel displays and huge, limited application LED boards. NanoLumens technology is not constrained by standard sizes and shapes, or by the size, noise and cost issues associated with commercial LED products.