Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa, a luxury hotel located in Victoria, British Columbia, updated its ballroom with a 63-foot-long and nine-foot-tall dvLED display, with the help of Peerless-AV, the US-based manufacturer.
The idea of equipping the ballroom with the videowall was conceptualized by the President and CEO of Westin Bar, Raoul Malak, who wished to enhance the image of the hotel within Canada’s hospitality sector by reimagining the guest experience where technology would be the differentiator.
Tackling the Road Ahead
The hotel was looking for a flexible solution that would allow its ballroom to be used for golf tournaments, watching sports, as well as being a backdrop for various events, such as weddings, corporate meetings and more.
The project planning began in April 2020 and NovMega Digital Solutions, a commercial audio video contractor, was brought on to manage the installation.
Although the initial design was smaller, the hotel said it eventually opted for a dramatic dvLED videowall system that ran the entire length of the ballroom wall. Given the scale and structure of the wall, the installation team ran multiple tests to ensure that it could safely hold the combined load of the cabinets and mounting systems.
Furthermore, the team had to navigate delays in flooring and lighting installation caused by the pandemic. The team revealed that it had to carry out extra precaution to protect the dvLED displays from dust and other harmful construction elements in the incomplete ballroom.
NovMega Partners with Peerless-AV to set Up dvLED Solution
NovMega partnered with LG Electronics Canada and Peerless-AV to complete the project based on previous experiences with both companies.
Highlighting the project specifications, Anthony Ferreira, sales engineer at LG Canada, said, “dvLED displays are such a different beast compared to LCD videowall installations.”
He added, “Understanding fully that the surface of the wall is paramount to any installation, and that no wall is perfectly flat, we required a mount structure that would offer the highest level of Z-axis adjustment to achieve a flawless flat plane and perfectly smooth finish.”
According to the company, LG Canada provided the 1.56mm-pixel-pitch LG LSCB Series dvLED displays in a 32 wide by 8 high cabinet configuration, while Peerless-AV supplied a custom SEAMLESS Bespoke dvLED mounting system.
Installing the Peerless-AV Videowall
Before arriving onsite, NovMega worked with Peerless-AV to choose a high-quality, furniture-grade hardwood ply to achieve the required flat wall structure. The company also revealed that longer mount extrusions and fasteners were manufactured to compensate for the wall size, while the hardwood ply was painted black to ensure no reflections once the cabinets were in place.
With its SEAMLESS by Peerless-AV program, Peerless-AV was able to offer product support and service at every step of the installation.
However, its technical team faced another challenge during the installation. Megan Zeller, business development director at Peerless-AV, revealed, “Since our team could not be present, we conducted regular conference calls with NovMega and LG Canada, and [we] used FaceTime to walk through the install steps and advise how to avoid potential issues. The NovMega and LG Canada teams are experts in the field of dvLED and were painstakingly precise in their approach, creating a perfect partnership for this project.”
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With the help of the custom mounting system, the installation process proceeded smoothly. The mount also passed strict UL2442 safety tests to cater to the heavy wall load and provided flexible mounting points to the structured wall. Additionally, it offered space behind the mount for cable management and the highest level of Z-adjustment.
The whole installation took place this past March within 10 days and with a four-person crew. The team used scaffolding and a long laser level to conduct spot checks and confirm accuracy across the wall, while fluke tests were also conducted to check cable performance and confirm that all cables were CAT6A shielded from the backbone.
Additionally, the 256 LG cabinets (1,024 modules) were shipped in 32 crates with each cabinet labeled with its exact location on the wall. According to Peerless-AV, all cabinets were cableless, with the power cascading from one cabinet to the next. The 65/35 heat ratio also allowed installation into shallow recessed cavities.
From a servicing standpoint, everything can be serviced, maintained or swapped out from the front, Peerless-AV explained.
Moreover, using the videowall’s four individual inputs, the hotel can split the screen into four 4K 16:9-aspect-ratio sections so that different content can be displayed or streamed accordingly. Inwall control technology provided by Datapath, Crestron for video matrix and nView proprietary remote-viewing software allowed complete control of the videowall from NovMega’s headquarters.
Analyzing the Final Outcome
All parties agree that the videowall surpassed all expectations and provided the hotel with a flexible and functional solution.
Peerless-AV added that the nature of the dvLED display fulfilled its purpose of reinventing the hotel experience and leaving a lasting impression on guests.
The videowall is thought to be the most pixel-dense dvLED wall in Canada, totaling more than 20 million pixels, and is currently the largest indoor dvLED hospitality installation in Canada. Valued at $1 million, the project was deemed a success by LG Canada and Peerless-AV who awarded Raoul Malak and the hotel a plaque for “dvLED Hospitality Project of the Year, Canada.”
Watch: What Markets Benefit Most from DVLED?
The founder of NovMega Digital Solutions, Alex Fortin, said, “Westin Bear is by far the most interesting of AV-focused resorts in Canada, and the technology innovation that we were brought in to install is all the brainchild of the owner, Raoul. He was very keen to elevate the prestige of the resort and set a benchmark for others, and he has certainly achieved that.”
It’s fantastic to see my vision come alive. I wanted to set a technology benchmark in the Canadian hospitality market whilst elevating the value add for guests and visitors.
– Raoul Malak, President and CEO of Westin Bar
Concluding on the success of the project, Malak remarked, “Not only do we have an amazing venue, but we also have the biggest videowall in western Canada, and the ballroom has been booked up all through summer. The bride at the first wedding reception since the videowall was installed was blown away, and seeing her and other guest reactions makes me very happy.”
Click on “View Slideshow” on the right to view photos from the installation.
