Video walls come in all shapes and sizes, each with varying capabilities for showcasing different types of digital signage content in different arrays and configurations. With so many video wall options available to system integrators and AV professionals, here are some essential technologies to keep in mind for your next digital signage video wall project.
The foundation: Multi-display graphics
As more and more customers across a broader range of verticals opt for multi-screen digital signage platforms, today’s multi-display graphics technologies have allowed AV professionals and installers to go larger—both in resolution and the number of supported displays—than in years past. For example, Matrox D-Series quad-monitor graphics cards power up to four synchronized 4Kp60 displays from a single graphics board while delivering smooth video playback and graphics performance. For larger video wall projects, four of these cards can also be framelocked together to drive up to 16 synchronized 4K displays to output a pixel-perfect digital signage canvas.
Multi-monitor controllers: Graphics with a twist
Mix monitor orientations for unique artistic video wall configurations.
Matrox QuadHead2Go: Drive up to four Full HD displays from a single 4K video signal.
AV professionals may prefer an array of Full HD displays over 4K monitors for some video wall installations to control project costs while still deploying high-impact platforms. Multi-monitor controllers capable of capturing a single video 4Kp60 source and driving it across four Full HD displays could be a great, affordable option. Matrox QuadHead2Go is an example of a multi-monitor controller that can connect to any 4K video and HDCP-compliant video source—including all of today’s most popular digital signage players—and provide users the flexibility to output landscape-, portrait-, or mixed portrait/landscape-oriented 4×1, 1×4, 2×2, 3×1, 1×3, 2×1, or 1×2 configurations.
Large-scale signage? No problem!
Go big or go home with large-scale video walls of any size.
When there is significant physical real estate to work with, some customers may look to “go big or go home.” To achieve the desired result, seek out video wall graphics technologies that bundle well together to facilitate large-scale configurations. Pairing four of the aforementioned D-Series cards with QuadHead2Go controllers, and having QuadHead2Go units connect to each graphics output, equates to an astonishing 64 Full HD display configuration. Problem solved.
Networked video walls
A networked video wall provides AV professionals with a whole new range of video wall design and integration options. Integrating Matrox Mura IPX 4K capture and IP encode/decode cards into a video wall controller, for instance, offers a simple approach to adding any number of baseband and IP sources while encoding, streaming, recording, and decoding multiple streams to one—or many—video walls over LAN, WAN, and internet. The ability to simultaneously showcase more creative, recorded, and/or real-time AV sources and content on a video wall provides an opportunity to tell a visually compelling or informative story.
Beyond the hardware
The hardware represents only one portion of the video wall toolkit available to AV professionals. Video wall products such as Matrox’s include complimentary video wall control software and Mura developer tools that deliver additional value by simplifying video wall management, enabling the development of new software applications, and facilitating the integration of certain functionality into popular digital signage systems. Video wall products that include industry standards should also be of interest, such as HDCP compliance to capture and display HDCP-protected content or TAA compliance for product integration within U.S. federal government projects and facilities. Lastly, sourcing video wall products from an industry-trusted partner with deep technical, engineering, and support expertise helps ensure a truly seamless 360-degree customer experience.
There are numerous ways to approach a digital signage video wall project, so choose the right one that fits your—and your customer’s—requirements and expectations.
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