Considering a Multi-Screen Video Wall?
One of the best ways to achieve a “wow” factor with digital signage is to arrange multiple screens together and display content across them as a huge, unified image. This type of setup is commonly called a video wall, and in this post we’ll outline some of the things that need to be considered to make it work.
Display Bezel
If you plan to arrange two or more displays into a video wall, you should choose a model that has a very thin bezel - that’s the plastic or metal part around the outside of the screen - so the screens all fit closely together and the viewing area is not interrupted by thick bezels. Lots of manufacturers (i.e. NEC, LG, Samsung) provide thin bezel displays for this purpose, although they tend to be more expensive than “normal” models.
Connectivity
HDMI or DisplayPort? Most consumers are familiar with HDMI, which is a high quality interface that’s perfect for running 1-2 screens. In this scenario you would connect the displays to your media player and use software on the media player (i.e. Intel Collage) in order to distribute your content across the screens. It works great and it’s easy to set up, but it can be limiting because each display must plug into an output on the media player.
By contrast, some manufacturers like NEC offer a tile matrix mode that allows you to connect to their displays using a DisplayPort cable, and then the displays can be “daisy-chained” together such that the media player connects to display #1, then display #1 connects to display #2, and so on. This allows you to leverage a single output on your media player and makes it easier to connect lots of displays together.
VESA Mounts
All modern displays come equipped with standardized screw holes on the back side, set at predefined distances (i.e. 200mm), so you can mount them using equipment from a variety of manufacturers. It’s important to know what VESA standard size your display adheres to so you can order the proper mounting equipment for it.
Air Circulation & Power Saving
When mounting groups of displays together to form a video wall, heat from the bottom displays will rise and cause the middle and top displays to run warmer. Commercial displays typically come with fans inside that can prevent the displays from being damaged by overheating. It’s generally a good practice to set the displays to maintain a temperature of around 80F or cooler. These same displays typically have power saving features such as scheduling, so they will automatically turn on/off at the same time each day. This can prolong the life of the displays and lead to energy savings for the owner.
Media Player
Generally speaking, the more pixels you are pushing (4K content or multiple displays), the more powerful processor and video card you need. Our XOGO Mini is optimized to run a single display and supports HD or 4k content.
In order to determine what media player to use for a video wall deployment, please connect with us via email and let us know how many screens you will be running, what brand etc. and we will be happy to recommend a model from XOGO or another supplier.
Software Considerations
Once you’ve selected the appropriate hardware for your video wall, it’s time for the most important decision: what software are you going to run on the media player? It should be incredibly stable on the media player OS (typically Windows), it should cache content in order to keep playing if Internet connectivity is lost, it should have a user-friendly interface that doesn’t require a computer science degree to operate, and it should be affordably priced for your business. We believe that in most cases, XOGO is the perfect answer. Why not download our software now and give it a free test drive?
