everyone wanted this technology. Now that users have understood the limitations which such displays have, and their unsuitability for extended usage in a tiled environment due to uniformity changes, they have switched back to cube-based or LPD-based videowalls in applications where performance is more important than cost.” “The technologies are
The location and customer for this Crystal Displays solution are confidential, but it is an impressive installation nonetheless
PLANAR DELIVERS IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE TO GUCCI
Increasingly, retail brands are seeing videowalls as a way of reinforcing the brand image and elevating the customer experience. A case in point is Gucci, which has embarked on a two-year rollout of the company’s ‘Immersive Retail Experience’ which will see some 50 stores worldwide fitted out similarly to its flagship store at via Montenapoleone, Milan – which has almost 50 Planar Clarity Matrix 46in and 50in
screens installed.
Gucci’s plan is that, eventually, customers will be able to search for specific content by gesturing at the screens, send an image of their chosen fashion item to their mobile phone to share with friends, and then notify
different, so it is hard to compare like for like,” says Mitsubishi’s van Dijk. “Each display offers specific
advantages in different applications and I don’t think one will ever completely replace the other. We prefer to look at both technologies as just different tools to enable our system integrator partners to deliver what the customer wants, cost- effectively, while maintaining our high quality standards.”
NEW MARKETS The effect of all these developments, however, is that the videowall market is unquestionably expanding. “Customers have started
their usual sales
assistant that they wish to reserve the item.
deploying videowalls in places and in numbers far beyond the traditional videowall market,” notes Seminario. “From stairwells on yachts to floor-mounted interactive exhibits to what seems like nearly every university student union, there’s demand for videowalls. The reasons are obvious. With products like Planar’s Clarity Matrix LCD Video Wall System, videowalls are now easy to install, easy to maintain, take very little space and are significantly less expensive to buy.” “The most active markets for eyevis are still control
rooms of all types; it seems to be a very stable market,” says Hénique. “Where we’re seeing growth is in retail, in visitor attractions such as museums, in passenger hubs and in digital signage. What’s changed here is that videowall technology has become more affordable and customers see the opportunity to make their shops, for example, more attractive, more modern and allow them to stand out in the competitive landscape.” Phelps also sees retail as being an increasingly significant market for videowalls. “Retailers with an existing network of signage are beginning to refresh with higher performance screens, getting cleverer with videowalls,” he says. “Often, there is no longer a discussion over justification – just a decision to add more and get bigger. Where retailers with established digital signage networks are refurbing or opening new stores, digital signage is now part of the design, not a retrospective add-on. The enquiries are therefore coming earlier in the process with the store design