036 REPORT
LED REPORT
EVOLUTION OF THE SCREEN Screens large and small have become a fundamental part of our daily lives, but the way that consumers relate to them is undergoing a subtle shift with large implications for the design of both permanent and temporary venues. Once limited to essentially private viewing - the TV, the PC, the mobile phone - digital displays are now being installed in public places as a means of communication and, increasingly, interaction with the people who visit them. This is a trend that goes far beyond what might be termed the ‘illustrative’ use of screens to make distant action visible (as at a concert or in a stadium) or to add atmospheric effects. Displays as big as billboards or as small as televisions are now also being widely used to communicate commercial or informational messages, and to spur the consumer to action. The two names commonly given to this new medium reflect its varied applications. It’s often known as digital signage, replacing fixed signage with screens that can offer a much richer range of content (moving video, audio) and be updated instantly. And the term ‘digital out-of-home’ (DOOH) is also now widespread, emphasis- ing how screens are becoming part of the out-of-home media industry (billboards, posters). Often, in reality, digital displays in a single venue may perform multiple functions, mixing promotional messaging, branding, customer information and advertising. Whatever the application, they pose challenges and opportunities for designers and integrators, whether planned into new construction from day one or retro-fitted to existing premises. And deploying effective public screens is a multidisciplinary project that can involve not only AV specialists but also IT, interior designers, architects and of course the business itself. This revolution began around the turn of the century and, in little more than a decade, screens have moved from being novelties to being commonplace fixtures in leisure businesses like casinos and stadia, in retail outlets, in airports and railway stations and hotels and malls and hospitals, indeed anywhere that the public gathers
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in significant numbers. The casino sector, for example, has quietly become a leader in the use of cus- tomer-facing (and sometimes employee-facing) displays to market, to inform, even to entertain. Indeed, two US casinos - Parx in Philadelphia and Aria in Las Vegas - were among the winners of Apex awards this spring, a programme that honours the best installations of screens in public places. Similarly, the potential of digital to give an edge to a venue’s exterior presentation is typified by the terrific installation of Lighthouse Technologies’ LED screens at the Galaxy Macau.
GETTING BETTER Sophistication in the technology and its deployment has developed dramatically over the decade. In the early days, the norm was lonely wall-mounted or ceiling-hung TV-style displays, all too often positioned much too high for comfortable viewing; the burgeoning industry specialising in the design and installation of digital screen media has now learned that lesson. Indeed, the positioning of screens, particularly their height above floor level (or more precisely head level, if the audience is sitting down), is now recognised as absolutely critical. Much has been learned from the failure of investments in screens which were, for example, hung too high from ceilings to be comfortably viewed close up, or placed in cramped locations like corridors where people stopping to watch them would impede traffic flow. Lessons have been learned in the area of screen content, as well. Gone (mostly) are the over-busy executions that hemmed in long video clips with ads that looked like they might have been designed in a Lite software package by the marketing director’s aspiring-designer nephew, and the pointless ticker tapes of news, stock quotes or weather data that nobody ever read (and certainly couldn’t concentrate on if they were trying to pay attention to that over-long video at the same time). Instead, today’s screens are more likely to feature very short video or animation sequences - there are now content companies focusing on this medium, and they’re well aware that attention spans for screens in venues where the consumer is on the
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