At the Humberview Volkswagen dealership in Toronto, Ontario, recent renovations provided the perfect opportunity to amaze customers with a massive new video wall and nine individual digital displays. They called on Advanced Video Wall Group to provide and install a digital display video wall that allows for the routing and display of both static and dynamic digital content along with displays in locations throughout the dealership.
The Tech Decision
In the constantly-evolving world of consumer tastes and purchasing trends, static signage and advertisements often leave retailers behind the competitive curve — particularly when it comes to selling automobiles, where full motion video is becoming a requirement to present and market the latest new car models to a style craving audience of buyers.
When conducting renovations, retailers often look for the best way to improve on-site advertising and informational displays. Humberview Volkswagen recognized that the static, printed advertisements of the past simply cannot compete with a digital display’s ability to be updated at a moment’s notice, for negligible cost.
Therefore, the dealership reached out to Advanced Video Wall Group, a local technology integration firm, to build a massive video wall that would capture the attention of every customer who walks into their showroom. They outfitted the entire dealership with digital displays that provide unlimited messaging possibilities.
The Solution
To fit Humberview Volkswagen’s needs, the Advanced Video Wall Group installed a nearly 27-foot by four-foot video wall mounted above the customer welcoming area designed to stop customers in their tracks. Comprised of 16 NEC ultra-thin-bezel 46-inch HD monitors in a 2×8 configuration, the display can present a single large image or up to four advertisements side-by-side.
In addition to the video wall, the upgrade includes nine individual HD displays throughout the building that each have a dedicated video feed delivered through the matrix switcher. This affords even greater flexibility so the managers can decide what images or video they want on each screen throughout the day.
Within Humberview Volkswagen’s facility, 25 total HD displays, including a 2×8 display video wall, provide incredible opportunities to capture customers’ attention and deliver engaging promotional content.
Advanced designed the video wall to have seams of just 5.5 millimeters and offer a maximum resolution of 7680×1080 for a single image. To maximize the video wall’s utility, the team installed a digital video matrix that includes five distinct video sources and allows the dealership to split the display into four 2×2 sections, each with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and maximum resolution of 1920×1080, or two 4×2 sections with 32:9 aspect ratios and maximum resolutions of 3840×1080. With all these different display possibilities, it was paramount that the system be easy to access and adjust quickly to respond to changing customer attitudes and desires.
Each content source is routed into a video wall-dedicated digital matrix switch that is located within the AV equipment rack. There are 13 receivers (9 for the ancillary monitors and 4 for the video wall) and all AV signals are routed over the AV system specific installed shielded category cabling.
The Impact
Advanced Video Wall Group worked directly with the dealership to complete the installation in one month. During which, they had to work around the dealership’s construction (which was happening simultaneously). Tedious project management was critical to make sure the project was done in an efficient manner, and did not interfere with the facility’s construction plans.
Advanced Video Wall Group installed nine individual HD displays throughout the building that each have a dedicated video feed delivered through the matrix switcher. This affords even greater flexibility so the managers can decide what images or video they want on each screen throughout the day. Working on the content for the video wall with the client’s ad agency was challenging. They set up specific views for different aspect ratios/resolution of content so that they can drop new content files into the player easily based on resolution.
The digital video matrix, audio amplifier and all the source input devices are conveniently located in a single equipment rack, completely hidden from view in the building’s telecom room. The signal for the two audio speakers adjacent to the video wall originates from the matrix switcher, so they can play audio from any one of the six input sources.
With a modest addition to the system, Advanced Video Wall Group was able to organize control of all 13 separate displays that is easy enough for anyone to operate and adjust. That includes the audio played through the two speakers on either side of the video wall, the feeds for all four 2×2 sections of the video wall, and the feeds for the other HD displays located throughout the dealership.
The retail environment is constantly changing, as are consumer attitudes. With on-demand advertising made possible by captivating digital displays, retailers can quickly react and capitalize on trends to increase sales. To put it simply, paper is out, and digital is in.
This is what the customer understands now, more than ever! They are thrilled with the final product.
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