Hardware

DVLED Video Walls Take Over Schools, Inside and Out

Artificial intelligence is making headway in the world of digital signage, while Direct View LED solutions crash through historical obstacles.

Ted Bartnik

Ted Bartnik is a classroom modernization specialist for CDW•G with prior experience in multiple roles in education.

Direct View LED displays are the next big trend in K–12 audiovisual (AV) technology. Schools are quickly finding creative uses for new video wall installations.

We’re seeing schools invest in DVLED video walls in gymnasiums for scoreboards. We’re seeing front offices of school buildings with video walls. We’re seeing them in boardrooms for the “wow” factor.

There are schools tying curriculum to these displays. One of my local high school districts had a digital video production studio with a DVLED video wall backdrop. You can create backdrops with scenery for presentations and multimedia projects, or — if you have a kid signing a Division I scholarship contract — you could put up the school logo.

In Palm Springs, Calif., we partnered with a school for its esports arena project, and it put three or four video walls in the space for event overflow. It’s is a mixed-use space, so when the school doesn’t have an esports competition, it also uses the arena it for professional development.

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Why are video walls growing in popularity? There are now countless vendors offering the solution. This has brought prices down: A 130- or 150-inch video wall is comparable in cost to a large-venue projector with a motorized, full screen. DVLED video walls have historically been considered a pricier, luxury choice, but today, a modest display is feasible for almost any district.

Today’s Displays Come in Larger and Made-to-Order Sizes

Today’s displays are stretching what was historically possible in schools. Everything is getting bigger, not just DVLED screens. Standard displays are now up to 115 inches. Previously, 98- or105-inch displays were probably the largest you’d see, even a year ago. Now, 115 inches is a common size for a standard display — not a tile.

But bigger isn’t the only option with today’s school displays. You can also order custom-sized DVLED screens.

As part of a digital signage project, a local district wanted signs everywhere, indoors and outdoors, including a banner-style display that went above the lockers. Whereas 16:9 is a traditional ratio for displays, these were around 36:2. And getting that today is pretty easy. Newline, for example, does custom DVLED solutions. You determine what size you want; they will build it.

Schools Choose Mobile and Outdoor DVLED Display Options

Beyond size and shape, there are other features schools can look for in DVLED display solutions.

ViewSonic, specifically, has a 133-inch video wall that folds into itself and then lowers down into a carrying case so you can move it throughout the building. You could take it onto an elevator. If you need a portable video wall, there are ways to accommodate that.

Almost every one of the DVLED displays comes with an outdoor option. If a school wants to put a video wall on the front of the building, they can. These solutions have the robust capability to run outdoors in any elements, even in Las Vegas heat.

Samsung, LG and Planar all offer outdoor video boards for football stadiums and other sporting event sites. Even in smaller schools, there’s typically a lot of funding around sports, so these AV investments are very attainable.

K–12 IT Departments Need Low-Maintenance AV Solutions

While cost is always a strong motivator for schools, it’s not just budgets driving interest in these displays. For one thing, they have 100,000-hour runtimes. On top of that, they’re easy to maintain, easy to support and plug in like a standard-display HDMI input.

Historically, if schools were installing a tiled video wall, with 2-foot-by-2-foot or 3-foot-by-3-foot tiled displays, those were a bit more complex. You have to do cabling. You have to do the AV control. You have to mount them precisely.

The new ones are all-in-one displays, so it’s a standard installation. You put up a wall mount and put the bracketing on and you’re done.

Some districts may still want to work with a vendor, such as Samsung, that has installation services for its displays. It’s a one-stop shop. You buy 150-inch display, and Samsung’s team will come and hang it on the wall for you.

FIND OUT: What should schools look for when selecting a technology vendor?

Vendors Bring Digital Signage Software Into the Future

We’re also seeing advancements in display software. Mandoe, for example, is one of the first vendors to offer artificial intelligence prompt-driven template creation for digital signage.

If you want a Labor Day slide, you set up a prompt: “I need a Labor Day slide. I want it to say this. I want these colors.” It will then create that template, and you can adjust it, make edits and apply it.

Historically, corporate organizations would have to pay a large sum for a design team. Now, although companies will still need design teams at times, organizations that are more resource-constrained, such as K–12 schools, have a built-in design staff for templates. It’s logical to apply AI image creation to that space, and other vendors will likely offer something similar soon.

In the meantime, there are other ways companies are innovating when it comes to digital display software. Rise Vision is a good example. The company’s digital signage software runs on almost any operating system. You’re no longer married to one solution; you can buy any display for it to run on.

This article is part of the ConnectIT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology series.