Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Video Wall Processors

This is topic Video Wall Processors in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 12-30-2003, 02:17 AM:

Hi all.
Long time no write. I know we only deal with projectors e.t.c but at this new place we might probably do an installation, the owner wants to put a video wall e.g. 360 degrees showing either from projectors or whatever. Anyone knows any good sites I can look about processors e.t.c regarding Video Walls? Video Wall Processors e.t.c.

Thanks in advance and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2004
(which hopefully will be the destructions of Digital Cinema) buahahahahaha

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 12-30-2003, 01:18 PM:

It's been years since I dealt with video walls. I'm sure all the processors I used are out of date now. They all worked very well and almost never failed. What did fail were the analogue CRT monitors. On average you get 3 good years out of a CRT monitor that is on 12-hours per day, then they start failing one right after another.

After a fad in the 1990s where everybody had to have a video wall, now almost none are sold. They are too expensive and prone to failure and need constant professional adjustment. Most companies that want a video display use individual monitors, plasmas or for large images, an LCD or DLP projector in rear-projection mode. The reason video walls were popular was that at the time, that was the only way to display a large video image under ambient lighting conditions, now there are other options.

That said, if you Google ‘Video Wall Processors’ you will get a lot of hits, happy reading.

Let's see how long it takes for a moderator to slam this topic in to the Dark Side. [dlp]

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 12-31-2003, 12:20 AM:

I thought they were silly even back then.

Posted by Matt Hale (Member # 1518) on 12-31-2003, 12:43 AM:

Christie makes such a unit:

http://www.christiedigital.com/Products/products.asp?Port=3&ProdPartNo=38-FRC002

No experience with it personally but its a familiar name and if you're buying any of your film gear from them then maybe you can work it into the package?

The only time I ever tried to build a video wall I took somewhat of a different approach. I took a Power Macintosh 9600 and outfitted it with 6 pci video cards - 3 singles and 3 duals for a total of 9 computer monitors. It worked but performance was far short of anything usable and that was top-of-the-line hardware at the time. You might get better results today, being that most any video card on the market will support 2 monitors. At the time they were very hard to find and very expensive. 14" monitors didnt amount to anything impressive but it could have done 9 20" screens just as easily (poorly.)

Here is a (bad) picture of it lit up on my living room floor:

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 12-31-2003, 01:09 PM:

Electrosonic creates video walls.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-31-2003, 02:01 PM:

I agree with Ian and Steve. I did a sh*tload of those walls back in the 90's....

There are now much better, overall cheaper, and more cost-effective solutions to get the same effect.

For example: A modern DLP projector driven by a multi-screen efx generator would allow the same screen effects as well as many other image options.

The 9 or 16 or whatever the number of "displays" required for a "wall" are a real pain in the ass. Even with the great "cubes" like from Pioneer, they still require CONSTANT tweeking to maintain an acceptable overall image.

IMHO: Lose the wall and get a "big" projector. [Big Grin]

Edit: Ooops! Not for a side-by-side, 360 degree layout.... For that you would need some sorta "wall" processor... [Big Grin]

>>> Phil

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 12-31-2003, 05:38 PM:

I also did scores of 2X2 and 4X4 video walls in the early to mid 90's and all have been retired to large screen rear projection set ups. With new small DLP projectors it is less of a hernia to figure a replacement layout. Electrosonic and Imtech where some of the suppliers. During that period I installed a 35mm rear screen set up for trailers in one location and that unit is still running troublefree for nine years