APG Displays LCD Videowalls With NEC At Toronto’s Pan Am, Parapan Am Games

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

This happened back in July, but we just learned of the video walls deployed by APG Displays at the International Pan Am & Parapan Am games and thought they were worth looking at.

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The International Pan Am & Parapan Am Games attract hundreds of thousands of visitors who saw the videowalls into Ontario’s Harbourfront ‘celebration zone’ venue which served as a cultural hub with music, food and more. APG Displays, North American distributor and sub-renter of videowalls, was tasked to design, develop and construct one 55” LCD modular NEC X554UN videowall and one 46” LCD modular NEC X462UN videowall for the world’s third largest international multi-sporting event.

David Weatherhead, APG Displays president, says, “To capture attendees’ attention, we were tasked with the challenge of designing and constructing two temporary videowalls in an environment that varies in temperature, lighting and climate over a 26 day period. I can confidently say that we rose to the challenge, carefully selecting two large-format NEC LCD videowalls that performed brilliantly and consistently.”

Toronto_PanAm2To ensure that the displays’ content would be clear despite the tent’s outdoor-like conditions, APG Displays recommended NEC for the job – one of the brightest and most reliable display manufacturers on the market. The professional-grade backlit NEC LCD panels deliver superb color clarity and full HD resolution, qualities that are ideal for this particular application, says Dan Ayerst, APG Displays general manager, adding that they were scaled in size to suit a large viewing audience.

The NEC panel’s mechanical design and low power consumption capabilities proved to be an excellent fit for a public venue of this nature. The panels’ slim structure took up virtually no space at the event, which was much appreciated.

“With live, high-profile events, less space taken is more,” says Ayerst. “With NEC, we were able to deliver big impact with slim structure.”

Toronto_PanAm3At high-profile events, Weatherhead says, easy videowall accessibility is a must, so APG Displays made it a point to ‘daisy chain’ the displays from a single software platform, ensuring that content control was a breeze. Additionally, in the event of any required maintenance, the videowalls’ panels were attached to APG Displays’ custom bracket system. If a malfunction occurred, an APG Displays engineer could quickly switch out the panel.

“It’s absolutely essential to create a system that simplifies possible maintenance during a live event,” says Weatherhead. “Putting these cautionary steps in place truly makes a difference.”

Over the nearly month long period, both videowalls successfully achieved the brilliant and vivid quality that the event production company was looking for, delivering full HD resolution and smooth, crisp images and video.


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