Video Wall

A video wall is a multi-display wall that’s created by
joining multiple screens together to display a larger
image or windows of multiple images. The display
technology can be LCD or LED panels, tiles, cubes, or
projection screens. A video wall can be as simple as one
image from a single source stretched across multiple
screens. Or it can be used to display multiple images
from multiple sources, including live video feeds, on
multiple displays. These type of video walls offer greater
flexibility, control, scalability and creativity.

While video walls are typically large horizontal or
vertical rectangles, they can also be creatively
shaped presentations with screens arranged in
different configurations. Video walls can be deployed
on mobile mounting systems or wall-mounted for
permanent installation.

When considering what type of video wall meets your
unique needs, you first need to consider how you plan to
use the video wall. Do you want a simple digital signage
type display, an advanced, large-scale control room wall
or something in between? What environment will the
video wall be used in: military/tactical, security, utilities,
retail, education, transportation, museums, industry,
conference rooms and more. The application will drive
what type of video wall you choose.

You also need to factor in how you may be using the
video wall in the future. Will a basic, fixed wall do the
job? Or do you want a wall that offers flexibility and
scalability to accommodate future growth? Some video
walls are specifically designed for mission-critical
24/7 environments. These are powerful systems with
advanced controls and built-in redundancy.

Displays

When planning your video wall, consider what type of
display you’re going to use. You can choose from LED
and LCD panels, tiles, cubes, and projector systems.
Not all displays have the same level of brightness or
resolution and these specifications will likely be important
decision criteria. The more detail and sharpness you
require, the higher resolution you need. You also need to
consider the width of the display bezel. Newer displays
feature ultra-narrow bezels that result in a more
seamless image.

Video Wall Processors

There are a number of types of video wall processors to
choose from depending on your application today and
your future requirements.

First, today, the terms video wall processor and video
wall controller are often used interchangeably. Their
basic job is to segment video content for each display
in a multi-display wall. A video wall processor is a video
scaler that makes sure every source signal goes to the
right screen with the right resolution. It takes an image
and sends it to individual screens for display as one
large, cohesive image. A video processor is in charge of
taking the various inputs and putting them all together.
An advanced video wall processor can take content from
multiple sources for display on multiple screens. A video
wall processor is similar to conventional video scalers,
but with greater input, output and processing capabilities

Video Extenders

Sometimes video wall processors can be located close
to the displays and can be connected directly by video
cables. In other applications, the video wall processor
may need to be located in a server room or IT closet
and the distance is too far to use a standard video cable.
In these cases, video extenders are needed to transport
the video signals from the video wall processor to the
displays. Video extenders might need to be used for
cable distances as short as 30 feet. Some IP-based
systems use small receivers (one per display) that can
be mounted on the back of the displays. In these cases,
the signal extension occurs over the LAN and
there is no need for additional video extension.

Control

System control for multi-input and multi-window video
walls can be performed in several ways. First, there is
the video wall software that runs on the processor. This
provides both content control and system management.
Oftentimes administrators only want to allow users to
have access to specific, pre-defined actions or control
capabilities and no ability to change system management
settings. A simple and often used solution is an external
control system that sends commands to the control port
of the video wall processor, typically through a serial
(RS-232) or Ethernet (Telnet ) port. Some systems also
support control via HTTP or XML. Control systems with
touch screens can be designed and customized for
simple and intuitive operator control.

Monitor Wall

The monitor wall is the simplest form of video wall as it
is just a collection of individual monitors. Each piece of
content is limited to a single screen and cannot be 
scaled across multiple screens. A monitor wall can
be driven by dedicated sources, or it can be
front-ended with a matrix switch (AV or KVM) to
switch content on the screens. Alternatively, an
IP-based matrix can provide significant scale for
switching the number of potential inputs in a
distributed manner while avoiding a centralized
matrix chassis.

INTERMEDIATE VIDEO WALL 

Multi-window Wall
A multi-window video wall takes a single input per
section and displays it across multiple screens.
The wall can be 2x2 up to 8x8 and sometimes more.
However,the content windows are limited to the
screen sizes. For example, with a 4x4 wall, up to
four 2x2 windows can be displayed, or a 3x3 window
with seven additional single screen windows, or the
entire 4x4 could be a single window. Or, there can be
two 2x2 windows with eight additional single-screen
windows. An IP-based matrix solution is a very easy
and low cost way to implement this type of video wall.

Multi-Viewer

A multi-view processor is a video processor
that takes multiple video sources and outputs
them to a single display. Options typically range
from four to eight sources. Multiple layouts can be 
configured in order to display the sources in different
arrangements on the screen. A multi-viewer can be
used when the number of windows and scalability
of a larger video wall processor is not required. 
A multi-viewer can be coupled with a projector or
multi-window wall processor to increase the viewing 
size. 

ADVANCED VIDEO WALL

An advanced video wall is one that supports a large
number of screens of different form factors (e.g. 2x2,
3x2, 6x3, etc.) and offers a canvas-type user and
display interface on which numerous content windows
can be dynamically moved or resized. Advanced video
wall processors typically support dozens of screens
and numerous types of video inputs. These type of
video wall processors can also support native
decoding of IP streams for displaying large numbers
of streams from devices such as IP-based security
cameras or other remote sources. Some are also
capable of encoding of video sources for sharing
to additional sites or users. Advanced wall processors
can typically drive more than one video wall from the
same system. Advanced video walls are found in
mission-critical control rooms requiring 24/7 uptimes.

Below is a summary of several features and 
capabilities of different types of video walls.
With the range of capabilities for video walls,
it may be difficult to distinguish which type is
most appropriate for your needs. In addition,
there may be some other components needed to
create a complete solution. Black Box provides
expert engineering support to design a
solution that meets your technical and budgetary
requirements. Contact our technical team today
for a free,customized system design.