Planar Mosaic Architectural Video Wall Chosen For Hospital Chapel

Florida Hospital sees leading-edge technology as an essential element in its ability to serve patients and their families. Its newest facility, a state-of-the-art hospital located in Wesley Chapel, Florida, features advanced technology in every aspect of the patient experience including the hospital chapel where a Planar® Mosaic™ architectural video wall helps alleviate stress for patients and families.

"The Planar Mosaic video wall allows us to connect with our chapel visitors in a very unique way," says Brian Adams, President & CEO, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. "Because it's so different from conventional displays it really catches people's attention and yet provides a soothing, calm environment at the same time. The video wall gives the chapel a needed sense of peace, tranquility and spirituality."

The hospital selected Planar Mosaic to create a visual centerpiece in the chapel that would be more effective than traditional static artwork in creating a soothing environment. Because of its mix of LCD tile sizes and tile-to-tile orientation, Planar Mosaic also lets the hospital effectively communicate and affirm its Christian heritage in a manner that would not be possible otherwise.

A unique expression of spirituality

Systems integration firm, Sound Stage, Inc., specified and installed the Planar Mosaic architectural video wall in the chapel before the hospital opened in September 2012. Sound Stage systems consultant, Joe Forbes, said that when he first saw the Planar Mosaic system he knew it was the right solution for the hospital. "Planar Mosaic is so much better than a typical digital signage solution in its flexibility to use negative space and uniquely support video elements," said Forbes. "It made an immediate impression on the hospital administrators – and we all knew it would make a powerful impression on anyone using the chapel."

With Planar Mosaic, the display tiles are not required to be physically adjacent to each other allowing designers and integrators to use negative space in their designs. This allowed Sound Stage to create a configuration – using both rectangular and square LCD tiles – in which space between the 15 panels forms the shape of a cross. "As a result, the negative space becomes an integral part of the entire wall, which just adds to the effect and uniquely creates the serenity and that message of spirituality the hospital was looking for," Forbes says.

New software renders pre-build view of video wall

The process of designing the architectural video wall was facilitated by a first-of-its-kind software application called Planar Mosaic Project Designer™, which allows designers to create a custom rendering of their vision. Sound Stage used the software to create their design recommendation, show hospital administrators how the video wall would look in the space, and then collaborate on a final design before the video wall was built. "Using Planar Mosaic Project Designer to define the vision for the project was a big time-saver for everyone. It allowed everyone involved to see and understand what would work in a chapel environment," says Brian Adams.

"Planar Mosaic Project Designer shows Planar's vision of how video walls are best created for architectural applications such as the Florida Hospital chapel," says Peter Lawrence, product marketing manager for Planar. "It enables manufacturers, integrators and end customers to work together, cost effectively, to create video walls that combine digital technology, art and architecture into a new and compelling form of visual communication."

Planar Mosaic creates memorable imagery and a cost-effective solution

Other aspects of Planar Mosaic that led to its selection included its image quality. Planar Mosaic video tiles can be cabled in different ways to address the resolution and content requirements of the client. High definition content can be delivered to individual tiles, groups of tiles, or the entire array of tiles. This flexibility allowed the hospital to meet its high standards for visual communication.

In addition, the video wall incorporates all three Planar Mosaic tile sizes (46" and 55-inch diagonal rectangle tiles, and the 21.6-inch diagonal square tile) contributing to the video wall's uniqueness and generating viewer interest. It also features several overlapping video tiles that use special extension brackets from Premier Mounts to give the video wall more depth and character from all angles.

Sound Stage's Forbes also speaks favorably of the Mosaic Mount. "The displays attach with push-in, push-out snap catches that make mounting of each tile quick and easy, and built-in keyways that allow for easy routing of power cables. So we can handle installation, alignment and maintenance with just one technician, where two people are required on installations of other manufacturers' products. This is a big time and labor saver for us, and if we ever need help, Planar has a great technical team on hand to take our call and help work us through any problem or issue."