Large Format Display And Video Walls Provide Leading Edge Platforms For Highly Effective Corporate Branding And Messaging

Delaware North manages and provides food and beverage concessions, premium dining entertainment, lodging and retail services worldwide. The privately-held company is a major player in sports stadiums, entertainment complexes, national and state parks, airports and casinos. It owns and operates TD Garden in Boston and has operations throughout professional sports venues; clubs and restaurants in the world's major airports, hospitality establishments throughout the national and state parks.

At its new global headquarters in Buffalo, New York, the company has deployed advanced display and video wall technology to present its branding and business proposition to customers and prospects, and also to inform employees about company developments, plans, progress and successes. The display and video wall solutions, provided by Planar, include a Planar® UltraRes™ Touch 4K interactive LCD display and Clarity® Matrix™ LCD Video Wall System. These systems replace older light box technology the company had been using in the past. "Planar UltraRes Series and Clarity Matrix – as digital platforms – are more capable and flexible than light boxes, and inherently establish us as an innovative company," says Kerry Hassen, Senior Manager Brand and Social Strategy. "And by their nature, they are ideal platforms on which to showcase our new and ever-expanding brand messaging."

Collaboration among key partners assures success of digital platforms of overall project

That the Planar UltraRes Series and Clarity Matrix proved so successful for the Delaware North project owes in large part to the capabilities and close working relationships of two key partners, VT Group of Sterling, VA and Onyx AudioVisual of Chesapeake, Virginia. VT Group led the overall integration and overall program management responsibility for the new global headquarters for all IT solutions. VT Group selected their strategic business partner, Onyx, to lead the integration of the complex AV system design, engineering, integration and installation. VT Group knew that based on the long working relationship between the two firms that Onyx would design the right solution for the project and that it would serve Delaware North's communication goals for years to come.
"We could see the many ways these products were right for the customer in terms of functionality, but also that they would align so well with the company's financial objectives for a communication solution," says Tom Beaudry, President of Onyx AudioVisual.

Size, interactivity, and content-handling flexibility

For the main public-facing space in the building's 10th floor lobby, Onyx recommended and specified a 98-inch Planar UltraRes Touch display with 32-point multi-touch interactive capability. With this display, visitors can touch on a matrix of 100 points representing 100 of the company's 200 worldwide customer locations, with a single touch revealing full detail on any property in both text and 4K imagery and video. "The display really shows the depth and breadth of our operations, and for visitors who come in, it gives a fuller awareness of the company and the direction we're going," says Kerry Hassen.

The Planar UltraRes Touch display delivers the display size Delaware North wanted for this space, along with 4K content support, and exceptional image clarity, even when viewed close up, thanks to its Ultra HD LED edge-lit display. "We also like the fact that it is a thin-profile platform (sub four inch mounted depth), and it has built-in presets that gives us the flexibility to select and display a variety of content exactly as we want to, to change it, and even customize it according to messaging we want to highlight, or for customers who may be coming in, and more," says Hassen.

Features that accommodate architectural, reliability and serviceability objectives

Also on the 10th floor and on the 9th floor, which is a less public space, Onyx specified Clarity Matrix in two three high by-three-wide (3 x 3) video walls. The 10th floor video walls display much of the information as is shown on the Planar UltraRes Touch display but in a non-interactive manner. Viewers are drawn to it by its curved profile, a feature made possible by the video wall's ultra-thin 3.7mm tiled bezel width which affords a virtually seamless view of the displayed content. In the 9th floor space, the video wall is used for all-employee meetings and events, and as an extension to the Delaware North website, providing internal staff with the corporate branding and messaging on a large-scale platform that is big, bright and impactful. The Clarity Matrix MX55HDU LCD video wall displays in each video wall support 4K content, offer 800-nit brightness, and 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Both video walls also incorporate several other features unique to Planar. The first is an off-board electronics design that places certain components in a remote rack room where they can be more easily monitored and serviced if necessary. This feature also removes heat from the video wall which preserves its lifespan – "It's a feature we particularly like because it gives us confidence that the video walls will perform well for a long period of time," Hassen adds.

Secondly, Clarity Matrix installs on the Planar® EasyAxis™ Mounting System, a six-axis mechanism that ensures easy and perfect alignment of all displays in each 3x3 video wall. "This system eliminated the need for a lot of electrical infrastructure behind the video walls, which resulted in considerable savings for the customer," Onyx's Tom Beaudry adds. "Lastly, Planar EasyAxis incorporates a tilt-out capability which gives us easy access to any display without the video wall having to be powered down. This minimizes our time should a display need service, which keeps down our costs to the customer."

Engineered solutions that surpass traditional digital signage

Both Delaware North and Onyx credit Planar for delivering engineered display solutions built of high quality materials. They like its complete, fully integrated solutions, and the benefits of working with one company on all aspects of their display deployment. Hassen says the Planar UltraRes Touch display and Clarity Matrix video walls already have attracted much attention. "Everyone can see that they surpass the capabilities of light boxes and static signage, and they know that this technology is key to telling our story and creating a memorable and positive image of the company."