Unfortunately it is quite common to see signage, particularly digital signage, that is not working as expected. This happens for a lot of reasons, but many of them are certainly preventable. I will be highlighting a few common signage misses in this series called Wall of Shame.

Case file: 2017-12-07 – Video Wall

Video walls are heavily promoted by the display manufacturers and have been deployed for many years. Manufacturers provide detailed and explicit documentation for display panel installation, including mounting, alignment and environmental considerations such as heat and humidity.

Amazingly this is very often ignored, and the result is.. well, embarrassing. In this example the panels likely do not have adequate air ventilation (notice no gaps in the fixture) and may not have been adequately “rested” or placed in power save mode for part of the day cycle. This accelerates the aging of the hardware and leads to early failures. In many cases these hardware failures are NOT covered under manufacturer warranty as the displays were not installed to the proper specifications.

This is a great example of a video wall installed flush with a fixture wall, but with excellent passive air ventilation (note the larger grill at the top to encourage the rising warm air flow). Incorporation of speakers beside the top grill keeps the overall design of the fixture clean.

-bj