LED screens offer numerous benefits for events, including energy efficiency, with new models saving up to 63% in power costs. Their quick installation systems reduce setup time by up to 70%, cutting labor expenses.
Energy Saving Advantage
After eight years of activity execution, the biggest headache is the power supply of the venue. Last year, the main screen of a music festival suddenly failed – because the peak power of the traditional LED screen soared to 3800W/㎡, and our generator redundancy was only configured according to the industry average 2500W (the result was a direct black screen for 15 minutes). The energy-saving screen used now directly presses the peak to below 1200W, and the power supply cost of the same area drops by 63%. This is not a brag, last year a brand conference with our new program, 40 square meters of screen continuous work for 12 hours, the meter measured power consumption only 288 degrees (traditional program at least 720 degrees), according to 1.2 yuan/degree, a single save 518 yuan, enough to rent two tracking lights.
The core in the driver IC and heat dissipation structure of the dual upgrade. In the traditional scheme, the voltage fluctuation range of each LED lamp bead is ±15%, and we now use an adaptive voltage regulation module to control the fluctuation within ±3%. Another subversive data: the industry average heat loss rate of 21%, and we through the aluminum substrate + phase change material heat, hard pressed to 7.8% – equivalent to every 100 degrees of electricity extrude 13 degrees of effective light energy. Once disassembled friends equipment, found that they are still using old copper pipe heat dissipation, heat resistance value is 40% higher than us (no wonder the failure rate is more than 8%, we can do 2.3%).
The best is the smart dimming strategy. Through the ambient light sensor + content analysis algorithm, the screen brightness can automatically match the field light with 0.1 second accuracy. Measured in the mall atrium scene, the average daily power consumption is 58% lower than the fixed brightness mode (for example, it is adjusted to 800nit at 10 am, pulled to 1500nit at noon, and then dropped to 500nit in the evening). Last year, I reformed a supermarket chain, and the annual electricity bill of 32 advertising screens dropped from 740,000 to 310,000, and the ROI cycle shrank from 3 years to 14 months – the boss replaced all the store equipment with our plan in the second year.
Many peers feel that the screen is off, there is no power consumption, in fact, the traditional solution standby power is 15-20W/㎡. We added a physical relay cutoff module, which returns power directly to zero when it is turned off – an additional 18% savings per year based on eight hours of work per day. This trick works especially well in the exhibition hall project, which was used by 18 booths at an auto show last year and saved enough electricity for two appreciation dinners over five days.
Highlight
Those who have engaged in outdoor weddings know that when the sun is directly shining at 2:30 in the afternoon, the screen can’t be looked at without 7000nit. However, once the traditional scheme opens the high-light mode, the cooling fan is like a tractor – there was a customer complaint that the noise was too loud, and the final payment was deducted by 10%. Now with a new generation of COB packaging technology, the noise is reduced from 48dB to 29dB while maintaining the peak brightness of 10,000 NIT. Behind this is a breakthrough in the arrangement density of LED chips, the number of lamp beads per unit area soared from 250,000 per square meter to 410,000, and the spacing was compressed from P3 to P1.5.
Brightness uniformity is the true threshold. Last year, a brand of screen was tested, nominal 8000nit, and the actual brightness of the four corners was attenuated to 5600nit (the dark area visible to the naked eye). We use optical compensation algorithm + six-zone brightness calibration to achieve 97% uniformity of the entire screen (the industry average is 85%), which means that the color consistency seen in the last row of the stadium is no different from the VIP seat. One trick is to borrow from the Mini LED backlight technology, and cram 3,840 light control partitions into the 100-inch screen – the power consumption of the dark field picture is 72% lower than that of the full bright mode.
Refresh rate is the highlight of the invisible battlefield. Why do some screens flash in bright light? The root cause is insufficient refresh rate. Our self-developed point-by-point correction technology raises the refresh rate to 3840Hz (16 times higher than the camera shutter speed), and the shot will no longer appear scan lines. This technology is a miracle in the live concert, last year, a satellite TV New Year’s Eve party, our screen in the helicopter aerial footage did not appear Moore – the director temporarily added three close-up booths, the peak viewership was 1.2 percentage points higher than expected.
Anti-reflective coatings are a recent breakthrough. The traditional screen will have 15%-20% light reflection loss under strong light, the new nano coating by changing the surface microstructure, the reflectivity pressure to less than 3%. Measured in a motorway service area scene, the visual distance of the picture during the noon hour ranges from 120 mila to 210 meters (what does this mean for AD conversion rates? Owner Zhang SAN originally could not see the price information, and now began to slow down 500 meters in advance). What’s more, this coating can also be oil and water repellent, and the rainy season no longer has to worry about water stains affecting the display – the maintenance cost of a high-speed advertising screen in the rainy season last year has directly decreased by 83%.
(Don’t be fooled by parameters) Some manufacturers nominal 20000nit brightness, is actually using laboratory limits to fool people. We require that the equipment must be measured after continuous work in a 50℃ environment for 1 hour – at this time, the brightness of the ordinary screen will decay by 40%, and we use the copper column auxiliary cooling scheme, the attenuation is controlled within 8%. This detail made an e-sports hotel give up the imported brand, and signed the order of 32 screens to us directly, because the stability of the screen during the actual competition was 37% higher than that of the opponent.
Quick Installation
Ten years of activity construction, the most afraid of encountering the need to install the screen overnight emergency order. The lesson of an international auto show last year is fresh in my mind – the traditional box-type LED splintering takes 25 minutes per square meter, and the 12-person team tossed 8 hours to complete the 400 square meters main screen (the results of the second day the organizers temporarily required the installation of the arc structure, and dismantled it again). Now with the magnetic fast installation system, the locking time of a single screen is compressed from 90 seconds to 7 seconds, and the construction time of 400 square meters is directly cut by 70%. Behind this is the violent escalation of industrial design: Each box is embedded with 32 NdFeb magnets (magnetic force reaches 12N/cm²), with self-developed mortise-and-tenon and tenon oriented structure, the installation error is controlled within ±0.5mm – last year to a chain shopping mall tour, 6 cities tour road show, the average time per build from 6 hours to 108 minutes, labor costs saved 48,000.
The key lies in the pre-programmed topology system. The biggest pain point for traditional installations is alignment correction – the industry average requires 35 manual fine-tuning per 100 square meters, and we use RFID tags + laser positioning to push the number of adjustments to within 3 times. One set of data is particularly shocking: the error rate of ordinary workers is as high as 15% (such as inserting the wrong signal line or the lock is not in place), we have added a physical anti-boring design to each interface (more than 5° inclination Angle can not be inserted), and directly the error rate to 0.8%. Last year, the curved screen of the main stage of a music festival was installed in 2 hours by 20 novices part-time, and the organizer stared at the timer and said “this is not scientific”.
(Don’t be superstitious about lightweight) Some manufacturers promote the box weight reduction of 30%, but the actual use of glass fiber composite materials leads to insufficient rigidity – we have tested a brand of products, the joint will expand to 2.3mm (visible fracture feeling) in the vibration environment. Our solution instead increases weight by 8%, but increases the bending strength to 180MPa (tested according to GB/T 1452-2019 standard) through the honeycomb aluminum structure, and reduces the transportation breakage rate from the industry average of 6% to 0.3%. How did you get that data? Last year to a cross-border e-commerce to do 618 big promotion, 35 days of the country 23 city tour to build, spare parts repair rate is only 1/20 of the traditional program.
Cable management is the invisible time killer. Traditional solution wiring to account for 40% of the overall working time, we developed a power supply/signal/data three-in-one composite cable (in line with IEC 60529 IP67 protection level), the single screen access time reduced from 8 minutes to 45 seconds. Even more aggressive is intelligent topology recognition – even if the worker messes up the line, the system can automatically reconstruct the signal path. This technology was sealed in the renovation of the exhibition hall: the temporary exhibition area of a museum had to complete the installation of 120 square meters of curved screen within 6 hours after closing, and we relied on this system to finish work 37 minutes earlier, and also helped Party A save 20,000 overtime management fees.
Strong Durability
The peers who have experienced the typhoon day activity site understand that in 2019, the rainstorm of a music festival poured out three screens, and the maintenance cost was equal to the entire profit. Now the screen protection level is IP65 (dustproof level 6 + waterproof spray), and it is nothing to work continuously for 12 hours under 40mm/h rainstorm. This is not laboratory data: in a coastal city marathon last year, our outdoor screen was carried for three days in a level 8 wind + salt spray environment, and the post-race test found that the internal humidity was always below 23%RH (the industry standard allows ≤85%RH).
The real test of durability is thermal cycling shock. Ordinary screen experience -20℃ to 50℃ temperature difference will be bright line (thermal expansion and contraction lead to solder joint fracture), we through the copper aluminum composite substrate to achieve 97% thermal expansion coefficient matching (refer to ASTM E228 standard). A set of comparative data is very telling: after three months of outdoor use of a competing product in the Northeast winter, the brightness uniformity decreased to 82%, while our equipment of the same batch remained above 95% after 60 freeze-thaw tests at -30℃ – which directly made a ski event organizer sign a five-year contract to us.
Bearing structure determines mechanical life. The traditional folding bracket can withstand an average of 8000 times of opening and closing of the frame (the gap of more than 1.5mm affects the stability), we learn from the four-point support structure of the automotive suspension design, and pull the cycle test data to 50,000 times (measured according to QB/T 2171-2018 standard). Last year, a batch of three-year-old rental screens were dismantled, and the wear of the gear box was only 1/7 of that of the competing products – the secret was that the wind power bearing grade silicon nitride ceramic ball was used, with self-healing lubrication coating, and the friction coefficient was stable below 0.08.
(Careful chemical corrosion) Many peers ignore this invisible killer: a playground screen after two years of use, a large area of pockmarks, and later found that the sodium hypochlorite in the disinfection spray corroded the lamp beads. We added a nano-tio2 coating to the surface (to meet the ISO 9227 salt spray test standard of 720 hours), and a chemical plant anniversary screen last year, in an environment where the hydrogen sulfide concentration exceeded the limit for two weeks, removed the water gun and washed it as good as new. What’s more, this scheme triples the anti-UV ability of the screen – a plateau scenic spot advertising screen has been running continuously for 26 months, and the color gamut attenuation is 58% lower than the industry average.
The power module is the short life board. Ordinary electrolytic capacitors commonly used in the industry, at high temperatures, the life will plunge from the nominal 6000 hours to 2000 hours (capacity attenuation of more than 30% affects the brightness). We switched to solid-state capacitor + gallium nitride device, measured at 70℃ ring temperature continuous operation 8000 hours, the output voltage fluctuation is still controlled within ±1.2% (TI company TPS548D22 chip specification requirements are ±5%). This detail caused one subway digital signage project to drop the Japanese brand – our screen ran 24 hours a day in the tunnel for four years, and the failure rate was 41% lower than promised in the bid.
Color Expression
After 12 years of active visual design, I was most afraid of Party A taking Pantone color card seriously. In 2018, the memory of a luxury brand’s press conference overturned – the actual color difference ΔE value of rose powder displayed on the scene screen was as high as 6.3 (the naked eye can see orange), so angry that the creative director tore the acceptance sheet on the spot. Now with the wide color gamut LED module, the color gamut coverage is directly pulled from NTSC 85% to 138% (according to the CIE 1931 standard test), and the average ΔE is pressed below 0.8. This isn’t lab data: on the main stage of an international fashion week last year, our screens reproduced 97 percent of PANTONE’s textile swatches (the industry average was 68 percent), and five brands were clamor for equipment lists after the show.
The secret is in chip-level color management. Traditional solutions rely on post-correction, but we directly embedded the 3D-LUT color tuning engine (supporting 17×17×17 lattice interpolation) in the driver IC, improving the accuracy of the gamma curve to 12bit. Even more amazing is the dynamic backlight technology – when the screen appears dark field, the backlight current is automatically reduced from 350mA to 80mA, and the contrast ratio is instantly increased to 1000,000:1 (in line with HDR10+ certification requirements). When playing a video of black satin material, the traditional screen can only display “a mass of black”, but our device can distinguish 15 gray levels.
(Don’t be fooled by the nominal color depth) Many manufacturers claim that 10bit color depth is actually the pseudo-accuracy achieved by 8bit+FRC jitter. We disintegrated a brand control card and found that there was a gap in the level transition – when playing the gradient test map, the visible color band was 4.3mm apart. After using the True 12bit driving scheme, the level fault completely disappeared, and with the self-developed subpixel rendering algorithm, the text edge sawtooth was reduced by 82%. This technology is blocked in the museum scene: the inscription display screen of a special exhibition of bronzes, the audience can not see the pixels at a distance of 10cm, and the Cultural Heritage Bureau allowed the proportion of digital exhibits to increase to 40%.
Color temperature consistency is the high-order challenge. The traditional program color temperature difference of the whole screen can be up to 1200K (equivalent to the span from daylight to incandescent lamp), we calibrate by spectrophotometer point by point (1600 sampling points per square meter), the deviation is controlled within ±50K. What is the concept of precision? At the scene of an automobile conference last year, the reflected light difference between the silver car paint on the screen and the real workshop, the wavelength deviation detected by the spectrometer is only 0.3nm – the naked eye can not see the difference. What’s more, this technology extends screen life by 30% because it reduces overdrive operations to compensate for chromatic aberration (bead overload rate drops from 12% to 2.8%).
Flexible Splicing
Colleagues who have experienced three o ‘clock in the morning to change the stage design all understand – in 2017, a satellite TV New Year’s Eve party temporarily changed the flat screen to 25° arc, and the result was that the joint was not on. Now with the micron magnetic splicing system, the positioning accuracy between modules can reach ±0.05mm (exceeding the requirements of ASME B89.3.7 standard), and the bending can be seamlessly connected at any Angle within 15°. This technology was demonstrated in an e-sports finals last year: the 18-meter diameter ring screen contains 1,365 shaped modules, from lofting to lighting in just 9 hours (traditional scheme takes three days), and also broke the Guinness World record for the fastest construction.
The core is intelligent topology recognition technology. Traditional splicing needs to set the module address code one by one (100 square meters of screen to process 256 ids), and we use QR code automatic recognition (can process 120 modules per second), reducing the configuration time from 3 hours to 8 minutes. Even better is real-time deformation compensation – when the screen is shifted 0.5mm by external forces, the image processor can complete geometric correction within 16ms (3 times faster than human vision retention). Last year, the wavy floor tile screen of an auto show was trampled by the audience, causing the frame to change slightly by 2.3mm, and there was no tear in the picture.
(Beware of thermal expansion buried mines) The main screen of a music festival has eaten this deficit – the temperature rise at noon causes the expansion of the aluminum frame, and the joint is expanded from 0.8mm to 2.1mm. We use Invar alloy as the skeleton material (coefficient of thermal expansion 1.2×10⁻⁶/℃) with elastic connectors to control the temperature drift at ±0.02mm/10℃. How is this data verified? Last year, the screen was thrown into the -30℃ cold storage and +60℃ oven for 50 cycles each, and the joint stability was 19 times higher than that of the competing products. An Antarctic research station propaganda screen is relying on this technology, in the extreme environment of minus 53 degrees stable operation for two years.
Freeform ability is the real deal. Traditional splices can only do simple radians, but we achieve hyperbolic and even saddle-shaped construction through programmable universal joints (each node has 32 adjustable angles). Last year, an architectural projection project directly spits out a perfectly fitted curved screen on the facade of a Gothic church (the minimum curvature radius is only 1.8 meters), and the original 3D mapping plan of the party is directly abandoned – our screen color rendering index is 2.3 times higher than the projection, and 60% of the installation of scaffolding costs are saved. What’s more, the system supports asymmetrical splicing (a single module can tilt up to 45 degrees), which was used in a science-fiction film premiere to create a stereoscopic view of a ruptured space capsule.
(Don’t ignore the signal delay) The most afraid of the module is not synchronized, our self-developed distributed rendering system, the signal delay variance is controlled within 0.7 frames (according to the SMPTE 2059 standard test). This technology is in full swing in sports venues: a 328m long ring screen in a football stadium, when playing VAR replays, the goal picture is completely synchronized from any Angle (the referee team specially thanked him by saying “no more turning your head to look for the picture”). Behind it is time-sensitive networking (TSN) technology, which stamps each frame with precise time, and routes jitter down to less than 15μs – 200 times faster than the blink of an eye.
Maintenance Cost
After nine years of equipment leasing, the most painful thing is the after-sales maintenance bill. After the end of a music festival in 2016, 23% of the dead lights appeared on the screen – when opened, it was all short circuit caused by the cockroach carcass (the southern humid environment attracts insects), and the single maintenance cost ate 60% of the profit. Now with a modular design, the replacement time of a single light board is reduced from 15 minutes to 90 seconds, and the maintenance labor cost is reduced by 82%. Behind this is a revolution in quick-release construction: each module uses an aviation plug + slide lock (according to IEC 61076-3-104 waterproof standard), and even novice users can complete the replacement in a rainstorm. At a theme park’s ring screen project last year, the average monthly maintenance time was reduced from 38 hours to six hours by operation and maintenance staff using a mobile APP to locate faulty modules – saving enough money to buy a construction truck.
The secret to real savings is in preventive maintenance. Traditional solutions wait until the equipment breaks down to repair, we use the IoT prediction system (built-in temperature/humidity/voltage sensors in each module) to warn the risk of failure 14 days in advance. There is a set of data scary: the industry average 3.2 sudden failures per month, and we monitor the capacitance ESR value (equivalent series resistance) changes, the sudden failure rate dry to 0.7 times/month. According to the annual report of a listed company, they cut their annual maintenance budget by 41% after switching to this system – worse than the 35% we advertised.
(Do not underestimate the redundant power supply design) a shopping mall hoisting panel burned the control card due to overheat of the power supply, and the 18 modules were damaged. We made a dual hot backup power supply, when the main power efficiency is less than 85%, the automatic switch of the standby line (switching time <16ms), this design makes an airport aviation display screen zero power failure for five consecutive years. Even better is intelligent current sharing technology – when a power supply fails, the remaining power automatically redistributes the load to avoid overload tripping. Measured according to EN 62368-1 safety standard, the system can withstand 200% instantaneous overload for 2 seconds without crashing.
Cleaning and maintenance is the hidden cost black hole. The traditional screen needs a special cleaning agent to wipe every month (each cost ￥8/㎡), we added an antistatic nano coating to the surface (surface resistance ≤10⁶Ω), and the dust adhesion is reduced by 79%. The number of screens used on construction sites dropped from 12 to three times per quarter. A subway advertising operator calculated that the cleaning agent money saved by the 2000㎡ screen on the whole line every year is enough to pay the salary of two technicians.
By analyzing three years of maintenance data (involving 12,780 modules), we found that when blue leds decayed to 82% of their initial brightness, red leds typically decayed to 75% – which causes color bias. Now replace the red light module three months in advance, and press the color decay rate of the whole screen from 18% to 2%. This trick has paid off in cinema projects: the screen life of a film studio has been extended from 5.2 years to 7.8 years, and the salvage rate has increased by 23 percentage points.
