Project Overview

• Products: Outdoor Direct View DV-LED Video Wall, Android Cloud Network Media Player
• Location: South & City College Birmingham, Bordesley Green Campus
• Size: 2.88m x 1.92m
• Resolution: 288px x 192px
• Pixel Pitch: P10
• Brightness: 6,000cd/m²

Background

South & City College Birmingham (SCCB) is a vocational college with eight campuses spread across the metropolitan borough of Birmingham. With their existing traditional billboard failing to grab the attention of passers-by, SCCB wanted to attract more potential students by replacing it with an eye-catching large format outdoor digital display.

Challenges

The college needed a large format display that was completely weatherproof and fully sunlight readable but had a relatively low budget to work with.

Furthermore, after discovering how inconvenient it had been to change the content on their printed billboard, SCCB also wanted a quick and easy way to update the sign. This was made more complicated by the fact that Wi-Fi connection was not available at that particular location due to the significant distance from the main college building.

Finally, the college wanted to re-use the existing structure upon which their existing traditional billboard was mounted; however, in its current form this structure was not strong enough to support any additional weight.

Solutions

For such a large-scale display, we knew that a direct view DV-LED solution would be less expensive than an LCD screen of a similar. In addition, as our P10 Outdoor DV-LED Video Walls have a brightness of 6,000cd/m² and an IP65-rated outer casing, they are incredibly visible even in direct sunlight and are fully protected against the elements. Therefore, this solution was the perfect choice to meet all of SCCB’s requirements.

On top of this, we also provided the college with one of our Android Cloud Network Media Players. To enable this media player to connect to the internet despite the lack of Wi-Fi availability, we installed a 4G module into the media player as well as a special outdoor antenna onto the top of the DV-LED display. Overall, this solution meant that SCCB could instantly update their content for free an unlimited number of times via the internet using our cloud-based CMS software.

Finally, in collaboration with our partner Digital Sign Solutions, we reinforced the poles supporting the existing billboard mounting structure with struts to increase its weight capacity. As the DV-LED display had a narrower aspect ratio than the old billboard, we added black cladding to the sides.

Results

SCCB were really pleased with the level of support received during both the planning and installation phases of this project. From supplying the DV-LED display, to providing an easy way to update content, to modifying the existing mounting structure, we ensured SCCB received a turnkey solution that met all of their requirements whilst keeping to their tight budget. Plus, thanks to the three-year manufacturer’s warranty and lifetime technical support included with all of our standard product ranges, the college knows that our support will continue for the entire lifetime of their display.

In terms of impact, SCCB have been thrilled with increased visibility that their new Outdoor Direct View LED Video Wall brings to the college and are considering rolling out more DV-LED solutions across their other campuses in the future.

Glen Fitzpatrick, Director of Digital Sign Solutions, had the following to say:

“Allsee were fantastic to work with on the South & City College Birmingham project. Their product suggestions and knowledge helped the project run smoothly. SCCB are delighted with the screen and are looking to add more to other sites.”

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