The world’s busiest airport is dishing out a big portion of Southern hospitality to passengers streaming through its gates. The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB), with AV support from Electrosonic, has opened a new welcome center in the heart of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA). Four 4K video walls operate 24/7; the welcome center captures the attention of new arrivals with dynamic visual content and information designed to make their stay a success.
“The ACVB had a small booth with overhead monitors before. This is a much larger space with new display solutions that really pop,” says Tom Rowat, project manager for Electrosonic. “Everyone coming to baggage claim or connecting with ground transportation is going to see it.” Electrosonic installed four video walls in the welcome center using a total of 40 55-inch Samsung UD55E-P ultra-narrow bezel LED monitors. A 6×1 wall tops the entrance, a pair of 3×3 walls line the sides and a 4×4 wall fills the rear of the new center.
“Projection wouldn’t work in this environment because of the background light level in the terminal,” explains Rowat. “In addition, these are all 24/7 displays and lamp replacement would have been expensive, so we opted for a solution featuring Samsung and BrightSign products. Samsung is on the leading edge of 4K displays, and the BrightSign 4K242 video players are very flexible in distributing full UHD resolution across the monitors.”
The four BrightSign 4K players are located behind each of the walls eliminating the need for a large equipment rack and expensive extenders. Electrosonic provided a Crestron control system whose operator interface at the site offers individual monitor control and the ability to bring up test patterns on the video walls for color balance and monitor alignment.
Electrosonic also designed a remote camera viewing system, featuring a 24/7 internet connection and TeamViewer app, to facilitate off-site maintenance and content updates.
“Ceiling-mounted confidence cameras are pointed toward the video walls so if there are any technical issues, our local full-time service technicians can use TeamViewer, look at the cameras and check the network connections as if they were on the job site,” says Rowat. Additionally, content creator at Green Media Works in Atlanta, who were hired by the ACVB to provide original content for many of the displays, can use TeamViewer to upload new content and see what it looks like on the video walls without actually being on site.
