Retail Special | An AV Magazine supplement in association with Midwich

AVMAGAZINE 8 | AV RETAIL SPECIAL | MAY 2018 Conventional LCD videowalls remain popular for a number of applications, particularly where high quality video reproduction is being viewed from close up. Midwich is also seeing an increase in narrow pixel pitch LED in retail environments. “Due to its inherent brightness, LED is very well suited to areas of high ambient light. While the bezel gap of LCD has been reduced significantly, LED enables store designers to build larger digital canvasses without a bezel, ” says Flowers. “High resolution LED is seeing a huge surge in popularity in retail applications, especially when there’s a larger viewing distance and a large canvas is required for big impact,” says Chris Smith, channel manager at LG Electronics UK. “Content also influences the selection, with LED displays being better with graphical content rather than film or photography.” Direct ambient light has always been a major challenge to signage in high street stores – but this is not the case with LED. “LED can compete with full daylight conditions, even direct sunlight,” says Drew Rogers, large format display product manager at Samsung. Tech firms love to describe their products’ “flexibility”, but in the case of LED this is literally true. “At ISE this year Samsung demonstrated how a 1.2mm fine pixel pitch indoor LED modular system can be wrapped around walls or installed on ceilings to provide content in otherwise unused spaces,” says Rogers. “We also demonstrated curved LED with convex and concave cabinet orientations by coupling the engineering experience of our outdoor LED range with the high image quality of the indoor fine pixel pitch products.” Also new at ISE were transparent OLED displays and transparent colour LED film from LG. “The unique design of the OLED displays means you can have full colour, vivid graphics but also see retail products through the displays,” says Smith. “The LED colour film can be applied to windows rapidly and with very little infrastructure to create huge, colourful canvasses.” SHIFT TOOLED LG is seeing a big shift towards OLED as the preferred platform for large format displays, thanks to its thin design, deep blacks and high contrast, and the ability to curve it for creative installations, Smith adds. “OLED is at the forefront of innovation due to its durability, quality and colour reproduction. The displays are also very lightweight, enabling them to be used in semi-permanent retail applications and pop-ups. In-glass models can also be double-sided to maximise the use of space.” Now LED technology is being developed even further. “Quantum dot LED (QLED) uses a quantum dot filter within the display to deliver 100% colour volume of RETAIL SPECIAL the RGB spectrum, meaning that virtually any colour can be reproduced,” says Rogers. “A backlight capable of peaking brightness up to 1,500nit enables QLED smart signage to deliver such colour in much brighter environments such as high street retail. Peaking brightness where it’s required rather than uniformly across the panel ensures that a high dynamic contrast range can be maintained without washing out colour and detail.” UNRIVALLED PRODUCT PORTFOLIO Whatever the technology required, Midwich has an unrivalled portfolio of products, says Flowers. “From initial content scheduling, through to signal distribution, building management and control, audio reinforcement and displays, Midwich has become a trusted one stop shop for our trade partners. “What’s more, through our events such as the Retail Shop Event at the OXO2 Tower on May 10, our flagship event Technology Exposed, and our LED Assessment Centre at PSCo, Midwich can demonstrate our vendors’ products as working solutions. This has proved very valuable to our trade partners in making product decisions. “We also realise that retailers often require proofs of concept and pilot installations before committing to larger store roll outs, and our loan product portfolio caters for this.” In association with DIGITAL SIGNAGE The LG OLED Open-Frame 55EF5C display making a statement at The Dubai Mall