Premier Midwest Arena Greets Audiences With Stunning Banner Video Wall

As part of the emphasis on digital fan engagement, the arena decided to deploy a “banner video wall”, consisting of nine (9) displays in a portrait configuration. To implement the project, the arena engaged Keywest Technology, an industry leading AV service provider with 15 years of experience helping businesses implement digital signage across the United States. Traditionally, Keywest has used a multi-headed video card solution to deploy video walls, but Silverstein Arena’s plan went beyond the capabilities of Key West’s current solutions. The arena wanted a flexible video wall able to use large numbers of portrait displays but also able to integrate their cloud CMS application, Breeze2.0. They needed a more flexible solution that didn’t put the project budget at risk.

Nick Nichols, President of Keywest Technology, learned about Userful’s network-based video wall solution through their partners, display maker Philips. After careful research and consideration, Nichols realized Userful was just what they needed.

Userful’s ability to turn a standard PC into a high performance video wall controller that delivers content over the network ensured the total solution was cost effective and met the arena’s budget requirements. Userful’s ability to support just about any content from any source meant the solution could easily support their cloud based CMS.

Userful provided the flexibility to create the initial 9-display banner video wall on portrait mode, all powered from a single standard Intel Core I7 PC. For a seamless look, Keywest chose zero-bezel 49” Philips displays. The video wall is located in highly visible area, but it was easy to conceal the small zero client devices Userful uses to connect the displays over the network to the PC.

“What I like most about Userful is its flexibility, and how it can adapt to different project’s requirements,” said Nichols. “With Userful basically we can install it once, and then simply add as many displays as we need to increase the size of the video wall. It just provides a lot of flexibility, and makes it very easy for the crew to work with.”

"With Userful basically we can install it once, and then simply add as many displays as we need to increase the size of the video wall. It just provides a lot of flexibility, and makes it very easy for the crew to work with"

Not only Userful was able to address all the requirements for this project, but the solution proved very easy to setup (without any on-site install service from Userful required). Once installed, the Userful Control Center management tool provided a very intuitive way to manage all the content, saving administrative staff a great amount of time.

The high quality content makes a great impact on audiences, and the solution does a great job at creating a unified image across all displays. Also, the solution’s flexibility will allow them to expand the video wall to wrap around the other side of the stand without having to modify the system’s infrastructure. “All we need to do is connect the additional displays, and the Userful solution will take care of the rest,” explained Nichols.

According to Nichols, “many people are looking into deploying banner, or ribbon, video walls (like the one at the Silverstein Arena), and I know that with Userful, we have found a solution that will allow us to easily deploy them, at an affordable price, and with great flexibility.”