Draper, Inc.

March 8, 2023 - Creating a curved video wall using flat LED panels can be, as you might imagine, quite challenging. Making it happen takes a great deal of precision. In the following article, Director of AVMS Product Management Grant Wylie explains.

A flat LED video wall is seen as an easy-to-install solution when mounted to a wall or a stand. However, most don't know the challenges faced by video wall mount manufactures and installers when those flat LED panels are needed to create a large radiused display. That challenge emanates from the very tight tolerance requirements between each LED panel which must be managed by the mounting hardware and not the LED panel itself.

Aligning a flat LED video wall.

In a flat video wall, the LED cabinets are very precisely machined, so when the sides of the LED panels are secured together, they align using various alignment locating devices like pins or shoulder bolts. This panel-to-panel alignment results in an LED array with a smooth surface and proper spacing between each LED panel, allowing for the proper amount of expansion and contraction of the modules during operation.

Aligning a faceted video wall.

On a faceted LED array, the sides of the LED panels are not touching each other; however, the extreme precision of the LED panel placement is even more important and completely dependent upon the structure holding the LED panels in place. This precision is increasingly more important as the faceted angle between the LED panels increases for two reasons:

• LEDs can potentially come into contact during operation due to heat expansion;
• Large gaps between the panels will result in unsightly seams and must be avoided.

Why does wall or floor stand mounting matter?

As explained above, LED panels require incredibly precise placement. If attaching the mounting structure to traditionally constructed interior wall, the mount and the LED panels would be subject to any flex or movement in the wall. This can lead to the eventual deformation of the structure, resulting in degradation of the image quality and potential damage to the LEDs. To compensate for this, a complex and costly structure needs to be utilized to hold the LED panels in their precise location for the lifetime of the display.

What's the solution?

How does Draper prevent the flex, deformation, or inconsistencies of traditionally constructed interior walls? We build our own structurally reinforced and very precise floor mounted solution in place or in front of the existing wall. This provides a rigid and precisely located starting point for the faceted LED mounting hardware, which is designed to prevent flexing, deformation, or any movement over time. This "structure behind the structure" allows installers to precisely locate the LED panels next to each other, secure in the knowledge that they will stay in that position for the life of the display.