Extron Quantum ^® Elite and Christie MicroTiles ^® Bring a Visually Stunning Display to Emerson Visitors

Emerson is a diversified global manufacturing and technology company that offers products and services in the areas of network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and the commercial and residental solutions businesses. Recognized widely for its engineering capabilities and management excellence, Emerson is proud of its ability to bring technology and engineering together to create solutions for customers. Reinforcing this brand, the lobby of its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri incorporates an Extron Quantum Elite videowall processor as a critical component of the lobby’s cutting-edge videowall display. Here visitors view visually compelling corporate content and the latest information about Emerson technologies.

Quantum Elite’s ability to match the high pixel density of the MicroTiles was a key feature that helped make the installation a success.

George Brosie, Director of Engineering, Innovative Technology Group

Evolving Video Processing Requirements

Emerson has maintained cutting-edge display technology in its lobby, updating its system twice. The current installation is the third videowall system installed in the main lobby. The initial system incorporated a VECTOR videowall processor with projection cubes. The second videowall did not include a videowall processor, and instead incorporated projection cubes with internal scaling capabilities. In the latest upgrade, system integrator Innovative Technology Group sought a processor that could not only display Emerson’s corporate video content with best-of-class scaling, but could also drive 48 Christie MicroTiles ^® at their maximum resolution. This challenging requirement was met by Extron’s Quantum Elite videowall processor. Capable of processing up to 3.5 billion pixels per second, Quantum Elite processors easily scale and magnify images across displays with high pixel density such as Christie MicroTiles.

Quantum Elite Processing Makes MicroTiles Shine

The main videowall is composed of 48 MicroTiles in an 8x6 array. The videowall has a total display resolution of 5760x3240; each individual tile has a resolution of 720x540. The 48 displays are driven by 12 Christie ECU processors, with each ECU providing signals to four MicroTiles. Image delivery to the 3x4 array of ECUs is accomplished with one Extron Quantum Elite 615 videowall processor equipped with 12 outputs. Selecting an output resolution of 1400x1050 allowed each output from the Quantum Elite to closely match the 1440x1080 cumulative resolution of each four-tile set, minimizing the scaling performed by the ECUs.

Corporate content, Emerson global promotional material, and news broadcasts from three PCs and one satellite tuner are supplied to the Quantum Elite through four DVI inputs. Two of the PCs have a resolution of 1920x1200, with the third at 1920x1080, and the satellite tuner operates with a resolution of 720p.

Quantum’s flexible source windowing capabilities allow this system’s four sources to be positioned anywhere on the videowall. These sources can be tiled, overlapped, and placed inside one another for picture-in-picture presentation. Quantum’s patented scaling engine ensures that the PC and satellite sources are displayed with superior picture quality, whether a single source is upscaled to fill the entire MicroTile display, or multiple sources are downscaled below their native resolution in a tiled arrangement. Included with Quantum Elite videowall processors is intuitive control software for setup, configuration, and system operation. Users can select sources and window arrangements from a group of pre-programmed window layouts. The Quantum Elite Processor responds to control commands with no system lag, allowing users to quickly and efficiently operate videowall systems in real-time.

The Right Choice

The Quantum Elite videowall processor’s best-in-class image quality coupled with its ability to drive high pixel density displays made it an ideal solution for Emerson’s state-of-the-art videowall. It also met the challenging requirements more cost-effectively than alternative processors in the same class. Therefore, it was a clear choice for the system designer. “Quantum Elite’s ability to match the high pixel density of the MicroTiles was a key feature that helped make the installation a success,” says George Brosie of Innovative Technology Group.