The choice of display technology is pivotal for creating immersive, multi-person VR environments that deliver the defined user experience and meet the desired budget.
Traditionally, projection systems were the only feasible solution for creating immersive environments that allow teams to simultaneously interact with the same dataset and work collaboratively. Now however, you may be surprised to hear that advancements in LED over the last five years are seeing the landscape dramatically shift, with LED now offering advantages that are redefining the way we experience and interact with digital environments.
Brightness that dazzles
In the pursuit of true immersion, brightness is key. LED is our technology of choice for delivering high bright environments, with displays comfortably reaching 1200 nits. This ensures that they are suitable to varied environments, including those with high ambient light, empowering users to engage without compromise.
We find that we don’t need to run most LED displays at full brightness to have maximum impact, contributing to a longer lifespan and lower running costs.
Image quality
The vividness and accuracy of colours play a crucial role in delivering a lifelike virtual experience. Direct view LED excels in reproducing a broad spectrum of colours, deeper black levels and higher contrast ratios to enhance the realness and perception of depth and detail in virtual scenarios.
Fine pixel pitch LED displays, such as 1.2mm,also create higher resolution environments in ever reducing sizes and can deliver frame rates of 240hz, which is ideal for creating active 3Denvironments with a multi-view perspective.
We collaborated with SiliconCore to showcase the benefits of LED for immersive environments at Infocomm 2023, take a look here.
Bespoke solutions
With the ability to create curved or non-standard displays, we can tailor solutions that align seamlessly with the unique requirements of the space, offering a truly bespoke immersive experience.
Space saving
The move away from rear projection to create CAVEs also saves a lot of space, especially for floors which traditionally needed space underneath them, reducing the weight loading options.
Common Cathode driven LED displays run cool to the touch, also eliminating the need for any extensive cooling infrastructure, further reducing the overall space required.
Durability and reliability
With PCB innovations such as Chip On Board (COB)and SiliconCore’s proprietary LISA encapsulation technology, LED displays have become more robust and hardwearing, contributing to an enhanced lifespan.
From an operation and serviceability perspective, individual tiles can be removed from the front and quickly replaced should any defects occur, compared to the whole system going down if there are problems with a projector.
Energy efficiency
Sustainability is, rightly so, of increasing importance to most businesses. LED displays with Common Cathode technology offer the best green credentials, with the 20-50% cooler operating temperatures from manufacturers like SiliconCore leading to lower power consumption than the market average. The reduction of heat also contributes to a longer lifespan of over 100,000 hours, that’s 11 years of performance, reducing waste from needing to replace hardware or consumables.
Price Point
And to address the question on everyone’s lips! In the early days of these LED advancements, price points were used to determine what was feasible. That is changing as the demand for LED has increased, leading to the technology becoming more accessible and encompassing a wider range of budgets.
Regent College
Regent College is home to the first LED immersive VR power wall in academia, swapping the traditional projection method for a fine pixel pitch solution that delivers a better user and operator experience.
We designed and delivered the Transformative Educational Digital Laboratory, which also features our proprietary Visionary Render software to bring the virtual world to life.