‘Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii is a culturally diverse K-12 college preparatory school that serves approximately 2,300 students. With a focus on academic excellence through dynamic, personalized instruction, ‘Iolani fosters an educational experience that inspires intellectual growth, character development, and a spirit of collaboration, with humility and respect for all community members.
‘Iolani recently opened its new Arrillaga Student Center, a three-story, 60,000-square-foot building located at the heart of campus that provides a space for learning, wellness, and connection. Designed by WCIT Architecture and Gensler, the facility was thoughtfully planned to reflect Iolani’s culture, values, and history.
The center includes 16 classrooms, a health center, a bookstore, and a faculty lounge. On the rooftop is a spacious event area and tea house, and the first floor is home to the Tsai Family Dining Hall, a 12,500-square-foot venue where the school community comes together for meals, social gatherings, student assemblies, and other school-related functions.
A Versatile Digital Solution
In a mixed-use space like this, with high ambient light that you don’t necessarily want to control all the time, that high contrast ratio makes a huge difference.
James DePoyster, general manager with Pacific Audio and Communications
Mounted high in the dining hall are two 16-foot-wide-by-12-foot-high Planar DirectLight Essential Series LED video walls with 1.5mm pixel pitch. The vibrant twin displays provide a versatile digital solution for engaging the student population, creating a lively campus destination.
The video walls are positioned approximately 20 feet overhead, introducing a viewing angle that is significantly off-axis. To maintain image quality and provide consistent viewing throughout the space, a solution with wide viewing angles was a key consideration, according to James DePoyster, general manager with Pacific Audio and Communications, the display technology integrator.
“That’s where the DirectLight Essential delivers; the engineering of the display produces superb off-axis viewing,” DePoyster said.
Another key performance consideration was the DirectLight Essential’s 30,000:1 contrast ratio, DePoyster said. “In a mixed-use space like this, with high ambient light that you don’t necessarily want to control all the time, that high contrast ratio makes a huge difference,” he said. “Those advantages, coupled with the lighter cabinets and the impact resistance of COB LED technology, made it a perfect fit.”
In addition to supporting day-to-day communications and serving as a backdrop for activities and events, the dual LED video walls are an integral part of ‘Iolani’s live productions. Pacific Audio and Communications integrated BirdDog cameras in the dining hall, allowing the school to route live video to the LED video walls.
“It’s an impressive live streaming setup and laid out very intuitively,” DePoyster said. “They can easily pick and choose their content, giving them the flexibility to showcase whatever they want.”
Enhancing the Experience
Aniki Ignacio, sound engineer at ‘Iolani School, said the LED video walls enhance the overall experience for students and faculty alike. “We can display information, show highlight videos, or use them for watching movies,” he said. “Regardless of the event—whether it’s a concert or a conference call—the video walls take the whole experience to another level.”
The response from the campus community has been one of excitement and joy, Ignacio said: “For a concert, we were able to show live camera footage of the performers, and, whether you were sitting in the back or up front, everyone had a clear view. Anything we show on the video walls looks fantastic, and I really want to see them used to their fullest potential.”
DePoyster added that the LED video walls are a defining visual feature within the new student center. “When you walk into the room, your eyes are immediately drawn to them,” he said. “Content looks absolutely phenomenal; the picture is crystal clear and bright. During the first demonstration, everyone—from the staunchest critics to the brightest-eyed believers—was blown away. The impact of those video walls cannot be understated.”
