- The University of Charleston in West Virginia opened its all new Innovation Center, a dedicated space for students to enjoy live sporting events and connect with their peers. During the building process, the university decided to incorporate innovative technology that would establish an engaging environment and hired Advanced to conceptualize and install two Planar LCD displays with a control component.
The Innovation Center at the University of Charleston
“The university asked for two attention-grabbing displays that could easily and seamlessly be controlled by staff,” said David Weatherhead, president of Advanced. “After meeting with a few different solutions providers, the university selected Advanced because of our ability to deliver a well-thought out plan that best suited their needs."
During the building process, Advanced designed two Planar LCD video walls, one that hangs as a 6x1 welcome banner at the front entrance, and the other serves as the 3x3 central display fixture in an “entertainment hub” in the building’s atrium. According to Greg Priest, senior account manager at Advanced, Planar was the ideal manufacturer for this particular application because of its ability to source power from a distance.
“With these monitors, the power modules are offloaded into quad controllers, which allows us to install the displays directly against the wall,” Priest said. “This makes them significantly lighter because they have no immediate backing components. They don’t need to be directly plugged in, thus eliminating the need for onsite outlets. We were able to hook up both displays to an equipment rack in a control room that’s located about 100 feet away.”
Advanced also installed a Crestron Control System that allows university staff to control the on/off displays through a 7-inch touch panel located at reception.
“In addition to being able to control basic functions of the display, they can also control the content’s format,” Priest said. “If they’d like the entire display to relay one image, they can do so. If they’d like it to break into three different images, they can do that as well. The system gives them complete control over sophisticated functions with the touch of a button.”
Since the Innovation Center’s opening, the university has used the displays to relay school-related information, as well as broadcast live sporting events.
“The 6x1 banner is the perfect welcome sign, because it could be personalized to the season, game, or event being hosted within the Innovation Center,” Priest said. “With Tightrope Media Digital Signage players, key staff members can design and display whatever messaging they’d like. Customization is key to a warm welcome, and digital displays allow them to do just that.”
Additionally, the 3x3 Planar LCD videowall in the entertainment hub now acts as the ideal central location for students to watch live sporting events.
“The University of Charleston really wanted to create a space for students to come together,” Priest added. “We were truly able to create this new entertainment space with engaging digital signage.”
The University of Charleston is so thrilled with the environment that the displays have helped to create that they have called on Advanced to integrate a complementary multi-room audio system.
