WATCHOUT behind world-record video wall

Dataton WATCHOUT multi-display software is the technology behind the world's largest high definition video wall at Singapore's Suntec Exhibition and Convention Centre. "The Big Picture" is a 60 by 15 m display at Suntec's main entrance and is the proud recipient of the Guinness World Records title as the 'Largest High Definition Video Wall'. It's not hard to see why: the video wall features 664 LG 55-inch LED flat panel displays, supporting a resolution of 32,051 pixels wide by 7,941 pixels high – that's 84 times the resolution of HD – all managed by a 21-channel WATCHOUT system.

The convention center worked with an expert team of tech partners to bring to life its vision of a convention and exhibition center of the future, with Honeywell and LG leading the way. "ACETEL were responsible for supplying Dataton WATCHOUT for The Big Picture as well as designing and installing the visual display system according to LG and Honeywell's requirements," explains Jeong-Mok Byun, team leader of visual solution division at ACETEL.

The Big Picture acts as a standalone exhibit showcasing a combination of mixed media such as still images, animations and video clips, or a single breathtaking image displayed across the entire wall. Interactive features are integrated with RFiD tracking systems and sensors on the escalators located just in front of The Big Picture to display welcome messages, or show specialised content alongside riders on the escalator from levels 1 to 3.

Sangheon Oh, Chief Research Engineer, LGE Commercial Display Marketing explains: "LG worked on the design of the visual display system and it evolved to be the largest HD LED screen in the world. Early in the design phase, we discussed with Dataton the possibility of the project being the largest HD LED screen and on finding out that it could, we selected WATCHOUT as the main multi-image display and presentation system.

"The Big Picture is controlled and operated by three major subsystems which are the video wall, playback, integration and control. Playback manages content and the principle of the design is to support ultra-high definition (UHD) media including 4K video clips and still images being managed by 21 WATCHOUT display servers, serving 84 full HD outputs.

"The integration and control system acts to control The Big Picture and servers, turning them on or off as required and scheduled. It also manages playback where a part of a show at a specific time can be selected or it can be used to manage interactive content."

The content is updated according to the current exhibition and there's a variety of ultra-high resolution content from Suntec Singapore and its advertisers. Lasanthi Bandara, manager, audio-visual technology and content at Suntec Singapore explained: "WATCHOUT is being used to primarily display content on all 664 screens seamlessly. Content is also designed, animated, and produced within the WATCHOUT system itself." He added: "There was no other feasible and scalable technology available in the market that could enable us to create such high definition display. WATCHOUT was selected because of its primary capability to display synchronised content on multiple screens."

Bernard Ng, digital creative curator at Suntec Singapore explained: "Audio, video and graphic content are used together to create spectacular showcases and presentations on The Big Picture. The design challenge here is simply the immense size of our entire screen. Producing and rendering videos and animations at this scale is incredible but potentially time-consuming. However, production time is greatly reduced by maximising WATCHOUT's ability in allowing us to create amazing content directly within the system itself.

"For content management, WATCHOUT allows content to be stored and managed in media containers with auxiliary timelines. This allows my team to manually organise and manage content according to scheduling and requirements."

If you're in Singapore, don't miss out on The Big Picture!