I Have Seen the Future and It Is Curved (and ultrawide)

curved-future

Scott Kelley

Sr. Product Marketing Manager

Commercial Displays Division | LG Electronics USA, Inc.

 

 


It is difficult to describe how one feels when seeing the LG 38” UltraWide® curved display on someone’s desk, shining in all its IPS glory. When I first saw one, I thought I heard angels singing, but that turned out to be the two 10-watt stereo speakers inside this display. The one thing people typically say when they see one of these is, “Wow!” But these monitors are more than just a 3840×1600 gamer’s paradise. These represent the future of office productivity.

Workbench Tools Versus Computers

When you purchase a monitor, it’s more like buying a workbench tool than buying the computer that usually comes with it. Think about it – people don’t typically get rid of old tools, even if the tools are mediocre. It’s just not in our nature to throw away a “perfectly good” Phillips screwdriver (even if it’s a bit chewed-up). The same paradigm fits old monitors. We tend to keep them forever – past the life cycles of several computers. It’s tough for us to justify throwing away a “perfectly good” 15-inch monitor even if it is ancient and only has a single VGA input connection. So we string together multiple old, small monitors (sometimes of different sizes) to cobble together viewing spaces large enough to run the multiple windows we need at a reasonable size for us to be productive. So with multiple power cords and data cables, we unleash our inner nerd to create our own home-grown version of a NASA command center at our desks. Add to that multiple data connectors of various types (VGA, DVI, HDMI) and trying to drive them with one computer and the “desktop” settings in Windows become a nightmare. And if you have two laptops – say a Macbook Pro and a Surface Pro – you need to use a separate mouse and keyboard for each. Your workspace becomes a cluttered mess that is no longer productive, it’s distracting.

Screen Space, Windows and Multiple Sources

Screen space is needed in today’s workplace now more than ever to increase productivity. We have multiple windows open at the same time to assist us in receiving and processing information. In the past, taking advantage of a large monitor was more difficult, but with free LG On Screen Control software this is no longer an issue. This software allows you to split the screen quickly and easily so that you don’t spend all your time resizing Windows where you want them. Check out a demonstration of this at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-jqqQdRRzI. When you purchase LG UltraWide® monitors for your workspace, make sure that every employee is shown the basics of LG On Screen Control so they do not become frustrated resizing windows trying to maximize their workspaces.

Now on to the most amazing part – controlling two computers with one monitor, keyboard and mouse via a single LG UltraWide® curved display. With the free LG Dual Controller Software, you can easily connect your Macbook Pro AND your Windows Surface Pro to the same UltraWide® monitor and use one mouse and keyboard to control BOTH computers simultaneously on one LG display. So you can sit in the sweet spot of your curved display and work productively and seamlessly on both devices at the same time. Check out a demonstration of the capability here and here.

 

Future Proofing

So when you invest in an UltraWide® curved monitor of any size, you are investing in the productivity of your team members going forward. Why? You give them the screen real estate they need with a clean desktop, amazing sound and the ability to run two computers at one time on the same display. This efficiency will last for several generations of computers as your team members work on state-of-the-art displays designed to maximize productivity. Plus, you’ve got to admit they are incredibly cool looking in the office!

 

LG OLED Receives EPA’s Champion Award and More, Spotlighting Sustainable Materials Management

You know about LG OLED’s perfect black. Did you know LG also strives for excellent Green?

At CES 2018 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored LG Electronics USA with the Product Champion Award for LG OLED TVs. This cites LG’s significant environmental, social and economic outcomes that go above and beyond the requirements of the EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge.

LG OLED TVs are designed to reduce environmental impact and to be easier to disassemble and recycle. The Product Champion Award recognizes LG’s “leadership in innovating processes and products that focus on environmentally responsible material use throughout its entire life cycle,” according to the EPA.

Specifically, the EPA is recognizing LG for its “vision in continually replacing and reducing use of hazardous materials in electronics products by developing OLED TVs that are mercury-free, use PVC-free internal cables and BFR-free housing and stand parts, and greatly reduce the potential harm to humans and the environment.”

This achievement raises the sales appeal of LG OLED commercial displays even higher. If you’re a commercial display reseller, systems integrator or a business with an eye on the future, the fact that LG OLED is designed to reduce environmental impact speaks volumes about the kinds of partnerships you choose.

Additional Awards and Certification

LG also took home the EPA’s Silver Tier Award. This was in recognition of LG’s significant contributions to the EPA’s SMM Electronics Challenge goals by collecting a considerable amount of used electronics for reuse and recycle, sending 100 percent of used electronics to certified third-party recyclers, and publicly sharing detailed information about its electronic management practices.

What’s more, LG OLED TVs earned the Design for Recycling® Award from the world’s leading recycling industry group, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. ISRI’s highest honor recognized LG for developing OLED and LED TVs with greener features designed to reduce the environmental load at every stage of the product lifecycle.

LG OLED models were also the first TVs to earn UL “GREENGUARD” Certification that helps create healthier indoor environments. UL Environment’s rigorous GREENGUARD testing confirmed low chemical and formaldehyde emissions from LG OLED TVs.

Supporting its commitment to responsible recycling, LG Electronics Inc. is the world’s first “Global e-Stewards Enterprise.” The e-Stewards standard, developed by the Basel Action Network, is the world’s most rigorous certification program for electronics recyclers. It prevents the export and dumping of toxic electronic waste in developing countries and calls for safeguards to protect private data and ensure that recycling plant workers are not exposed to toxic materials.

William Cho, president and CEO, LG Electronics USA, said, “Sustainability is a core business principle at LG Electronics, and we believe LG has a shared responsibility to protect the environment by reducing our environmental impact while enhancing the quality of life for consumers. We call this ‘Innovation for a Better Life,’ and it means both responsible recycling and developing innovative products with the environment in mind.”

Read the full story here.

LG Treats CES Attendees to an Amazing Walk Through OLED Canyon

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If you weren’t at CES last week, you missed the opportunity to walk through a winding 92-foot-long LG OLED Canyon leading to the LG booth. The immersive installation featured 246, 55-inch LG Open Frame OLED displays—90 concave and 156 convex 4K UHD screens—giving tens of thousands of visitors a one-of-a-kind experience of the earth’s natural wonders, courtesy of two billion self-lighting pixels. The jaw-dropping exhibit was further enhanced by Dolby Atmos surround sound technology and took 5-1/2 days to construct.

LG OLED technology uses self-lighting pixels so the display doesn’t require backlighting or edge lighting. Why is this important? It means that the display can be extremely lightweight, thin and flexible. LG OLED Open Frame displays bend concave and convex either horizontally or vertically, and can be mounted that way. It’s a whole new level of customizability that is both a breathtaking work of art and a functional signage display.

Last year at CES we created an LG OLED tunnel. This year it was a 30-yard canyon. We’re looking forward to the years ahead, where we’ll be showcasing more innovations for commercial display technology. We have some very exciting things in the works, and that’s good reason for you to check back often.

Have a look at this AVS Forum video of the LG OLED Canyon experience at CES 2018.

Check out last year’s tunnel.

“Direct View” LED is Ready to Rock in 2018

LAP-SERIES-LG-BLOG

 

We’re all familiar with LED (light emitting diode) displays. Even on the consumer side, we’ve seen today’s LED TVs in the stores and probably have them at home. But the digital signage industry indicates that a technology known as Direct View LED has become increasingly popular and is poised to be a big deal this year.

Direct View LED? What’s the difference?

First of all, the LED displays or TVs we see these days are actually LCD (liquid crystal display) panels that are backlit or edge-lit by LEDs. Ever since LEDs replaced the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) as the display lighting source the LED descriptor has been used.

Direct View LED, however, is an entirely different animal. Direct View LED eliminates the LCD layer, and instead, uses a vast array of tiny LEDs to create the picture. These individual LEDs are remarkably bright, and arranged into clusters that serve as red/green/blue-producing pixels. So when you look at the image, you are viewing the LEDs directly. No additional lighting source is needed.

Direct View LED is prized for bright pictures, wide viewing angles, high color uniformity and a long, reliable life. And LG offers a broad range of them. LG’s LAP Series Premium Finepitch Indoor Direct View LED displays, for example, deliver stunning images that can attract, engage and inform any audience. The LAP Series is ideal for the most demanding venues; from automotive and retail to museums and galleries to control rooms, boardrooms and broadcast studios.

With 1,000/1,200-nit brightness the LAP Series displays ensure a striking presentation of content. A 6,000:1 contrast ratio makes images truly pop, even more so with LG’s exclusive dynamic contrast algorithm for vivid, consistent color across the entire screen.

LAP Series displays also deliver excellent off-axis viewing, so the outstanding color and contrast remain consistent even across a big room or for everyone in a large crowd.

What about image clarity?

Here’s where things get interesting. Direct View LED displays are classified by pixel pitch, which indicates in millimeters how close the LED pixels are to each other. Viewing distance is a key factor when choosing the proper pixel pitch, and the right display for a particular job. The smaller the pitch, the closer viewers can get to the display before they start to discern the individual pixels making up the image. A general layman’s rule of thumb says the minimum viewing distance is roughly three times in feet what the pixel pitch is in millimeters.

The LAP Series offers pixel pitches in 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 mm, for beautifully clear, sharp and captivating pictures. The series consists of three models: the top-of-the-line LAP010BL2 in addition to LAP015BL2 and LAP020BL4. With their varying sizes of pixel pitch, these displays can suit virtually every environment and use-case scenario. The LAP020BL2, for example, has a pixel pitch of 1.00 mm and a 1,000,000 pixels/m² physical pixel density for an incredibly crisp, lifelike image even when viewed up close.

What do you get with the LAP Series?

Each model in the LAP Series is an individual module, sold in packages of 2 x 2. They can be assembled into nearly limitless arrays to create immense video walls, with a bezel-less design that enables virtually seamless viewing on the giant screens.

LG webOS 3.0 control manager software, a web-based solution supporting virtually effortless control and monitoring via PC or mobile device, is included free of charge. All models work seamlessly with the LCLG001 LED Controller (sold separately). This off-board controller relocates the system power supply and other electronic hardware—traditionally a part of the display itself—outside and away from the video wall. The controller houses multiple in/out and control ports, as well as a built-in media player and scaler for greater convenience. The LAP Series also provides easy rear access to the LED panels for simplified maintenance.

LG’s unique power module design enables high luminance with efficient power consumption, and is combined with an LG power-saving algorithm. Advanced auto module protection monitors and controls system temperature for reliable performance and longevity.

The LG LAP Series Premium Finepitch Indoor Direct View LED displays offer a bold, clean style worthy of the most prestigious installations with the stellar performance that can both empower employees as well as dazzle guests and potential customers.

(BTW, LG custom builds Premium Outdoor Direct View LED displays, too. But that’s another post.)

Have a look at the LAP Series here.

How Can We Assist You?

One of the things that rank high on our list is meeting people at roadshows or tradeshows and answering questions about LG commercial displays and their applications.

Maybe it’s healthcare, hospitality or transportation. Retail, QSR or government. Or education. And certainly there are loads of uses for digital signage in public venues.

Which areas are you interested in?

Commercial displays have come a long, long way. Today’s form factors enable installations in places that previously wouldn’t even have been considered for displays. LG OLED, for example, can transform any business environment, and even create one-of-a-kind attractions that can make a business stand out from the competition. Combine all this with the latest software advancements and the Internet of Things and the possibilities will be virtually limitless.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that we touch on many different topics. But we want to know your thoughts. There’s no need to wait for a show to bring us your concerns; you can connect with us any time via our social channels and start a conversation.

What content would you like to see here? What questions would you like to have answered? Tell us and we’ll do our best to give you the information you’re looking for about LG commercial displays and the amazing ways to use them.