California uses Barco video wall

Barco and CompView, an AV systems provider, have developed a 100% digital traffic management visualization platform for the City of Garden Grove in California. The Barco video wall serves as the cornerstone of the city’s new US$3.5 million George L Allen Traffic Management Center, which is completely built on a fiber optic backbone, connecting real-time traffic, utilities and public safety information into a centralized data management center. The city now becomes the first to own and operate a system that enables operators to view and control an interconnected array of municipal, and ultimately freeway, traffic cameras, which capture and feed data into a single visualization system. Six of Barco’s OL-521 50-inch (127cm) full HD 16:9 LED video wall modules create a panoramic wall, featuring a 2,160 x 5,760 pixel desktop area to display live video from 37 traffic cameras positioned around the city. Plans are also underway to ultimately connect Caltrans cameras located along the 22 Freeway.

The OL-521’s native HD resolution (1920x1080) is a critical factor in ensuring the precise display of traffic and roadway data in native resolution, with little or no compression, as traffic cameras move into the realm of higher native resolutions. The compact, low-profile design also makes it ideal for small spaces; a critical necessity for the city, as its control room space offered only 18in (46cm) of clearance behind the display. The OL-521 video wall offers an ergonomically excellent viewing experience, high reliability and long-term image consistency, enabled by the company’s ‘Sense6’ sensor technology. The unique software automatically ensures brightness and color stability over time and across the entire display, resulting in maintenance-free operation for five years.

Jeff Kaylor, senior design engineer for CompView, commented, “Garden Grove is the first city in Southern California to create a full fiber backbone, which allows us to maximize the outstanding image quality and resolution of the Barco video walls. We’ve always trusted Barco to provide a high-quality product and they deliver what they promise, with no exceptions when it comes to excellent performance and reliability.”

29 June 2012